Thursday night's dual between the Jefferson City Jays and the C.B.C. Cadets had more than its share of 50/50 matches.
With their three-plus season regular-season dual winning streak on the line, the Jays made sure the coin flips went their way in a surprising 42-16 victory against the Cadets at Fleming Fieldhouse.
"I had it at 32-30 going in, if we won," Jays coach Phil Cagle said. "We had a lot of guys win some big matches.
"I think all but two of the matches could have gone either way. I am so proud of the focus the guys had."
The Jays won the first five matches of the dual, which started at 126 pounds.
Christian Mayberry got the Jays going with a 6-2 victory at 126. Mayberry got an escape in the final seconds of the first period to take a 3-2 lead on his way to the win.
"Christian has shown the ability to get away from people and that's what won him that match," Cagle said.
At 132, Tanner Irwin posted a 6-0 victory. Up 4-0, Irwin did a great job of snuffing out the escape and reversal attempts of Joe Schmidt in the final minute of the second period to get the victory.
At 138, Zach Hurley led 4-0 after one period and 6-0 after two on his way to a 12-6 victory.
"Zach is starting to get his offense together," Cagle said.
The Jays then got back to back pins from Gavin DeWitt at 145 (2:28) and Dennis Barnes at 152 (5:00) to make the score 27-0.
At 160, Jacob Brune of the Jays dropped a 3-2 decision to D.J. Shannon. The match was tied at 2 after two periods. Shannon is ranked No. 2 at 152, while Brune is No. 5 at 160.
"That was a great match from Jacob, it will make him a better wrestler as we get ready for districts and state," Cagle said.
Logan Moriarity of the Jays won by forfeit at 170. At 182, Rashaun Woods got the only takedown of the match with :45 remaining in the third period in a 3-2 victory for Jefferson City.
"Rashaun really wanted that match," Cagle said.
At 195, Tekoah Sage of the Jays used a big third period to take an 11-7 win.
The match was tied at 3 after two periods before he picked up four third-period takedowns.
"It was nice to see Tekoah wrestling somebody his own size," Cagle said.
At 220, Jalen Martin led 2-0 after one period and 4-0 after two on his way to a 7-2 win against Derek White of the Cadets. Martin is ranked No. 1 at 195, while White is No. 3 at 220.
"Jalen needed a match like that, against a really tough guy," Cagle said. "That guy had about 15 pounds on him and Jalen did a great job of battling."
Jefferson City got its final win of the dual when Mekhi Burnley picked up a victory by fall in 3:29 at 285 against Nino Schmitt.
"That kid is one of the best heavyweights in St. Louis, Mehki did a tremendous job," Cagle said.
Garrett Butel at 106 and Cameron Cooper at 113 both lost by technical fall for the Jays.
At 120, Peter Kuster dropped a 3-1 decision to Malik Johnson in a battle of state-ranked wrestlers. Johnson, ranked No. 1 at 113, got a takedown in the closing seconds to get the win against Kuster, ranked No. 4 at 120.
"Peter had a great match," Cagle said.
Thursday was also Senior Night for the Jays, as a total of 13 wrestlers were honored.
Jefferson City is back in action starting today at the Thrasher Memorial Tournament hosted by Francis Howell.
The Jays can then finish off another undefeated dual season when they travel Tuesday to Rock Bridge.
The Jays won Thursday night's JV dual 62-9.
Here are the results from Jefferson City's dual Thursday night against C.B.C. at Fleming Fieldhouse. Jays wrestlers are listed first:
106 - Garrett Butel LBTF in 1:48 to Cevion Severado.
113 - Cameron Cooper LBTF in 3:01 to Kyle Prewitt.
120 - Peter Kuster lost 3-1 to Malik Johnson.
126 - Christian Mayberry won 6-2 against Will Edgar.
132 - Tanner Irwin won 6-0 against Joe Schmidt.
138 - Zach Hurley won 12-6 against Ryan Murphy.
145 - Gavin DeWitt WBF in 2:28 against Artum Zoellner.
152 - Dennis Barnes WBF in 5:00 against Andrew Gentry.
160 - Jacob Brune lost 3-2 to D.J. Shannon.
170 - Logan Moriarity won by forfeit.
182 - Rashaun Woods won 3-2 against Charlie Cadell.
195 - Tekoah Sage won 11-7 against Sean Lenihan.
220 - Jalen Martin won 7-2 against Derek White.
285 - Mekhi Burnley WBF in 3:29 against Nini Schmidt.