Republic’s Cody Sandridge continued his strong senior season with an individual championship at the Kinloch Classic in Springfield Saturday. Sandridge won the 152-pound championship by defeating Willard’s Kyle Caldwell 1-0 in the finals. Sandridge scored the lone point of the match on an escape late in the third round, then held on for the victory.
The victory over Caldwell was the second of the season for Sandridge, who defeated Caldwell during a dual in Republic for his 100th career high school victory earlier this season.
“Cody and Kyle, both of them are top wrestlers,” says coach Jerry Morton. “Both have great defense. We’ve come out on top the last two times.
“Cody’s a hard worker. He just wrestles that type of match all the time. It was technically a good match. He stays in good position and scores when he needs to.”
As a team, the Tigers finished fifth overall, with 318 points. Willard won the team championship with 434.5 points. Lee’s Summit West was close behind in second place. Raymore-Peculiar and Blue Springs were third and fourth, respectively. During the opening day of competition, the Tigers had been as high as third place, but a difficult second day dropped them into fifth.
“We’re a team of above-average kids, so we get into the top bracket with the top kids, we’re seeing some struggles right now,” says coach Jerry Morton. “We’re a young team. They’re getting that experience they need for next year and we’re growing as a team.”
Several other Tigers finished with medals. Devon Owen finished sixth in the 106-pound division. Johnathan Beckett was sixth at 120, and Hunter Pyle finished sixth at 170.