Area Schools Will Send Caravan to State Wrestling Meet

The St. Charles area will be very well-represented at the upcoming state wrestling meet.

The 81st MSHSAA State Wrestling Championships will be Feb. 17-19 at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, MO. St. Charles West qualified nine wrestlers, Francis Howell North five and St. Charles High four.

St. Charles West wrestling coach Craig Martin had high expectations for his Warriors going into the Class 3 District 2 Tournament at Fort Zumwalt East High School last weekend and those expectations were turned into concrete results.

The Warriors won the 14-team district tournament. “We were pleased with what we did,” Martin said. “We were one of top ranked teams going into the tournament.”

Martin has high goals for the state tournament this weekend in Columbia.

“We’d like to see some kids earn some medals and as a team we’d like to get a trophy,” Martin added about the state meet.

 The top four teams at state take home a trophy. The top six placers in each weight class earn a medal.

The top four wrestlers in each district in each weight class qualify for state. St. Charles West’s Jarred Edwards, who wrestles in the 103-pound weight class, Jake Manaska (135), Christian Buchannan (145) and Austin Rugraff (160) earned district championships for St. Charles West. Conner McVey (119), Chris Wood (125), Joe Herold (130), and Casey Bartee (152) placed second and Angel Mendez (112) placed fourth.

Fort Zumwalt East placed second in the district tournament, and Fort Zumwalt North placed third.

St. Charles High School placed seventh as a team and qualified four wrestlers for state: freshman Reid Hanmore (103), juniors Brandon Howard (112) and Luke Bornhop (171) and senior Ryan Hanmore (140), Reid’s brother. All have impressive records, as Reid Hanmore is currently 25-11, Howard is 29-5, Bornhop is 29-10 and Ryan Hanmore is 30-1.

Ryan Hanmore is ranked second in the state in his weight class while his brother, Reid, is the first freshman to qualify for state from St. Charles High since 2000.

“He’s (Reid Hanmore) been a wrestler his whole life,” St. Charles coach Chris Miller said. “Coming in as a freshman we had high expectations for him and he hasn’t let us down.”

Meanwhile, Francis Howell North placed third in its Class 4 District 2 meet at McCluer North High School. Winning district championships for the Knights was senior Jason Shell at 130 pounds, and senior Harold Ritchie at 135 pounds. Shell is now 32-6 this season while Ritchie is 40-3.

Also qualifying is freshman Brendan Hachtel (11-18) at 103 pounds, sophomore Tyler Smith (32-15) at 119 and senior Sam Stewart (26-17) at 215 pounds.