Through all of the collective noise at Mizzou Arena on Saturday, 10 fateful seconds of unified glee cut through everything else.

Amidst all the chants and cheers, a countdown slowly built.

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, FOUR, THREE, TWO, ONE, ZERO!”

The final 10 seconds of Warrenton junior Zayden Teson’s 15-5 major decision win over Pacific’s Brock Webb at 132 pounds at the MSHSAA state wrestling championships was a slow build to an explosion as Teson took the title, which was his first and just the second in school history.

“I could hear it,” said Teson of the countdown. “It was just building and I knew I had it. To feel all that at once was awesome.”

Just 27 seconds into the match, things weren’t so awesome as Teson (46-1) was taken down and found himself trailing.

As it turns out, he had his opponent right where he wanted him.

A fired-up Teson led 4-3 by the end of the period after an escape and a takedown of his own, and 11-3 after two periods, thanks to a second takedown and a near fall on his opponent.

“Most of my good matches I get taken down first, just not ready,” Teson said. “I’ve always got the mindset that I can do it, but once that reality check hits, I’m like ‘Let’s go.’ That (deficit) fires me more to start going.”

Warrenton head coach Clayton Olsson agreed that the rebound for victory isn’t new for Teson.

Olsson said that some opponents have forced something of an awakening in Zayden Teson, the wrestler.

“He’s had some really tough matches this year and, in a lot of them, he gets taken down first,” Olsson said. “It just stirs something up in him. It fires him up and he comes through in the clutch. He just becomes something different.”

Like his younger brother, Max Teson finished his wrestling season on a high note.

Max Teson’s third-place finish in the Class 3 state wrestling tournament at 157 pounds carries much more weight than a second-place finish, which would have resulted in a final-match defeat, Max Teson said.

“This feels so good, it’s amazing,” Max Teson said. “Honestly, I would rather have third than second. I finish out on a win. I couldn’t be happier. Everybody wants a state (Championship), but I think this is the next best way to finish.”

Max Teson (38-5) beat Poplar Bluff’s Zekey Camden by a 4-0 decision.

The drama in his match came at the end of the second period. After an earlier escape gave him a 1-0 lead, it was ruled that Max Teson scored the three-point takedown in the last second of the middle period.

“I got to my shots and controlled on top,” Teson said. “After the second period, I knew I had the match. It was incredible.”

In the fifth-place match involving a Warrenton wrestler, senior Nathan Donovan finished fourth at 113 pounds.

After allowing an escape and takedown by Willard’s Brandon Gerhard, Donovan responded with a takedown of his own to cut the lead to 4-3 before losing by fall at the 52-second mark.

Donvan said he didn’t wrestle the way he wanted to in his final match of the season and his high school career.

“I rushed it during the match,” Donovan said. “I got too greedy and the result was the throw (leading to the pin). This is going to sting now, but later on, I’ll look back, and I’ll be fond of all of this.”

The efforts by both Tesons and Donovan (25-7) filled Warrenton Coach Clayton Olsson with pride.

“This feels great, as a coach,” Olsson said. “I couldn't care less how results reflect on me. These kids work hard; we’re the hardest-working sport in the school. These kids deserve the success they’ve earned. Seeing these guys do this and seeing them get their results, it makes this all worth it.”