ST. CHARLES • The Edwardsville High wrestling team showed its resilience in winning the St. Charles West Warrior Invitational title Saturday evening.
After winning just one of seven matches in the semifinals, the Tigers bounced back strong in the final session, going 8-2.
“It's not easy, coming back like that after you lose in the semifinals,'' said Edwardsville junior Blake Blair, the Tigers' lone champion. “But I think that says a lot about our team. We're not going to wow anybody, but because we have solid guys in every weight class, we're a team that can compete with anybody.''
Tigers coach Jon Wagner agreed. “We're pretty tough in every weight class, which is the reason we've been so good in duals this season," he said. "If one guy stumbles, we always seem to have four or five others right there to pick him up.
“We weren't exactly thrilled with all the thirds and fifth today -- we want to win championships -- but it was good to finish strong, and we're excited to win the team title. It's been a while; I think the last tournament we won was Mascoutah, probably eight years ago.''
Edwardsville finished with 184 points Saturday, beating out Farmington (152) and Seckman (134 ½) for the top spot.
Balance seemed to be the theme at St. Charles West as nine different schools crowned champions.
Edwardsville's Blair (31-3) dominated his way to the title at 195 pounds, coming up with a first-period pin in the title match.
The Tigers also had five wrestlers place third, with two placing fourth and two more fifth.
Two-time defending state champion Matt Kraus (27-2) of Seckman won a tough 1-0 decision over Rock Bridge's Sam Crane in the title match at 132. For the second time in as many weeks, Kraus was voted Outstanding Wrestler; he picked up the same award at the All Suburban Meet.
Seckman's Weston Basler (28-2) picked up the title at 106, handing Jackson's Jarret Reisenbichler his first loss of the season.
Parkway North and Troy also had two champions apiece. North's David Evans (28-0) pinned Rock Bridge's Trent Johnson in the opening period for the title at 138, while Vikings teammate Darius Lewis (25-4) won by decision at 220.
For Troy, Skylar Weber (30-0) won by decision at 152, while teammate Dusty Heisse (29-3) came away with 5-4 win in the title match at 182.
Timberland's Devan Richter posted a first-round pin for the title at 113, while St. Charles West's Austin Rugraff won 5-0 over Ritenour's Lamar Welch in the championship match at 160.
Other champions Saturday were Rock Bridges's Jason Kiehne (120), Waynesville's Lemuel Johnson (126), Farmington's Jesse Francis (145), Farmington's Ethan Hennes (170) and Hannibal's Jake Borgmeyer (285).
