Washington crowned four individual champions and captured second-place honors last Friday and Saturday at the Westminster Wrestling Tournament.
Timberland claimed the team title with 306.5 points. Washington was second with 291.5 points followed by Ste. Genevieve (233), Moberly (228.5), Odessa (174.5), Westminster (162), St. Charles West (146), Pacific (138.5), Rockwood Summit (136.5), Owensville (101.5), Windsor (78) and MICDS (57.5).
“It was an exciting weekend. We were in a very close team race. It was fun taking it down to the last match,” said Washington Head Coach Josh Ohm. “As a team, we are disappointed that it came down to that last match. We left quite a bit of points on the mat. If we want to be at a higher level, we just can’t do that. We’re looking forward to our next couple of meets to see if we can take care of that.”
Washington had 10 wrestlers place in the top four of their respective weight classes.
Winning individual titles for the Blue Jays were Parker Neptune, Nicholas Solter, Cody Summers and Cole Hamai.
Three other Blue Jays, Caleb Summers, Spencer Baird and Jared Rennick, were medalists by placing in the top three.
Neptune won the 113-pound title, claiming a 6-4 decision over Odessa’s Brett Schull in the finals.
“Parker did an excellent job of coming back from a very close loss and getting the win against the same guy when it really counted,” Ohm said. “That showed a lot of maturity and how much he has grown over the last year.”
Solter captured the 126-pound crown. He won a 3-2 decision over Ste. Genevieve’s Cole Reynolds in the finals.
“Nicholas put together the best meet of his career,” Ohm said. “He beat two returning state medalists on his way to a title.”
Cody Summers secured the 132-pound championship, winning an 8-0 decision over Timberland’s Jesus Moreno in the finals.
“Cody wrestled really inconsistently in the pools, which put him in a bad position in the bracket on Saturday,” Ohm said. “But Cody put together probably the best four matches of his career and really worked his way through the bracket. It was great to see him major a kid who had earlier beaten him in the pools.”
Hamai claimed the 138-pound title. He pinned Timberland’s Zack Enloe in 1:40 in the finals.
“We expect a lot from Cole and he definitely lived up to that,” Ohm said. “He dominated his bracket. He was able to tech or pin anyone who stood in front of him.”
Caleb Summers reached the finals at 160 pounds, losing a 5-2 decision to Moberly’s Blake Joiner to take second place.
Spencer Baird placed third at 152 pounds. He pinned Westminster’s Keegan Brown in 2:30 in the third-place contest.
Rennick finished third at 182 pounds. He pinned Moberly’s Trae Ford in 3:57 in the third-place match.
Washington’s Logan Baird, Jacob Kliethermes and Matt Pecka each earned fourth-place finishes.
Baird (195) lost an 8-5 decision to Timberland’s Robert Scheider for third place.
Kliethermes (220) suffered a loss to Westminster’s Joe Issacs in his third-place contest.
Pecka (285) lost his third-place match 1-0 in double overtime to Timberland’s Danny Williams.
Cole Fregalette (106), Josh Luck (145) and Jeremy Monehan (170) were in the consolation brackets. Jonathon Thomas (120) was out due to an injury.
