On a night when the Northwest wrestling program honored 10 senior wrestlers and three team managers who are seniors, the Lions couldn’t match Eureka’s strength in the lower weights and lost 34-27 in a Suburban West Conference dual meet. Eureka’s victory secured the conference title for the Wildcats for the second straight year. Eureka swept the six lower weights, 106 pounds through 138, before Northwest’s Kortland Bruce took the 145-pound class by forfeit. Northwest won five of the seven matches after that, including a 4-2 win by Kyle Benz over Zach Seiler at 160 when Benz pulled a reversal in the closing seconds of the match. Andrew Erxleben (182) and Devin Cagle (220) won by pin. For Cagle, a senior, it was the 100th victory of his varsity career.
Next up for the Lions is the Class 4 District 3 tournament on Feb. 8-9 at Jefferson City High School, a meet that will include Eureka and 11 other schools from as far away as Joplin and Lee’s Summit. (Gordon Bess photo of Devin Cagle.)
