COLUMBIA - The Jefferson City Jays got two-thirds of their nine qualifiers through the first round of the Class 4 state championships Thursday.
That's pretty good. But ...
"It was about the best we could have hoped for," Jays coach Phil Cagle said. "But I'm a capitalist, I'd like to have more."
Joe Kuster at 132 pounds, Sam Rackers at 145, Will Kuster at 152, Michael Friederich at 170, Brant Aulbur at 220 and Brandon Backues at 285 all captured their first-round matches for the Jays.
"The key was to keep wrestling like we have all year long and we did," Cagle said.
Joe Kuster's win was perhaps the biggest surprise of the night. The Jays freshman finished fourth in his district and was facing district champion in Kirkwood freshman Noah Bourke.
"They're going to be battling a lot over the next couple of years," Cagle said.
Bourke got a takedown late in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. Kuster then got an early escape in the second period before scoring a takedown to take a 3-2 lead into the third period.
Bourke tied it at 3 with an early escape in the third. Kuster then got a takedown and two near-fall points to make it 7-3. Bourke got an escape with :36 remaining, followed by a takedown to cut Kuster's advantage to 7-6.
Kuster was able to run time off the clock by keeping contact with Bourke near the end of the mat to help seal the one-point win.
"That kid thought he was out of bounds, but Joe kept hanging on to keep the clock moving," Cagle said.
Kuster (33-12) will face Staley senior Brandon Borlinghaus (26-6) in this afternoon's quarterfinals.
Rackers picked up a 5-2 victory in his opener against Park Hill South senior Gage Baska. Rackers led 2-1 after one period and 5-1 after two.
Rackers (37-3) will meet Holt freshman Brett Smith (40-7) in the quarterfinals.
Will Kuster dominated his match from the opening whistle, winning by technical fall in 5:15 against Fort Zumwalt West sophomore Connor Stein. Kuster led 6-2 after one period and 13-3 after two.
"Will was a takedown machine," Cagle said.
It was the 150th career win for Kuster (34-4), who will face Jackson junior Garner Horman (37-3) in the quarterfinals.
Friederich ran his postseason win by pin streak to five matches by winning in 2:15 against Hazelwood Central sophomore Bankole Ogunmolawa.
Aulbur won by fall in 2:23 against Poplar Bluff junior Gavyn Hays.
Backues wrapped up the first round with a win by fall in 5:24 against Blue Springs freshman Brock Sullivan.
Three Jays dropped their first-round matches - Christian Strope at 126, Jakeil Hayes at 182 and Dawson Prenger at 195.
"All three of them wrestled hard, that's what we're looking for," Cagle said.
Hayes (43-8) and Prenger (30-15) rebounded with wins by fall in the first-round wrestleback matches to stay alive in the tournament.
Strope was eliminated with a 14-0 loss in the wrestleback round. He ends his sophomore season at 29-18.
Jefferson City is fourth after the opening day with 25.5 points. Liberty leads with 43, followed by Park Hill and Staley with 26.
The quarterfinal round will begin at 1:15 p.m. today, with the semifinals tentatively scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. The tournament will conclude Saturday.