The Jefferson City Jays have admittedly peeked ahead toward the wrestling postseason.
Jays coach Phil Cagle has not discouraged it.
"Why would you? How can look too far ahead if you want to be there?" Jays coach Phil Cagle said as Jefferson City prepared for tonight's season opener at Fulton. "If you want to get there, you better be thinking about how to get there.
"It's going to be my job as a coach to make sure they put in the work to get there, to get where they're talking about getting. When they talk about it, that just seals the envelope because that means I'm going to do everything I can to make sure they get there. When practice gets hard, I'll remind them of what they said."
Practices are hard by design in the Jays wrestling room. That paid off last year when Jefferson City made an unexpected run to a tie for third in the Class 4 state wrestling championships.
"You don't win meets or games on the day you play, you win it in practice," Cagle said. "We don't work to beat teams that aren't very good. We practice to beat the best kid on the other team."
Cagle said the numbers in the wrestling room are down this season.
"When you're working that hard to be good, sometimes kids realize everything that you're doing and they don't want to be a part of it because it's a lot of work," he said. "We don't stand on the sideline and cheerlead. Everybody in here, from our most talented wrestlers to the kids just getting started, are doing the same thing, and that's working hard."
Jefferson City returns five state qualifiers, including four medalists.
Joe Kuster, a junior, was 43-4 and finished fourth at 138 pounds. Will Berendzen was fifth at 170, also with a 43-4 record. Braden Werdehausen (35-12) was sixth at 120, while Michael Friederich (42-5) was sixth at 182. Isaac Enloe (39-9) was a qualifier at 285 for Jefferson City.
Kuster, who missed the soccer season, and Berendzen, who missed time during football, are recovered from injuries and ready to go for wrestling.
"Every day, you worry about what might happen," Cagle said. "But we're putting them in physical situations they have to deal with."
Tonight's tentative starting lineup will include:
• Seth Stumbaugh, a sophomore, at 106.
• Tytus Oliver, a sophomore, at 113.
• Dominic Stafford, a sophomore, at 120. Stafford finished 19-19 at 113 last year.
• Eli Tiberis, a sophomore, at 126. Tiberis was 15-22 at 126 last season.
• Werdehausen at 132.
• Nick Strawderman, a senior, or freshman Cameron McKee at 138.
• Kuster at 145.
• Jonathan Brockes, a junior, at 152.
• Tanner Quick, a senior, at 160.
• Clayton Hurley or Carter Epema, both seniors, at 170. Hurley was 32-14 at 160 last season.
• Berendzen at 182.
• Friederich at 195.
• Bryan Mendez or Niko Rich, both seniors, at 220.
• Enloe at 285.
"We've got guys to have a full lineup," Cagle said. "This is probably as early as we've ever had our lineup settled since I've been here.
"Some of them are a little young and we'll have our peaks and valleys, but I think we can have a successful season."
Jefferson City has dropped from Class 4 to Class 3 in the postseason. But that doesn't mean the road to the state tournament will be easier for the Jays.
Jefferson City is in a district with Platte County, Hannibal, Kearney and Smithville, who all finished in the top 18 at state. There are 17 returning state medalists in the district, in addition to at least that many qualifiers.
"It didn't get any easier," Cagle said. "Our kids better respect our opponents, we're going to see some hard-nosed kids."
Jefferson City, the defending Central Missouri Activities Conference champion, is eager to get the season started.
"We need to get on the mat and see where we're at," Cagle said. "I don't think our conditioning is very good right now, but it's a long season and we want to make sure we're pacing ourselves for the rest of the season."
After tonight's dual, the Jays will open their home schedule Tuesday in a tri-dual with Blair Oaks and Buffalo at Fleming Fieldhouse. Jefferson City will then wrestle Friday and Saturday in the Missouri Duals at Helias.
"When we come out of the gate, we're going to have to be ready," Cagle said.
And it's time to start working on those preseason goals.
"You want expectations, but it takes hard work to reach those expectations," Cagle said. "They can say them, but talk is cheap, they need to go out and do it."