The Sabetha Bluejay wrestling squad welcomed the Maur Hill Ravens and the ACCHS Tigers to town on Thursday, Feb. 2, for dual action. In a battle between two of the top teams in Class 3-2-1A, the Jays — who are the second ranked team in the state behind Hoxie — defeated the Tigers, who are currently the eighth ranked team in the state.

It was one of the most exciting duals in recent years before a large and boisterous crowd that saw the Jays defeat the Tigers, 42-17. The dual was a lot closer than the score reveals, with several bouts going down to the final seconds and one into overtime. The Jays came into the dual with five wrestlers ranked in the top six of their respective weight classes and the Tigers with four wrestlers ranked.

The victory over the Tigers was even more significant in the fact that Head Coach Ricky Creek had coached his 100th dual victory in his short and successful career to date.

“We showed up and performed as we should have Thursday night,” said Head Coach Creek. “It is easy to look at rankings and records on paper, but when it actually comes down to competing, you have to prove what you believe. That is exactly what we did tonight. ACCHS is a very tough team, but we showed how much better we were than them.”

Five senior wrestlers made their final regular season appearance on the home mat before regional competition in Sabetha in a couple of weeks. Senior 120-pound Lucas Menold was on the injured list and was not able to wrestle.

Senior 150-pound Kellan Spielman battled Ethan Schletzbaum of ACCHS, the fourth ranked wrestler in the state, and was decisioned 6-2 in a match that was much closer than the score indicates.

Senior 157-pound Jonathan Renyer, the second ranked wrestler in the state, pinned Colton Lowe in the second period in a match that Renyer clearly dominated.

Senior 175-pound Josh Herrmann, the second ranked wrestler in the state, was trailing 3-2 with thirty seconds left in the match against Carter Page when he scored two points on a double-leg takedown to seal the dramatic victory, much to the delight of the large and vocal crowd.

Senior 190-pound Jacob Kuenzi brought the house down with his overtime time victory over Connor Simmers. Kuenzi jumped out to a 5-2 lead and nearly pinned Simmers in the first period, but Simmers battled back and the wrestlers were dead-locked at 7-7 at the end of regulation. First points scored in the first overtime period would seal the win, and Kuenzi fought off a single-leg shot by Simmers and scored two points for the dramatic win.

Maur Hill also participated in the dual action, but was only able to bring one wrestler due to injuries and illness. The Jays picked up two more dual victories for Head Coach Ricky Creek before heading for league competition on Friday, Feb. 10, at Riverside.

“One hundred dual wins is a lot especially when you take time to reflect about all of the kids who made that possible,” Coach Creek said. “It is easy to earn those achievements when I have been surrounded by the best kids and coaches in the state! I just hope they keep me around long enough to see 200!”