“First off, I think it (the 63-12 victory for the Jaguars) has to do with our coaching staff, and our kids,” Moyer said. “We all look forward to this dual every year and Fox has a really good program. I just think our kids were more ready, and we’ve really picked it up the last three or four weeks.”
The Jaguars used open-spot forfeits, pins, and a couple of decisions to record the Suburban Conference non-pool victory on Jan. 22.
Aside from pins in the first and last matches of the night, the first by sophomore Daniel Bauer, and the last one courtesy of senior Joey Johnson, Fox was much too short-handed to pose any type of threat to the Jaguars, who finished fourth in the state in Class 4 last season.
After polishing off the Warriors, Seckman won the Yellow pool championship by defeating Lindbergh 40-21 the next night.
Before the first boys match, Fox’s Hailie Terry started the festivities by pinning Sarah Murray in a girls’ 103-pound bout. It was the only girls’ match.
When the boys got underway, Bauer pinned Seckman’s Stevie Miller in 1:23 at 106 pounds, but the Jaguars then jumped to a 24-6 lead, picking up forfeit wins at 113, 120, 126 and 132.
The much-anticipated marquee bout between Fox’s Dylan Looney and two-time state champion Kai Orine was next at 138 pounds. To arrange that matchup, Moyer moved Orine up two weights, from his normal 126, and Fox head coach Tyson Campbell had Looney jump from 132. Looney finished sixth at 126 in Class 4 last year.
Orine won a 16-7 major decision and said afterward that he’s hoping next month to join Brock Wingbermuehle as the Jaguars’ only three-time state champs.
“I’ve been wrestling with Dylan all through Little League,” Orine said. “My biggest fear in the match was overwrestling. With my reputation preceding me, opponents tend to try and slow me down. I like to push the pace, and that’s what he tried to do, slow me down. Dylan’s a great kid who placed last year (at state), so he’s obviously tough. I’ve got great confidence in my ability, and I’m hoping that history repeats itself.”
Moyer agreed that Looney is a tough competitor.
“We knew he would give us a tough match. But wrestling against Kai is tough,” Moyer said.
After that match, the Jaguars got pins from Zak Warren (145), Dylan Carlton (152) and Anthony Chellew (160). Gavin Moore recorded a hard fought 6-4 decision over Fox’s Mason Hittler at 170 pounds. Seckman also had a pin at 182 by Jermey Ashlock, a 6-1 decision by Andrew Warren (195), and Blake Fritz’s 16-1 technical fall over Luke Joggerst at 220.
“Luke is a really tough kid,” Fritz said of Joggerst. “He gave me a lot of his best, but I was able to beat him in the top spots most of the match.”
Johnson, fourth in the state at 285 in Class 4 in 2018, ended the night by pinning Jaguar Joseph Klutho in the third period.
“This team can be as good as we want to be,” Fritz said of the Jaguars’ postseason aspirations. “We’re truly a family, and that’s why this tradition we have is so great and explains the season we’ve had so far.”
“Blake wrestled really well at (the) Winnetonka (tournament) recently,” Moyer said, noting that Fritz finished that annual event with a 5-1 record. “His only loss was to a returning state champion, (Devin Winston of Park Hills Central) who is currently ranked fifth nationally. He’s a gamer, and the rest of the kids are right where we need them to be.”
Campbell said switching things up so that Looney could meet up with Orine is what his wrestler wanted.
“Dylan has lofty goals and will wrestle in college, so we wanted him against the best kid in the state,” Campbell said.
Campbell said he continues to be impressed by Bauer, who contributed nicely last season as a freshman.
“Bauer’s not really a secret anymore,” Campbell said. “He’s proof of the fact that the more you put in, the better you get.”
“We call him ‘The Shadow’, and a lot of that can be attributed to ‘Coach K’ (assistant Denny Kleinschrodt). Everywhere ‘Coach K’ goes, Daniel follows. Whether it’s off-season workouts, or just extra time in the (wrestling) room. If we can keep kids buying in like that, we can develop them as wrestlers.”