Area Athletes Win State Championships

State championships were held over the weekend in wrestling and swimming and three athletes from the South County Patch area came home with first place medals.

Lindbergh senior Michael Slyman capped off an amazing career by defending his title at 160 pounds in the MSHSAA Wrestling Tournament in Columbia.

Seckman's Brock Wingbermuehle won the title at 120 pounds. He defeated Hunter Neighbors of Jefferson City 2-0 in the championship match.

Seckman had three other state medalists: Weston Basler (second at 106); Danny Farrell (third at 126); Matt Kraus (third at 132); and Luke Welland (fourth at 113).

The Jaguars finished third as a team and was the top team from the St. Louis area in Class 4. Blue Springs won the championship with 164 points. Park Hill was second with 144 followed by Seckman with 103.5.

Two other area wrestlers won medals in Class 4. Fox's Dominic Vitale was fourth at 170 pounds while Mehlville's Jimmy Sellers was sixth at 285 pounds.

Rockwood Summit had three state medalists in Class 3 led by Ian McIntosh who finished third at 160 pounds. Rudy May and Kris Bolton were both fifth at 195 and 285 pounds respectively.

Summit was 14th as a team in Class 3. 

Swimming

Megan Popp won the 500-yard freestyle Saturday at the MSHSAA Girls State Swimming Championships at the Rec-Plex in St. Peters.

Popp, a senior, won with a time of 4:59.33. Madison Reinker of Visitation was second in 5:01.27.

Popp also placed sixth with a time of 1:55.17 in the 200-yard freestyle. 

Popp was the only area medalist although two other area swimmers made it to Saturday's consolation heat. Lindbergh's Kaitlin Keltner won the consolation heat in the 100-yard butterfly. The junior had a time of 59.07 to officially finish ninth. Summit's Bianca Ninneman also competed in that race and was 12th with a time of 59.85. Ninneman was 14th in the 100-yard breaststroke.

Hockey

Hockey teams are down to the Frozen Four in the Mid-States playoffs and three area teams are still alive.

Oakville won its series against Lindbergh with a 5-3 win and 1-1 tie. The Tigers, who are the only public school alive in the Challenge Cup division, will play St. Louis University High, in the semifinals. Game one is scheduled for Thursday at 6:40 p.m. at the Hardee's IcePlex in Chesterfield. Game two of the best-of-two will be Saturday at 8:30 at Hardee's. Chaminade and CBC square off in the other Challenge Cup semifinal.

Lutheran South and Seckman will play each other in one semifinal of the Wickenheiser Cup. Lutheran South defeated Holt in the quarterfinals with a 7-5 win and 5-5 tie. Seckman swept Fort Zumwalt East, 5-3 and 3-1. Game one of that series will be Friday at 7:20 at Hardee's. Game two is Saturday at 1 p.m. at Hardee's. Whitfield and Francis Howell Central will play in the other Wickenheiser semifinal.

Mehlville made things interesting in its Founder's Cup semifinal series with a 6-5 win over Ladue after falling 2-0 in the opener. But the Rams won the shootout and advanced to the Founder's Cup championship against St. Mary's.

Basketball

District basketball begins this week. Oakville, Mehlville, Lindbergh, Fox and Cor Jesu are all competing in the Class 5, District 5 Tournament at Fox.

Rockwood Summit travels to Parkway South for the Class 5, District 3 Tournament.

Lutheran South and Affton are in the Class 4, District 3 field at Lutheran South while Bayless is in the Class 3, District 4 tournament at Crystal City.

Patch Male Athlete of the Week: Lindbergh wrestling's Michael Slyman defeated Drew Daniels of Rockhurst in the state finals, 5-2 to finish his season at 44-0. Slyman was also a state champion as a junior. 

Patch Female Athlete of the Week: Megan Popp, a Rockwood Summit swimmer, was the only area medalist to come out of the state swimming championships this weekend. She won the 500-yard freestyle and also placed in the 200-yard freestyle.