SAPPINGTON • A lot falls on the slim shoulders of freshmen Weston Basler and Luke Weiland and sophomore Brock Wingbermuehle.
They are the wrestlers who get things going for Seckman.
Saturday, with Basler, Weiland and Wingbermuehle starting things off with titles, Seckman muscled to a win in the Class 4 District 1 tournament at Lindbergh.
The three underclassmen were the opening wave of five consecutive individual champs for the Jaguars. Returning state medalist Danny Farrell and two-time state champ Matt Kraus are the knockout combination that closes out the area's premier class of lower-weight wrestlers.
"Our coach always wants us to get things rolling," Wingbermuehle said.
What looks like rolling from the Seckman side of things, feels like run over from almost any other spot in the gym.
"When you've got district champs from 106 to 132, that's huge," Eureka coach Tim Yancey said. "That's tough to beat."
Saturday, Seckman overpowered the 14-team district field at Lindbergh. The Jaguars were runaway winners with 209 points. Eureka and Jackson tied for second with 161, while Northwest (124.5) and Lafayette (122) were fourth and fifth.
Seckman also topped the district with 10 state tournament qualifiers. In addition to champs Basler (106 pounds), Weiland (113), Wingbermuehle (120), Farrell (126) and Kraus (132), the Jaguars qualified Tony Diaz (145), Kaleb Cheek (152), Jacob Lynch (160), Brett Feager (170) and Josh Glore (182).
"I think we've put ourselves in a pretty good spot (heading into the state championships)," said Seckman coach Cody Greene, whose team was fourth at the 2011 state tournament.
Northwest had seven state qualifiers, and Eureka, Lafayette and Jackson had six apiece. Other teams with state qualifiers: Lindbergh (5); Fox (4); Vianney, Oakville and Marquette (3 apiece); Parkway South (2); and Mehlville (1).
The top four placers in each weight class at the district qualified for the Thursday-Saturday state championships at Columbia.
Basler (46-3) and Weiland (44-6) are newcomers to the Jaguars lineup, but hardly newcomers to wrestling. Products of the Fox wrestling club, the two have been competing for area and state titles at the little league level for years. Basler has been wrestling since he was in second grade, and Weiland since third grade.
"It's just another day at the office," the 15-year-old Weiland said about ringing up three wins and a title at the district tournament.
Basler, also 15 and a four-time winner on Friday and Saturday, had the same read on the district competition.
"It's nice to win here, but what I'm looking forward to is next week (at the state championships)," he said. "What you want to do is win at the big dance."
The big dance promises to be more than another day at the office for Seckmen's underclassmen. That situation came up more than once during the regular season, and Basler and Weiland said it always was nice to know that Kraus and Farrell were around to watch their backs.
"We're expected to learn from the older guys," Basler said.
Kraus is glad to help.
"They're freshmen, they're nervous," he said. "I just tell 'em, ‘Hey, it's just another match, calm down.'"
Kraus, who won at 112 pounds last year, was one of two returning state champs to win Saturday at Lindbergh. Also muscling through the district was state champ Michael Slyman (44-0) of Lindbergh. A winner at 155 last year, Slyman won at 160 pounds on Saturday.
Other winners Saturday: Nick Olejnik (138) of Lafayette, Dylan Rush (145) and Jake Colyott (152) of Jackson, Dominic Vitale (170) of Fox, Matt McClimens (182) and Luke McClimens (195) of Eureka, Greg Eileman (220) of Vianney and Donnell Walker (285) of Parkway South.
