Hector Cardoza may find things difficult next wrestling season.
Cardoza, who is a seventh-grader at Wright City Middle School, said he always tries to improve his wrestling from one season to …
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Hector Cardoza may find things difficult next wrestling season.
Cardoza, who is a seventh-grader at Wright City Middle School, said he always tries to improve his wrestling from one season to the next.
It’s going to be hard to improve much upon the state championship he earned for the Wright City Wrestling Club at 125 pounds in the 12U division at the MoUSAW wrestling championship, which took place at the Wilson Logistics Arena in Springfield in mid-March.
“My goal was to place in the top three at state, so winning first meant a lot to me,” Cardoza said. “It feels really good. It showed that all my hard work and long practices paid off.”
Cardoza is just the second wrestler in the program's history to win a state title; he joins Caelyn Hanff, who won one in 2019, as a champion.
Jr. Wildcats Coach Anthony Pecaut said that Cardoza did exactly what his coaches hoped he would.
“Hector had a great season leading up to state,” Pecaut said. “His record was 22-2, those 2 losses were from the same kid. Once we saw that kid went to a different weight for state, we knew winning it all was definitely a possibility.”
In the title match, Cardoza won by a 4-0 decision. In total, he went 4-0 at the event with three pins.
He said he was able to heed his coach’s words at just the right time.
“I was definitely nervous,” Cardoza said. “I remembered what my coach always tells me – ‘Leave it all out on the mat.’”
Cardoza is a three-time state qualifier, previously finishing second in 2024 and third in 2022.
Pecaut said that even though only two wrestlers wound up on the podium at the state meet, every one of the nine wrestlers who competed there should be proud of themselves.
“We are in District 7, which, in my opinion, is the toughest district in the state, with teams such as Wentzville, Palmyra, and Hannibal, among many others, with a rich wrestling tradition in that district,” Pecaut said. “So qualifying nine of our twenty kids who took a shot at districts is pretty good. This is the most qualifiers we’ve ever had, breaking last year’s record of seven.”
In addition to Cardoza, Chase Ebker also medaled at the event, taking second place in the 10u division at 190 pounds.
Both of Ebker’s wins leading up to the final came by pin.
“Chase wrestled very well to earn a returning spot in the finals, and he was very close to winning in that finals match,” Pecaut said. “Just one mistake turned the match the other way on him.”
Like Cardoza, Ebker is a four-time state qualifier.
Other qualifiers for the club included: Maverick Callahan (8u, 60 pounds), Sebastian (Sebi) Cardoza (10u, 90 pounds), Chase Hoffman (10u, 150 pounds), Chase Edwards (12u, 110 pounds), Brantley Pecaut (12u, 110 pounds), Jack Sherman (14u, 130 pounds) and Jaxon Westmoreland (14u, 140 pounds).
“We have a lot of state-level experience in our room,” Pecaut said. “Which really brings the entire room up and is showing with us qualifying more kids each year.”
