Warrenton wrestling Head Coach Kevin Fowler said there was plenty to learn from this year’s state tournament.

The five Warrenton wrestlers who qualified for the tournament combined to win four matches, and no one made it past the quarterfinals.

“If you’re not an elite guy at the top of the state, then every match is going to be a tough match,” Fowler said. “If you’re not wrestling well or you make a mistake, your opponent will capitalize on it.”

After Dan Filipek suffered a season-ending injury on senior night, Warrenton’s outlook changed.

Filipek was favored to win the 160-pound weight class and Fowler hoped a few other wrestlers could complement Filipek with medals.

Senior Jacob Manion and junior Jacob Null won their respective district tournaments and expected to be competing for spots on the podium on the second day of the tournament.

Manion was knocked into the consolation bracket and was eliminated in his third match of the tournament.

Zac Courtoise, who pinned Manion in the consolation bracket, went on to finish fifth in the 195-pound division.

“Those weren’t our best matches,” Fowler said. “But you have to give credit to your opponent at times.”

Null was eliminated after losing his first two matches.

“That was his first time at state and he saw that it’s a different environment,” Fowler said. “There is a lot going on. He definitely left some points out there but it’s a learning experience and I know he’ll get better from it.”

Freshman Jerrett Villinger lost his first match but rebounded for a 15-4 win over Sikeston’s Luke Blanton in the first consolation match.

He lost a 7-1 bout to Michael Fodge of De Soto in the following round.

Fodge finished sixth overall.

“I can’t say I’m disappointed with Jerrett at all,” Fowler said. “Being a freshman at 152 pounds and winning a match at the state tournament is very respectable. He had a great year.”

Going into the tournament, Fowler said he didn’t know what to expect from 170-pound junior Drake Meine.

“Drake can either look awesome or terrible, that’s just his style,” Fowler said.

Meine pinned Ethan Keller of Festus in the first period of his first match, and faced Willard’s Kyle Caldwell in the second round.

Caldwell was ranked first or second in the state most of the year, and Fowler said he was proud of Meine’s effort in a 5-2 loss.

“Drake probably wrestled as well as anybody,” he said. “I think he rose to the occasion and wrestled solid all tournament.”

Meine was eliminated by Seth Veatch of Rolla in the following round.

Senior James Biship began the tournament with a 5-3 win over Camron Haines of Farmington in the 145-pound bracket, but was eliminated in consecutive matches Friday afternoon.

Kearney’s Ethan Locke scored on a reversal and near-fall in the final seconds of their match in the second consolation round.

Fowler said the match was a microcosm of what he preached all season: Aggressiveness. 

After failing to take an early lead over Locke, Fowler said Biship became vulnerable to a loss late in the match.

“When you watch the matches in the medal round, the kids are trying to dictate the match,” Fowler said. “In football, you call a play, you just don’t go to the line and snap the ball. It’s the same thing in wrestling.”

Fowler said getting an early lead, especially in the state tournament, gives a wrestler a mental edge over the opponent.

“There’s a lot more pressure in the state tournament, and if you get a kid down he might start thinking that his dream is over and he could crumble,” he said. “You want to beat your opponent mentally, and a big part of that is scoring early. Don’t give them any hope.”

Warrenton finished the tournament with a 4-10 record, placing 35th out of 50 teams with nine points.

“There was very little margin for error all weekend and we made some mistakes,” Fowler said. “It was just a tough weekend overall, but it wasn’t because of a lack of effort.”