It’s been a good first two months of the winter sports season.
As you may or may not know, we once again have some strong wrestling teams in the area.
Leading the way are the Washington Blue Jays, who are loaded from the top to the bottom of their lineup.
The Blue Jays have a legitimate shot of reaching their goal of obtaining a Class 3 team trophy at the state tournament with a top four finish.
Wrestling in the Four Rivers Conference seems to get better every season.
Union has a solid team and may be the team to beat. St. Clair and Pacific always have good teams. Sullivan and St. James are coming along.
As we hit the middle of January, there’s still some basketball tournaments to be played and conference championships to be decided before we focus on the postseason.
Girls basketball in our area is really good. Every girls team in the FRC, along with Borgia and Washington, currently have a winning record.
St. James (16-0) and Sullivan (12-0) both are unbeaten.
The Lady Tigers and the Lady Eagles clash in St. James on Valentine’s Day. There will be no love to share in that game.
FRC girls teams have a combined record of 86-25.
Hermann (13-2), Union (12-4), Pacific (9-3), New Haven (10-5), St. Clair (7-6) and Owensville (7-6) all have solid teams.
New Haven has a good team and is 0-3 in the league. The Lady Shamrocks lost to St. James by three points. They will be heard from in their district tournament.
Throw in Borgia (9-4) and Washington (7-6) and you have some pretty good basketball in our area.
On the boys side, although I might get an argument from St. James or Pacific, I’d say that Washington is the area’s best team to this point.
The Blue Jays are 13-4 and battle-tested. Three of their four losses are against some of the best teams in the state in St. Louis Christian, CBC and DeSmet.
Now finished with tournaments, the Jays have their sights set on a competitive GAC Central and then district play down the road in Rolla.
Washington knows how to win, plays excellent defense and has a pair of legitimate scoring threats.
A game to watch is the Blue Jays against Rock Bridge in the MFA Oil-Break Time Shootout at Mizzou Arena Sunday, Jan. 27, at 5:40 p.m.
With a record of 8-6, Borgia is not having the season many of us are used to seeing. That doesn’t mean the Knights are bad. They looked good in their final two games at the Washington Tournament and will be a team to deal with come district time.
In the FRC, four teams currently are 2-0 in the league and the other four are 0-2.
It looks like St. James, Pacific, Sullivan and St. Clair are going to slug it out for the conference championship.
Union, New Haven, Hermann and Owensville can’t afford any more conference losses if they want possibly a share of the title.
A game to mark on the calendar is Pacific at St. James on Feb. 1.
The Indians play great defense and the Tigers can score points in bunches. Something has to give.
Sullivan and St. Clair both have talent. The Bulldogs are kind of hiding in the weeds right now, waiting to make their move.
On the college level, I’m just not feeling it for Mizzou right now. The Tigers definitely aren’t a top 10 team.
Maybe things will change, but this isn’t a great shooting team and lacks ball handlers.
It’s good that SEC basketball isn’t very strong. The Tigers will win games and reach the NCAA Tournament. From there, they better get better.
