WARDSVILLE, Mo. - The Blair Oaks Falcons wanted to play for a tie.
Trailing by 12 points with two matches to go Thursday against the Owensville Dutchmen, the Blair Oaks wrestling team needed two pins, and got exactly that to tie the match at 33.
As it turned out, even the two pins weren't going to be enough. Owensville won by criteria to take the dual victory, winning seven matches to Blair Oaks' six. Both teams were open at 106 pounds.
In his 16 years of coaching, Blair Oaks coach Tim Karsten said that was just the fourth tie the Falcons have encountered in dual competition.
"The tie was tough," Karsten said. "We had more pins, but they won more matches."
Scott Farley fell behind early in his match at 220 against Jace Ellis, but Farley turned the tables and recorded a pin in 1:41 to draw the Falcons within six points at 33-27.
The win improved Farley's season record to 10-0.
"He's coming back off injury," Karsten said. "He's done a good job, but he needs to learn to pace himself a little bit, wear those guys down and not wear yourself down."
In the final match of the dual, Kaleb Bisges also fell behind in the first period, trailing 5-0 against Camren McQueen at 285.
As the third period began, Bisges trailed 5-3. With McQueen on top to start the period, Bisges came through with a quick reversal and needed just a few seconds to put McQueen on his back.
Moments later, Bisges finished the match, winning by fall at 4:46 to tie the score.
"He's our 'Little Engine That Could,'" Karsten said of Bisges. "He is outsized. He only weighs 209 pounds, but he's done a great job for us."
Despite losing the match by criteria, Karsten said it was a good match for his team.
"That's why we wrestle (Owensville)," Karsten said. "They always give us a good push. We're Class 1 and they're Class 2, but we always have this close competition."
Kyler Griep also picked up a key win for Blair Oaks against Owensville. Griep won a 6-4 decision at 152 against Cooper Bombach, in which all points were scored by reversals.
"It was two strong guys overpowering themselves and getting in bad positions," Karsten said. "The quicker one won. It was a good match for them both."
Caleb Meeks won by fall in :55 at 132, Paul Karsten won by fall in :48 at 182 and Jayce Griggs won by forfeit at 120 for the Falcons.
Blair Oaks started the quad-dual with a 68-12 win against Missouri Military Academy. The Falcons gave up the 12 points by forfeit, winning the other 12 matches of the dual.
In his only match of the evening, London Gaydos overcame a knee injury in the second period of his match at 132 to win by technical fall with eight seconds to spare in the third period. He improved to 16-2.
Blair Oaks ended the night with a 57-24 win against Warsaw. The Falcons won three matches by fall, as well as six others by forfeit.
Riley Boeckman, who has been injured most of the season, added a win by forfeit at 195 against Warsaw. Blair Oaks left that spot open in its other two matches Thursday.
"He's close to getting back. It's important for him to finish the season," Karsten said of Boeckman. "We're getting him (wins by) forfeits when we can. Next week, I think he'll be ready."
Griggs won all three of his matches by forfeit during the evening.
Paul Karsten also went 3-0, adding another first-period pin against MMA. Fifteen of his 20 wins this season have been by fall.
"He's had a good week," Tim Karsten said. "He won all his matches this week and it's good to see him go out there and attack them like he is."
Nine Falcons had two wins Thursday, including Bo Thomas, who improved his season record to 26-6 at 145.
In the other duals, Owensville finished the evening 3-0, beating Warsaw 54-24 and topping MMA 54-12. Warsaw picked up a 42-29 win against MMA to finish 1-2, while the Colonels went 0-3 in the quad-dual.
Blair Oaks (10-3) will compete Saturday at the Brookfield Tournament.