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at andymeyer@npgco.com.W e d n e s d ayFeb. 22, 2012

THE RIGHT STUFFMSHSAA WRESTLING cHAMpIoNSHIpS

Warriors enjoy solid state effort

Ray, Tipton return with medals as team goes 14-13 overall

By Andy Meyer

COLUMBIA — By the numbers, the Warriors turned in one of their stron-gest state showings yet.

Smithville sent seven individuals to the MSHSAA Wrestling Championships this past weekend, finished with an overall winning record and returned with two medalists despite some unfavorable draws.

Junior Matt Ray came in third place at 182 pounds, sophomore Dalton Tipton finished fifth at 138, and six of the team’s seven qualifiers won at least one match dur-ing the three-day event at Mizzou Arena.

It all added up to a top-20

finish for a program that seems to be gaining momen-tum in coach Taylor Middle-ton’s fifth year at the helm.

“I think we’ll be able to build off of that going into this offseason,” Middle-ton said. “The kids wrestled tough. They did all year. They fell a little short. They wanted to get four medals. That was a goal they had set. Overall, I thought it was a really good weekend.

“It ended on a high note, and probably about what we expected.”

The Warriors had already lived up to a significant goal when they qualified seven for the season-end-ing state tournament in the first place. Since Middleton stepped into the head coach-ing position, the team had never qualified more than five for the event.

All that changed when the

Future appears bright for team

All year long, Smith-ville’s wrestlers set lofty expectations for

themselves, and they seemed to achieve every one.

Winning the first confer-ence title since the mid-1990s? Check. Sending half the team down to the state tournament? Check. Both goals were ambitious and that much more impressive when they were realized.

Now the only question is: what’s next?

The Warriors have been on an upward trajectory ever since Taylor Middle-ton returned to take over the program, and without question, it was the team’s most successful year to date under Middleton’s watch.

But don’t expect the team to rest of its laurels follow-ing such a successful cam-paign. If anything, their accomplishments only seem to drive them even more.

“We only lose three out

of this year’s lineup and only one that was a quali-fier,” Middleton said. “To have six guys coming back, two medalists and a bunch of eighth graders coming up with some experience that are going to be tough, I look forward to us doing this even more next year.”

It’s been said many times, but it bears repeating: the Warriors didn’t qualify any-one for state four year ago. But even in the midst of that frustration during Mid-dleton’s first year, change

Peter YankowskY/Special to The Smithville Herald

Smithville junior Matt Ray (center) placed third during the MSHSAA Wrestling championships at Mizzou Arena in columbia, where he celebrated a victory with assistant coach Brad perkins and head coach Taylor Middleton. Ray finished in third place at 182 pounds, while sophomore Dalton Tipton (5th) also earned a medal.

n Junior Matt Ray capped a successful season with a third-place finish at the MSHSAA Wrestling Championships, PaGe B3.

n Likewise, Dalton Tipton built on his strong performance all year by hauling in his second medal with a 5th-place finish in Columbia, PaGe B3.

n Smithville’s four first-time state qualifiers competed well during their first performance at the state meet and had memorable experiences, PaGe B3.

n Jerry Middleton, meanwhile, refereed his final match during the MSHSAA Wrestling Championships, ending an officiating career that spanned more than 30 years, PaGe B4.

M o r e I n s I de

ANDY MEYERE-MAIL: andymeyer@npgco.com

PHONE: 532-4444

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smithville seniors ethan Hays, Caleb Thomas sign college scholarships, see PaGe B2.InsIde:

Matt ried/St. Joseph News-Press

Smithville senior Kristen Stewart grabs a rebound during a game against St. Joseph Lafayette on Thursday, Feb. 16.

BoyS BASKETBALL: DISTRIcT pREvIEW GIRLS BASKETBALL: DISTRIcT pREvIEW

Mick returns in time for postseason

Defense is name of game this season

Warriors will have to go through solid

defensive squads

By Andy Meyer

The past few years, the battle for the Class 4 District 16 championship always seemed to come down to two opposing forces — offense vs. defense.

Teams like Smithville and St. Joseph Benton relied on a suffocating defense, while Platte County always seemed to bring a high-octane offense into the field with their multiple colle-giate athletes.

This year, however, defense is the common denominator of nearly all the top teams.

The Warriors enter the district tournament, which takes place in Chillicothe this year, as the No. 1 seed for the second straight season. But they will likely have to trump two sound defensive teams if they hope to repeat as district champions.

And a stingy Savannah squad will be the first team to stand in their way tonight, Wednesday, Feb. 22.

The Savages claimed a 51-40 victory against Chilli-cothe in the first round of the tournament on Mon-day, Feb. 20, and have given

By Andy Meyer

Despite playing the past two games without its lead-ing scorer, Smithville’s boys basketball team was back at full strength just in time for the Class 4 District 16 Tournament.

Sophomore Brock Mick suffered a knee injury against Cameron earlier this month, and missed the final two Midland Empire Conference games. But he was expected to be back in action Tuesday, Feb. 21, for the team’s district-opener against Chillicothe.

Getting back the team’s leading scorer after a late-sea-son injury was advantageous

and will be essential to the team’s postseason chances, said Smithville coach Chad Jones.

“It would be nice to have that one game prior to dis-tricts for Brock to get his legs back under him, but more importantly for us was just getting him healthy,” Jones said.

Still, several Warriors stepped up to fill in the gaps in Mick’s absence.

Junior forward Derek Howe became the team’s go-to scorer was led the way in conference games against Bishop LeBlond and St. Joseph Lafayette, while junior Blane Townsend also

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