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Peter Kuster wanted to make a little bit of history.
Drury University had not had an All-American in the first three years of its wrestling program. Kuster, a former Jefferson City Jay, believed he was going to break through and be the first last month in Year Four for the Panthers at the NCAA Division II national championships in Sioux Falls, S.D.
"I wanted to be a national champ," Kuster, a sophomore who was ranked in the top 10 at 141 pounds, said. "That's what you tell yourself, at least.
"Realistically, I wanted to finish top-five, be an All-American. I really think I could have."
But those hopes went away with just one email, the day before the championships were scheduled to start. The NCAA had called off the event due to concerns about the spread of the the coronavirus.
"Our coach had just gotten back to the hotel from a meeting about what was going on and he said the situation was fluid," Kuster said.
Drury head coach James Reynolds then was walking out the door of the hotel room and
"He got an email and read it to us, saying it was called off," Kuster said. "That was rough."
The Division I wrestling championships, scheduled to be held the next week, had been canceled the day before by the NCAA. That was a topic of conversation among the Division II qualifiers.
"We thought they might let us wrestle because we were already there," Kuster said. "We'd already been wrestling on the mats in practice, everybody who was going to be in the stands was pretty much already there.
"We'd already been exposed to people who were going to be there and we were in Sioux Falls, S.D., there aren't all that many people anyway.
"But there wasn't much we could do about it but complain to each other."
And make a phone call to his family. Ben and Regina Kuster, along with their other three sons, were driving to Sioux Falls for the tournament.
They were about 30 minutes away when the phone rang.
"I was waiting for him to say 'just kidding,' because he knew we were close to getting there," Ben Kuster said.
There had already been a decision made to just cut back the number of people who could attend in the arena.
"I thought they would have it because the day before they decided to limit the fan exposure," Ben Kuster said. "It was immediate families only, they had figured out all the arm bands and everything."
The Kuster family, with all four boys being wrestlers since they were younger with kids clubs, finished the trip to Sioux Falls.
"At kids tournaments, the pool is full and the bar is empty at the hotel," Ben Kuster said. "That night, the pool was empty and the bar was packed."
The Kuster family, as well as the Drury wrestling contingent, left the next day to return home, making a stop at the Omaha Zoo on their way back to Missouri.
Drury was scheduled for spring break the next week, so Peter Kuster returned to Jefferson City. That break was extended for another week, then Drury announced it was going to online classes the remainder of the school year.
He's keeping up with his school work, getting emails and power point presentations from his teachers.
"Online is different, it seems like you are teaching yourself more than you were if you went to regular class," Kuster said.
Looking back, he understands a little more about why the decision to cancel was made.
"At that point, we didn't know exactly how you got it," Kuster said. "We knew they did it to protect people, they did protect the people who hadn't been in the arena already and exposed to each other."
A few days later, Kuster did earn All-American honors. Sort of.
Someone set up brackets to vote on winners on Twitter for the championships. After an early loss, Kuster rallied to take third in his weight class.
"It was a laugh more than anything," he said. "It was really a popularity contest, but it was nice. It was cool to see the support."
Kuster can't help but think back about what might have been in the real tournament.
"Some people's goal is to get to nationals, it was a big deal and I'm proud of myself for making it," he said. "But there were more things I could have achieved."