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Tigers fare well at first day of State Championships
The MSHSAA State High School Wrestling Champion-ships often attract upwards of 1,000 fans, competitors, coaches and workers to the campus of the University of Missouri every year. As this year's tournament got under way Thursday morning, it was no exception as fans, competitors and their coaches and workers alike flocked into Mizzou Arena.
Nearly 900 wrestlers began the opening day of the 79th annual Missouri State High School wrestling championships with the same goal in mind -- become a state champion. Among those competitors were four Nevada Tigers, two of whom have qualified for high school wrestling's biggest stage before.
Those two wrestlers -- senior Todd Brier and sophomore Tanner Charles -- led the Tigers into the tournament with very high hopes. Freshman Slade Stiles and senior Scotty Bough were both entering their first chance at a state championship, but neither failed to impress as the tournament began.
#Stiles (43-9) got the tournament under way for the Tigers with an intense performance against Park Hills Central High School's Richard House (22-9) at 103 pounds. With the same number of losses to their credit coming into the match, the two appeared as though they would be fairly evenly matched on paper, but that was not the case as Stiles needed just 3 minutes, 1 second to earn the victory by pin -- the first of three pins in five matches on the day for the Tigers.
"It was a good day," Tigers head coach Devin White said. "Three pins in five matches, I can't complain at all."
Charles (35-6) kept the momentum going for the Tigers at 112 with a dominant performance of his own against Moberly High School sophomore Dylan Johnson (31-15).
Johnson didn't seem to have any answers for what Charles brought into the bout and was only able to manage one point for a first-period penalty against Charles on his way to a 13-1 defeat.
#Nevada's other first-time qualifier, senior Scotty Bough, put his 26-11 record on the line at 145 against an opponent whom many thought would present a tough challenge in St Clair High School freshman Matt Gordon (23-11). Bough seemed unfazed as the match began, however, and after what was ultimately a very even first period, needed just 57 seconds of the second to earn the Tigers' second pin of the day.
Senior Todd Brier (42-6) had arguably the toughest draw of the day in the first round of action as he squared off against a very talented Platte County High School junior in Brock St. Louis (43-7). The two seemed very evenly matched throughout the entire duration of the bout and St. Louis was able to utilize a first-period takedown and an early second-period escape to pick up a 3-0 decision victory.
"It's a tough draw, that's part of it," White said. "The kid (St. Louis) got a lead on us and wrestled enough to get by."
After that loss, however, Brier rebounded well in the opening round of wrestlebacks as he took on Ste. Genevieve High School junior Ethan Basler. In a match quite similar to his first-round loss to St. Louis, Brier fought his way through a very even contest before coming out on top by pin, keeping himself alive and leaving the Tigers to head to the tournament's second day with all four wrestlers still in the running for medals.
"Todd's sitting pretty good to get through to the medal round," White said. "All four guys are still in, so that's a good sign."
Day two action was scheduled for today with the quarterfinals and second-round wrestlebacks for Classes 1 and 2 to begin at 9:30 a.m., inside Mizzou Arena.