Gallatin finishes 9th in Class 1 field

Keegan Allen, 6th Place, 106-pound class.

Drayton Harris, 4th Place, 138-pound class.

Ross Critten, 4th Place, 113-pound class.

Graydee Rains at the conclusion of the match that assured him a state medal.

Allen, Critten, Harris and Rains medal at state wrestling tournament

Gallatin wrestlers brought home four medals from last weekend’s MSHSAA Class 1 Wrestling Championships held in Mizzou Arena, equaling or bettering last season’s place finishes in each case.

Ross Critten, Drayton Harris and Graydee Rains each returned from Columbia with a fourth place medal. Keegan Allen earned a sixth place medal in his first state appearance. Critten and Harris were sixth place finishers last season and Rains equaled his fourth place medal from 2017.

Ayden Wayne, Rian Critten, Caleb Boyd and Tom Crouse competed for the Bulldogs at state but could not advance to the medal round.

Allen won, 4-2, in his first 106-pound match over Jason Strope of Fatima, but fell in the quarterfinal round to eventual state champion Logan Ferrero of Whitfield. Allen won his next two matches to assure himself a medal. A loss to Marceline’s District 3 champ Cooper Fisher sent Allen to the fifth place medal match where he was forced to retire due to a nagging knee injury.

Ross Critten pinned South Harrison’s Nick Williams and captured a 3-1 win over Hancock’s Tristin Benson to make it to the semifinal round of the 113-pound class.  Critten fell to eventual runner-up Lucas Laux of Fatima but defeated Mid-Buchanan’s Tim Speer, 2-1, to set up a third place match against Cole Ritter of Adrian. Ritter prevailed, 7-3, in that bout.

Drayton Harris also advanced to the semifinal round of the 138-pound class, where he fell to eventual runner-up Ross Arch of Palmyra. The GHS sophomore pinned Kooper Wilson of Versailles in the consolation bracket, but came up short to Seneca’s Dalton Hembree, 2-0, in their third place match. Hembree’s only points came by way of a penalty and an escape.

Rains opened the 220-pound competition by pinning Bowen Li of Lutheran St. Charles. A loss to Lone Jack’s Justin Leath by a 5-1 margin sent him to the consolation side of the bracket. Rains pinned Lawson’s Ethan Bowers, defeated Plattsburg’s Blake McClain, 4-2, and won 2-0 over Buffalo’s Colten Kennedy on Saturday morning to set up a third place rematch with Leath.

Rains led, 3-2, late in the match but Leath countered with a reversal and three back points to win, 7-3.

Ayden Wayne and Rian Critten each won one match, respectively, in the 120 and 126 pound divisions. Wayne ended his junior season at 31-16 while Critten closed out his high school career with a 34-14 season mark. Senior Caleb Boyd dropped to 33-15 in his final season with a pair of state losses.

Tom Crouse wrestled to a 2-2 record in the 160-pound weight class and finished one win short of the medal round. He finished his sophomore season at 34-11.

Gallatin finished ninth in team standings, bettering last season’s 13^th place finish.

Whitfield dominated the Class 1 field for the second straight season, amassing 240 points to nearly double the total of runner-up Seneca. Whitfield owns seven Class 1 titles and four runner-up finishes since 2007.