The Trenton High School wrestling team is sending five wrestlers to the Class 1 MSHSAA Wrestling Championships in Columbia. Brenden Johnson (113), Drew Rorebeck (145), Wynne DeVorss (160), Ty Sayre (170) and Jadan Whitney (195) all placed in the top four at Saturday’s district tournament, qualifying for the season-ending tournament.
Trenton captured no individual titles at the district tournament, but had one wrestler in the finals in Rorebeck, who wound up second. After a first-round bye, Rorebeck picked up a pair of wins by fall in the quarterfinals and semifinals, pinning Gallatin’s Wyatt Bird in the semifinals to set up a championship bout with South Harrison’s Kaleb Wooden.
“Drew’s semifinals match was against Wyatt Bird from Gallatin,” Trenton Head Coach Charlie Bacon said. “It took a while for Drew to get his offense going in the match, but then he opened up in the third period. Drew is really good about coming up on top in a scramble situation, which is exactly what happened in the third period. We ended up getting a huge semifinals pin over a very good opponent. Drew pinned his way through the tournament to make it to the finals match against South Harrison’s Kaleb Wooden.”
Rorebeck fell behind 3-1 in the opening period. Rorebeck would score on an escape in the second period, but wasn’t able to pick up any more points. Trenton’s 145-pounder would fall by a 4-2 decision, finishing second.
Whitney, Johnson and DeVorss all advanced after finishing with victories in third-place matches.
Whitney, the freshman, had a bye in the opening round and then scored a win by fall in the quarterfinals. In the semis, Whitney lost his only match of the day, falling to top-ranked Kasey McFall of South Harrison by fall. Whitney bounced back with a win by fall in the consolation semifinals, then capped off the day with a 9-2 decision win in the third-place match.
“Jadan had an amazing district tournament,” Bacon said. “He looked like he had wrestled for years. There is a moment in every wrestler’s career when you can tell that they have figured out how to win and Jadan had many of those moments throughout the tournament. Not only did Jadan qualify for the state tournament, he came back and got third with a 9-2 decision over a kid who had beat him a few weeks ago at the GRC Tournament. He took control of the match with takedowns and was very patient when looking to score. With his improvement over a short period of time, he will be a force to be reckoned with at the state tournament.”
DeVorss followed a similar path, getting a bye and a win by a 5-2 decision to advance to the semifinals. There, DeVorss fell by an 11-4 decision before bouncing back with back-to-back wins, the first by fall to clinch a spot at state, and the second by an 8-2 decision to grab the third-place district medal.
“Wynne really had a great district tournament,” Bacon said. “He started out with a 5-2 win over his Brookfield opponent in the quarterfinals. He then faced Troy Powers from Maysville in the semifinals, where he lost an 11-4 decision. As his name suggests, the Powers kid was very tough to score on because of his strength and low center of gravity. I thought Wynne wrestled a good match against a good opponent. I am very proud of the way Wynne came back to win his next two matches for a third-place finish in the tournament and am looking forward to his performance at the state tournament.”
Johnson received a first round bye, but dropped his quarterfinal match by fall. It was a long road from that point, but Johnson got it done with three-straight wins to earn the third-place medal. Johnson won by fall, a 5-1 decision and finally a 6-2 decision in overtime in the third-place match.
“Brenden had a great tournament as well,” Bacon said. “He came in as a six seed and placed third. I had a feeling that Brenden could turn that bracket upside down because he is that kind of kid. When he wrestles to his potential he can beat some of the better kids in the state. He really found a good pace throughout his matches and seemed to be more patient with finding ways to score. I am very proud to be taking Brenden to his first state wrestling appearance.”
Trenton’s other qualifier, Ty Sayre, won his first match of the day in overtime, defeating Marceline’s Hunter Teeter by a 6-4 overtime decision. Sayre followed that win with a 4-1 decision victory to advance to the semifinals, but fell in that round by an 8-0 major decision. Sayre would bounce back with a state-clinching 6-2 decision win before having to medical forfeit the third-place match.
“Tyler also qualified for the state tournament with a fourth-place finish,” Bacon said. “Ty has been out most of the season with a shoulder injury but was able to tough his way through the 170 weight class. He won three very close decisions to put him in the third-place match, where he medically forfeited to his Maysville opponent for a fourth-place finish. Ty showed an extreme amount of mental toughness throughout the tournament to achieve his goal of a state qualification. I am looking forward to watching Ty perform in Columbia.”
Daniel Rodriguez just missed a trip to state for Trenton at 120, falling in the consolation semifinals in overtime. After a 1-1 showing, Rodriguez matched up with Will Engel of Albany with a trip to state on the line and came up on the wrong end of a 4-2 decision after overtime.
Mason Owen (220) and Eric Lovett (138) also fell one win shy of advancing with losses in the consolation quarterfinals. Owen advanced to the semifinals with a 19-6 major decision, but was dropped to the consolation bracket after being pinned by Polo’s Gunner Martin. In the consolation semifinals, Owen was handed a 3-0 decision loss.
Lovett lost his first match of the day, but battled back with a win by fall and win by a 9-2 decision to reach the consolation semifinals. There his run ended with a 7-3 decision loss.
Other Trenton wrestlers in action included Lucas Clark (182), who was 2-2 on the day; Jeffrey White (152) who was 1-2; and Justin Martin (285), Tyler Warner (132) and Tommy Johnston, all of whom were 0-2.
Trenton’s state qualifiers will be on the mat at Mizzou Arena on Thursday as the Class 1 MSHSAA Wrestling Championships get under way. Medal matches are scheduled for Saturday.