Johnson back in finals

JC's J.J. Johnson defeated Ben Boyd of Rockhurst by the score of 7-4.
JC's J.J. Johnson defeated Ben Boyd of Rockhurst by the score of 7-4.

Jared Johnson of the Jefferson City Jays will look to take that final step tonight.

Johnson, a junior, advanced to the 189-pound title match with a win by fall Friday night in the Class 4 State Championships at Mizzou Arena.

Johnson (50-0) defeated Will Owen of Hickman in 5:06 to advance to the championship round for the second straight season. The junior used a takedown and near-fall points to lead 4-0 after one period. He stretched his advantage to 7-1 after two periods before getting a takedown and the fall in the third.

Johnson will meet Louis Foutz of Blue Springs (41-4) in tonight's title match. Johnson edged Foutz 1-0 in the district title match last Saturday at Fleming Fieldhouse.

Johnson was the only one of four Jays to advance out of the semifinals.

"The kids wrestled hard," Jays coach Phil Cagle said. "Things just didn't go their way in a lot of cases."

At 112, Hunter Neighbors dropped a 4-3 decision to Michael Olsen of Park Hill.

After a scoreless first period, Olsen got a takedown before Neighbors escaped to make it 2-1 heading into the third. Neighbors (35-4) tied the match with an escape, but Olsen got another takedown to finish off the win.

Neighbors, a junior, advanced with a 1-0 win over Levi Rayburn of Jackson in Friday afternoon's quarterfinals. Neighbors scored the lone point of the match with an escape in the second period.