SWMO signing day news and notes

A state championship wrestler will play football at the next level. Monett’s [player_tooltip player_id="96200" first="Harrison" last="Merriman"], a 6-foot-5, 307-pound lineman, signed with Division II Northwest Missouri State University. Merriman was an all-state lineman on both offense and defense for the Cubs, earning all-region, all-district and all-conference honors along the way too. However, he is a very talented wrestler as well and has three state medals and is gunning for a fourth coming up this month. He won a state championship as a sophomore and took third last year. As a freshman, he placed sixth. He picked up career win No. 150 on Jan. 21. Northwest Missouri State lists Merriman as an offensive lineman. The Bearcats offered him back in December. His brother, Wes, signed with Northwest in 2020 and is a freshman offensive lineman for the Bearcats. The younger Merriman had offers from Missouri Southern and Evangel, while Indiana State and North Dakota State expressed interest. <strong>Still teammates</strong> Two sets of high school teammates will remain teammates at the next level at two different schools. Lamar’s [player_tooltip player_id="96235" first="Trace" last="Willhite"] and Mason Gatsel signed with Missouri Southern, while Springfield Parkview teammates Carl Thomas Jr. and Shane Glass Jr. signed with Quincy. Willhite and Gastel helped Lamar reach the Class 2 finals this year, but lost on a last-second touchdown against Lutheran St. Charles. The year prior, the duo helped the Tigers win the state championship over St. Pius X. Willhite was an all-state tight end and defensive end for Lamar but is listed as a tight end for the Lions. He is also an all-state thrower in track and field. Gastel, a defensive back, was a two-time all-state pick and was an all-conference wide receiver. He earned all-conference honors in basketball and baseball as well. The Lamar duo took a game-day visit to Missouri State this past fall. The Parkview duo will head to the Division II school in Illinois. Thomas, a linebacker, who had 123 tackles this year, had game-day visits at Tulsa, Indianapolis and Central Missouri. Glass, a defensive back, picked the Hawks over offers from Evangel, Benedictine and MidAmerica Nazarene. <strong>Four Eagles move on</strong> Joplin High School, which reached the district championship game this year, had four players move onto the next level. Offensive lineman Stone Karcher (6-6, 240) and safety Korey Read (6-2, 180) signed with Missouri S&T in Rolla, while linebacker Robert Kelly signed with Missouri Baptist in St. Louis and offensive lineman Jett Steele stayed in town and signed with Missouri Southern. Steele recorded 22 pancake blocks this year, according to the Lions’ signing day press release. Read, Steele and Karcher were all three-year varsity members on varsity and were sophomores when the Eagles reached the Class 6 finals in 2019. Kelly had offers from Ava Maria University and Quincy, while Read had offers from MidAmerica Nazarene and William Penn. <strong>NOTABLES</strong> - Pittsburg State signed Bolivar OL [player_tooltip player_id="219509" first="Kaden" last="Degraffenreid"], a Class 3 all-state pick. He was a two-year starter for the Liberators. He had offers from Graceland, Missouri Southern, Benedictine and Evangel. - Marshfield’s [player_tooltip player_id="258183" first="Maguire" last="Wilson"] signed with Missouri Southern. The DL was a three-year letterman for the Blue Jays, earning all-conference honors twice. He has also earned all-state honors in javelin and is the school record holder in the event. The football star won the King of the Hill Lineman Challenge at the KC Varsity Combine in May. He also had offers from Evangel, MidAmerica Nazarene and Benedictine also offered him, while he visited Harding and Kansas. - Central Missouri signed Glendale LB [player_tooltip player_id="254361" first="Connor" last="McTague"], who was a four-year starter for the Falcons. He was the All-City Lineman of the Year and a third-team all-state pick this past fall, when he recorded 110 tackles. Quincy, William Jewell and Missouri S&T also expressed interest in McTague.