It wasn’t a foregone conclusion.
Although Waynesville High School coaches had expected at least seven state wrestling qualifiers, they knew that an off-day by one or more wrestlers could  easily reduce that number.
Luckily, that didn’t happen. And, although that number could have been as high as nine, Tiger coaches aren’t complaining–especially since two seniors got their first taste of state qualification in four years.
Both Julian Hutchins (152) and Kamron Davis (HWT) qualified for their first state tournament on Saturday.
Hutchins’ bubble round match was one of the more dramatic for the Tigers in the tournament.
Down 3-1 in the third period against Troy Buchannan’s Nick Homan, Hutchins needed some magic to happen in two minutes. He got it, in the form of an escape and a takedown for a total of 3 points. He won that match 4-3.
“That whole time I was thinking, ‘There is no way I’m not qualifying for state,’” Hutchins said afterwards. “This feels great.”
Kamron Davis also qualified for the first time as a senior, beating Columbia Rock Bridge’s Charlie Stephenson 6-0 in the qualifying match. The match itself was fairly unexciting, with both wrestlers staying upright for most of the match, but Davis recorded three key takedowns to prevail.
Other state qualifiers included junior Jake Cyr at 199, junior Aaron Morgan at 130 (the defending state champion at 112), junior Eric Mateo at 135, junior Russell Flores at 140 and senior Josh Cyr at 160.
For Jake Cyr, for his second state tournament he’d like to buckle down and do better than last season.
“I need to actually win some matches [at state],” he said. “I think I’ll wrestle well, but I need to pick up the pace.”
Cyr is now 32-11.
Aaron Morgan and Josh Cyr both captured their 100th career wins on Saturday, a milestone for any wrestler.
Morgan’s is especially amazing, because he’s still a junior. On Saturday he beat Cameron Ream, the No. 2 130-lb. wrestler in the state, in the semifinal round but ended up taking second place in the district. He lost a close 1-0 match to the state’s No. 1 wrestler, Luke Greco of Blue Springs.
Waynesville assistant coach Gary Steffensmeier said that although most Waynesville wrestlers finished third and fourth in the districts, there’s no reason to think that they’ll do worse in the state tournament because of their finish.
“It’s a totally new tournament,” he said. “People come out of districts as third and fourth but still win the state title...that happens all the time. Our guys just have to remember that.”

Team results
1. Ft. Zumwalt West 209.5
2. Blue Springs 205
3. Wentzville Holt 168.5
4. Waynesville 119.5
5. Lebanon 114
6. Jefferson City 109
7. Troy Buchanan 88.5
8. Joplin 61
9. Columbia Rock Bridge 60
10. Columbia Hickman 55.5
11. Blue Springs South 44
12. Springfield Kickapoo 37.5
13. Springfield Parkview 4

Individual results
Weight: 103
1st: Kyle Hussey, Ft. Zumwalt West
2nd: Greg Hegarty, Blue Springs
3rd: Cole Baumgartner, Jefferson City
4th: Skylar Weber, Troy Buchanan

Weight: 112
1st: Mauricio Garcia, Blue Springs
2nd: Casey Gore, Holt
3rd: Cole Epple, Jefferson City
4th: Ben Richard, Ft. Zumwalt West

Weight: 119
1st: Vince Pescaglia, Hickman
2nd: Cullen Halpin, Holt
3rd: Jake Cyr, Waynesville
4th: Robbie Herbst, Ft. Zumwalt West

Weight: 125
1st: Taylor Bolin, Ft. Zumwalt West
2nd: Devin LaGaree, Troy Buchanan
3rd: Keenan Hagerty, Blue Springs
4th: Kyle Hanson, Lebanon

Weight: 130
1st: Luke Greco, Blue Springs
2nd: Aaron Morgan, Waynesville
3rd: Cameran Ream, Holt
4th: Cart Dalton, Troy Buchanan

Weight: 135
1st: Tyler Thompson, Blue Springs
2nd: Tony James, Holt
3rd: Eric Mateo, Waynesville
4th: Nick Weible, Ft. Zumwalt West

Weight: 140
1st: Drake Houdashell, Ft. Zwlt. West
2nd: Josh Hawk, Blue Springs
3rd: Tyler Zimmerman, Lebanon
4th: Russell Flores, Waynesville

Weight: 145
1st: Greg Amos, Holt Jr 41-1
2nd: Trevor Wiest, Ft. Zumwalt West
3rd: Thomas Senseman, Rock Bridge
4th: Austin Brawner, Lebanon

Weight: 152
1st: Chase Houdashelt, Ft. Zwlt. West
2nd: Quinton Perrin, Blue Spr. South
3rd: Julian Hutchins, Waynesville
4th: Devon Rich, Jefferson City

Weight: 160
1st: Christian Wyatt, Jefferson City
2nd: Jordan Gagliano, Holt
3rd: Josh Cyr, Waynesville
4th: John Butner, Blue Springs

Weight: 171
1st: Nathan Downs, Troy Buchanan
2nd: Miles Copple, Joplin
3rd: Derick Sanders, Blue Springs
4th: Josh Haner, Jefferson City

Weight: 189
1st: Tommy Tuck, Ft. Zumwalt West
2nd: Lewis Foutz, Blue Springs
3rd: Andrew Lazatier, Holt
4th: Zach Drinkall, Lebanon

Weight: 215
1st: Issac LeBlanc, Ft Zumwalt West
2nd: Trevor Byrd, Lebanon
3rd: Blake Schoeninger, Holt
4th: Billy Foutz, Blue Springs

Weight: HWT
1st: Justin Britt, Lebanon
2nd: Casey Wiener, Kickapoo
3rd: Billy Everett, Blue Springs
4th: Kamron Davis, Waynesville