All Joseph Beitel needed to secure a spot in the Class 2 State tournament was 15 seconds.

The Wright City junior pinned Hallsville’s Garrett Lewis in the 132-pound wrestleback match to clinch his state berth at the Class 2, District 2 tournament on Feb. 22.

“He had a really nice fireman carry and dumped the kid on his back,” Wright City coach Fred Ross said. “Then, he did what he was supposed to do, he got tight, teed out and got him pinned. It pumped us up really quick too because it wasn’t expected to go that way.”

Ross said that Beitel had been working diligently on his fireman’s carry during practice with his training partner, senior Lane Graves. After several attempts, Beitel’s persistence paid off, making him more confident in executing the move under pressure.

Beitel went on to finish fourth at 132. He was the only Wildcat to qualify for state and will compete at Mizzou Arena on February 26-27.  

Ross praised Beitel’s development throughout his career, emphasizing his dedication and hard
work.

“Last year, he was our most improved wrestler and he wrestled 145-pounds, so he’s leaned up and got a little bit more muscle on him and just worked hard to do that,” Ross said. “Hard work shows success and those are the types of things that make you better, so it rewarded him the way it should.”

Beitel’s tournament run was impressive from the start, getting a major upset over No. 4 seed Layne Rapp from Boonville. After a loss in the semifinals, Beitel fought his way back through the wrestlebacks to earn his spot at state.

Ross noted the state environment can be overwhelming and it takes some time to get used to but he hopes Beitel will take the experience all in.

“We’re going to watch some of his film, break some of his stuff down. We’re going to go over some of his mistakes, some of his strengths and try to work on both of those,” Ross said.

Graves and junior Quincy Rice also competed in districts but both came up two wins shy of a state berth.

“[Graves] is a four-year wrestler and he has done so many things for the program. He’s been an excellent leader this year,” Ross said. “[Rice] got revenge on a kid that beat him last year in the
blood round. This year, [Rice] beat him, so we saw some steps and he did a lot of good things.”