STATE BOUND

Whitney Wins 195-Pound District Title, Owen And Trump On To State As Well

For three Trenton Bulldogs, the wrestling season will last one more week.
Jadan Whitney (195), Mason Owen (220) and Mark Trump (182) all punched tickets to the MSHSAA Wrestling Championships on Saturday at the Class 1, District 3 Tournament in Marceline. Whitney did so with Trenton’s lone individual district championship on the day while Owen was second at his weight and Trump placed fourth.
At 195, Whitney and Centralia’s Trevor Bodine figured to be on a collision course. Bodine is ranked fourth in the state at the weight, Whitney is fifth. They had matched up twice previously this season, splitting those bouts with Bodine topping Whitney by a slim 5-4 decision in their most recent meeting. So to see the pair standing across the circle from one another in the championship bout on Saturday was hardly surprising.
What was surprising was how efficiently Whitney disposed of Bodine.
Trenton’s 195-pounder picked up a first period takedown and a reversal in the second to establish a lead before blowing the match open in the final frame. Two more takedowns and back points took Bodine out of contention as Whitney sealed the district championship with a 10-3 decision win.
“At 195, Jadan brought home a district championship and wrestled a flawless tournament,” Trenton Head Coach Charlie Bacon said. “I love watching Jadan wrestle in big matches because his takedowns are some of the best in the state, and this finals match was no different. I am so happy for Jadan and proud of all the hard work he has put in to get where he is today.”
Whitney reached the finals in dominating fashion, pinning Gallatin’s Cody Arnold in the quarterfinals and St. Paul Lutheran’s Thomas Long in the semis.
Owen, ranked sixth in the state at his weight, wrestling in perhaps the most loaded weight class at the tournament, made the finals, but couldn’t get past Gallatin’s Graydee Rains, despite pushing the state’s fourth ranked 220-pounder to overtime before losing 7-5 by sudden victory.
Owen scored the first take down of the match and worked his way to a 5-3 lead late in the match. Gallatin’s Rains scored in the final seconds, however, tying the match at 5-5 and forcing overtime. A takedown in the bonus period sealed the deal and left Owen with a runner-up finish.
“In the finals, we faced Graydee Raines of Gallatin, who we have wrestled twice this season already,” Bacon said. “This was the best we have wrestled him all season. I was really happy with the way Mason wrestled throughout the tournament. I think the finals match was a really important match for Mason because he knows that he can beat anyone when he opens up on his feet. I am so proud of the senior year that he has had and am looking forward to what he will do at the state tournament. Mason is a great senior leader and I am lucky to have coached him over the last three years.”
Owen’s weight class featured four state-ranked wrestlers and it took a 2-1 decision win over Hamilton’s Kenneth Pulley, ranked seventh, to reach the finals. A takedown by Owen near the end of the first period got him the two points that ultimately led to the victory. Pulley would get one escape and that was all for the scoring in the match as Owen held on to advance. In the quarterfinals, Owen made short work of Macon’s Maximus Cook, pinning him in under a minute.
Trenton’s third state qualifier was Trump, who got his tournament off to a roaring start with a pinfall victory over Centralia’s Quentin Foster, who had defeated Trump earlier in the year. The avenging win put Trump on a good path to qualify and he followed up the win by giving Lexington’s Alvarro Porras, ranked third in the state, all he wanted. Trump would lose the match, but by just a 3-2 decision.
The loss placed Trump in a bubble match against Samuel Long of St. Paul Lutheran, where a win would put him through to state and a loss would end his season. The Trenton sophomore dug himself a hole early on, falling behind 5-0 after a takedown and back points. But Trump was resilient. He roared back with a trio of takedowns, ultimately ending the match with a win by fall in the final period.
The win placed Trump in the third-place match, where he fell to Carson Wilkerson by a 6-1 decision and ended up fourth.
“Mark had a really good district tournament,” Bacon said. “We knew he was going to have to beat somebody who had previously beaten us to make it to the top four and that happened in the quarterfinal match on Friday night, where Mark pinned a kid from Centralia who had beaten us earlier in the season. That was a huge win and paved a much clearer path through the bracket. I thought Mark also had a very good semifinals match, losing a 3-2 decision to top-ranked Porras from Lexington. His bubble match was one of the most suspenseful matches for us in the tournament. He came back strong and eventually got the pin. I was so proud to see a kid like Mark who has worked so hard make it to the state tournament.”
While that trio moved on, the season ended for the remaining Bulldog wrestlers. For seniors Eric Lovett (145) and Lucas Clark (160) it marked the end of their careers with the Black and Gold.
Clark was 2-2 at the tournament. After a 4-2 decision win in round one, Clark was bumped to the consolation bracket by an 11-2 major decision loss to Lexington’s Sean Emerson, ranked fifth in the state at 160. Clark gamely hung on with a win by fall in his next match, but was eliminated after that, losing by an 11-0 major decision to Gallatin’s Tom Crouse.
Lovett’s tournament started with a 21-6 tech fall loss to Cullen Bruner of Marceline – ranked fourth in the state at that weight. Like Clark, Lovett battled back with a win by fall, but lost to a Gallatin wrestler – Caleb Boyd, ranked eighth in the state – in the following match by a 7-4 decision.
“It is very tough seeing seasons come to an end for my other wrestlers who so badly wanted to make it through the district tournament,” Bacon said. “Seniors Eric Lovett and Lucas Clark fell short of their goals, but gained so much from being a part of this great sport and have been a vital part of this team. Hopefully my underclassmen will work hard in the off season and come back strong next year.”
Noah Lewis (152) was 2-2 at the tournament, picking up both victories by pins. Payden McCullough (138) was 1-2, winning his match by fall as well.
Other wrestlers in action for Trenton at the tournament included Quincy Griffin (113), Canyon VonBurg (120), Brice Gibler (126) and Nick Wattenbarger (170), all of whom were 0-2 at the tournament.
UP NEXT
For Whitney, Owen and Trump, the Class 1 MSHSAA Wrestling Championships begin on Thursday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia and continue through Saturday, when state medalists will be determined.