Despite a roster of only seven wrestlers, the Diamond High School wrestling team stood out in a big way Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats had five wrestlers advance to this week’s 78th Annual MSHSAA Wrestling Championships thanks to top four finishes at the Class 1 District 2 wrestling tournament in Knob Noster.

As a team, Diamond finished seventh overall with 97 points. Knob Noster claimed first place, followed by Fatima.

Despite the low numbers, Diamond competed well and coach Gary Pendergraft is pleased with the results of the two-day tournament.

“Everyone of the kids wrestled at the top of their game,” said Pendergraft. “I talked about it with my assistant coaches, that all five of the wrestlers that are going to state wrestled their best match of the year. That is what you want. You want your kids to be wrestling their best late in the season and to peak at the right time. They all wrestled at a great level.”

The performance was historic on several levels for Diamond High School. The five state qualifiers broke the school record set last year when four wrestlers moved on to Columbia. Diamond also had a pair of district champions in Craig VanLue and Curtis Russell. Prior to Saturday, Diamond had only one district champion in the program’s history.

VanLue (103 pounds) went 3-0 on the weekend and improved his record to 35-3 after claiming the championship. VanLue got a forfeit victory and then pinned Sam Stifferman of Fatima in the first period in the semifinals. In the championship tilt, VanLue — a sophomore — pinned Adrian’s Brant McMillen at the 2:38 mark.
Russell (152) had perhaps the biggest weekend for Diamond as the senior dominanted the competition. Russell didn’t allow a single point in the tournament and picked up a pair of pins in his three victories.

Russell opened with a 17-0 win over Tipton’s Zach Lynn. In the semifinals he pinned Holden’s Jacob Reimann at the 2:57 mark. In the championship match, Russell pinned Fatima’s Tim Troesser at the 3:42 mark. In the latter two matches, Russell held a 10-0 lead over both opponents before getting the win.

Russell, who finished sixth at state last year, is now 28-9 on the season.

Diamond also had a pair of third place finishers in Kendall Crosswhite and Jayde King.
Crosswhite (112) bounced back from a loss to Knob Noster’s Kurt Luzano, the No. 1 ranked wrestler in Class 1, by getting a thrilling win in the third place match.

Crosswhite picked up a 7-5 victory over Warsaw’s Chris Younkers in overtime, getting a takedown to secure the win.

King, one of the few female wrestlers in this area, went 3-1 in the tournament to clinch her spot in Columbia. King (119) lost to the No. 1 ranked wrestler in the bracket, Fatima’s Aaron Strobe, in the semifinals but came back to medal. In her third place match, King trailed 6-0 in the second period, before pinning Warsaw’s Erica Poe with 15 seconds left in an all-female match up in the consolation finals.

King, now 25-17 on the season, has recorded 19 pins.

Korey Griffin (140) punched his first trip to state by going 2-2 and placing fourth.

Griffin opened with a pin over Tipton’s Casey Kirby, before falling to Knob Noster’s Jacob Hoagland, the No. 1 ranked wrestler in state in this weight class.

Griffin bounced back by pinning Sherwood’s Justin Watson 11 seconds into the second period. Griffin, however, lost his final match. Adrian’s Luke Hough got the victory by a pin.

Diamond will wrestle starting at 10 a.m. Thursday at Mizzou Arena.