By Chris Parker & Amanda Perkins
Warsaw senior Jayce Estes had been thinking about the final day of the Class 1 boys state wrestling tournament for a full year.
Estes won a state title as a sophomore, but he finished third as a junior.
That loss resonated with him all off-season.
“It impacted me a lot,” Estes said. “I needed my title back, so it helped me work harder.”
The hard work paid off on Thursday evening at Mizzou Arena as Estes, as he beat Marceline’s Reece Stufflebean 5-3 to win the Class 1 113-pound state championship.
“It means a lot to me because I worked so hard for this title,” Estes said. “I worked all season going to Oklahoma for wrestling camps. It just means a lot to me.”
Estes got a quick takedown 19 seconds in to go up 3-1. Stufflebean escaped 24 seconds later to make it 3-1 going into the second period.
The only scoring in the second period was an escape by Stufflebean cutting Estes’ lead to one at 3-2 heading into the third period.
Estes took bottom to start the third period and scored a reversal with 56 seconds remaining in the match to extend his lead to 5-2. Stufflebean escaped 17 seconds later to cut Estes lead back to two at 5-3.
The Warsaw senior was able to keep things neutral for the final 39 seconds to secure his second state title.
Warsaw had three more placers with Josh Harvath placing third at 190 pounds, Johrdan Decker placing fourth at 144 pounds, and Sean Reinersten placing fifth at 126 pounds.
