Helias wrestling sweeps home quadrangular

The atmosphere at Rackers Fieldhouse was a little different 24 hours later. But the result wasn't.

Helias upended Jefferson City 32-28 on Wednesday night in wrestling. Thursday night, the Crusaders were back out on the mat, this time in a quadrangular against Eldon, Marshall and Versailles.

"You could tell the kids weren't quite as pumped up," Helias coach Bryant Gaines said after the Crusaders claimed wins against the visiting trio. "The intensity was there when the night started, but as we went along, you could see it drop.

"But we were still loose and ready to wrestle."

Helias lost just five matches on the mat Thursday in defeating Eldon (60-18), Marshall (55-15) and Versailles (53-27).

Eight Crusaders finished with 3-0 records on the night.

Jackson Careaga had three pins in his three victories at 152 pounds, while Evan Winder (120) and Nikolai Careaga (170) had two each. Gavin Adams (106), Aleksey Salaz (113) and Dustin Luebbert (145) had one each. Zack Carr (132) had a win by technical fall.

"All of those guys had good nights," Gaines said.

It was a successful return to the lineup for Luebbert, who won his other two matches by decision.

"He's out of shape, but it's nice to get him back out on the mat," Gaines said. "He even got a pin, you rarely see Dustin get a pin. He shot all day, he got takedowns all day."

Randy Salaz (126), Jackson Schrimpf (138) and Noah Wieberg (195) were all 2-1. Colden Imhoff (182) was 1-2.

Helias was open at 220 and 285.

"One thing tonight showed is we need to work on our reversals and our switches," Gaines said. "We need to get stronger on those."

Marshall went 2-1 in duals, picking up wins against Versailles (44-28) and Eldon (55-24). Versailles topped Eldon (58-21) in the matchup of Tri-County Conference schools.

The busy week continues today for Helias as the Crusaders will open action in the Platte County Invitational.

Helias is taking nine wrestlers to the tournament.

"That tournament is nails, it's like the Capital City Invitational for Class 3 schools," Gaines said. "We're going to see the best of the Kansas City area schools."

The Invitational will conclude Saturday.