COLUMBIA - It wasn't a great night Thursday for the Jefferson City Jays at the MSHSAA Class 4 state wrestling championships.
But it wasn't a bad night, either. The end goals are still attainable for the Jays.
"You never know what's going to happen," Jays coach Phil Cagle said after Jefferson City finished 6-5 in the opening round of the tournament. "None of our kids gave up, they kept wrestling and I'm proud of what they did today."
In addition to their six quarterfinalists, the Jays had three of their other five qualifiers stay alive by winning their first-round wrestleback match. Jefferson City closed the day in fourth place in the team standings with 22 points. Staley leads with 31, with Lafayette (27) and Park Hill (26.5) rounding out the top three
"Tomorrow's another day and we're going to go out and give it our best again," Cagle said.
First-round winners for the Jays included:
• Christian Mayberry at 126, who posted a 10-3 victory against Jordan Carson of Lafayette.
After a scoreless first period, Mayberry rattled off nine unanswered points in the second to take a big lead.
"Christian did a good job," Cagle said
• Tanner Irwin at 132, a 5-0 winner against Carter Goslee of Park Hill.
Irwin picked up a takedown in the first period, then got an escape and another takedown in the third to get the victory.
"Tanner went out and did what he needed to do to win," Cagle said.
• Gavin DeWitt at 145, a winner by technical fall against Eric White of Liberty North.
DeWitt dominated from the start, jumping out to a 10-0 lead after one period. He then closed out the match midway through the second.
"Gavin was in control of that match," Cagle said.
• Jacob Brune at 160, a winner by technical fall against Vez Jordan of McCluer North.
Brune led 7-0 after one period before ending in the match in the second.
• Logan Moriarity at 170, a winner by fall in the first period against John Joe Sanchez of North Kansas City.
• Jalen Martin at 195, a winner by fall in the second period against Caden Crase of Seckman.
"Jacob, Logan and Jalen all wrestled very, very well," Cagle said.
Falling for the Jays in the opening round were Peter Kuster at 120, Zach Hurley at 138, Dennis Barnes at 152, Rashaun Woods at 182 and Tekoah Sage at 220.
Woods had perhaps the toughest draw for the Jays, squaring off against Trey Storey of Blue Springs South in a battle of returning medalists. Woods was sixth at 182 last year, while Storey was second at the weight.
"That's a semifinal, not a first-round match," Cagle said.
Woods got a takedown to take the lead on his way to a 2-1 advantage after one period. Storey got an escape in the second period to send match tied at 2 heading into the final period.
Storey got two near-fall points with :48 remaining to take a 4-2 lead. Woods battled to the end, picking up a reversal that was ruled to have occurred after time expired.
"Rashaun wrestled so well," Cagle said. "If there were four more seconds in that match, Rashaun would have sent it to overtime."
Woods came back to beat Jude Barrett of Hickman 4-3 in the wrestlebacks to stay alive in the tournament.
Kuster and Barnes also won the wrestleback round.
Kuster, who dropped a 4-0 decision to Battle's Klayton Anderson to start the tournament, came back to beat Austin Kolvek of Park Hill 4-0 in the wrestlebacks.
Barnes, who lost 5-1 to Ben Stahlman of Northwest: Cedar Hill in the opening round, was a 3-2 winner against Ben Daly of Timberland in the wrestlebacks.
Hurley and Sage were eliminated from the tournament with losses in the wrestlebacks.
Hurley opened with a loss by fall to Sam Hampton of Blue Springs South before falling 5-2 to Payne Gulliams of Jackson. Sage lost 10-2 to Derek White of C.B.C. in his opener before falling 6-3 to Nick Hoover of Staley.
"This is a tough tournament, there are a lot of very good kids dropping left and right," Cagle said. "We just have to continue on."
The Class 4 quarterfinals will start at 1:30 p.m. today.
First Round
120 - Peter Kuster, soph. (39-7) lost 4-0 to Klayton Anderson, soph., Battle (30-9).
126 - Christian Mayberry, jr. (38-9) won 10-3 against Jordan Carson, sr., Lafayette (38-16).
132 - Tanner Irwin, sr. (43-5) won 5-0 against Carter Goslee, fr., Park Hill (25-24).
138 - Zach Hurley, sr. (28-17) LBF to Sam Hampton, sr., Blue Springs South (12-2).
145 - Gavin DeWitt, sr. (41-6) WBTF against Eric White, sr., Liberty North (12-6).
152 - Dennis Barnes, jr. (29-16) lost 5-1 to Ben Stahlman, sr., Northwest: Cedar Hill (45-8).
160 - Jacob Brune, sr. (41-8) WBTF against Vez Jordan, sr., McCluer North (19-19).
170 - Logan Moriarity, sr. (43-3) WBF against John Joe Sanchez, jr., North Kansas City (25-18).
182 - Rashaun Woods, jr. (35-12) lost 4-2 to Trey Storey, sr., Blue Springs South (49-5).
195 - Jalen Martin, sr. (43-0) WBF against Caden Crase, fr., Seckman (33-15).
220 - Tekoah Sage, sr. (29-10) lost 10-2 to Derek White, sr., C.B.C. (31-11).
First-Round Wrestlebacks
120 - Peter Kuster, soph. (40-7) won 4-0 against Austin Kolvek, fr., Park Hill (30-13).
138 - Zach Hurley, sr. (28-18) lost 5-2 to Payne Guilliams, jr., Jackson (29-5).
152 - Dennis Barnes, jr. (30-16) won 3-2 against Ben Daly, sr., Timberland (29-15)
182 - Rashaun Woods, jr. (36-12) won 4-3 against Jude Barrett, jr., Hickman (36-10).
220 - Tekoah Sage, sr. (29-11) lost 6-3 to Nick Hoover, sr., Staley (25-13).
Quarterfinals
126 - Christian Mayberry, jr. (38-9) vs. Colin Valdiviez, jr., Rockhurst (49-0).
132 - Tanner Irwin, sr. (43-5) vs. Sam Paneitz, sr., Timberland (35-12).
145 - Gavin DeWitt, sr. (41-6) vs. Gavin Londoff, sr., Holt (44-3).
160 - Jacob Brune, sr. (41-8) vs. Anthony Mabery, jr., Staley (33-10).
170 - Logan Moriarity, sr. (43-3) vs. Emilio Monsivais, sr., Holt (28-14).
195 - Jalen Martin, sr. (43-0) vs. Jacob Sobbing, sr., Park Hill (39-15).