It was quite a return for Holt sophomore Clay Ream at the Gateway Athletic Conference South Wrestling Championships Saturday.
Ream had been out of the lineup for a month after suffering a concussion at the Fox Tournament.
He returned in a big way as he won the 125-pound division in a weight class which featured four of the state's top eight wrestlers.
“I had circled this date on the calender and was really looking forward to coming back,” Ream said. “I knew I was going to have some tough matches in the semifinals and finals and I wanted to show what I could do.”
Ream, who was ranked seventh in the state, defeated two wrestlers with higher rankings, both in overtime.
He defeated Sean O’Leary of Francis Howell and Ben Henson of Francis Howell Central by identical 6-4 scores. O’Leary was ranked fifth and Henson was third.
Ream won both during the one-minute, sudden-victory period with takedowns.
“My strategy in overtime is to keep calm,” Ream said. “I know I have longer endurance and if I stay calm, everything falls into place.
It was first time that Ream had faced O’Leary and Henson in high school.
“O’Leary and I go back to Little League together,” Ream said. “I knew him but I really didn’t know what to expect against Henson. He is an aggressive wrestler and I was able to slow him down and not allow him to wrestle at his fast pace.”
Ream received a warm welcome in his return to the Indian lineup.
“Clayton is an extremely tough young man and he is a joy to coach,” Indian Coach Jason Moore said. “He does things the right way.”
Clay is the youngest of the Ream brothers. Kyle (who is now at Truman State University and not wrestling) and Cameron (who is wrestling at Oklahoma City University) were both multiple state placers, although neither was a state champion. Clay finished third at state as a freshman at 103 pounds.
“I learned a lot from my brothers,” said Ream, who is now 11-0 for the season. “I am hoping to become the first Ream to win state.”
Fort Zumwalt West won the team title at conference in a surprisingly big way. The Jaguars, who were also champions last year, had 170.5 points.
The Jaguars had 13 of their 14 wrestlers finish in the top four. They had three individual champions. Sophomore James Krischke won at 112 pounds with a 4-2 decision over Devan Richter of Troy in the finals.
Juniors Kyle Hussey and Tanner Day were the other Zumwalt West champions. Hussey won a 2-1 decision over Tim Hoffman of Troy in the championship match at 145 pounds. Day won with a third-period fall over Sam Stewart of Howell North in the title match at 215.
“Tanner is really coming into his own and making a name for himself on the wrestling mat,” Zumwalt West Coach Dan Hayes said. “It was a good day for us. Every point counts in a tournament like this and it was great to get 13 kids into the top four. I felt if we wrestled to our seeds we had a chance to do well. We were definitely the best team Saturday. Everything worked out well for us.”
Troy was second with 112 points while Francis Howell Central, which was without several of its top wrestlers, was third with 109.5 points.
“We did not have our regulars at 35, 40, 45, 52, 60, 89 and 215,” Howell Central Coach Steve Cross said. “It is the normal banged-up injuries that you just try to work through. My feeling is that it is better to get rested and healed than wrestle hurt at this time in the season.”
The Spartans, who are currently the top-ranked Class 4 team in the state, had three individual champions. Josh Bennett, who is the state’s top-ranked wrestler at 130 pounds, won by fall at 2:55 over Cort Dalton of Troy in the finals.
Matt Greene won at 171 pounds with a 7-3 decision over Jarrett Franklin of Francis Howell in the finals.
Heavyweight Brian Paur won his first varsity tournament and did so in exciting fashion, winning a double-overtime decision in the finals against Richard Maggison of Zumwalt West.
It was a well-balanced meet as six of the seven schools had an individual champion. Five of the seven had at least four in the finals with Troy having the most with six.
Howell North joined Howell Central with three individual champions: Jason Shell (135); Harold Ritchie (140); and Clint Boehle (189).
Holt and Timberland each had two champs. Ream and Lawton Benna (103) were champs for Holt while Timberland had titles from Colton Orlando (119) and Jesse Freise (152).
Dusty Heisse (160) was the only one of the six Troy wrestlers in the finals to win an individual title.
Zumwalt West will have dual matches against the second and third place finishers this week, hosting Howell Central Wednesday and Troy Thursday.
