If you blinked, you probably missed it.
Clayton Hurley of Jefferson City lined up and shook hands prior to his 170-pound match Friday night against Braeden Trower of Eureka in the second round of the Missouri Duals at the Helias Gym.
Eight seconds later, the match was over as Hurley won by fall.
“We’ve been on him to shoot, shoot, shoot and that’s what he did,” Jays coach Phil Cagle said as Jefferson City finished 2-0 in duals on the opening night. “That’s good.”
Hurley charged at Trower at the opening whistle and put him immediately on his back for the victory.
Hurley finished 2-0 on the night, winning his first match 5-1 against Aiden Stearns of Waynesville.
“That’s the best I’ve ever seen him wrestle,” Cagle said. “Tomorrow’s a new day, you never know what’s going to happen, but today, he did a great job.”
Hurley was one of 10 Jays that won both of their matches Friday night.
Joe Kuster at 145, Tanner Quick at 160 and Isaac Enloe at 285 all won twice by fall. Kuster and Quick won their matches in the first period.
Braden Werdehuasen at 132 won by fall and by decision. Winning once by fall and once by forfeit were Cameron McKee at 138, Will Berendzen at 182, Michael Friederich at 195 and Niko Rich at 220. Seth Stumbaugh won twice by forfeit at 106.
Jefferson City opened with a 72-3 dual win against Waynesville before beating Eureka 60-22.
“Our kids with experience are doing what they need to do,” Cagle said. “Our younger kids are making mistakes, but they’re growing. And that’s what they need to be doing right now.
“We’re working hard in the practice room, but getting out here in front of people wrestling against somebody from a different team is where they’re really going to learn. That shows them what they need to work on.”
The Jays had a bye in the third round, meaning they will wrestle five duals today in the tournament.
“It will be a day for endurance and that will be good for us,” Cagle said. “We’ll be tested and that’s a good thing.”
Jefferson City will be a little shorthanded with some of the wrestlers taking the SATs this morning.
“We’re going to be giving up some points, but college is important,” Cagle said. “We’ll just try to survive, we’re going to need people to step up and help us out with some of those points we’re going to be missing.
“If we can do that, we’ll be OK.”
Jefferson City will wrestle Lee’s Summit, Blue Springs, Grain Valley and Neosho before ending the tournament in the trophy round.
“We need every kid to wrestle their best matches for themselves,” Cagle said. “Because when we go to seed for the district tournament, I won’t be giving a team record, it will be an individual record. That’s what they need to concentrate on.”
Action will resume at 9 a.m. today.