It was the beginning of the changing of the guard.
“Tonight was a little bit of the older guys getting ready to move on and the younger guys getting ready to move in,” Helias wrestling coach Weston Keleher said Thursday night after the Crusaders celebrated Senior Night with a 57-18 dual victory against the Sedalia Smith-Cotton Tigers in Central Missouri Activities Conference action at Rackers Fieldhouse.
The four Helias seniors -- Jace Duemmel, Carson Hayes, Carter Prenger and Cody Suthoff -- all picked up victories in the dual.
Prenger at 126 pounds and Duemmel at 144 both won by forfeit. At 150, Hayes made quick work of Phillip Chastain with a win by fall in :27. At 190, Duemmel was a 9-1 winner against Julio Zalpa. Duemmel led 2-0 after one period and 4-1 after two.
Two of the night’s highlights for the Crusaders came from freshmen.
At 138, Ben Holee posted a win by fall against Morgan King. He led 2-0 after one period and 10-2 after two. Holee scored a takedown early in the third period and worked that into a pin in 4:49.
Holee, a first-year wrestler, entered the varsity lineup after Christmas break.
“He got a result and that’s great,” Keleher said. “He scored in all three positions -- top, bottom and neutral -- and got the fall. That was the highlight of the dual.”
At 157, Eli Homan was a 2-0 winner against Josiah Oliver. Homan scored the lone points of the match on a reversal :15 into the second period.
“Eli controlled the match, I don’t think there was a point in the match he wasn’t in control,” Keleher said. “If you went back and watched who was in control, you’d think the score would have been a lot bigger.
“We just kept it simple and he scored enough points to win.”
It was the latest in a strong series of matches for Homan. But there are still things to work on.
“There are still freshman things, if he wants to get to the level he wants to get to this season, we’re going to have to improve on some things in the next few weeks,” Keleher said.
In addition to Hayes, three other Crusaders won their matches by fall.
Aleksandr Careaga won in 1:14 at 120, Justin Wieberg was a winner in 3:46 at 132 and Hunter Barnhart won in 3:44 at 215.
Logan Montoya won by technical fall at 175 for the Crusaders. He led 7-2 after one period and 12-2 after two. Montoya scored an early reversal in the third period to extend his advantage to 14-2 and worked Keaton Belsha of Smith-Cotton onto his back for a set of near-fall points to win in 4:33.
“He’s wrestling Logan ways,” Keleher said.
Evan Dunn picked up Helias’ other win, scoring a 10-1 major decision at 113.
Helias was open at 106 and 285. Dugan Williams of the Crusaders lost by fall at 165.
There was no JV dual Thursday night.
Helias is off until Tuesday when it wrestles in a tri-dual against Hallsville and Macon in Hallsville.