Junior Connor Sandridge celebrated his return to tournament competition with an undefeated weekend at the Harrisonville Christmas Tournament. Sandridge swept through the 170-pound bracket without a loss, winning the championship in his weight class. He only returned from an early-season injury less than a week ago, and Harrisonville was his first tournament of the season.
Sandridge’s championship helped Republic earn 11th place overall, out of 30 teams at the tournament – 22 of them varsity squads. Brennan Coleman (138) and Chase Hicks (152) were Republic’s next top finishers. They each finished sixth in their brackets. Jacob Simpson (132) and Maddox Wilkins (160) finished eighth.
Sandridge pinned all five of his pool opponents, three of them in less than a minute. In the quarterfinals, Sandridge pinned Jase Motlagh of Willard in 32 seconds. He needed 1:16 to dispatch Kale Weber of Harrisonville in the semifinals. Sandridge faced Drake Perkins of Jefferson City Helias, and for the first time all day he failed to pin his opponent. Instead, he won a 2-0 decision to capture the title.