Helias' lineup adjustment pays off in 32-28 win against Jays

Jefferson City's Xavier Adams attempts to escape the reach from Helias' Evan Winder during Wednesday night's dual at Rackers Fieldhouse.
Jefferson City's Xavier Adams attempts to escape the reach from Helias' Evan Winder during Wednesday night's dual at Rackers Fieldhouse.

In the days leading up to Wednesday's crosstown dual against Jefferson City, Helias coach Bryant Gaines ran through the numbers in an attempt to figure out the final score.

"I went through them a dozen times, I didn't come up with this," Gaines said after the Crusaders won eight of the 12 contested matches in a 32-28 victory against the Jays at Rackers Fieldhouse.

The win snapped an eight-year losing streak in the dual for the Crusaders.

One person who wasn't necessarily surprised with the result was Jays coach Phil Cagle, who touted the Crusaders' roster last weekend.

"I knew it was going to be close," Cagle said. "You could tell they were getting better and we're a young team that is still learning."

The biggest decision of the night came before the dual even started.

Jefferson City had two starters out of the lineup after leaving school Wednesday due to illness. When Helias saw the revamped Jefferson City group, the Crusader wrestlers talked and decided to bump up a weight in a few of the lower weight classes.

"They came to me and told me they thought it was the best chance we had to win," Gaines said. "It wasn't necessarily the best decision for them as individuals, but they knew it was best for the team."

It turned into a winning strategy.

"The illnesses let them switch their lineup and they have every right to do that," Cagle said.

The dual opened with each team winning a match by decision.

At 106 pounds, Garrett Butel won 8-6 for Jefferson City before Aleksey Salaz won 7-2 at 113 to tie the team score at 3.

The lineup shift for Helias began at 120. The Crusaders were planning on being open at 138, but with the new lineup, Jacob Schrimpf was inserted at 120 off the JV and he posted a 10-0 major decision.

Evan Winder at 126 and Randy Salaz at 132 both won by falls for the Crusaders to give Helias a 19-3 lead.

"Those pins were huge," Gaines said.

One of the best matches of the night came at 138, where Zack Carr of Helias squared off against Will Kuster of Jefferson City.

"Zack is a senior and he knew by moving up, he was going to have a tougher match," Gaines said. "But he did it for the team."

Carr and Kuster were tied at 2 after one period. Kuster got a reversal and a takedown in the second period to take a 6-5 lead. That was the final score after a scoreless third period.

Peter Kuster made it two wins in a row for the Jays, winning by major decision at 145.

Another outstanding match came at 152, where Jackson Careaga of Helias was matched against Reece Neighbors of the Jays.

Neighbors led 4-2 after one period and took a 6-3 advantage into the third period. Careaga cut the deficit to two early in the period with an escape. He then got at 9-6 victory with a takedown and set of back points in the final :10.

"That was huge," Gaines said. "Jackson's a little undersized for that weight, but he knows how to wrestle."

It was one of the pivotal matches of the night, giving Helias a 22-10 advantage.

"That was the one that hurt," Cagle said.

Nick Schnieders of the Crusaders won by major decision at 160 before Nikolai Careaga rallied for a 7-6 victory at 170 for Helias.

The Crusaders led 29-10 after the 170 match. Helias was forfeiting at 220 and 285 to give Jefferson City 12 points. Doing the math, Helias needed to win one of the last two matches to clinch the victory.

First up for the Crusaders was Colden Imhoff at 182, seeing his first action since the Missouri Duals in mid-December due to injury.

Imhoff had won the wrestle off and was supposed to be in the lineup at 170. But Gaines said Imhoff moved to 182 to help the team Wednesday night.

"We didn't really have anybody else," Gaines said.

Imhoff got an early takedown and led 3-1 after one period against Elijah Jackson. The match was tied at 6 after periods before Imhoff got a pair of takedowns and an escape to lead 11-7 with just under a minute remaining. Jackson rallied, getting an escape and takedown with about :08 left. But Imhoff was able to hang on for an 11-10 win to insure the team win.

"The first takedown was key, it was about Colden after that," Gaines said. "He can wrestle guys that are bigger and stronger because he's grown into a more cautious wrestler and he was going to be steady the rest of the match."

Ian Cote of the Jays then won by a first-period fall at 195. Brandon Backues at 220 and Nate McKaye at 285 won by forfeits for the Jays to make the final score 32-28.

"Every since our last dual, all we've talked about was winning this dual," Gaines said. "We've worked hard in practice, the kids were all focused on getting this win as a team.

"I was going to tell them they wrestled great even if we didn't win. But we did."

"I congratulate them for their win," Cagle said. "Our kids did fine tonight."

The Jays (6-3) will wrestle at the Hickman Tournament this weekend.

"We may wind up with only 5-7 kids going with our illnesses and injuries," Cagle said. "But we have to get healthy, that's more important than the tournament."

Helias has no time to celebrate as the Crusaders will host Eldon, Marshall and Versailles in a quad.

"This is a challenge, we did great tonight, but it's not over," Gaines said. "We need to come out and wrestle well again."

Action is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.

The Jays won Wednesday night's JV dual 54-11.