Mason Field took the long road, then the short road, to the same result Tuesday night for the Helias Crusaders.
Wrestling at 195 pounds, Field went 2-0 with two wins by fall for the Crusaders as Helias defeated Borgia (66-21) and Hallsville (46-35) in a tri-dual at Rackers Fieldhouse.
"He's hitting a lot of moves," Helias coach Jacob Wadley said. "He's trying a lot of things."
Field, a junior wrestling for the first time, came out of football with a splint on his foot.
"He sat in the (practice) room and watched," Wadley said. "I don't know how interested he was in watching practice about something he hadn't done before."
He evidently learned something. Once he was cleared to wrestle, he quickly earned a spot in the varsity starting lineup.
"I can watch him learn something in nearly every match," Wadley said. "He's a quick learner."
Field faced Hunter Warmack of Borgia in his first match Tuesday. Field led 2-1 after one period and 3-1 after two before Warmack came back to tie it at 5 and send the match to overtime.
After a scoreless first minute, Field scored a reversal and put Warmack on his back for the win by fall.
"That shows his drive and his conditioning," Wadley said. "He showed he was going to be strong in overtime."
If that was a marathon, Field's second match was a sprint as he won by fall in just 11 seconds against Titus Howard of Hallsville.
"Mason is really working hard to improve and we can see it nearly every day," Wadley said.
Field was one of four Crusaders who went 2-0 on the night. Nick Gaines at 126 won 10-2 and by forfeit, while Spencer Ainsworth won by fall and by forfeit at 220. Jacob Schulte at 152, who was honored for winning 100 matches in his career, and Lane Rose both won twice by forfeit.
"Spencer is starting to do things on the mat," Wadley said. "Something has clicked for him in the past couple of weeks, I don't know what caused that, but it's working. He's been really aggressive and it's paying off for him."
Borgia had a total of six opens in its lineup, while Hallsville had five. No matter how you get them, dual wins are nice. But they take a backseat to improving for the Crusaders.
"We want to win them all, obviously," Wadley said. "But in the bigger picture, getting guys matches for experience and confidence is where we are at right now."
Other Crusaders with wins on the mat Monday were Zach Carr at 113, Nick Schnieders at 120 and Will Farmer at 138. All were by fall.
"I was really happy with Will," Wadley said. "We threw him in the varsity lineup last year with no experience to fill a gap, but he has worked hard and has a great drive to win a match against guys who have more experience than he does."
Helias is back in action Thursday in a tri-dual against Hannibal and Fort Zumwalt North at Fort Zumwalt North.