COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Blair Oaks Falcons will have three wrestlers going for state championships today.
Frankie Falotico at 126 pounds, Logan Mudd at 145 and Cole Kemna at 170 will represent the Falcons in the title round after picking up semifinal wins Friday night.
The trio have led Blair Oaks to the top of the team standings heading into the final day with 88 points. Whitfield is second with 78.5, while Marceline is third with 70.5. Whitfield and Marceline both have two wrestlers in the finals.
Falotico advanced by leading from start to finish in his match with Richmond's Dominic Nobile.
Falotico got a first-period takedown and then two near-fall points to lead 4-0. Neither wrestler scored in the second period, before the Blair Oaks sophomore pushed his lead to 6-0 after starting the third on the bottom and getting a reversal. Nobile finally scored on a reversal with :53 left, but couldn't get any more points.
Falotico (43-2), fifth at 120 last year, will wrestle for the title today against Whitfield senior Derrick Swaney (47-7). Swaney was fourth at 132 last season.
Mudd overcame an early deficit to post an 11-3 major decision against John Anderson of Mid-Buchanan.
Anderson, second at 132 in 2013, got a takedown with :39 left in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. But Mudd rebounded with a reversal and set of near-fall points to take a 5-2 advantage into the second period. Mudd put Anderson on his back again in the second period and led 8-3 with one period left.
Mudd (44-1), second at 138 last year, will face Holden senior Austin Gerth (43-6) for the title. Gerth finished fifth at 145 in 2013.
Kemna scored the first five points of his match against Mason Mounce of Trenton on his way to a 5-2 victory.
After a scoreless first period, Kemna got an escape midway through the second period to take the lead. He then got a takedown with :06 left to lead 3-0. Kemna added a set of near-fall points early in the third to make it 5-0 before Mounce got a late reversal.
Kemna (24-3) will take on Lathrop senior Josh Hartzell (51-2) in the title match. Hartzel won the title at 160 last year.
Brad Thomas of Blair Oaks lost by technical fall to Grant Schottel of Mid-Buchanan in his semifinal match at 152.
Schottel, who won the title at 145 last year, led just 2-0 after the first period, but stretched his advantage to 11-3 heading into the final two minutes.
Thomas (37-10) will face Nate Florine of Marceline in the fourth round of wrestlebacks that start at 10 a.m. today.
Fatima's Cody Huhn came up short in his bid to make the 120-pound final, falling 4-3 to Romelle Person of Maplewood in the semifinal.
Person jumped out to a 4-0 lead and held on to run his record to 36-0 on the season. He got a first-period takedown and another early in the second before Huhn started his comeback attempt. An escape with :46 left and a takedown with :14 left in the second period got him within 4-3 heading to the final period. Huhn started down in that frame and was unable to escape.
Huhn (21-4) will face Blair Oaks' London Gaydos (37-10) in the fourth round of wrestlebacks this morning.
Fatima is tied for 41st with eight points.
Versailles freshman Willie Schotte is the only other area wrestler still alive in Class 1.
Schotte advanced to the semifinals at 170 before falling to Hartzel. He will wrestle in the fourth round of wrestlebacks this morning then take part in the third- and fifth-place matches.
Versailles is 22nd in the team standings with 24.5 points.
The third- and fifth-place matches will start at noon today. The championship round is slated for a 4:30 p.m. start.
Follow @tjrackers on Twitter for updates during state wrestling matches.