The Warrenton wrestling team finished fifth in last weekend’s Blue Springs South Tournament despite only bringing eight wrestlers to the event.

Dan Filipek (39-0) won the 160-pound weight class with an overtime win over Platte County’s Johnny Blankenship (31-6).

Blankenship, who is committed to wrestle at the University of Nebraska, bested Filipek in the 2014 state finals, and Fowler expects a rematch next month in Mizzou Arena.

“On paper, they are the top two kids in the state,” he said. “Blankenship was ranked above us, and rightfully so. Hopefully they’ll see each other one more time.”

James Biship finished second in the 145-pound division after losing to Platte County’s Ethan Karsten in the finals.

Platte County, which joined Warrenton as the only Class 3 schools in the tournament of Class 4 programs, picked up five individual titles.

The tough competition is what attracts Fowler to the event.

“It’s full of quality teams, which is why we only took eight wrestlers,” he said. “And Platte City has been nationally ranked, so it’s nice to see some teams from the other side of the state.”

Jerrett Villinger finished second to Waynesville’s Peter Lucitt in the 152-pound class.

“Waynesville is a tough wrestling school, and he was overmatched there,” Fowler said. “But he grinded out some wins and I think he’s gaining some confidence and getting in better shape. He won some matches he probably wouldn’t have won earlier this season.”

Drake Meine (170) and Jacob Manion (195) also finished second in their respective classes.

Meine was pinned in his title match against Dakota Smith of Platte County.

Fowler said it was an off-balance pin that took Meine by surprise, and he’d like to have that match back.

“Just to see if we could wrestle with him for six minutes,” he said.

Jacob Null finished sixth in the 220-pound class, and Adrien Gillette (182) and Brendon Cotner (285) finished sixth.

“Null and Cotner’s brackets were just loaded,” Fowler said. “Null took some losses, but they were close matches against state-level guys. He had a good weekend. He came  through and he’ll be tough if he can stay heathy the next two weeks. There aren’t many kids who will want to face him in the postseason.”

Fowler said the competition should help his wrestlers prepare for the district tournament, which begins Feb. 12 at Fort Zumwalt North.

“We’re in a good spot right now,” he said. “Hopefully we’ll have a good week-and-a-half of practices and be ready to go into districts.”

James Biship takes down Austin Gaebe of Washington earlier this season.