Phil Cagle had a message.
The championship dual at the Missouri Duals was a little more than halfway competed when the Jefferson City head wrestling coach motioned Gavin DeWitt over for a quick chat.
Jefferson City was in a back-and-forth dual against Neosho and Cagle wanted his 145-pound wrestler to know his match, which would be the last of the matchup, was likely going to decide which team won the Duals title.
The chat was short between Cagle and DeWitt. And when DeWitt's match came up, it was short as well, as the senior's win by technical fall in the final seconds of the second period lifted Jefferson City to a 35-33 win against Neosho.
"We told him it would come down his match," Cagle said. "We told him to get us as many points as we needed to win."
The Jays trailed 30-15 with five matches remaining. But consecutive wins by forfeit by Peter Kuster at 120 and Christian Mayberry at 126, followed by a 10-6 victory by Tanner Irwin at 132 pulled Jefferson City in to a tie at 30.
Jefferson City dropped a decision at 138 to firm up what DeWitt needed to do for the Jays to win the team title.
DeWitt, a transfer from Ozark, led 5-0 less than a minute into the match and took a 9-1 lead into the second period. He stretched that advantage to 15-1 with about a minute to go in the second, then got the winning takedown with :02 remaining.
"He's a member of Jay Nation for sure," Cagle said. "He was on a mission for the team, he's really fitting into the team well.
"Sometimes it can be hard to change schools, but he's fit in really well."
Logan Moriarity at 179 and Jalen Martin at 195 both won their matches by first-period falls for the Jays. Jacob Brune won by decision at 160 for Jefferson City.
"Logan and Jalen were both solid and Jacob was in control of his match the entire time," Cagle said.
Neosho, which has won three consecutive Class 3 state titles, is ranked as high as No. 18 in the country.
"There were all kinds of great matches and that's what kept it so close" Cagle said.
It's the second-ever Missouri Duals team title for the Jays.
III
The Jays won four duals earlier Saturday to finish 6-0 in Gold Division action.
Jefferson City defeated Omaha (Neb.) Burke, Kirkwood, Waynesville and Battle by a combined score of 266-40.
"We battled all day," Cagle said.
In their six duals heading into the final, Jefferson City wrestlers were 70-13 in the tournament.
Finishing 7-0 for the Jays were Kuster, Mayberry, DeWitt, Brune, Moriarity and Martin. Going 6-1 were Irwin, RaShaun Woods at 182 and Tekoah Sage at 195 and 220. Tyler Bise was 5-2 at 152.
"The kids did a wonderful job, this was the best weekend we could have worked for," Cagle said.
Not that the Jays are going to get much time to celebrate.
"They've got one night and then it's time to get back to work," Cagle said. "That's the life we have right now."
Jefferson City is back in action Tuesday with a dual at Fox.