The Panthers brought a state wrestling title back to Centralia for the first time in school history.

State Meet Day 1 Photo Gallery

State Meet Day 2 Photo Gallery

The team finished first in the team standings on Thursday — at 194.5 points and was ahead of Brookfield’s 135 points — at the Class 1 MSHSAA boys state championships at Mizzou Arena in Columbia after the Panthers collected eight state medals, three individual titles, two wrestlers with undefeated seasons, and the first three-time state champion in the program in senior Brayden Dubes. Senior Brayden Shelton became a back-to-back champion, and senior Seth Hasekamp won a title to wrap up a 50-0 campaign in front of a loud Centralia fan section in the arena.

All of these accomplishments aren’t possible, however, without the support of the community, head coach Luke Gramke said. Gramke said he has been coaching in Centralia for about 10 years, but others laid the program’s foundation that also saw them win second place in Class 1 in each of the last three years.

“This is definitely not something that I built,” Gramke said. “We have a community that cares about wrestling, we have a youth program that invests a lot of time, effort and energy into developing those kids, and we have a great group of parents that are willing to drive their kids from ocean to ocean to get them the best opportunities as it relates to wrestling. We’re just blessed as a community to have so many people that care. That’s what provided this opportunity.”

In this “close-knit” environment, Gramke said mat generals like Dubes, Shelton and Hasekamp developed into skilled and capable leaders for the program. And the list goes on from there.

Freshman Rex Bryson and junior Weston Ward finished as runners-up in their respective weight classes, with Bryson losing his first match of the season in the title match. Senior Kyden Wilkerson and sophomore Bryson Dubes each won third place, adding to their collections, and senior Jesse Shannon took fourth place to come away with a state medal every year of his career.

Six of Centralia’s 10 state qualifiers this season were seniors, which is understandable as Gramke said they have been the core of the team.

“Since Day 1, they stepped in as freshmen and were meaningful contributors,” Gramke said. “They’re definitely leaving the wrestling program in a better place than they found it. Those lessons will be passed on to our younger kids.”

Brayden Dubes had a major decision and pinfall before working a bit more in the 120-pound championship match against Holden’s Daylen Greene. Gramke said Dubes is a “level-headed” kid that can be deceptive to opponents on the mat.

“He’s unbelievably strong,” Gramke said. “It is unreal whenever he gets into those core positions of how foundationally strong he is. His work ethic, that elevates him above everybody else, but man, he is so deceivably strong.”
Dubes said he believes in not taking much time off, especially when he kept winning state titles as it is difficult to repeat.

“It puts more pressure on you, and you’re the competition everybody wants to beat,” Dubes said.

Shelton torched his 165-pound bracket with three pinfall victories before he mixed it by winning in another premature way: an 18-2 technical fall over Father Tolton’s Frank Hazelrigg, who was 42-5 going into the bout.

The victory gave Shelton his second straight undefeated season by going 35-0 this year. Throughout the title match, Shelton seemed to be in control the entire time as he calmly scored point after point before it buried Hazelrigg. Shelton is a four-time state medalist after finishing third in each of his first two seasons.

“He’s very confident and having a lot of fun,” Gramke said. “That was my hope for him to go out and wrestle his last match of his high school career in a Centralia singlet, wrestling loose and free and having fun. Some of those big matches (in the past) were difficult on him, now back-to-back undefeated seasons and two-time state champion, I think he’s just feeling more comfortable and confident out on the mat.”

Hasekamp shared similar pain with Centralia as a team as not only did the Panthers not finish about second for several years but so did the senior. In the last two years, Hasekamp was the 285-pound runner-up. This year, it didn’t take him long to pin Penney’s Dawson Miller as he notched his fourth first-period pinfall in the tournament

“He’s a tenacious kid,” Gramke said. “He wrestled good matches in his last two attempts to win a state title, fell a little short so it makes this one super sweet. That was a special moment for me too to see him get his hand raised. He was just a man amongst boys out there. His top pressure is unreal.”

“Last year, I wasn’t super dominant on my feet,” Hasekamp said. “I spent a lot of time in the weight room to help with the strength to be able to make those attacks easier. I felt dominant in the state tournament (this year).”

Returning state champion Wilkerson suffered a Day 1 loss in the 157-pound semifinals to Summit Christian Academy’s Jeramiah Smith but this didn’t prevent another one of Centralia’s leaders to set a good example for the Panthers of the future, Gramke said, by winning via two falls and a 10-3 decision.

“He didn’t come here to take second, he didn’t come here to take third, and whenever he got upset in the semifinals, he handled it with such grace,” Gramke said. “I was unbelievably proud of how he handled those emotions. Some kids storm off the mat, throwing head gear or cursing officials, but he stood up, shook hands like a man, walked off and said ‘That’s wrestling.’”