Senior Night is always special.
For Helias wrestling coach Weston Keleher, Tuesday night’s Senior Night had a little something extra special.
“This is a special group to me, they’ve been with me for four years,” Keleher said of the eight seniors who were honored between dual victories against Capital City and School of the Osage at Rackers Fieldhouse.
“It’s a great class, a lot of hard workers and the results show that.”
It’s been a core group that has led Helias back up the ladder at recent state tournaments.
“They started a good culture, they’ve been a great group,” Keleher said.
Helias opened the night with a 51-20 victory against Capital City. Cavaliers coach Mitch Werdehausen was pleased with the effort of his team. It was the second win of the season for the Crusaders against the Cavaliers. Helias won 56-18 in the Missouri Duals in mid-December.
“Helias is a tough team, we knew that it would be a tough dual,” Werdehausen said. “We cut the gap on them from the last time.”
The Crusaders won five matches by fall against the Cavaliers -- Carter Prenger at 120 pounds, Jack Lage at 126, Carson Hayes at 138, Wyatt Forck at 152 and Drake Perkins at 170. Jace Duemmel of Helias won by technical fall at 145.
Jack Klebba won by a major decision at 285. Gage Lock at 106 and Tanner Nappier at 195 both won by decision, while Logan Montoya won by forfeit at 160.
Matt Boyer at 182 and Ian Nelson at 220 both won by fall for the Cavaliers, while Sterling Wheatley and Eli Schuemann at 132 both won by major decisions.
“Our kids are getting tough,” Werdehausen said. “We want them to wrestle through their matches with a maximum effort. If that happens and you come up short. you still gave it all you had.”
With the win, Helias improved to 5-0 in Central Missouri Activities Conference action this season. The Crusaders can win the conference championship outright with a win Thursday night at Sedalia Smith-Cotton.
“You’re always looking for things to be about the team,” Keleher said. “It was very important to the boys to win it and this was an important dual to win because I’ve had a lot of respect for Capital City ever since they started. They wrestle hard, they’re fundamentally sound.”
The Cavaliers are shifting from duals to individual mode as the regular season goes into its final couple of weeks.
“We’re preaching right now it’s all about individuals right now, get the right mind set heading into districts,” Werdehausen said.
The Helias seniors honored Tuesday night included Lock, Lage, Aaron Klahr, Forck, Connor Wilbers, Blake Luebbering Nappier and Michael Sanner.
Helias and Capital City will both wrestle Saturday at the CMAC Individual Tournament at Hickman.
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Helias then wrestled Osage, who is in the same district as the Crusaders.
“We wanted to see where we’re at against them in some weights,” Keleher said.
The Crusaders won the dual 54-29, helped by five forfeit victories.
Prenger at 120, Lage at 126, Duemmel at 145 and Perkins at 170 all won by fall for Helias.
Winning for Osage were Zach Green at 106 by technical fall, Hayden Westbrook at 113 by injury default, AJ Bonney by fall at 132, Ryan Schepers at 152 by fall and Chase Cordia at 195 by fall.
“It’s a good thing we got to see them, even in the matches we lost,” Keleher said. “We have something to build on, even in the matches we didn’t get the results we would have liked.”
Helias and Osage are among 15 schools who will wrestle in the Class 2 District 3 Tournament next month at Seneca.