The Trenton High School wrestling team will travel to Cameron tonight and Saturday for the Class 1 District 4 Wrestling Tournament.
The Bulldogs will send 13 wrestlers to the tournament with hopes of finishing in the top four and clinching a trip to the Class 1 Missouri State High School Activities Association Wrestling Tournament at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia.
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Bruce Fair will compete in the 103-pound weight class. Fair’s road to state will be a challenging one as he will face Maysville’s Seth Buhman in his first match. Buhman holds a 24-2 record on the season and is the 103-pound weight class’ number-one seed. A loss would not eliminate Fair from a chance at state, however, as he could fight through wrestlebacks to clinch a trip to Columbia.
Trenton is open in the 112-pound weight class, but has Corey Holloway in the 119-pound weight class. Holloway is one of four wrestlers on the THS squad that made the trip to Columbia last season. Holloway is 16-15 on the season and will face Albany’s Carter Gillepsie in his first match. Gillepsie is 13-6 on the year.
Trenton has freshman Jason Bailey in the 125-pound weight class. Bailey has had a successful freshman campaign and is 16-9 on the season. Bailey, seeded second in the bracket, will face Gallatin’s Anton Steele in his first match. Steele is 11-14 on the season.
Jason’s brother Mitchell Bailey, a senior, will represent the Bulldogs in the 130-pound weight class. Last year Bailey missed qualifying for state by just one match. This year, Bailey’s run at a state tournament appearance will be a hard road as he will face Devin Gage of Stanberry in his first match. Gage is 30-4 on the season and the number-two seed in the bracket.
Dalton Preston will face 19-0 Cody Selby of Gallatin in his first match in the 135-pound weight class. Preston’s record on the season is 11-18.
In the 140-pound weight class, Trenton will have Colton McClure. McClure will face Maysville’s Max Whitsell in his first match. Whitsell is 17-8 on the season. A win would place McClure in a match with the bracket’s number four seed, Dakota Merrill of Maryville. Merrill is 18-4 on the season.
James Deaver will have to face the number one seed in his first match of the 145-pound bracket in Maysville’s Jake Rhoad, who is 18-1 on the season.
Trenton has another wrestler who made a trip to Columbia for the state tournament last season in Kody Hill. Hill is the number three seed in the 152-pound weight class and has a record of 24-8 on the season. Hill will face Garrett Lowe of South Harrison, 18-7, in his first match.
Kody Hicks was drawn into the number three seed in the 160-pound weight class. Hicks will face either John Stout of Tarkio or Jacob Smith of Gallatin in his first match of what should be a wide open weight class.
Kade Kinney will represent the Bulldogs in the 171-pound weight class. Kinney has a record of 12-10 this season and will face Sawyer Marlay of Cameron in his first match. Marlay is 9-8 this year and is the son of former THS wrestling state champion Steve Marlay.
Justin Brinser will face the number four seed in his first match of the 189-pound weight class. Brinser’s opponent is Jacob Erdman, of Rock Port, 25-5.
Trenton has two wrestlers who went to state last year and narrowly missed titles in Ethan Tabbert, 215, and Zach Kinnison, 285, This year the duo will be looking to finish atop their respective classes.
Tabbert, 25-4 on the season, is the number two seed in the 215 bracket behind Cameron’s Kyle Thompson, who is 27-3. Tabbert will face Rock Port’s Drew Ellison in his first match.
Kinnison is also his bracket’s number two seed with a 20-1 record this year. Brookfield’s Jerod Glasgow received the number one seed. Glasgow is 8-1 this season with his one loss coming from Kinnison. Likewise, Kinnison’s lone loss came at the hands of Glasgow. The two appear to be on a collision course for a rubber match, but Kinnison will probably have a test in the semifinals from Jason Davis of Maryville. Davis boasts a 29-3 record on the season. Glasgow could also be challenged in the semifinals by Gallatin’s Nick Lagodny, who is 16-5 this year.
Action kicks off tonight at 6 o’clock in Cameron with first round matches, first round wrestle backs and quarterfinals and will continue Saturday morning at 10 o’clock.
