Donald Woods, Anthony Brock, Ryan Mango win titles
Of the St. Louis American
The top prep wrestlers in the state of Missouri were on display at last weekend’s MSHSAA State Wrestling Championships in Columbia and the St. Louis area was well-represented.
Area athletes Donald Woods of McCluer North, Anthony Brock of Hazelwood East and Ryan Mango of Whitfield all came home with individual state championships in their respective weight classes.
Woods won the Class 4 state title at 160 pounds to complete an undefeated season at 47-0. Woods defeated rival Brad Dieckhaus of Francis Howell Central 3-2 in the championship match. Woods defeated Dieckhaus in all five of their meetings this season, which were all close and hotly contested.
The state title also capped a great rebound season for Woods, who finished fourth at the state tournament as a sophomore in 2005, but shut out of the medals last year when he lost his first two matches in Columbia.
In getting to the finals, Woods defeated Charlie Lay of Rock Bridge 11-5, Marcus Armato of Oak Park 5-3 in the quarterfinals and Robbie Hicklin 3-2 in an overtime thriller in the semifinals.
Hazelwood East’s Brock won the 189-pound title in the Class 4 tournament. Brock defeated Suburban North Conference rival Kevin Knopf of McCluer North 5-2 in the finals.
In winning his first state title, Brock was able to gain some revenge on a couple of wrestlers who had defeating him earlier this season. In the semifinals, Brock defeated Ben Pister of St. Joseph Central 5-2. Pister had pinned Brock earlier this season. Brock also got even with Knopf, who had defeated him for the district championship last weekend at McCluer North.
Whitfield’s Mango won the Class 1 title at 103 pounds in one of the dominating performances of the weekend. Mango pinned South Holt’s Matt Hufford, Lafayette County’s Andrew Haston and Brookfield’s Marshall Meers in succession before dismantling Logan Welch of Lexington 28-12 in the championship match.
Mango finished the season with a 42-2 record. He adds the first-place medal he won last weekend to the third-place medal he won as a freshman. Mango was also a national freestyle wrestling champion during the summer competition. He is the younger brother of former two-time state champion and current world champion Spenser Mango.
Sumner High’s Dante’ Butler fell short in his last chance to win a state title in the Class 3 state tournament. Butler was edged by Farmington’s Bradley Wisdom in the 119-pound final. Butler did conclude a tremendous high school career by winning four state medals. He finished fifth as a freshman, third as a sophomore and second the past two years.
Butler’s teammate at Sumner, Cantrell Brown, finished sixth in the 125-pound weight class. Terrell Smart of Hazelwood Central finished sixth in the Class 4, 140-pound class while Dominique Thornton of Hazelwood East finished sixth at 145-pound in the Class 4 field.
McCluer South-Berkeley’s Anthony Smith took home a fifth-place medal in the Class 3 meet at 135 pounds. The Bulldogs took a strong contingent to the state meet, which included Maurice Baker (130 lbs.), Willie Williams (145), Jeremy Harris (152), Mortez Jackson (171) and Lawrence Coleman (189).