sports@standard-democrat.com
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- With a chance to finish as high as third place, four area wrestlers left Mizzou Arena in Columbia, Mo., with some hardware.
Dexter's Ethan Stevens finished third in the Class 2, 182-pound weight division, Sikeston's Mitchell Garner (220) and New Madrid County Central's Rhiley Smith (132) both ended with fourth place and Sikeston's Garrett Middleton (132) finished sixth Saturday during the Missouri state wrestling tournament.
Each wrestler finished with all-state honors for cracking the top six of their weight classes.
Stevens, who lost his semifinal match on Friday, turned in two wins on Saturday to finish third. He defeated Ste. Genevieve's Wade Hahn by a 6-1 decision to move into the third-place match where he won a 2-1 match against Cameron's Caleb Shanks.
Stevens finished the year with a 42-5 record.
Garner also worked his way into a third-place match after defeating Casey Jumps from Platte County with a sudden victory 3-1.
Another close match in the third-place match didn't go his way, however, losing to Farmington's Jared Nickelson 3-2 in an ultimate tie breaker.
Garner finished his senior year with a 50-8 record.
Middleton, who earned his way into the final day of the tournament with two wrestleback wins lost both his matches on Saturday to finish his season with a 47-12 record.
Middleton lost the consolation semifinal to Trae Adams from DeSoto by a 2-1 decision, then dropped an 8-1 match to Jake Kiethline from Fort Zumwalt South during the fifth-place match.
Rhiley Smith became NMCC's first two-time all-state wrestler after making the final day of the Class 1 tournament.
Smith won his consolation semifinal over Seneca's Cole Hatfield 7-5 before falling in the third-place match by a 5-0 decision to Cooper O'Connor from Plattsburg.
__CLASS 1__ 132 -- Rhiley Smith (45-9) First round: won decision over Bo Thomas (Blair Oaks) 9-6 Quarterfinals: won by pin over Alex Cupp (Marceline) 6:00 Semifinals: lost decision to Brock Mauller (Father Tolton) 13-3 Cons. semi: won decision over Cole Hatfield (Seneca) 7-5 Third-place: lost decision to Cooper O'Connor (Plattsburg) 5-0
__CLASS 2__ 182 -- Ethan Stevens (42-5) First round: won by pin over Hunter Wilkins (John Burroughs) 4:17 Quarterfinals: won decision over Caleb Shanks (Cameron) 13-5 Semifinals: lost decision to Tage McNutt (Benton) 6-4 Cons. semi: won decision over Wade Hahn (Ste. Genevieve) 6-1 Third-place: won decision over Caleb Shanks (Cameron) 2-1
__CLASS 3__ 132 -- Garrett Middleton (47-12) First round: won by pin over Cody Thorne (St. Charles) 2:54 Quarterfinals: lost decision to Mavrick Alexander (Grain Valley) 8-1 Cons. round 2: won by injury forfeit over Ryan Markovic (Rolla) 1-0 Cons. round 3: won by pin over Blake Pomajzl (Smith-Cotton) 1:14 Cons. semi: lost decision to Trae Adams (DeSoto) 2-1 Fifth-place: lost decision to Jake Kiethline (Ft. Zumwalt South) 8-1
220 -- Mitchell Garner (50-8) First round: won by pin over Austin Hymer (Willard) 3:13 Quarterfinal: won decision over Dalton Crum (Belton) TB-1, 3-1 Semifinal: pinned by Brandon Musselman (Webb City) 0:49 Cons. semi: won decision over Casey Jumps (Platte Co.) SV-1, 3-1 Third-place: lost decision to Jared Nickelson (Farmington) UTB 3-2