For the past three-plus years, consistency has been the calling card for the Jefferson City Jays on the wrestling mat.
That continued Wednesday night as the Jays extended the regular-season dual winning streak to 39, posting a 65-12 victory against the Helias Crusaders at Rackers Fieldhouse.
"We've been fortunate to have some very good athletes and good wrestlers in the past few years," Jays coach Phil Cagle said. "And when you add in the fact they work hard, that's a good combination to have as a coach."
Jefferson City's seniors have lost just one dual in their four years.
"The seniors had some classes in front of them who taught them how to lead and now they're passing that along to the younger kids," Cagle said.
Helias was open at five weights Wednesday night, staking Jefferson City to a 30-0 lead before the dual even started. The opens were due to a combination of injuries and inexperience.
"This was not unexpected," Helias coach Bryant Gaines said. "We're just not in a position right now to be competitive against a team like Jefferson City."
The dual opened at 152 pounds and Jefferson City's Dennis Barnes and Jacob Brune picked up victories by forfeit.
At 170, Logan Moriarity won by fall in 2:46 before Rashaun Woods won by forfeit at 182. At 195, Jalen Martin won by fall in 2:25 to make the score 30-0.
Tekoah Sage at 220 was a 22-9 winner for the Jays. Up just 2-1 after the first period, Sage extended his advantage to 11-5 heading into the final period.
The Jays took a 40-0 lead midway through the dual when Mekhi Burnley won by fall in 4:56 at 285.
Helias scored its points in the next two matches as Evan Winder at 106 and Randy Salaz both won by falls. Winder won in 2:59, while Salaz won in 5:52.
"Those two guys worked through the matches, credit the Jays kids, they fought," Gaines said. "We wanted our guys to wrestle a little while and they got the pins."
Peter Kuster then was a 10-2 winner at 120 for the Jays, then Christian Mayberry won by forfeit at 126. Tanner Irwin won by fall in 4:26 at 132 before Zach Hurley posted an 8-2 win at 138 against Nick Gaines of Helias.
"Gaines is a really good kid and Zach did a good job of taking advantage of his scoring opportunities when they were there," Cagle said.
Gavin DeWitt won by forfeit at 145 to wrap up the dual.
"We thought there were five matches that either team had a chance to win and we won three of them," Cagle said. "Credit Helias, their kids wrestled hard from start to finish. I don't think the score is really indicative of how things went."
Jefferson City will wrestle Friday and Saturday at the Hickman Tournament before returning home to host Hickman in a dual Tuesday.
Helias is back in action tonight in a quad at Versailles along with Marshall and Eldon.
"We want to get back on the mat," Gaines said. "I don't know who planned it this way, but it's going to be good to get right back out there. We will be a lot more competitive."
Jefferson City defeated Helias 69-3 in Wednesday night's junior varsity dual.