Eureka got the best of the Lions on Jan. 22, handing them only their second dual loss of the season with a 48-27 win in the Suburban Conference Yellow pool dual meet.
The Northwest girls, on the other hand, ran their dual record to 18-0 over the last two seasons by topping the Wildcats 60-9.
“We were supposed to go to Jefferson City, but that tournament got canceled due to weather, and (Rockwood Summit) head coach (Brent) Batchelor was kind enough to let us in,” Northwest head coach Ron Wilhelm said of the Summit-hosted Rumble, which produced four champions for the Lions. “I think part of the reason we were so good is that we’d been like caged animals because of cancellations. When we finally took to the mats, we were ready to go, and everybody was feeding off each other.”
Batchelor may have second thoughts about inviting Northwest to the party again. The Lions racked up 220 points, bettering second-place De Soto by 80 points. JoJo Camacho (120 pounds), Christian Trigg (160) Johnny Daffron (182) and Chase Stegall (220) picked up titles, four more (Cannon Newhouse, Chris Allen, Lucas Ahrens and Kody Kretzer) medaled, and Stegall was selected as the outstanding wrestler of the tournament.
Then came Eureka. And as thrilled as Wilhelm was with the performances at Summit, he was extremely blunt in his assessment against the Wildcats.
“We just went out and laid an egg,” Wilhelm said. “And that was disappointing, because in the last 20 years, probably 12-15 duals against them have come down to one match. And that didn’t matter where the programs were, they were just exciting.
“They just punched us in the mouth. It’s been a strange season in that Seckman beat Eureka, we beat Seckman, and Eureka beat us. That just goes to show that if you’re not ready every night, you’re going to get beat. They really took the wind out of our sails that night. And it wasn’t just losing like we did. We had guys getting pinned, and that’s like losing twice.”
In the conference dual, Eureka won all but one match between 152 and 285. Stegall pinned Caden Howard in 21 seconds at 220. The Wildcats’ two returning state qualifiers, seniors Luke Dickhaus and Jake McCollum (fourth in Class 4 at 195 last season) won their matches. Dickhaus pinned Daffron in 1:06 at 182 and McCollum won by fall against Alex Calvert in 46 seconds at 195.
Ahrens (106), Camacho (120), Allen (132), Newhouse (145) and Stegall (220) won their matches against Eureka. The Wildcats countered with wins by Paul Jones (113), Ben Stubblefield (126), Dominic Mott (138), Kyle Hurst (152), Riley Nottingham (160) and Raphael Willis (285). And, as Wilhelm noted, five of those wins by the Wildcats were by pin. The lone exception was Nottingham’s 7-3 decision against Trigg.
On the girls’ side, though, Lauren Macmiller (115), Emily Heberlie (120), Summer Smith (125), Lily Shaffrey (130), Taylor Murphey (135), Jamie Lee (142), Taylor Accardi (152), Keigan Newhouse (166), Olivia Buckley (187) and Cara Foster (235) were victorious for Northwest. And, as the head coach noted after an earlier duel against Mehlville, he is having the time of his life watching the success of his female grapplers.
“The girls in our system, I’ll put our starting 12 against the other team’s starting 12 any night,” Wilhelm said. “We’re just so strong and talented, and I think that shows in our dual record over the last two seasons. Our 130 and 135 (Shaffrey and Murphy, respectively), are a freshman and senior. Taylor hasn’t had to take a match past the first period yet this season. And even though they’re at opposite ends of the (age) spectrum, Lily is just dominant, and Taylor is a captain for us. I think these girls, all of them, have learned that it’s about more than just six minutes on the mat. They raise their levels to the top, every night. And that’s exactly what my brother (Bob) and I feel like with this girls program.”
The Lions traveled to Columbia on Saturday and finished third in the Hickman Tournament with 227 points. Edwardsville, Ill. won with 344.5 points. Jefferson City was second with 249.
Stegall improved to 24-0 after pinning Boonville sophomore Peyton Hahn in 49 seconds to capture the title at 220. Stegall won all three matches at Hickman in the first minute.
Daffron finished third at 182, senior Conrad Clutter lost a 7-0 decision in the final at 170 and Newhouse fell in a 2-0 decision in the championship at 145.