The Jr. Bills were out tiger hunting in their most recent quad meet. This past Tuesday, Festus hosted St. James, Orchard Farms, and the Bills for a quad meet and no one was prepared for the SLUH onslaught. Two of the three teams that SLUH faced that night had tiger mascots, which quickly became a rallying cry for the Jr. Bills as they took to the mats.  

To start the night off, junior Connor Whalen (132) was the only SLUH wrestler to take on Orchard Farms. Whalen started the match heavy, dominating with strong setups and takedowns. Although Whalen couldn’t get any back points in the first round, he compensated with multiple takedowns to end the period. 

Rolling with the punches, Whalen  chose to play neutral in the second period, knowing he could attain more takedown points to tech fall his opponent. When he saw his chance, though, he took it. He struck fiercely, moving from a “High C” to a double leg. Whalen then went for the claw and slammed his opponent’s back to the mat to claim the pin.

After Whalen’s bout, the next team was the Festus Tigers. Whalen, still riding high from his earlier pin, once again led off for the Jr. Bills. He started the duel strongly with another double leg. His Festus opponent was a little different from Orchard Farms though, as Whalen had to maintain his intensity while on offense. Whalen kept his opponent down for the full 6 minutes and won by decision. 

Senior Alex Nance (170) looked to carry Whalen’s momentum into SLUH’s next match. He took to the mat and pulled off a strong club on the Festus opponent. Nance then circled and threw his opponent to the mat to get the takedown. In a matter of seconds, the Festus opponent was cradled and pinned, garnering Nance the win. 

After that, junior Pau Thang (182) saw similar results. His first round consisted of a powerful double leg and a couple of near falls, giving Thang the lead. The second and third periods saw Thang fighting harder for his points as his opponent not going to give in to a pin. Thang went to the tech fall route, constantly taking his opponent down and letting them get back up just to barrage him with another shot. After 6 minutes, Thang had won with a 11-point lead. 

“I was happy to come back to the mat after a long break. The match today really put me back on my feet and got me hyped for districts,” Thang said. 

The upperclassman success was clear, but hard to maintain further down the Jr. Bills roster. Freshmen Tom Schoenekase and sophomore Trey Dino lost their matches against Festus, fighting tooth and nail against the Tigers. 

To end the night, the Jr. Bills faced yet another tiger: the St. James Red Tigers. Senior Jack Onder (152) was the first to take on St. James and he came out of the gates with a single leg move. After it failed, Onder took his time with his next shot, methodically arranging his takedown. His opponent was powerful enough to attempt an escape, but Onder had kept him down. He slammed his opponent with an arm chop and flattened the guy. As his opponent tried to get up, Onder threw in a half nelson and drove him onto his back. Onder’s pin was swift, a credit to his in-match mentality. 

“I went out there and did my stuff, I just needed to be aggressive and knew when to work. I can’t think about the other guy I’m going to fight, I just wrestle my style and win,” he said.

Nance wrestled again after Onder. He started his match off like the previous one, with a hard club to a takedown. By the end of the first period, Nance had his opponent in a cradle and waited for time to expire. In the second period, Nance set up another cradle and locked his opponent in for a potential pin. He waited for half of the period but the referee never budged, so Nance had to look for an alternative way to achieve the pin. In the third period, Nance was up by 10 and found a way to lock a claw against St. James. This gave him the upper hand and the pin opportunity he had been looking for. 

Whalen (in his third match of the night), Dino, and sophomore Braden Peele also wrestled against St. James, but all lost their matches by decision. Still, SLUH’s dominance at the meet was enough for sophomore Mario Del Pietro to declare that there were “two types of Tigers killed.” 

After the many successful outcomes from Tuesday, the Jr. Bills are feeling comfortable about their wrestling styles. This meet served as perfect experience and practice for Districts. 

Unfortunately, this week’s intensive snow canceled last night’s Senior Night against Valle Catholic, Lutheran St. Charles, Gateway Science Academy, and Roosevelt so the Jr. Bills will have to wait before they can take to the mats again.