The Warrenton wrestling team will have home-mat advantage this weekend as it hosts the Class 3, District 2 tournament Friday and Saturday.

“We hosted two years ago and performed pretty well. You don’t have to travel and you might get a little more sleep,” Head Coach Kevin Fowler said. “And I think the guys like to wrestle at home. Mentally, I think it’s better for them.  It’s not always as easy on the parents, coaches and administrators, but I think it’s an advantage for the kids. And that’s always good.”

Fort Zumwalt South enters the tournament as the heavy favorite.

The Bulldogs finished fourth in the state tournament a year ago, but Fowler hopes to finish near the top on Saturday afternoon.

“It’s definitely not the toughest,” Fowler said of the district field. “The district in the southwest side of the state (District 3) is pretty tough.”

With seeds not announced until Thursday, Fowler didn’t have a clear idea of expectations just yet.

But he still expects his top three wrestlers — Jerrett Villinger, Drake Meine and Jacob Null —  to finish in the top four and qualify for next week’s state tournament in Columbia.

“Other than that, I think there will be three or four other guys with legitimate shots who should be seeded three through six,” he said. “If they win a match where they’re supposed to be, or even surprise someone, they could definitely make it through. Honestly, I’d say anywhere from three to seven kids.”

Fowler mentioned Hayden Love (152), Stone Corder (195) and Brendon Cotner (285) as potential state qualifiers.

“And honestly (Michael) Riggs (182), too. He’s been wrestling really well now,” Fowler said. “Those are the guys that will have to have a big weekend, and they’re all wrestling really well right now. They will have to step up. And some of those guys could be seeded in the top four or five, too.”

As has been the case all season, the lower weight classes bring question marks heading into the weekend.

“I don’t know how many guys in the younger weights we’re going to have wrestle this week,” Fowler said. “They could get some experience, but we’ll just have to talk to them and see. A few of them are banged up.”

Fowler added that Patrick Schaumberg (132) and Brent Wielms (138) both have shots at pulling an upset and landing in the top four, but said both weight classes are stacked in the district.

“We’ll hold our own,” Fowler said. “I would say Zumwalt South is probably the team to beat. They’re pretty loaded this year and they’re the returning champs. They’ll be tough to catch as a team. But other than that, I think the rest of the teams are wide open, so it will be interesting to see who comes out pushing Zumwalt South.”