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MN’s Butler Finishes Third, Williams Takes Second Again In State Wrestling
By Jim Wieners
Two Wrestlers from high schools in the Ferguson-Florissant School District were the top finishers last weekend at the Missouri State High School Activities Association Championships at Mizzou Arena, Columbia.
McCluer North sophomore Travon Butler took third place in Class Four at 220 pounds while McCluer South-Berkeley junior John Williams finished second in Class Two at 132. They were the highest place finishers among wrestlers from North County high schools because there were no state champions.
Butler’s hopes of winning state were dashed in a 2-1 Ultimate Tie Breaker Semifinal loss to Tim Gant, CBC. Butler began his run at state with two pins — over Anthony Wussow, Park Hill, in 1:10 and Clay Darnell, Jackson, in 1:35. After losing to Gant, Butler rebounded with decisions over Lance Bush, Hazelwood East (7-3), and Austin Reyes, Blue Springs (3-1).
Williams, who was second last year at 120, moved to 132 and made it to the championship match Feb. 16 before losing 3-0 to Cody Pae, Fulton. In route to the championship match Williams won 15-9 over Aaron Sims, Marshall, won 3-2 over Bryce Mercer, Oak Grove, and won 3-0 over Trevor Wakiner, Dexter.
McCluer North and McCluer South-Berkeley finished in the top 20 in their class. McCluer North, in Class Four, finished tied with Jackson for 15th place with 42 points while MS-Berkeley, in Class Two, was tied with Logan-Rogersville for 19th with 32.
McCluer North had two seniors finish their prep careers with state medals as Josh Wheeler took fifth at 170 and Randall Young was sixth at 285. MS-Berkeley senior Damien Bell finished his career with a fourth-place finish at 285.
In Class Three McCluer senior Di’ontay Hatch took sixth at 220 while in Class Four Hazelwood East senior Jeffery Brock was fourth at 182 while Hazelwood East senior Lance Bush (220) and Hazelwood Central junior Khial Jamison (170) each finished sixth.
Also in Class Four wrestlers from Ritenour took home state medals as junior Tyron Welch was fourth at 152 while senior Lamar Welch was sixth at 160.
STATE SWIMMING AND DIVING — Last weekend at the St. Peters Rec-Plex Hazelwood West freshman Jessica Nichols and Incarnate Word Academy junior Julia Foster did not medal but did place in the top 16 in their event. Nichols was 14th in the 50-Yard Freestyle in 25.75 seconds but not before she quailed for the consolation finals with a 25-second effort. Foster scored 346.85 points in an 11th-place finish in One-Meter Diving.
