For area high school wrestlers, it is now-or-never time.
Sectional tournaments in Illinois and Missouri district tournaments are set for Friday and Saturday. In both states, the top four finishers in each weight class will move on to state championship events Feb. 16-18. The Missouri tournament will be held at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, while Assembly Hall in Champaign will be the site of the Illinois event.
“It's a stressful time, for the wrestlers and for coaches,'' Whitfield coach Charlie Sherertz said. “In this sport, it's all about those three days in February, and you have to get through this weekend to have a chance in Columbia. Even now, we're still working to make sure that everybody's in the right spot, that everyone is as healthy and prepared as possible.''
The Warriors, who won Class 1 titles in 2008 and 2009 and finished second to Brookfield a year ago, are again expected to be in the title mix in Columbia. Last weekend, Whitfield knocked off state contender Blair Oaks 45-36.
“The folks from Blair Oaks seem to think we're the team to beat, but I'm still not convinced,'' Sherertz said. “We have our top five or six guys who should do well, but we also have some inexperienced guys that we're not sure about. I see this as one of the more balanced tournaments we've seen in a while, with four or five teams battling it out for that top spot.''
Whitfield is the hosting the Class 1 event involving area squads this weekend. Other district sites involving St. Louis-area teams are: De Soto, Mexico and Clinton in Class 2; Farmington and Hannibal in in Class 3; and Lindbergh, Ritenour and Jefferson City in Class 4.
In Illinois, regional champion Edwardsville advanced wrestlers in 12 of 14 weight classes, while Granite City qualified 11 for the rugged Class 3A sectional at Lincoln-Way Central in suburban Chicago. Other area 3A teams with wrestlers competing are Alton, Belleville East, Belleville West, Collinsville and O'Fallon.
“It's a brutal sectional, but it's been that way for the last few years,'' Edwardsville coach Jon Wagner said. “Our guys aren't going to back down. We've wrestled a great schedule to hopefully prepare them for what they'll face the next two weekends. Now, it's just a matter of stepping across the line and giving it everything you've got.''
Triad, the regional champion at Centralia, will compete in the Class 2A sectional at Mount Zion along with area squads Cahokia, Civic Memorial, East. St. Louis, Highland, Jerseyville, Mascoutah and Waterloo.
The Class 1A sectional at Robinson will include area wrestlers from Althoff, Carlyle, Hillsboro, Mater Dei, Mount Olive, Roxana and Wood River.
In dual team competition slated for Feb. 21, both Edwardsville and Triad will compete in 6 p.m. matches at Springfield High. Edwardsville will take on Minooka in 3A while Triad squares off against Chatham-Glenwood in 2A.
WRESTLING WITH BAD LUCK
For the second straight year, one of the area's best wrestlers will miss the state tournament.
Parkway North 138-pound senior standout David Evans reinjured his left shoulder during the finals of the Francis Howell Central Tournament last weekend. The injury default resulted in Evans' only loss this season. Evans, who recently won the 150th match of his career, also missed last year's state tournament when he was injured his shoulder in the district finals.
Evans, who is scheduled to have surgery to repair the torn labrum today, originally wanted to try to wrestle this weekend. "I was definitely planning on it," he said.
His parents and doctor, however, convinced him he needed to take care of the injury and start thinking about his college career. "Supposedly, there's a 95 percent recovery (rate), so I should be fine," he said.
Evans hopes to attend the state tournament finals.
“Ill probably be there,'' he said. “I've got friends I'd like to be there to support.''
DISTRICT ROULETTE
Seckman will try to become the first team in five years to win back-to-back Class 4 District 1 titles this weekend at Lindbergh. The defending district champ, Seckman finished fourth at state a year ago.
Northwest is the last team to string together consecutive titles in this balanced district, winning from 2005 through 2007. Since then, honors have bounced from Seckman (2008) to Northwest (2009) to Lafayette (2010) and back to Seckman (2011).
The other side of the district championship coin is Class 4 District 2 where Francis Howell Central has strung together five consecutive district titles. Howell Central, coming off a runner-up state finish, figures to be pushed by McCluer North in the 14-team District 2 meet at Ritenour this weekend.
Other area defending district champs: Whitfield in Class 1 District 1, Ste. Genevieve in Class 2 District 1, Farmington in Class 3 District 1 and St. Charles West in Class 3 District 2.
ANSWERING THE BELL
This is a tough time of year to ask wrestlers if they're healthy.
"I don't know that I'd use that word," said Northwest co-coach Ron Wilhelm, describing his lineup as "probably 50 to 75 percent (healthy)" heading into districts.
Two District 1 state hopefuls who were battling injuries recently got the green light to return to their lineups. State medalist Danny Farrell (126 pounds) of Seckman is back after missing nearly a month with an elbow strain, two-time qualifier Zack King (160) of Northwest is back after suffering a knee sprain. Both are seniors.
Seckman coach Cody Greene said there never was any doubt Farrell (17-3) would be in the lineup for the district tournament. "He would've gone if it had been torn in half," Greene said.
With this being his last run at a state medal, King (20-5) is taking the same approach. "As a senior, the decision is pretty easy," Wilhelm said.
After suffering a concussion in the finals of the All Suburban meet in January, Ritenour senior Eric Bowman returned to action last weekend, finishing second at 152 at the Seckman Tournament. Bowman placed fourth at 140 in 2011.
MISSOURI DISTRICTS
Following is a quick rundown of Missouri districts involving area squads:
CLASS 4
District 1 at Lindbergh: Eureka, Fox, Jackson, Kirkwood, Lafayette, Lindbergh, Marquette, Mehlville, Northwest, Oakville, Parkway South, Seckman, SLUH and Vianney.
District 2 at Ritenour: CBC, De Smet, Francis Howell, Francis Howell Central, Francis Howell North, Fort Zumwalt West, Hazelwood Central, Hazelwood West, McCluer North, Normandy, Parkway North, Pattonville, Ritenour and Riverview Gardens.
District 3 at Jefferson City: Blue Springs, Blue Springs South, Hickman, Holt, Jefferson City, Joplin, Kickapoo, Nixa, Ozark, Parkview, Rock Bridge, Timberland, Troy and Waynesville.
CLASS 3
District 1 at Farmington: Cape Girardeau Central, Gateway, Hillsboro, North County, Pacific, Poplar Bluff, Summit, Roosevelt, Sikeston, St. Mary's, Union, Washington and Webster Groves.
District 2 at Hannibal: Chaminade, Fort Zumwalt East, Fort Zumwalt North, Fort Zumwalt South, Hannibal, Hazelwood East, Ladue, McCluer, Parkway Central, Parkway West, St. Charles, St. Charles West, University City and Warrenton.
CLASS 2
District 1 at De Soto: Affton, Park Hills Central, De Soto, Dexter, Festus, Hancock, Miller Career, Cape Notre Dame, Owensville, St. Clair, Sullivan, Ste. Genevieve, Sumner, Vashon and Windsor.
District 2 at Mexico: Clayton, John Burroughs, Fulton, Kirksville, Lutheran South, McCluer South-Berkeley, Mexico, MICDS, Missouri Military Academy, Moberly, Priory, Soldan, Westminster and Winfield.
District 3 at Clinton: Bolivar, Boonville, Borgia, Buffalo, Clinton, Harrisonville, Logan-Rogersville, Marshall, Monett, Nevada, Odessa, Osage, Pleasant Hill, Reeds Springs and Seneca.
CLASS 1
District 1 at Whitfield: Barat, Brentwood, New Madrid County Central, Cleveland NJROTC, Fatima, Herculaneum, Lift for Life, Lutheran St. Charles, Maplewood-Richmond Heights, Missouri School for the Blind, Principia, Springfield Catholic, Transportation and Law, St. James and Whitfield.
