Park Hill South junior blazes trail Park Hill South junior blazes trail

When Park Hill South junior 182-pounder Chase Gray walked off the mat from his state title match last weekend at the Missouri State Wrestling Championships, you saw some of the same things seen in many wrestlers who come up just short of a state title. Disappointment, exhaustion, messed up hair, maybe a cut or swollen eye. What you didn’t see, though, are his accomplishments up to that point and the incredible leadership provided as a captain which resulted in a ninth place team finish, one of the school’s most successful wrestling seasons to date.

Even before this season, Gray was a stand out on the mat and has been a big part of the Panthers wrestling program’s climb over the past two seasons. As a freshman he qualified for state, returning the next season as a sophomore to be elected a team captain. Not only rare, it was the first time a sophomore had been named a captain by his teammates. “It’s never happened, unheard of,” Park Hill South coach Dan Dunkin said.

His sophomore season he qualified for state once again, leading a group of six Panther wrestlers to Columbia for the state tournament. Gray came up short of placing for the second straight year. Coming into this year, Gray, once again picked by his teammates as a captain, had a serious shot at breaking the school’s all-time wins record. He did just that in early February when he surpassed in three years what former Panthers of the past had done in four years. A significant achievement, Dunkin says his positive attitude makes him fun to coach and easy for his teammates to look up to.

“He’s well respected, great kid to coach,” Dunkin said. “He’s one of those naturally tough kids to where you tell him to do something and he goes and does it with a smile on his face.”

Leading eight Panther wrestlers to state this year, Gray was looking to place and overcome his state performances of the past two years. Winning his first three matches, the third of which was a close 1-0 victory in the state semifinals, earned him a shot at the state title as a finalist. Much the same as Gray had broken the all-time wins school record earlier in the season, his appearance in the state title match wasn't just a first for him, it was also a first for Park Hill South, which had never had a wrestler compete for a championship before. Falling 5-0, Gray would finish a runner-up, but the achievement speaks for itself.

"It feels great," Gray said. "Yes, I would have liked it to end better, but I can't be completely disappointed."

"In the short-term, I think he's disappointed. He had a great tournament, no doubt," Dunkin said. "If you look at his season and what he's accomplished, plus his drive to be a state champion, knowing his attitude, it's only going to help him."

The fire inside, evident just moments after Gray walked off the mat, is already looking towards the future and next year, not only individually, but also what the Panthers have returning as a team.

"I'm definitely going to do more off-season wrestling to better myself, hit the weight room," Gray said. "We're always prepared for our matches and I think that's part of the role of being a captain. We should have more finalists next year, as a team we'll do very well. I think if we keep progressing at this rate, we're going to be very tough to beat."

Trojans bring home eight medals, but finish second behind Blue Springs

There are teams who would be tickled to death to take a second place team trophy — or second place individual medal — home from the state wrestling championships. Then there is Park Hill. The Trojans are a program which has won five state titles in recent years with multiple individual champions leading the way. That’s possibly why their second place team finish this year doesn’t come with the enthusiasm as it might with other schools.

“I always say that I love the state tournament and I hate the state tournament,” Park Hill coach Bill Erneste said. “I love it because it gives kids the opportunities to achieve their dreams and goals. I hate the state tournament when they come up short.”


Finishing second with 144 team points to champion Blue Springs’ 164 points, Park Hill has plenty to be proud of, including the placement of eight out of their total 11 qualifiers in the top five of their respective weight brackets. The Trojans racked up team points early with 10 wrestlers winning in their opening round matches, giving Park Hill a lead early in the tournament, but were gradually passed by Blue Springs which had four finalists compete for titles.


“Overall, it was a decent weekend,” Erneste said. “I loved our team’s effort; we just need to continue to get better each year.” 

While sophomore John Erneste at 113 pounds and junior Russ Coleman at 132 won their first three matches, setting them up for state title bouts, other Trojan wrestlers who fell in quarter and semifinal matches battled back for strong finishes. They included third place finishes from KeShawn Hayes at 106 and Nolan Smith at 285, fourth place finishes from Hunter Roberts at 120 and Malik Colding at 160, and fifth place finishes from Colston DiBlasi at 126 and Connor Shene at 145. These finishes played a large part in the point accumulation that built up to their second place finish.


Park Hill was not able to bring home an individual champion as Erneste and Coleman fell in their respective matches. Erneste improved on his third place finish last year, while Coleman has been a runner-up the past two seasons, with a state title barely out of his reach once again.

“He takes second again,” Erneste said of Coleman. “The thing about Russ is, he’s a fighter. He’s the one kid I know, whose back is against the wall and comes out swinging. He’s going to work even harder and get even crazier in his training, because he knows he has one year left. It’s unacceptable in his mind, but he’s going to get better and win a state championship his senior year.”


“I’m very proud of John to get to the finals, it’s his first time there,” Erneste said of his son. “The progression keeps going, so we just need to work hard this summer, come back and swing again.”

For Park Hill who will return the core of their lineup next year, it will be about turning good to great and it will start from within by building their top wrestlers into what Erneste likes to call ‘guns’.

“All second place is, is a measuring stick. On our ride home, we’re already going to be thinking about next year. Blue Springs got it done, Park Hill didn’t,” Erneste said. “We had a few guns, we just didn’t have eight (like Blue Springs). We couldn’t match them gun to gun. Next year, we need to take some of our good wrestlers and make them guns. Then, we’ll be better.”

PHS wrestling takes ninth, places two

Advancing six wrestlers to the state tournament last year for Park Hill South was an achievement of its own, but this year advancing was not the question. It was how many would qualify and what they would do with it once they got there that counted most. This was the mantra Coach Dan Dunkin and his Panthers had throughout the year and once the final medals were handed out, they had moved the program one leap forward, resulting in South’s best finish in school history.

“Clearly, we did better than last year,” Dunkin said. “If you watch our matches, we’re all going after people and definitely improving. Most of our guys are juniors so hopefully next year it gets even better.”

While Dunkin knows their 50.5 team points, good for ninth in Class 4, weren’t nearly enough to bring home a top four trophy, Park Hill South did bring home a fifth place medal at 195 as senior Nick Gillespie finished out his career with a victory. Gillespie pinned his first opponent of the tournament in just 1:27. Despite falling in the quarterfinals, he battled back by winning two of his next three matches, capping it off a pin in the fifth place round to reserve his place at the final podium.

Perhaps the highlight for Park Hill South was Chase Gray’s second place finish at 182. Gray won several tough matches in impressive fashion on his way to the title match, but wasn’t able to secure the state title falling 5-0. The second place finish accounts for Park Hill South’s highest individual finish in school history and the first to compete in a title match.

While Park Hill South had five wrestlers win in the first round, they hit some roadblocks in the quarterfinals. Nonetheless, several Panthers battled back for wins in the wrestle-back rounds, which contributed to the team point totals. Easier said than done on the state’s highest wrestling stage.

“We ran into some obstacles, but most got one or two wins,” Dunkin said. “They wrestled tough, but everyone down here is tough.”

Other Park Hill South wrestlers competing at the Missouri State Wrestling Championship last weekend were Alex Fortuna (1-2), Jimmy Carpenter (0-2), Justin Haughenberry (2-1), Kendic Cook (0-2), Adam Weatherly (1-2), and George Barth (1-2).

Winter Roundup; Feb. 13-19

Park Hill Girls Basketball

…completed their regular season with two conference wins against Lee’s Summit West and Ruskin to improve their record to 13-10 overall. Park Hill took a 24-6 lead in the first half against Lee’s Summit West and held it through the end of the game as they won 55-36. Kyleesha Weston scored 23 points and Micalla Rettinger scored 11.  The Lady Trojans scored 18 points in each of the first two quarters to build another impressive halfime lead 36-9 over Ruskin and wouldn’t look back as they secured the 51-20 victory. Weston led in scoring with 18 points while Dominique Broadus contributed 15 points.

They compete against St. Joe Central in the district semifinals Wednesday evening at Park Hill.

Park Hill Girls Swim

One of Park Hill’s ace swimmers all season, senior Brynn Guardado, completed her senior season at the state swim meet last week. She placed eighth in both the 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle events.

Park Hill South Girls Swim

…finished eighth in the 200 yard medley relay last weekend at the state swim meet. Members of that team included Mariah Bryant, Rachael Norfleet, Helen Yeater, and Miranda Henderson. The 200 freestyle relay placed ninth which included Olivia McLain, Henderson, Shannon Brouk, and Bryant. Yeater also finished 15^th in the 100 butterfly.

Park Hill South Boys Basketball

…despite losing a close game to Belton by a score of 52-51, Park Hill South ended their regular season with a 60-51 win over Winnetonka to improve to 17-8 on the season. They were led in scoring by Payton Meek with 22 points.

Park Hill and Park Hill South were competing in the district semifinals as The Citizen went to press Tuesday evening.

Park Hill Boys Basketball

…ended their regular season on a five game losing streak, capped off last week with losses to Truman and Grandview. Hanging close in the first quarter, Truman outscored the Trojans 22-10 in the second quarter on the way to a 65-55 win. Connor Farmer led in scoring with 16 points for Park Hill. Grandview jumped out the gate early and led the entire way as the Trojans fell 73-51 in their finale. Santo Smiraldo posted 14 points for Park Hill as they end their regular season with a 6-17 overall record.

Park Hill and Park Hill South were competing in the district semifinals as The Citizen went to press Tuesday evening.