The call came in from the stands moments before Josh Howk’s 140-pound state wrestling championship match against Wentzville Holt’s Cullen Halpin.
“C’mon Josh, the city needs a champion!” a fan screamed from the stands.
Howk didn’t disappoint the throng of Blue Springs fans in attendance Saturday at the 80th Missouri State High School Wrestling Championships at Mizzou Arena, out-pointing Halpin 10-7 to bring home the Wildcats’ lone individual championship.
“It feels good,” Howk said moments after tossing his headgear in celebration into the stands near the Blue Springs faithful. “I feel like the hero of the team. Nobody wanted to come home without a gold (medal).”
Blue Springs just missed gold as a team. Park Hill (202.5) had locked up the team title with a dominant Friday, but the Wildcats were able to hold off Francis Howell Central (109) for second place with 133.5 points.
Howk was aggressive from the start against Halpin and never let up. A senior who finished second at state a year ago, Howk wasn’t taking any chances of losing out on his chance to win the title.
“This has been my dream ever since I was a kid wrestling,” Howk said. “Eight years old and came to my first state tournament. I saw all those guys in the No. 1 spot and I knew I wanted to be there.”
Billy Everett’s bid to join Howk as individual champion came up short. Everett, a heavyweight (285 pounds), was outlasted 2-1 in triple overtime by Lebanon’s Dave Stewart.
Stewart scored on an escape with five seconds left in the third overtime period that left Everett dejected and head coach Mike Hagerty disappointed for his senior wrestler.
“I thought that he was stalling the whole match,” Everett said of Stewart. “I thought I should’ve got a call, but it didn’t go my way. You can’t rely on calls all the time. I tried to put things together, but he was a big guy. I wrestled my hardest.”
Everett added that, despite falling short of his goal to win a state championship, he had the experience of a lifetime at state, finishing 3-1 on the weekend.
“I believe in my heart I wrestled my best,” he said. “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Hagerty said the match was a microcosm of heavyweights such as Stewart and Everett clashing.
“I honestly thought there should have been some back points given (to Everett),” Hagerty said. “The guy made a desperation move and we didn’t control it. He got out and that’s the name of the game. With the big boys a lot of times those matches come down to that. One guy was able to get out in the overtime and the other guy couldn’t.”
Blue Springs freshman Darick Lapaglia (119), sophomore Greg Hegarty (125), junior Keenan Hagerty (135) and junior Lewis Foutz (189) all won hard-earned third-place medals as they all came through the consolation bracket because of losses in the quarterfinals.
Hagerty had praise for his entire cast of medalists, especially Hegarty and the younger Hagerty, his son.
“Greg had the tournament that we’ve been hoping to see from him for a long time,” Hagerty said. “We’ve seen it in the practice room. We’ve seen his intensity come up. He’s gone through cycles where he’s battled a little bit of confidence issues, but in this one, his confidence was through the roof. He willed himself to win the last two matches.
“You know, I’m proud of (Keenan) either way – as a dad or a coach. With him, it’s more to the story than meets the eye because he’s been real sick this year. Just to get back to the tournament and fight his way through – it would have been easier for him to go through the winning side because he would have had less matches – but he’s had to fight some stuff and get through it. Knowing that as a dad and not as a coach necessarily, knowing what he’s been through, it’s been a hell of a year. I’m more than proud of him.”
Keenan Hagerty, a state champion last season at 125 pounds, said he was all right with a third-place finish in a higher weight class this season.
“I’m a little disappointed but it felt good to get there,” Hagerty said of his third-place finish. “It’s pretty good, I guess.”
Another Wildcat, junior 215-pounder Donnie Horner, finished sixth after suffering two heartbreaking losses Saturday and one on Friday. First, Horner lost a 6-4 overtime decision Saturday to Ft. Zumwalt’s Issac LeBlanc in fourth-round wrestlebacks, then lost a close 3-2 decision to Lee’s Summit’s Dylan Case in the fifth-place match. In Friday’s semifinals, Horner lost 4-3 to eventual Class 4 state champion Andrew Lazalier of Holt.
“Coach said I wrestled a really good tournament,” Horner said. “I guess he’s right since he’s the coach, but I don’t feel that great about it.”
JAGUAR FRESHMAN FINISHES FOURTH: Austin Eads of Blue Springs South was 30 seconds from pulling off one of the biggest surprises of the weekend, taking Park Hill South’s Russell Coleman to the brink in Friday’s semifinals before losing 7-3.
On Saturday, Eads bounced back for a win in wrestlebacks to earn a shot at a third-place medal against Spencer Courier of Lee’s Summit. Courier, however, got the best of the talented freshman, downing Eads 9-2.
“He had an outstanding tournament,” Jaguars head coach Doug Black said of Eads. “He was 30 seconds away from being a state finalist. He made a little mistake (in the semifinals), but he came back (Saturday) and got fourth. That shows a lot of character.”
Eads said he looks forward to improving on his game to give himself an opportunity to possibly come back to Columbia next season and repeat his all-state honor or better.
“I’m pretty proud of myself,” Eads said. “My coaches push me hard and they’ll continue to push me hard for next year so I can come back here to the state tournament.”
DARING DARRING: Truman’s Darring White had an eventful state tournament, making it through to the medal rounds before two losses on Saturday earned him a sixth-place medal. The 103-pound senior was ecstatic about his weekend trip.
“It was exciting,” White said of the state tournament. “I didn’t know what to expect. I was happy to be there and excited to place.”
In the process of placing sixth at state, White also became just the fourth wrestler in Truman history to record more than 100 victories in a career.
“It was great,” White said. “I did better than I thought I’d do. I’m proud.”
