While second-year Warrenton Coach Ryan Cross obviously cares about the success of his wrestlers on the mat, he’s just as concerned with how they’re performing off it.

“We want kids to be successful in our program, in the classroom, in the community and well after high school,” Cross said. “This takes dedication before, during and after the regular season for those who really want to grow. And it takes work outside of the months of November through February.

“Plain and simple, you get what you earn.”

Warrenton had four wrestlers earn trips to the state tournament in Columbia last year in Bryce Edison (106), Brent Wielms (152), Andrew Jones (170) and Jerrett Villinger (160), who broke the program record for victories and earned a third place medal after taking second in 2018.

And while Wielms and Villinger, who’s now wrestling Neosho Community College in Kansas, have graduated, Edison, a senior, and Jones, a junior, are back for another go-round.

Other varsity contributors include Jake Evrard, Tate Chandler, Colton Rice, John Starkey, Colton Dyche and Josh Napier.

“We always expect to have kids on the podium at the state tournament,” Cross said. “We focus on the team as a whole with our core curriculum and as the season progresses we’ll start to focus on kids as individuals and what works best for them. Clayton Olsson and Patrick Beckham, our assistants, are great at observing the kids to see what techniques they gravitate towards and we help them build confidence from there.”

Cross said he’s been encouraged by the program’s recent upswing in youth.

“We have about fifteen freshmen and overall it is a really good group that’s been lifting and working in the room during the offseason to get better.”

Warrenton’s varsity squad experienced their first action of the season at the Ft. Zumwalt North Tournament last weekend with four Warriors earning medals.

John Starkey placed fourth at 195. Jones was second at 182. Thies, who won last year’s North girls tile at 152, placed second this year and Edison won his first Zumwalt North championship, going 3-0 at 113 with three pins.

“We finished 10th as a team out of 16 with us taking only eight out of 14 possible wrestlers to the tournament on the boys side, so that was good,” Cross said. “But our first outing had its ups and downs. We had some kids wrestle well, but they just lost their opening round, which them in a position to finish no better than fifth. And we had some injuries, which put the brakes on things for a few kids.”

Ft. Zumwalt North Results:

113

Champ. Round 1 - Bryce Edison (Warrenton) received a bye

Quarterfinals - Bryce Edison (Warrenton) over Caleb Colbert (St. Charles) (Fall 0:42)

Semifinals - Bryce Edison (Warrenton) over Dillon Hall (Pacific) (Fall 2:16)

1st Place Match - Bryce Edison (Warrenton) over Thien Le (Ft. Zumwalt North) (Fall 3:04)

132

Champ. Round 1 - Arneze Rush (Hazelwood West) over Jake Evrard (Warrenton) (Fall 2:56)

Cons. Round 1 - Jake Evrard (Warrenton) received a bye

Cons. Round 2 - Jake Evrard (Warrenton) over Adam Candrl (Battle) (Fall 0:34)

Cons. Semis - Jake Evrard (Warrenton) over Jackson Cox (Ft. Zumwalt North) (Dec 7-3)

5th Place Match - Jake Evrard (Warrenton) over Mason Lucas (Pacific) (Dec 8-2)

152

Champ. Round 1 - Luke Longtin (Windsor (Imperial)) over Tate Chandler (Warrenton) (MD 9-1)

Cons. Round 1 - Tate Chandler (Warrenton) received a bye

Cons. Round 2 - Bowen Ward (Union) over Tate Chandler (Warrenton) (Inj. [time])

170

Champ. Round 1 - Colton Rice (Warrenton) over Zach Tran (Rock Bridge) (Fall 2:58)

Quarterfinals - Chris Butts (Windsor (Imperial)) over Colton Rice (Warrenton) (Fall 1:03)

Cons. Round 2 - Colton Rice (Warrenton) over Adithya Sreeraneneni (Liberty (Wentzville)) (Fall 1:31)

Cons. Semis - Colton Rice (Warrenton) over Darius Saulberry (McCluer) (MD 15-4)

170

5th Place Match - Zach Tran (Rock Bridge) over Colton Rice (Warrenton) (Fall 5:42)

182

Champ. Round 1 - Andrew Jones (Warrenton) received a bye

Quarterfinals - Andrew Jones (Warrenton) over Amir Avdonin (McCluer) (Fall 1:59)

Semifinals - Darien Moore (Hazelwood West) over Andrew Jones (Warrenton) (Dec 7-4)

3rd Place Match - Andrew Jones (Warrenton) over Austin Henry (Windsor (Imperial)) (Fall 3:36)

195

Champ. Round 1 - John Starkey (Warrenton) received a bye

Quarterfinals - John Starkey (Warrenton) over Cornell Childs (Pattonville) (Fall 3:03)

Semifinals - Eddie Angelback (Ft. Zumwalt North) over John Starkey (Warrenton) (Fall 1:24)

3rd Place Match - Jordan Scarborough (St. Charles) over John Starkey (Warrenton) (M. For.)

220

Champ. Round 1 - Kennard Haynes (McCluer) over Colton Dyche (Warrenton) (MD 10-0)

Cons. Round 1 - Colton Dyche (Warrenton) received a bye

Cons. Round 2 - . Stout (Heyworth) over Colton Dyche (Warrenton) (Fall 3:26)

285

Champ. Round 1 - Josh Napier (Warrenton) received a bye

Quarterfinals - Daniel McCoy (Pattonville) over Josh Napier (Warrenton) (Fall 0:35)

Cons. Round 2 - Josh Napier (Warrenton) over Dante Reigle (Windsor (Imperial)) (Fall 2:30)

Cons. Semis - Josh Napier (Warrenton) over Kimball Lowe (Liberty (Wentzville)) (Fall 1:02)

5th Place Match - Matt Ludwig (Lindbergh) over Josh Napier (Warrenton) (Fall 1:51)