Silerio takes 2nd, Jordan and Obando 3rd

 
By Steve Bowman
Editor, The Brentwood Spirit
Email: bowmansj@sbcglobal.net

Six wrestlers from Brentwood High School qualified for this week’s state meet by placing in the top four in their weight classes Saturday at the Class 1 District 1 championships at the Whitfield School.

Headed to Mizzou Arena in Columbia this weekend are seniors Gary Silerio and Deshaun Johnson, juniors Narvell Jordan and Justin Shipley and sophomores Donovan Obando and Ricky McQuay. Silerio took second place at 145 pounds, Jordan third at 138, Obando third at 220, Johnson fourth at 152 and McQuay fourth at 285.

It will be Silerio’s fourth state meet and Johnson’s second, and everyone else’s first trip.

Four other wrestlers didn’t qualify for state but scored points to help Brentwood finish third among 15 schools, BHS’s highest team finish in at least several years. They were Chase Lynch at 126 pounds, Justin Harris at 132, Tayveon Brown at 160 and Joe Dreyer at 170. Lynch and Dreyer went to state last year.

“I’ll take third,” said BHS coach Roy Hughes. “Everybody pulled together. The younger guys wrestled well. We had some surprises, a couple of guys who came up a little bit short. But I’m not any less proud of them, because everybody put everything they had on the mat and worked as hard as they could and that’s all you can ask as a coach.”

Senior Sam Tilton would have competed at 195 pounds but separated his shoulder in practice last Tuesday.

“I was pretty frustrated because I knew I could make it to state this year,” Tilton said Saturday, his arm in a sling. “But I’m kind of done being mad about it, there’s nothing that can be done about it now. I ended up with 20-some wins, which is much better than the combined 10 wins I had in past seasons.”

Gary Silerio, 2nd place, 145 pounds

Silerio missed his first district title by two points, losing 6-5 to Matt Green of Maplewood-Richmond Heights in the championship match. It’s the second time this season he has lost to Green by a point.

“I’m not upset because he gave me a good match,” said Silerio, 37-9. “The first time we wrestled I feel like he was stalling most of the time.”

Silerio went 1-2 at state last year.

“I know I’ve got to work harder,” he said. “I’ve got a week to prepare.”

Narvell Jordan, 3rd place, 138 pounds

Jordan has been one win away from qualifying for state the past two years. It started out badly for him on Saturday when he lost his first match due to injury — he temporarily passed out due to a hold by his opponent. But he worked his way through the loser’s bracket with two pins, the second coming when Principia’s Noah Ostler was beating him 5-4.

“I saw I was down by one point and I knew I needed to do something,” said Jordan, 19-14. “I waited for him to put pressure on me then I used his momentum to pin him.”

Said Hughes, “He was the No. 2 seed and then passed out and lost that first match. But he came back, worked his way through and took third. We argued about that second-place spot in the seeding meeting and Narvell showed that he was the better wrestler, at least today.”

Donovan Obando, 3rd place, 220 pounds

Obando outwrestled teammate Buddy Karsten early last week to win the starting spot for district at 220. Neither knew at the time that whoever went to district would receive byes in the first and second rounds, qualifying for state without breaking a sweat. But Obando, 9-12, showed he belonged when, in the match for the third-place medal, he pinned Lutheran St. Charles’s Dillan Williams in 20 seconds.

“It’s shocking,” said Obando with a wry smile. “I’m very shocked.”

Said Hughes, “Donovan has been sharing the spot back and forth with Buddy and ended up winning the spot this week. We’ve talked a lot about hitting your peak at the right time.”

Justin Shipley, 3rd place, 182 pounds

Shipley was the only Eagle to post three pins at the tournament. Now he’s going to his first state tournament, an event he’s never attended even as a spectator.

“I haven’t been there before but I heard it’s pretty crazy,” he said. “I know it’s at Mizzou and there are a bunch of mats, at least four.”

Deshaun Johnson, 4th place, 152 pounds

Entering the district tournament with nearly 40 wins, Johnson was the No. 1 seed at 152. He opened with a pin but then was upset 6-3 by Principia’s Barrett Pierce.

“I was the top seed but that’s how it is with wrestling sometimes,” said Johnson. “I lost against Principia, a guy I had never wrestled, though I had beaten guys who had beaten him.”

Johnson rebounded quickly, with a 37-second pin, before losing the third-place medal to “my buddy Cole White of Herculaneum, who beat me last year at district for third place and then I beat him both times earlier this season. He’s a good friend of mine so I don’t really have much animosity toward him.”

Ricky McQuay, 4th place, 285 pounds

McQuay clinched his first state trip with a 13-6 decision over Herculaneum’s Damion Koyn, a guy who pinned him when they last met. This time McQuay won with “Bear hug, bear hug, bear hug. That’s pretty much all I used.”

Said Hughes, “Ricky and Donovan were both unknowns this season – I didn’t know how they’d do. We’ve talked a lot about hitting your peak at the right time and they’re close to it. I hope it’s not until next weekend.”

Class 1 District 1 tournament team scores
1. Whitfield 240 points
2. Central (New Madrid County) 120
3. Brentwood, 103.5
4. MRH, 99
5. Lift for Life, 97.5
6. Principia 89
7. Lutheran St. Charles 78
8. Herculaneum 48
9. Hancock 45
10. Cleveland 44.5
11. Lutheran North 35
12. Valle Catholic 20
13. Missouri School for the Blind 0
14. Orchard Farm 0
15. Transportation and Law 0

BHS team finishes at district
2016: 3rd, 103.5 points, 6 qualifiers
2015: 5th, 96 pts, 6 qualifiers
2014: 4th, 104 pts, 6 qualifiers

113 pounds — Neal Bhattacharya (10-22) went 0-2: bye; pinned in 1:33 by MRH’s Ronald Stewart (43-3); bye; bye; pinned in 2:15 by Lift for Life’s Julian Jones (19-7).

126 pounds — Chase Lynch (28-18) went 1-2 and scored 4 team points: bye; 13-7 decision over Hancock’s Tristin Benson (15-7); pinned in 3:18 by MRH’s Romelle Person (41-3); lost 8-3 decision to Cleveland’s Joshua Garner.

132 pounds — Justin Harris (11-7) went 1-2 and scored 4 team points: bye; lost 7-3 decision to Hancock’s Thomas Tre Dittrich (33-16); bye; pinned Herculaneum’s Drew Gibson (3-28) in 0:40; lost 11-6 decision to Whitfield’s Ethan Hovis (19-31).

138 pounds — Narvell Jordan (19-14) went 3-1, placed third and scored 15 team points: bye; lost due to injury in 0:23 to Central New Madrid County’s Jacob Keene (14-21); bye; pinned Cleveland’s Nashoba Moore (4-15) in 0:34; pinned Principia’s Noah Ostler (21-16) in 4:10; 14-5 major decision over Hancock’s Ashton Wynn (11-6).

145 pounds — Gary Silerio (37-9) went 2-1, placed second and scored 19 team points: bye; pinned Whitfield’s Mahyar Moshiri (2-4) in 1:59; 11-3 major decision over Lutheran St. Charles’s Dillon Liefer (26-16); lost 6-5 decision to MRH’s Matt Green (36-5).

152 pounds — Deshaun Johnson (39-7) went 2-2, placed fourth and scored 13 team points: bye; pinned Cleveland’s Lawrence Bourrage (18-12) in 1:56; lost 6-3 decision to Principia’s Barrett Pierce (24-14); pinned Lutheran North’s Jaachi David (9-4) in 0:37; and was pinned in 2:22 by Herculaneum’s Cole White (25-10).

160 pounds — Tayveon Brown (18-15) went 2-2 and scored 5.5 team points: bye; lost 22-9 major decision to Lift for Life’s Mark Harris (10-5); 20-5 technical fall at 5:00 over Missouri School for the Blind’s Zyshaun Cross-Williams (12-3); pinned Central New Madrid County’s Jaylon Newsome (10-21) in 2:47; and was pinned in 0:49 by Lutheran St. Charles’s Kory Carter (32-15).

170 pounds — Joe Dreyer (11-20) went 1-2 and scored 4 team points: bye; pinned in 2:52 by Lift for Life’s Tubias Johnson (14-5); bye; pinned Lutheran St. Charles’s Max Taksel-Fukushim (13-7) in 1:50; and was pinned in 1:41 by Hancock’s Devin Schlereth (19-14).

182 pounds — Justin Shipley (26-12) went 3-1, placed third and scored 18 team points: bye; pinned Lutheran St. Charles’s Elliot Huff (10-16) in 3:02; was pinned in 4:30 by Central New Madrid County’s Brian Mickle (26-18); pinned Orchard Farm’s Ayden Hynes (6-16) in 1:55; and pinned Cleveland’s Chance Gaston (7-6) in 1:29.

220 pounds — Donovan Obando (9-12) went 1-1, placed third and scored 10 team points: bye; bye; was pinned in 0:53 by Whitfield’s Max Darrah (44-3); bye; and pinned Lutheran St. Charles’s Dillan Williams (14-11) in 0:20.

285 pounds — Ricky McQuay (23-20) went 2-2, placed fourth and scored 11 team points: bye; pinned Valle Catholic’s Garrett MacMillan (13-10) in 5:07; was pinned in 0:26 by Lutheran St. Charles’s Bradley Williams (38-4); 13-6 decision over Herculaneum’s Damion Koyn (18-20); and was pinned in 1:13 by Central New Madrid County’s Stephen Clark (10-4).