Three Eagles Wrestlers Compete At State Meet
Mat Control… Eagle sophomore wrestler Kale Tryon wrestles to a win during a consolation first round match in the 138-pound weight class at the Class 1 Boys State Championships on Wednesday, Feb. 22. Photo by Steve Edwards
Holden high school wrestlers Daylen Greene, CJ Reifsteck, and Kale Tryon represented the Eagles boys wrestling team at the Class 1 Wrestling Championships at Mizzou Arena in Columbia on Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 22-23.
Greene placed second in the 120-pound weight class as he ended his junior season in a title bout. The all-state finish is the third for Greene after placing third at the state meet in his freshman and sophomore seasons.
“That was definitely one of my goals, just to make the finals,” said Greene. “It’s a tough two days, so that’s really all I could do was go out there and compete, make my way to the finals in a tough match.”
The title match was set up for Greene by two early-round wins by pin, and a semifinal match that ended in a 1-0 score for a win by decision. In the title bout, Greene matched up gainst familiar foe Brayden Dubes from Centralia.
“I knew my focus had to be to win all my matches,” said Greene. “I knew I had a good shot going in. I just had to execute my plan, and do what I do best.
“My semifinals match was definitely a tougher one than I expected. It was kind of a defensive wrestler. I struggled a little bit, and then obviously, my finals match, a kid I’ve lost to pretty bad for the last couple of years. I’ve wrestled him the last two years in the semis.”
In a first-time occurrence for a brother and sister duo in the state of Missouri, Daylen and his sister Macey, a freshman, both competed in title bouts at this year’s state championships. In fact, they competed at the same time on the Mizzou mats during the title match round. Macey would match Daylen by placing second in an all-state medal finish.
“It’s pretty wild to be honest,” stated Daylen. “It’s really cool to be wrestling with your sibling at the same time, same finals.”
Reifsteck used a first-round loss by pin in the 175-pound weight bracket as motivation. Two wins by pin on the consolation side put Reifsteck into his fourth match of the tournament. He ultimately suffered a loss by decision in a 4-3 score in that consolation third round match to end his first state meet appearance with a record of 2-2.
“I lost, and that kind of set a tone for me the rest of the day,” said Reifsteck. “If I go two-and-out, that’s it, so I needed to keep going, keep fighting, It pushed me to do better, and I wrestled the best I have these last two days. I came back, and won the next two matches. It put me into the second day which I did not expect.”
Tryon finished his sophomore season, and his first state meet appearance with a record of 1-2. Tryon rebounded from a first-round loss by recording a win by decision. His tournament would end with a loss by pin in the second consolation round.
Daylen Greene took stock of Holden’s state qualifiers showings at the state championships which concluded with Greene’s all-state medal finish, and three of the seven Lady Eagles state qualifiers gathering all-state medals.
“It was great,” said Greene as he enjoyed the rearview mirror success of this season with an eye on the road to next season. “They all deserve it. All the boys, all the girls, they’ve worked their butt off all year. Keep on working in the offseason, and trusting my coaches, trusting my teammates. We’ll be here next year.”
