Washington made it two years in a row in winning the championship of the Route 141 Rumble.
The wrestling Blue Jays captured the team crown despite forfeiting two weight classes last Saturday at Rockwood Summit High School.
Hazelwood East finished second in the 13-team field. Ozark placed third.
“It was a great day for us. As a team, we went 40-12 on the day,” said Washington Head Coach Josh Ohm. “We were short two varsity guys. We knew with only 12 guys, we would all need to have a good meet to finish on top. That’s exactly what we did.”
Of the Blue Jays’ 12 wrestlers, 11 of them advanced to the semifinals of their respective weight classes. Five of them reached the finals and two of them claimed individual crowns.
“We had a lot of good things happen. We are still improving with each time we step on the mat,” Ohm said. “We have a lot of work left to do in the room and in competition, but this team is dedicated to that process. That’s why we are having a lot of success to this point.”
Winning individual titles for Washington were Cody Gardner and Nicholas Solter.
Gardner (120) had a 5-0 tournament record. He pinned Hillsboro’s Josh Schuler in the finals.
“Cody had a great meet. He was able to avenge a loss to a very solid wrestler from Pacific in the semifinals and then wrestled his best match of high school to pick up the fall against the Hillsboro kid,” Ohm said. “Cody is a very dangerous wrestler for anyone out there at 120. I think people are going to learn that real fast as the season gets to the important part.”
Solter (126) went 4-0 on the day. He pinned Sikeston’s Cody Middleton in the finals.
“Nicholas had limited practice last week due to some minor injuries, so we didn’t know what to expect from him,” Ohm said. “He went out and dominated his bracket, scoring in the bonus in every match.”
Reaching the finals and placing second were Parker Neptune, Cole Hamai and Spencer Baird.
Neptune (113) posted a 4-1 record. He lost to Hazelwood East’s Jerry Stepps in the finals.
Hamai (138) was 4-1 in the tournament. He lost by major decision to Whitfield’s Chris Wilkes in the finals.
Hamai now has 124 career wins as a junior.
Baird (152) also went 4-1 on the day. He lost by decision 7-5 to Whitfield’s Rodney Hahn in the finals.
Baird became Washington’s all-time wins leader with 126.
The Blue Jays’ third-place wrestlers were Cody Summers, Caleb Summers, Kyle Summers, Jeremy Monehan and Matt Pecka.
Cody Summers (132) registered a 4-1 tourney record. He won by major decision 8-0 over Hazelwood East’s Cedric Jones in the third-place match.
Caleb Summers (160) had a 3-1 meet record. He pinned Ozark’s Josh Cheek in the third-place contest.
Kyle Summers (170) went 4-1 on the day. He won by decision 3-0 over Ft. Zumwalt East’s Jordan Femmer in the third-place match.
“Regardless of the results, Kyle had a great day. He was in, by far, the toughest bracket and took third,” Ohm said. “He beat three ranked kids and gave up an extremely close decision to (Austin) Repp of Pacific, who had been dominating everyone he has seen this year. Kyle didn’t start wrestling this season due to injury until just a few weeks ago. It will take time for him to really be at his best. This was definitely a step in the right direction.”
Monehan (182) was 4-1 overall. He won by decision 2-1 over Summit’s Brendan Abbott in the third-place contest.
“I couldn’t be happier with Jeremy Monehan,” Ohm said. “He stepped up to replace an injured Jared Rennick, moved up a weight class and was able to get third for us.”
Pecka (285) had a 2-1 tourney mark. He pinned Summit’s Alex Lance in the third-place match.
Placing fourth was Jacob Kliethermes (220). He went 2-2 overall, losing by decision 4-1 to Ft. Zumwalt East’s Caleb Kotraba in the third-place match.
Luke Knight (145) did not place.
Washington was open at 106 and 195.
