Fort Zumwalt West, North Wrestling Poised For State Meet

Editor's Note: This story has been edited since it's original posting. The previous headline did not mention Fort Zumwalt North. 

After its strong showing at the Missouri Class 4 District 2 wrestling championship last weekend at McCluer North High School, Fort Zumwalt West is ready to make a splash on the big stage.

The Jaguars placed second as a team at districts, and qualified five wrestlers to the state tournament, with three of them winning their respective weight classes. The 81st State Wrestling Championships begin on Thursday, and conclude on Saturday evening, at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo.

“We took second overall, but our goal is to get as many guys to the state tournament as possible,” Fort Zumwalt West head coach Dan Hayes said. “I was disappointed with the outcome on our Friday night matches, but we came back and wrestled really well on Saturday.”

In the 103-pound tournament, freshman Jake Callahan defeated Wesley Raiche of Pattonville, 12-3. Callahan is now 34-11 this season.

“Jake’s been wrestling good all year long,” Hayes said. “He’s going to have to wrestle hard and put it all together this weekend but I think he’s focused and ready to go.”

At 112 pounds, sophomore James Krischke won by technical fall, 20-3, over Jake Long of Francis Howell. Krischke is 44-4

“If Jimmy goes out and wrestles the way he’s capable of wrestling, he’s going to be very successful at state this weekend,” Hayes said. “But for right now, he’s got to focus on that first match come Thursday.”

Sophomore Travis Callahan (29-7) posted a 4-2 decision for the Jaguars over Francis Howell’s Gavin Martin to grab third place overall at 130 pounds.

At 140 pounds, Matt Behr of Francis Howell defeated Fort Zumwalt West senior Dominic Hasenfratz (26-16), 3-2, to take third place.

Junior Kyle Hussey won the 145-pound championship with a gut-wrenching 1-0 decision over Nick Jordan of Hazelwood Central. Hussey is 35-9 this season.  

“Kyle’s one of our leaders and is a returning state medalist,” Hayes said. “He’s in a bracket full of a lot of tough kids, but he’s been wrestling really well at this time of the season, so we think he’s going to do well this weekend.”

Fort Zumwalt North placed third at the Class 3 District 2 Tournament at Fort Zumwalt East High School last weekend.

Coach Ted Hickey said he’d hoped for a second-place finish, but his team suffered pins which gave competing teams bonus points. Juniors Zach Nelson (112) and Cole Reedy (152) won district championships. Nelson compiled a very impressive 40-1 record this year. The junior placed fifth at state last year.

“He’s been our top kid all year,” Hickey said. “We expected Zack to do well in the tournament and he went out and took care of business.”

Reedy has posted a 31-6 record. Like Nelson, he’s a returning state qualifier, as he placed third at state last year.

Also for the Panthers, senior Darian Jones (32-9 at 145) qualified for state with a fourth-place finish while juniors Nate Helmig (33-10 at heavyweight), Ryan Roth (31-11 at 215), and Joel Lauer (21-16 at 119) qualified with second and fourth place finishes, respectively.

Sophomores Blake Thomas (19-15 at 125) and Justin Manzella (26-14 at 140) qualified with fourth-place finishes.