Wrestling State Championship
The Cameron Dragons finished the 2017-2018 season tied for 28th place at the Missouri State Wrestling Tournament. Senior Joe Bryant (54-4) was the lone state medalist for the Dragons, as Bryant scored 20 team points on his way to a 4th place finish in the 285 lbs. weight class.
After Thursday mornings opening ceremonies, Bryant won-by-fall in 30 seconds, advancing into the quarterfinals. State qualifiers Caleb Worland-106 lbs., Thorin Green-120 lbs., Zane Jenkins-132 lbs., Kayne Lamison-145 lbs., Danny Gibbs-160 lbs., Wyatt Burnett-182 lbs., Dayln Meyers-195 lbs., and Andrew Neely-220 lbs. all lost their first round matches and were faced with the wrestle-back round immediately. Unfortunately for the Dragons, the wrestle-back round was a tough one as each Dragon was one-by-one eliminated from the state tournament.
Friday morning Joe lost-by-fall in 3:06 to the eventual state runner up from St. Genevieve. During his second round wrestle-back, Bryant won-by-fall in 44 seconds to advance to the “bubble-match” round of Friday evening. Friday evening of the state wrestling tournament is one of the most exciting evenings of wrestling at the Missouri High School State Wrestling Tournament. Semi-final matches for those on the front-side of the bracket and “bubble matches” of the back-side of the bracket are wrestled simultaneously for all classes. Semi-final winners advance into the state championship and “bubble-match” winners earn a state medal placement. During his “bubble-match” Joe won-by-fall in 34 seconds to earn his state medal.
Saturday morning Bryant was successful in his consolation semi-final winning by a fall in 3:38. This win propelled Joe into the 3rd place match-up versus Clayton Hazelrigg from Odessa. Bryant dropped a 3-2 decision in the medal match to earn a 4th place finish and to cap off a 51-4 senior campaign. Joe will graduate as a two-time state medalist; having earned a 5th place finish in 2016-2017.
Lamison (45-20), Gibbs (33-20), and Myers (40-27) finished their senior seasons as state qualifiers. Junior Jenkins (30-24), along with sophomores Worland (43-18) and Green (41-19), along with freshman Burnett (23-20) and Neely (26-14) all will return with the state qualifier label for Head Coach Phillip Limb next season. Congratulations Dragons!
