Park Hill ready for final 'practice' before state meet

Preparing for their final stretch of the season with districts this weekend followed by the state tournament February 14-16, Park Hill placed third at the Oak Grove Invitational last week with 157.5 team points. Sean Hosford, Ben Stafford, Colston DiBlasi, and Malik Colding brought home tournament titles while Hunter Roberts and August Sobbing brought home second place finishes. Anthony Enriquez finished third in the heavyweight division. The tune-up for the Trojans only featured a partial lineup as Coach Bill Erneste explained the importance of rest and health.

“We sat five kids out this weekend,” Erneste said. “If you even have a hang nail, I’m sitting you. I just want to make sure everyone is well-rested and we’re good to go (for districts). I want every kid as healthy as they can possibly be going into districts.”

While Park Hill ran away with the Class 4, District 4 title last year on their way to a second place finish at state, this year’s tournament will also include Blue Springs who was in a separate district last year. Both are ranked as the top two teams in the state. Erneste says it will be tough, but should set both schools up for success at the state tournament.

“Our district is incredible with the addition of Blue Springs. I love it, they love it,” Erneste said. “If we meet in the district finals that means we’d be on opposite sides of the state bracket. So we get to wrestle the rest of the state before we possibly wrestle them in the finals.”

Park Hill looks forward to and works towards this time of the year all season and approaches it as if it is just one more step towards their ultimate goal.

“The district tournament is our last practice before the state tournament,” Erneste said. “We treat everything like that leading up to state.”

Park Hill has been molding its lineup gradually throughout the season. For their top wrestlers, many of which have impressive experience at the state level, it all comes down to replicating what the Trojans have done all season. With that said, Park Hill knows there are no trophies for most-deserving, only for those that step up and earn.

“We’ve always been a work in progress and needed those ‘guns’ to step up. I can honestly say I couldn’t be more pleased with the year we’ve had,” Erneste said. “If you just got things because you deserved them, we’ve done a great job, but we also understand you don’t always get it, so you have to go out and take it.”

State ranked wrestlers for Park Hill who will be key parts to the Trojans performance at districts include Sean Hosford, KeShawn Hayes, John Erneste, Hunter Roberts, Canten Marriott, Russ Coleman, Colston DiBlasi, and Malik Colding. The Trojans will also be looking for contributions from Paxton DiBlasi, August Sobbing, and Anthony Enriquez.

South wrestlers look to districts

While Park Hill South’s Chase Gray walked off the wrestling mat of his state championship match last year with a loss that left him with a second place finish. Although he had fallen just short of a title, he had set the school record for the best individual finish at state and already tied the school record for wins in a season with 47. This season Gray has returned to shatter those records and hasn’t been alone in doing so. With an ensemble cast of fellow seniors who have led the Panthers wrestling program to new heights in their four year careers (52-16 in duals), Park Hill South goes into districts this weekend with a chance to add to their already impressive tenure.

“As far as the senior class goes, we are probably the best wrestling group that’s gone through South,” Gray said. “The seniors on this team are unbelievable. I don’t want to hog any of the attention, it’s not just me.”

Joining Gray were eight other seniors who were recognized last week at their final home match against St. Joe Central by a score of 72-6. They included Nesser Barouqa, Tyler Blyth, Kenric Cook, Alex Weatherly, Alex Goforth, Adam Weatherly, Jimmy Carpenter, and Alex Fortuna. For most of them, their journey has been much longer than the four years they had at Park Hill South, but dates back to their earliest days in wrestling.

“I started with the PAC (Parkville Athletic Complex) when I was 10 years old. That really helped me,” Gray said. “I think almost all the seniors on the varsity came from that group. It just came together like that somehow.”

Individually, Gray has broken season and career records for wins, pins, takedowns, and team points, which will continue to increase through the end of the season. Gray talked about how much he thought the program had changed in their four years as well as how he learned of the leadership role he was given when he was the first sophomore to be named a team captain.

“I think the pace of practice has gone up as far as drilling and being united as a team. We’ve all grown closer,” Gray said. “I do think that is pretty cool. My sophomore year, I never thought it could be me. When coach announced it, I was shocked. It was somewhat difficult because some of the older guys didn’t listen to me at first (being so young).”

Park Hill South is hoping to qualify more than a handful of wrestlers for the state tournament next weekend at this weekend’s district tournament including Gray, Jimmy Carpenter, Adam Weatherly, and Alex Weatherly, all of which are currently ranked in the top eight of their respective weight classes. With several key injuries throughout the season, the Panthers see themselves as a team that has yet to fill its potential.

“We have seven seniors with pretty good records right now. As far as dual team-wise, I think we would have done a lot better if we had the whole team the entire year,” Gray said. “We had a couple injuries, but I think we’re back to a full roster now. As long as our team wrestles to our fullest, I think we should be in the running for the district championship.”

Getting second has been a key part of the motivation which has led Gray to a 44-1 record so far this season.  He says last year’s success at state gave him an idea of just how well he could do and he’s excited to earn his way back as well as compete for a team placement as well.

“I think it opened my eyes to if I just worked harder, I could do great things. This year, I tried to make every morning practice and a little on my own, just stay in great shape,” Gray said. “I just want to get there and go to work.”

Winter Roundup: Jan. 28 - Feb. 4

Park Hill South Girls Swimming

For the last 12 years, there has been one constant for the Park Hill South girls swim team. And that constant has been winning conference championships, which they did this past weekend when they racked up 578.5 team points on the way to their 12^th consecutive conference title. While Park Hill gave them a run for their money, the Panthers steadily pulled away to an impressive 84 point margin of victory over the second place Trojans.

Leading the way with first place finishes were the 200 medley relay team, Tori Beeler in the 200 individual medley, Helen Yeater in the 100 butterfly, and Anna Riekhof in the 100 breast. Bringing home second place medals were the 200 and 400 freestyle relays, Olivia McLain in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke, Maggie Hickey in the 100 butterfly, and Beeler in the 100 backstroke. Third place finishers included Mariah Ramirez in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke, Kelsey Danielson in the 100 butterfly and 200 freestyle, Samantha Scott in the 100 backstroke, and Maryn Burns in the 50 freestyle.

Park Hill South will compete in the state swim meet next weekend in St. Peters, Missouri.

Park Hill Girls Swimming

While the Trojans came up short of repeating as conference champions in their own right, Park Hill came away with a strong second place performance with their 494.5 team points. Two key swimmers for Park Hill included Lauren Shaw and Madison Heydinger who brought home a handful of various medals. Shaw took first in the 100 free style and 100 backstroke along with a second place finish in the 500 freestyle. Heydinger placed first in the 200 and 500 freestyle events. The Trojans also saw success in the relays with a first place finish in the 200 free relay and second place finishes in the 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay.

Park Hill will also compete at the state swim meet next weekend.

Park Hill Boys Basketball (3-15, 0-4)

…continued what has been a rough season last week with two losses. The first came against Lee’s Summit West 70-44 and the second being a 64-54 loss to Truman. As of The Citizen’s deadline Tuesday night, the Trojans were in action at St. Joe Central.

Park Hill will host Park Hill South on Thursday in a double-header featuring both boys and girls teams. Park Hill fell short of upsetting Park Hill South two weeks ago when they mounted a comeback effort that left them on the wrong end of a 51-47 Panther victory.

Park Hill South Boys Basketball (13-16, 2-2)

…beat St. Joe Central last week 53-42 before falling behind Ruskin early at home on Friday night. Park Hill South would remain within striking distance, but Ruskin would pull away in the fourth quarter to a 70-54 win.

As of The Citizen’s deadline Tuesday night, the Panthers were in action against Truman. Park Hill South plays at Park Hill on Thursday.

Park Hill Girls Basketball (3-15)

…suffered two close defeats last week against Northland opponents. The first came against Liberty North with a score of 33-30 and the second being a 44-38 loss to Oak Park.

Park Hill hosts Park Hill South on Thursday evening.

Park Hill South Girls Basketball (17-2, 4-0)

…came into the North Kansas City Tournament with a 15-1 record and were hoping for their second tournament championship of the season. They handedly defeated Park Hill 62-35 in the opening round, but hit a bump in the road against St. Joe Central which resulted in a 54-40 loss. The Panthers rebounded in the third place game with a resounding victory over Blue Springs South 54-35.

As of The Citizen’s deadline Tuesday night, Park Hill South was in conference action against Truman. Both teams were undefeated coming into the game and the result will play a big role in determining this year’s conference championship race.