Wright City Junior David Joseph Rice is the first wrestler in Wright City history to medal at the state wrestling tournament.
Rice placed fourth in the Missouri State High School Activities Association Class 2 wrestling tournament in the 126 pound weight class.
“Joe just did what Joe does,” Wright City wrestling coach Fred Ross said. “He peaked at the right time and wrestled some smart matches. He did really well.”
Rice won his first two matches to earn a spot in the state semifinals. Rice pinned Aidan Bolinger of Blair Oak in 3:02 to advance to the quarterfinals. He won his quarterfinal match against Zeke Moreland of St. James on a 7-3 decision.The win avenged a loss from early in the season when Rice lost to Moreland in overtime.
After losing his semifinal match to Tanner Riley of Cameron in a 5-1 decision, Rice rebounded to defeat Dalton Coe of Pleasant Hill in a 6-0 decision to advance to the third place match. Kirksville’s Hunter Tarr pinned Rice in 3:48 in the third place match.
Rice was the lone area wrestler to place in the state tournament.
Demetrice Lenoir was the other Wright City wrestler to compete at the state tournament. After he was pinned in his first round match by Pleasant Hill wrestler Brayden Bush, Lenoir responded by pinning Skyler Sanders of St. Clair in his first round wrestleback match. He was trailing the match 8-2 when he pinned Sanders.
“We were just rolling on the mat and I ended up pinning him,” Lenoir said.
Ross added Lenoir came out of a scramble position and rolled Sanders to his back to complete the pin.
He lost to Brody Carins of Chillicothe by a 13-2 decision in the second round wrestleback.
“I was happy to get him a win in his first year wrestling and first year qualifying,” Ross said. “You’ll have a hard time finding a better story. Last year he’s playing basketball and this year he comes out for the wrestling team and he qualifies for state. And that just shows how good of an athlete he is.”
Wright City’s Elizabeth Riggs was also the lone girls wrestler for her school to compete at the state tournament. Lebanon wrestler Halea Bartel pinned Riggs at the 3:53 mark in the first round. After defeating Madison Conrad of Seckman in a 5-0 decision in the first round wrestleback, Riggs lost to Parkway South wrestler Nadia Middendorf in a 6-2 decision in the second round wrestleback to end Riggs’ run at the state tournament.
Riggs said the state tournament was different than any other event in which she competed.
“The first one was definitely the worst,” Riggs said. “The first match. The second one I was a little more comfortable with because I knew who I was wrestling and I was confident I could beat her. Like I thought I could. Third one it was unknown so I didn’t really know... But overall, it was just way different than any other tournament.