WARDSVILLE, Mo. - One of these days, the Blair Oaks wrestling team is going to be able to field its full squad.
Thursday was not that day.
The Falcons continued piecing together a lineup for a pair of duals at home, and two open weight classes proved to be huge as Blair Oaks lost 39-38 to St. James and 44-32 to Owensville.
"We've been that way all year long," Blair Oaks head coach Tim Karsten said. "We haven't had our regular, full lineup yet. I hope to get there by districts, but I'm starting to wonder if we'll ever do it.
"You've just got to wrestle with what you've got."
The 12 points the Falcons gave away were crucial in both matches, but never more so in the first one of the night against St. James.
Blair Oaks fell behind 12-0, but came roaring back with 23 unanswered points. The teams started trading points until the Falcons took a 38-30 lead with two weight classes to go. The Tigers won the next match by decision to get within 38-33, then took an anticlimactic win as the Falcons were open at 285 pounds.
It wasn't apparent at the time, but the fourth match - at 126 pounds - proved to be key. London Gaydos wrestled extremely well and came close to getting a pin in every period but had to settle for a win by technical fall. The five team points instead of six helped keep the Falcons from notching a tie.
"It was 7-7 in contested matches and if London could have got a pin, it would have been a tie and we would have won (on criteria) for having more pins," Karsten said. "They did what they needed to do and we were just one point short."
Getting pins in that match for the Falcons were Joey Conway (120), Frankie Falotico (132), Riley Boeckman (160) and Logan Moore (195). Bo Thomas (138) won by forfeit and Tanner Lueckenhoff (170) posted a 9-6 win.
The Class 1 Falcons then took on another Class 2 opponent and never led while falling to Owensville.
"We would have had to have everything fall in line to get Owensville," Karsten said. "St. James we kind of let slip away."
Against the Dutchmen, Gaydos won by fall in just 37 seconds, and others getting pins were Alex Gaydos (145), Moore and Daniel Mudd (2:20). Falotico won by technical fall and Boeckman posted a 10-5 decision.
"It hurts a little bit losing two, but we wrestled good in spots," Karsten said. "We wrestle these Class 2 teams to get better, and in the long run it's good for us. But moral victories aren't victories.
"This was helpful, we see our weaknesses this way and what we need to do to improve. That's what we need at this time of year to get ready for state."
Alex Gaydos needed just 1:30 to win by fall against Owensville, which was his only action on Senior Night, where he was honored as the team's lone senior.
"He's got some bumps and bruises he needs to get healed up," Karsten said. "He's wrestled tough for us this year and we have high expectations for him (going forward).
"He had one match in him tonight, and I'm not even sure about that. We're going to give him the weekend off, the Brookfield Tournament can be a killer. They put you in a top-five bracket and if you're a little banged-up, you're going to get pounded on by everybody."
Alex Gaydos was also honored for recently getting his 100th career win, as was Falotico. The team also recognized Brian Markway, who was named the Class 1 assistant coach of the year for his efforts last season when the Falcons won the state championship.
It was the last home appearance of the season for the Falcons, who are now 9-6 in dual matches with four remaining. They also have two more tournaments left on the schedule.
"We still have the youth that they might jump up and rise to the occasion," Karsten said. "We were struggling last week and then we got second at the Warsaw Tournament and wrestled real well. We've just got to finish strong."
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