COLUMBIA -- It was a familiar finish for Joe Kuster.
Familiarity isn’t always welcome.
The Jefferson City senior finished fourth at 150 pounds in the Class 3 state tournament Saturday afternoon to earn his third state medal.
All three are for fourth.
“I’m a little sour about it, a little disappointed,” Kuster said. “It’s pretty cool to take fourth at state for three years, a big accomplishment, but I wish I could have done a little bit better.
“But it is what it is.”
Gallery: 2023 Class 3 Boys Wrestling State Championships -- Day 2
After two wins in the tournament Friday, Kuster opened Saturday with a 10-0 loss to Noah Bourke of Whitfield in the semifinals.
In the fourth-round of wrestlebacks, Kuster gave up a takedown against Jeric Gumahin of Fort Zumwalt South. Kuster quickly escaped, then turned a takedown of his own into a win by fall in :54.
That advanced Kuster to the third-place match for the third straight season, this time taking on Belton senior Brady Littleton.
“He’s a tough guy, he always stays in the right position,” Kuster said. “He’s very strong and he knows how to play good defense.”
It was the second meeting for the two in the postseason after Littleton posted a 7-1 victory in the district semifinals.
The first period Saturday finished scoreless before Littleton got an escape in the second to take a 1-0 lead. Kuster started the third period in the bottom position.
“I just couldn’t get off bottom,” Kuster said. “I almost got out a couple of times, but he was able to keep a hold of me.”
Littleton then got two near fall points at the end of the third period to post a 3-0 victory.
“I tried something, it didn’t work out,” Kuster said.
Kuster wrestled this season with a torn ACL suffered in the fall during soccer.
“Joe has been our leader all year and he was a great leader for this team,” Jays coach Nathan Redcay said.
Kuster finishes the season at 33-4.
III
Eli Teiberis of Jefferson City wrapped up an impressive run in the tournament by taking fifth at 126.
“I thought he had a shot when we looked at the bracket,” Redcay said. “He was capable of doing it, he’s very coachable, he did what we asked him to do and he wrestled hard and did it.”
Teiberis advanced to the medal round with a win by fall in 3:00 against Zach Dennis of Farmington in Saturday morning’s bubble round.
Teiberis then lost by fall to Carter Prenger of Helias in the fourth-round of wrestlebacks to drop into the fifth-place match against Warrenton sophomore Noah Lohrmann.
Teiberis took a lot of drama out of the match early, scoring a takedown and three near fall points in the first period to take a 5-0 lead. Both wrestlers scored four points in the second period and two in the third as Teiberis posted an 11-6 victory.
The win was a bit of redemption for Teiberis, who dropped a 6-5 decision to Lohrmann in Friday’s quarterfinals.
“We knew exactly what we had to do beat the guy and Eli wrestled a great match,” Redcay said.
Teiberis wraps up his junior season with a record of 34-12.
“He probably wasn’t one of our top three coming into the tournament, but he ended up one of our top three,” Redcay said. “It was a great two days for him.”
III
Braden Werdehausen of the Jays earned his second state medal by finishing sixth at 138.
Werdehausen opened action Saturday with a 4-2 win in overtime against Blake Jackson of Hillsboro. Jackson scored a takedown in the second period to take a 2-0 lead into the third, but Werdehausen tied it with a reversal early in the third and the match went to overtime.
Werdehausen got a takedown in the extra period to take the win and advance to the medal round.
In the fourth round of wrestlebacks, Werdehausen dropped a 6-4 decision to Blaine Ortiz of McDonald County. Ortiz led 5-0 after two periods before Werdehausen got a takedown to cut the deficit to three. Ortiz got an escape to make it 6-2 before Werdehausen got a late takedown to make the final 6-4.
In the fifth-place match, Werdehausen squared off against Kyshin Isringhausen of Branson. Isringhausen led 2-0 after one period and 5-0 after two on his way to a 7-0 victory.
Werdehausen, who finished sixth as a freshman, ends his junior season with a record of 37-6.
“He’s not satisfied with sixth, but it is a positive to get a second state medal,” Redcay said. “It’s something to build on for his senior season.”
III
Cameron McKee of Jefferson City came up one win short of a medal at 144 pounds.
McKee, a sophomore, dropped a 13-5 decision to Jace Duemmel of Helias in the third round of wrestlebacks Saturday morning.
McKee, a two-time state qualifier, ends his season at 38-4.