Making the long trek into the northeast Missouri town of Palmyra over the weekend, 20 members of the Owensville Wrestling Club (OWC) competed in their respective age and weight classes during the Missouri USA District 7 Wrestling Tournament held at Palmyra High School.

Once the final hand was raised, a total of 16 OWC wrestlers advanced to this weekend’s Missouri USA State Championships scheduled to be held from March 12-15 at the  Wilson Logistic Arena in Springfield.

Of the 16 state qualifiers in Owensville orange and black, five of them won district titles from northeast Missouri.

Three of OWC’s district champions did not have to wrestle a match as they were the only ones in their age and weight class.

They included Jayden Lowe (12U 80), Chayce Faulkner (14U 75) and Corey Perkins (14U 285).

Augustus Branson won his district title in the 12U 135-pound weight class winning an 18-14 decision over Jefferson City’s Tristan Prenger and a 6-5 ultimate tiebreaker decision over South Callaway’s Ryan Niemet.

Maggie Branson was Owensville’s fifth district champion topping the 8U 60-pound bracket with win by fall over Palmyra’s Rylea Casey (2:25) and a win by technical fall over Hallsville’s Sayelor Conde.

Branson also won an 18-5 major decision over fellow OWC wrestler Charli Rommel.

Rommel also placed second in the same weight class as Branson with a win by fall over Casey (1:00) and a win by technical fall over Conde.

Gracie Rosselli reached the district championship match at 14U 110 pinning Hannibal’s Payton Christner in 3:09 before she was pinned in :31 by Palmyra’s Brooklyn Cooley in the championship match.

Ambrosiah Salamone also left Palmyra with a silver medal in the 14U 140 weight class with a win by fall in 1:08 over Eldon’s Rubi Kidd before losing to Hallsville’s Emma Evanoff by fall in 4:21.

Seeing her older sister Rylee qualify for the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Wrestling Championships recently in Columbia, Averie Dare punched her own ticket to state with a win by fall in 2:19 over Wentzville Wrecking Crew’s Marissa Barlyski in 2:19 in the 12U 115 weight class.

Dare lost to eventual district champion Aerys Suddarth by technical fall.

Greyson Conour kept the silver coming for the orange and black in the 12U 95 weight class pinning Wentzville’s Beau Farris in 1:29 and Hannibal’s Kolt Riley in 3:32 to reach the championship match against Purler’s Carter Conway.

Losing an 11-8 decision, Conour settled for second place and a state berth.

Ryker Leach earned his second-place medal in the 12U 65 weight class with a win by fall in :39 over Centralia’s Graham Johnson.

Leach settled for second place after losing by fall in 1:08 to Wentzville’s Karson Helling.

In the 8U 65 weight class, Paisleigh McLaughlin drew a bye to the semifinals in which she pinned Jefferson City’s Khalisia Juarez in 1:55 to reach the title match against Wentzville’s Tatum Rubinstein.

Pinned in 2:54, McLaughlin settled for second place in her weight class.

Cord Tucker earned his way to state in the 14U 165 weight class pinning Southern Boone’s Garrett Taylor in 1:00 during the third-place match.

Tucker also pinned Taylor in the quarterfinals in 1:58 before losing to eventual district champion Hunter Hauch (Hannibal) in 1:01.

Austyn Rosselli also left Palmyra with a third-place medal in the 14U 175 weight class with a win by fall in 3:21 over Eierman Elite’s Chase Feger in the third-place match.

Rosselli also pinned Southern Boone’s Mark Barnett in the quarterfinals in 1:08.

Samuel Rollins pinned his way to the quarterfinals with a win by fall in the 10U 80 weight class over Jefferson City’s JT Strong in 2:32.

Pinned by Eldon’s Kylar Truster in 1:24 during the semifinals, Rollins pinned Strong again in :53 during the third-place match.

Rounding out Owensville’s list of state qualifiers was Meleah Howard drawing a bye to the semifinals before losing a 9-5 decision to Hannibal’s Payton Waters in the 8U 55 weight class.

Bouncing back in the third-place match, Howard won an 18-4 major decision over Hannibal’s Kynlee Porter.

Brayden Lowe competed in the 8U 65 weight class drawing a bye to the second round of wrestle backs before seeing his season end after his second loss.

Conner Perkins drew a bye to the semifinals in the 10U 100 weight class before losing by technical fall to Hannibal’s Dexton Miller.

Losing his next two matches by fall, Perkins settled for sixth place in his weight class ending his season with only the top four in each weight class advancing to state.

Evander Liss pinned Moberly’s Brooks Fletcher in 2:27 during first-round action in the 8U 70 weight class.

His season ended with two consecutive losses by fall leaving him just shy of the place matches.

Kase Eiler also won his first-round match at 8U 55 pounds by fall in 2:23 over Hannibal’s Jaxon Ruby before losses by technical fall and a 3-0 decision ended his season.