The Helias Crusaders don't have a lot of home wrestling meets this season.
So when they are at home, the Crusaders might as well win them. Helias finished 24-5 in matches Wednesday night against Borgia, Southern Boone and the Mexico JV at Rackers Fieldhouse.
"Almost everybody on our roster got a match," Helias coach Bryant Gaines said. "Now some of the kids were wrestling up, but they had a chance to get out there and show us what they could do."
Helias' one true varsity dual Wednesday came against Borgia as the Crusaders posted a 72-9 victory against the Knights.
"We only have a few home duals, I really wanted our varsity to get some matches at home," Gaines said.
The Crusaders won six matches in the dual by fall - Evan Winder at 113 pounds, Zack Carr at 126, Nick Gaines at 145, Nate Distler at 152, Colden Imhoff at 170 and Zane Pezley at 195.
"They are listening, they're doing what we're telling them," Bryant Gaines said. "That was one of the great things I saw tonight."
Imhoff and Pezley's wins came in the first period. Gaines and Distler's victories were in the second period, while Winder and Carr won in the third.
Distler trailed 8-2 midway through the second period before getting a reversal and working that into a win by fall.
"That was a strong move by Nate," Gaines said.
Helias won its other six matches by forfeit - Aleksey Salaz at 106, Randy Salaz at 120, Garrett Schnieders at 160, Ryan Butzer at 220 and Matthew Witt at 285.
At 138, Dustin Luebbert of Helias rallied from a four-point deficit to fall 5-4.
"That was a tough kid Dustin wrestled," Gaines said. "Dustin just needed to attack a little earlier, we need to get him to be more aggressive."
Noah Wieberg of Helias lost by fall at 182.
The matchups against Mexico and Southern Boone featured a majority of JV wrestlers for Helias. The Crusaders were 12-3 in those bouts, with all the victories coming by fall.
"Those kids getting some success is only going to make them more excited for wrestling," Gaines said.
Nine of the wins were in the first period. That's good, except Gaines would have liked to have seen a little more wrestling from his team.
"I wanted them to get some more time on the mat," Gaines said. "But they get so excited, when they can get a pin they get one."
Helias is back in action Friday and Saturday at the Harrisonville Tournament.
"We want to have some good matches," Gaines said. "It seems like we either win easily or lose easily. I would like for us to get out there and just wrestle."
The tournament will feature a majority of Class 3 teams.
"I want to see how we stack up against the schools our size," Gaines said.
A total of 24 schools are entered in the tournament.