The Missouri Military Academy Colonels won some hardware at their home meet, and the Mexico Bulldogs had a couple make the podium. MMA won five medals in its fourth-place team finish at the MMA Colonels Classic on Saturday at the MMA Field House in Mexico. The Colonels finished with 128 points to place them fourth out of 11 schools while California edged St. Louis University High School by a half point to win with 154.5.
MMA had three wrestlers finish as the runner-up in their respective weight classes, including Deonte Kerns (1-1 with pinfall) at 120 pounds, Ryan Miles (3-1 with three pinfalls) at 150 and state-ranked No. 8 Trae Griffiths (1-1 with pinfall) at 157. Evan Corley picked up a pinfall in the final period to earn a third-place medal at 175, and Russell Olson took third at 215 after two pinfall victories and close decision losses of 4-0 and 6-3. Those just missing the podium in fourth included Caleb Xamis at 126, Michael Pfeifer at 132, Sam Stevens at 138, Adam Swenson at 190 and Nathaniel Summers at 285.
The Colonels have a tri meet at California scheduled for Tuesday before competing in districts two weekends from now in Marceline.
Mexico sent Evan Blair, Travis Shramek and Kyle Lewis. Blair won two matches via first-period pinfall to win first at 106 pounds, and Shramek pinned his final two opponents after two losses to take third at 285 pounds.
Look for the full story with MMA district outlook in the Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, edition of the Mexico Ledger.
