Two members of the Lindbergh High School wrestling team earned medals, and the Flyers finished 24th at the Class 4 state championships last weekend.
“We came down with six guys and got two medals, which is pretty good,” Lindbergh head coach Josh Hansel said. “So I was fairly pleased with how things went.”
Lindbergh senior Brock Summers had the strongest showing of the tournament with a fourth-place finish at 103 pounds.
He opened the tournament with a 6-1 decision over A.J. Gassman of Rockhurst.
The senior grappler then dropped a heart-breaking 1-0 decision to Alex Larson of Fort Zumwalt South in the quarterfinal.
The loss put Summers into the wrestleback bracket, but he bounced back with an 8-7 decision over Tyler Stahlman of Northwest.
Summers continued his march through wrestlebacks with a 3-1 decision over Joey Jetton of Hazelwood Central.
The wrestleback semifinal matched Summers with Steven Avery of Francis Howell Central. Summers walked away with a 4-2 decision. But Summers’ two-match winning streak came to an end in the wrestleback final as he lost by fall to Taylor Bolin of Fort Zumwalt West at 2:39.
“This was Brock’s third trip down to state, so I was very happy for him,” Hansel said. “Early on he looked just OK, but not like the Brock Summers that we know. Once he got into Friday evening and knew he would medal, he really opened things up.”
Lindbergh’s Jesse Cain also was solid at state, taking sixth place at 130 pounds.
The senior grappler won his first-round match of the tournament with a 5-3 decision over Ja Marquis Harris of Riverview Gardens. But Cain lost by fall to Corey Carr of Park Hill at 1:27. Carr advanced to take state runner-up honors.
During wrestlebacks, Cain posted a 6-2 decision over Nick Blaske of Hazelwood West. Cain then defeated Daniel Levy of Blue Springs 5-4, before losing by fall to Patrick Kennedy of Francis Howell Central at 4:01.
“I’m ecstatic about Jesse,” Hansel said. “He got the job done and wrestled the smartest of anyone on the team this year.”
Lindbergh’s Tim Irving at 119 pounds was not as lucky as his teammates. He dropped a controversial 4-3 decision to Jacob Thornton of Hickman in the first round after Irving was penalized for holding Thornton’s singlet. Irving was accused of stalling twice in the third period against Robb Waters of Park Hill. The second of the two penalties came with 20 seconds left in the third period, which resulted in a 2-1 loss.
“As a coach, I had to say something to the official because Tim wrestled great,” Hansel said. “Tim was upset, but after a while he realized that it was something that was completely out of his hands.”
Senior Pat McKenna won his first match of the tournament with a 6-1 decision over Taylor Crane of Rock Bridge at 135 pounds. But in the state quarterfinal, McKenna dropped a 6-4 decision to Daniel Breit of Raymore-Peculiar.
“Pat took a late takedown against the kid from Raymore-Peculiar, and that kind of shook him up,” Hansel said. “Things just didn’t go his way after that first-round match.”
Lindbergh junior James Bearden (152 pounds) had one of the more frightening moments of the tournament as he suffered his third concussion of the season in a 5-3 win over Bryan Hawkins of Francis Howell North in the first round of wrestlebacks.
Bearden had to default his second-round match after being examined by a doctor.
“James got hit in the head and developed a concussion in January,” Hansel said. “We let him take some time off and he got another one in districts, but qualified for state. He came off the mat (against Hawkins) a little groggy. We had him see the doctor, and he couldn’t close his eyes when he was standing up. Although this is the worst kind of feeling to have for a wrestler default for medical reasons, the thing about James is that he returns next season.”
Senior Nick Higgs dropped a first-round match at 160 pounds to eventual state medalist Robbie Hicklin of Park Hill by 13-1. He was dealt another blow in wrestle-backs as he lost a 4-2 decision in overtime to James Barton of St. Louis University High.
