Overachieving has been the calling card of the wrestling season so far for the Jefferson City Jays.
They will have a chance to continue that run this weekend when they host the Capital City Invitational at Fleming Fieldhouse.
"We're just a bunch of average guys who work very hard," Jays coach Phil Cagle said. "You can't beat hard work."
It figures to be hard work to knock off Park Hill in the team race. The Trojans, the defending Class 4 state champions, have won 10 straight Capital City Invitational team titles and are No. 1 in the latest Class 4 state rankings by MissouriWrestling.com.
Among the top weight classes in the Invitational are:
• 152 pounds, with top-ranked Lawton Benna of Holt and No. 2 Colston DiBlasi of Park Hill.
• 126, which could feature No. 1 KeShawn Hayes of Park Hill and No. 3 Colby Smith of Holt.
• And 132, with No. 1 Bill Erneste of Park Hill and No. 5 Alex Weir of Lafayette.
Holt is ranked No. 4 in Class 4. Other schools scheduled to attend include Battle, Fort Osage, Francis Howell North, Helias, Hickman, Lebanon, Northwest: Cedar Hill and Raymore-Peculiar. Wrestlers will be divided into two pools of six before the bracketed portion of the event begins.
"There are some really good teams coming," Cagle said. "There will be a lot of very good matches throughout the tournament."
Jefferson City, missing four wrestlers last year, was fifth in the Invitational. Helias, which enters the Invitational on a roll after posting dual victories against Fatima (61-18) and Battle (47-34) earlier this week, was 10th.
Action is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. today. It will resume at 9 a.m. Saturday, with the championship and third-place matches set for a 5 p.m. start.