The Jefferson City Jays got what they wanted out of the first day of the Missouri Duals - two wins and an early night.
"It was a good start for us," Jays coach Phil Cagle said after Jefferson City topped Eureka and Father Tolton at the Helias Gym. "We wrestled some good matches, we had some good things happen."
Five Jays - Christian Strope at 120 pounds, JoeJoe Kuster at 132, Clayton Hurley at 138, Mike Frederichs at 170 and Brandon Backues at 285 - finished 2-0 on Friday.
Kuster, Hurley and Backues all won a pair of first-period falls. Backues' two matches lasted a total of :24. Frederichs won by fall and by decision, while Strope took a pair of forfeits. Will Kuster and Ethan Walling were both 1-0 at 152.
Going 1-1 for the Jays were DeJuan Wallace at 113, Sam Rackers at 145, Will Berendzen at 160, Dawson Prenger at 182. Jakil Hays at 195 and Brent Aulber at 220. Hunter Walling was 0-2 at 126.
"The ones that won did what they were supposed to do and the ones that didn't still wrestled hard when they were out there," Cagle said.
Jefferson City opened with a 44-24 victory against Eureka.
"They were competitive and did a good job against us," Cagle said. "But our kids came out and did a very good job against them."
The Jays then posted a 60-13 victory against Father Tolton.
"They have some good wrestlers, three really good ones," Cagle said. "We just wrestled pretty well."
The Jays, who are battling some sickness throughout the team, were glad to have a bye in Friday night's final round.
"We were a little tired because of illness and I'm glad we only had to wrestle twice and we get to go home and go to bed," Cagle said.
The Jays will be without Anakin Gray at 106 until after the start of the new year after he was injured earlier this week.
Jefferson City will wrestle duals today against Lee's Summit West, Waynesville, Blue Springs and Owensville in Gold Division action before taking on a team from the Blue Division in the final round.
"We have to bring the same effort and energy (today)," Cagle said. "We need to compete, there are tough teams ahead for us.
"We need to make weight, to beat the scale and then go out on the mat and wrestle the best we can wrestle."
Action will begin at 9 a.m. today.