COLUMBIA - The Blair Oaks trio advanced past the first day of the Class 1 state wrestling championships at Mizzou Arena.
Dalton Bridges, Ben Thomas and Kyler Griep each picked up a win by pin Thursday to make it to the top 12 in their respective weight classes.
Bridges and Griep won their first-round matches, while Thomas picked up his win in the first-round wrestlebacks.
"In all four matches, we wrestled really well," Blair Oaks coach Mike DeMilia said. "Even in the loss, we were right there.
"I thought all of them wrestled to the best of their abilities."
Bridges won by fall in :56 against Justin Roth of Mid-Buchanan to advance to the quarterfinals at 126 pounds. Roth tried to shoot underneath Bridges, but the Blair Oaks junior was able to spin him and get the takedown 30 seconds into the match.
"He's confident right now," DeMilia said. "That district title gave him a lot of confidence. We knew it was a lot of work to do, but he thinks he can beat anybody in this tournament."
Griep earned his pin in the third period against Lawson's Cade Killingworth, who was a state medalist last season, in the 152-pound bracket.
Making his first state appearance, Griep struck early against Killingsworth, scoring a takedown and 3-point nearfall in the first 20 seconds of the match.
Griep struggled midway through the second period, but he was able to get the upper hand with a reversal and then finished the match 20 seconds into the third period.
"The guy put a banana split on him and had him on his back for a second, and that was a little scary," DeMilia said. "But when (Kyler) got off his back, I think the other kid knew he was in trouble.
"He showed a lot of heart and grit today."
Thomas fell behind 5-0 through two periods against Hallsville's Luke West in his first match at 145. Thomas was able to start the third with a takedown and finished it with a reversal for an 8-4 loss.
"We were taking action to (West) late," DeMilia said. "We went for some upper-body throws and tried to get a big move, and (Ben) about caught him a couple times."
Thomas bounced back in wrestlebacks, pinning Gateway Science's Gabe Corson in 1:53 to advance in the consolation bracket. The Blair Oaks junior needs two wins to reach the medal rounds.
"He's the one with the toughest road, but he's the one we want with the toughest road because he can handle it," DeMilia said. "He was pretty down after that first match, but I knew he'd bounce back here. Tomorrow is set up pretty nice for him to make a run."
The Class 1 quarterfinals are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. today and will be followed by the second round of wrestlebacks.
Bridges (28-5) will go against Marceline junior Colton Nelson (30-18). Bridges won by fall earlier this season against Nelson in dual competition and both are just outside the state rankings at 126.
Griep (32-10) faces Centralia's Grafton Littrell (48-3), who is ranked No. 3 in Class 1, for a spot in the semifinals.
Thomas (41-11) awaits the loser of the quarterfinal match between Warsaw's Kolby Estes (45-2) and Maysville's Dalton Wade (37-12) in the second-round wrestlebacks.
"I feel good about tomorrow morning," DeMilia said after Thursday's competition. "All three of them have tough matches, but I feel like we can win all three. We're where we want to be, for sure."
After Day 1, Blair Oaks is tied for 17th out of 52 schools in the team standings with 11 points. Whitfield leads with 38.5 points, followed by Lawson with 32, Marceline with 29 and Seneca with 28.