Kevin Fowler talked about the unexpected leading up to last weekend’s Class 3, District 2 wrestling tournament hosted by Warrenton.

The Warriors head coach said nothing ever goes quite as planned in big tournaments, especially the postseason.

But he also talked about expectations, and how for three of his wrestlers, the district tournament was just the beginning.

Six Warrenton wrestlers finished in the top four of their respective weight classes to qualify for this week’s state tournament in Columbia, which runs Thursday through Saturday.

Jerrett Villinger (160), Drake Meine (170) and Jacob Null (220) are making their return to Mizzou Arena after qualifying a season ago.

“Before the round, we sat down with the three guys who had been to state before and said, ‘Listen, the goal just isn’t to get to state for you guys. This is just part of the process,’ ” Fowler said. “And I think they had a good mindset. It was basically just the first round for state. We wanted to get through it and get where we were supposed to get, and the job begins next week.”

Meine and Null won their tournaments convincingly.

Meine pinned his first three opponents before beating Ladue’s Aidan Morley in the championship, 12-0.

“It feels good, but I’m ready for state now,” Meine said. “I was expected to go far in districts, so that wasn’t really the proving grounds. This week is the proving grounds.”

Null received two byes into the semifinals, and he spent a total of 3:21 seconds on the mat while pinning his way to the 220-pound title.

“Any time you can win a district, theoretically it helps you in the first round of state not having to wrestle another district champion or runner-up, so that’s always nice,” Fowler said. “They had really good years and I thought they were in good spots to win district titles, and they came through. I’m happy for those guys to win titles and set themselves up for next week.”

Villinger lost to Ladue’s     Jacob Orsay in the 160-pound title bout, 3-1, but his quarterfinal win over Clayton’s David Yeom clinched his   second trip to state.

Villinger, a sophomore, is hoping to become Warrenton’s first four-time state qualifier.

But after going 1-2 in Columbia last year, making it back to the tournament wasn’t his only goal.

“Going to state is great, but you always want to achieve a new goal every time,” he said. “That’s what it’s about, not just making it to state. Obviously everyone wants to come up with something in their hands.  I would love to make it to the semis or win a match on the front side this year and not have to fight my way back the whole time like I did last year.”

Fowler was all but certain Meine, Null and Villinger were state-bound, but he didn’t know how many more Warriors would make the trip.

Michael Riggs (182) wrestled his way back to the third-place match after losing his quarterfinal bout to Ladue’s Leor Goldfarb.

Riggs won back-to-back matches before losing again to Goldfarb in the third-place match.

“That was a good one,” Fowler said of Riggs’ performance. “We knew he had a shot looking at the bracket, but you just never know.”

Riggs will be joined by fellow second-year wrestler Hayden Love (152), as well as Brendon Cotner (285), who finished fourth in their respective classes.

“Him (Riggs) and Love are second-year kids, so you just never know,” Fowler said. “Love was in a tough bracket. There were two really, really good kids, and then four other kids with comparable records, so it was going to be a dogfight to see who was going to get the other two spots. And he wrestled lights out and did well, so I was proud of him and happy to see him get through.”

The Class 3 tournament is set to begin Thursday afternoon inside Mizzou Arena.

And while Fowler acknowledged the randomness of a big tournament, he hopes his top three kids will come home with hardware.

“Anyone in the finals of a district tournament ought to be vying for a state medal, so that’s the plan,” he said. “Those three guys should be in contention for medals, and that’s the expectation. I’m just eager to get it started.”