After turning in solid yet second-place performances at previous tournaments, the Waynesville High School wrestling team finally captured the top spot at a tournament, winning the Marquette Tournament with a total of 219.5 points.
Waynesville assistant coach Corey Ace said he thinks his team is finally getting over the hump and “actually learning from their mistakes and fixing them.”
“I give all the credit to the kids, they’ve been working hard,” he said. “This is a good place to be coming into districts.”
Aaron Morgan and Eric Mateo won the championships in their respective weight classes (130 and 135), while senior Josh Cyr got all the way to the finals at 160 until he ran into Eureka’s Nick Lester, the No. 1 wrestler in the state (and possibly the country).
Cyr kept the match close and went into the third period down only 2-0. He lost 6-0, but that’s an improvement on the last time the two met–a 15-0 loss by technical fall in the Cape Girardeau Centreal Tiger Classic in December.
The Tigers’ next meet is a double dual on Wednesday against Troy Buchanan and Rolla.
Ace said that this is a perfect opportunity to size up their district competition.
“[Buchanan] will be a tough dual,” he said. “It’s good that we get to see them before next month.
“Still, I think we should win if we just wrestle as hard as we did this past weekend.”
The meet will begin at 6 p.m. at Rolla High School.
Final Marquette results: 1. Waynesville 219.5, 2. Jackson 212.5, 3. Lee's Summit 202, 4. Eureaka 185, 5. Fox (St. Louis) 179, 6. Parkway North (St. Louis) 158, 7. Cape Girardeau Central 153.5, 8. Alton (IL) 136, 9. Marquette (St. Louis) 124.5, 10. Ritenour (St. Louis) 98.5, 11. Mascoutah (IL) 96.5 and 12. Mehlville 25.5

Wrestling notes: In the rankings published Wednesday, Jan. 7 by www.MissouriWrestling.com, two Waynesville wrestlers made the top 8 in their respective weight classes:
135 lbs: 1. Tony James, Holt, 2. Kaleb Friedley, Park Hill, 3. Tyler Thompson, Blue Springs. 4. Justin Dickey, Francis Howell Cent., 5. Langdon Wheeler, Truman, 6. Eric Mateo, Waynesville, 7. Alex Cassetta, Francis Howell North, 8. Caleb Hay, Liberty...
160 lbs: 1. Matt Lester, Eureka, 2. Christian Wyatt, Jeff. City, 3. Jordan Gagliano, Holt, 4. Jeff Shell, Francis Howell North, 5. Kyle Mankowich, Seckman, 6. Devon Brun, Hazelwood West, 7. Josh Cyr, Waynesville, 8. Andrew Buffa, Francis Howell...
JV dominates: The WHS JV squad also won a championship this weekend–and they did so against seven other varsity squads at the O’Hara Celtic Invitational in Kansas City.
The Tiger JV team took home 10 medals, including 5 individual champions. There were 3 Tigers who captured second-place medals and 2 who won third-place honors...