Whitfield takes 12 matmen to state wrestling tournament

The Whitfield Warriors have experienced success in recent years at the state wrestling tournament and coach Charlie Sherertz said he expects to have another good meet this year.

The 82nd annual Missouri state tournament begins Thursday (Feb. 16) at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia. Whitfield has the largest local number of grapplers eligible at state with 12.

“That’s pretty good,” Sherertz said. “We have put ourselves in a good position to go to the state tournament.”

Whitfield has won two of the last five Class 1 tournaments and has finished second twice and fifth once. Sherertz said he likes the Wildcats’ chances this weekend.

“We’ve got as good a shot as anybody,” Sherertz said. “Blair Oaks is good and Brookfield is the defending champs and even though they lost some good athletes, they will surprise people. I’m also keeping my eye on Centralia. Lathrop has some kids ranked really high and Trenton is good.

“Those are the ones that come to mind as being the contenders. I don’t know if a team sets themselves apart as a clear favorite. I think its going to be a good state tournament. I’m going to stop short of saying we’ll win first place.”

Here are the Warriors who will be competing at state: 106: Saad Raza, sophomore, 12-36; 113: Ben Sayre, sophomore, 8-30; 126: Chris Wilkes, junior, 45-1; 132: Austin Smith, senior, 42-6; 138: Lawrence Becker, senior, 22-14; 145: Rodney Hahn, sophomore, 42-3; 152: Will Hahn, junior, 46-5; 160: Pat McLaughlin, senior, 27-7; 170: Andrew McLaughlin, sophomore, 29-19; 182: Ethan Sherertz, senior, 38-3; 195: Michael Shearbum, sophomore, 12-20; and 220: Stephen Scobee, senior, 27-21.

“We’ve got a good mix of guys going to state,” Sherertz said. “We got to wrestle up to our ability. If we do, we’ll be in good shape. We don’t have to upset anybody.”

One Warrior — Rodney Hahn — is a defending champion.  He won state last year at 135 as a freshman. He finished with a  49-6 record.

“He’s been pretty solid all year long,” Sherertz said. “He’s big and powerful. He’s evolving. He’s growing. He been on the guys who have been leading us all year.”

Sherertz’s son, Ethan, was fourth last year as a junior at 152 and ended at 40-14.Nothing would please the coach than to see his son win state before he graduates this spring.

“Hell yeah, that would be nice,” Sherertz said. “That would be the ultimate way for this thing to play out. He’s gone up 30 pounds the year.  He’s wrestling big guys all year long and holding his own.”

Wilkes has finished third in his previous two state tournaments. The matman who beat him each year went on to win the weight class.

This season, Wilkes has just one loss. It came in overtime to Rock Bridge’s Sam Crane, who is ranked No. 2 in the 132-pound class this season.

“Chris, he’s kind of our point-to guy,” Sherertz said. “He’s had a couple of heartbreakers at state the last two years. He’s come up short. I expect to see him do good things at state. He’s done great things this year for us. He’s anxious to get in there and go.”

Overall, Sherertz said he is looking forward to three of his favorite days of the year being at the state tournament.

“We’ve got a big supporting cast competing,” Sherertz said. “We’ve got 12 guys. We’re all counting on big things from them all.”