The St. Louis U. High wrestling team competed in its District Tournament amidst last Saturday’s snow storm. With seven of its nine athletes getting through Districts, the team returned to the wrestling room to prepare for the next stage of the postseason, the Sectional Tournament.

The wrestlers left their houses throughout St. Louis County early Saturday morning in order to arrive at Francis Howell Central in St. Charles County for an 8:30 a.m. weigh in. 

SLUH faced six other teams at districts: Francis Howell Central, Francis Howell North, Fort Zumwalt North, Hazelwood West, Pattonville, and Ritenour. The tournament was formatted in eight-man brackets, with SLUH being represented in nine of the 14 weight classes. The top four wrestlers from each weight class would continue their postseason at the Sectional Tournament on Feb. 29.

“Obviously we have the new type of District Tournament this year,” said coach Espen Conley. “It’s going to be tough and some guys may run into roadblocks, but for the most part, I fully expect everyone to make it through.”

Senior Will Coovert, wrestling at the 132-pound weight class, was the first Jr. Bill to advance through the tournament and qualify for sectionals. Despite a first round loss against Francis Howell North, Coovert bounced back in his second match of the day, pinning his opponent from Francis Howell Central early in the second period.

Sophomore Caleb Schellenberg, competing at 138, lost his first match and then lost a bubble match, eliminating him from the tournament. 

Junior Jack Onder (145), who was returning from an MCL sprain, forfeited his first match against Fort Zumwalt North in order to avoid further injuring his knee. Then, in his second and final match, he pinned a wrestler from Francis Howell Central in the first period to claim third place and advance to Sectionals.

Senior Leo Wagner (152) pinned his first opponent from Pattonville in the first period but then lost his second match against Francis Howell North 5-0. He rebounded with a 10-4 win against an opponent from Ritenour to send him to a third place match. Wagner lost by fall in the second period, but with a fourth place finish, was still moving on to Sectionals.

Senior and 2020 state placer Bobby Conroy (160) won his first two matches, against Patonville and Fort Zumwalt North, with pins in the first and second period, respectively. Despite a tough effort, Conroy lost in the championship match. Regardless, he finished second overall and will be headed to Sectionals at the end of the month.

After Conroy, senior Cam Perry (170) narrowly lost a gritty first match against Hazelwood West 10-8. Following this, he wrestled a bubble match, where he lost against a Fort Zumwalt North opponent.  

Senior Gio Loftis represented the Jr. Bills at the 182-pound weight class. After an impressive pin on a wrestler from Hazelwood West midway through the second period in his first match, he lost against Fort Zumwalt North. Following a loss to an opponent from Francis Howell Central in the third place match, Loftis finished fourth and secured a spot at the Sectional Tournament.

Senior Logan Nuemann (195) entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed. In his first match, he pinned a wrestler from Pattonville. He then earned first place at the tournament and a ticket to sectionals with an imposing major decision victory over an opponent from Fort Zumwalt North.  

Finally, junior Cayden Owens (220) won his first match against Patonville by decision. Owens then bested his opponent from Fort Zumwalt North in a tense final match, winning 4-3.

Sending seven of their nine athletes to the sectional tournament, the wrestling team was happy with how the weekend went. It was an important first step to begin their postseason on a positive note, and the team is hoping they can carry their current momentum towards the sectional and state tournaments.

“The goal was to get everybody through to Sectionals. It didn’t all work out, but sometimes that's just how it goes. Overall we got a lot of great wrestlers through and now we get to go back and practice for another two weeks,” said coach Will Whitney.

Now, the focus is on success at the Sectional Tournament, which takes place at Francis Howell in just over a week.

“I’d like to see us clean up a lot of the little things before Sectionals. I think this is really the time to tune in and find those little aspects of your wrestling that you can tweak. We had guys that made some small mistakes at Districts but still made the top four and were able to qualify for Sectionals. That's not going to cut it going forward. We’ve got to get to that next level of wrestling that won’t only get us to state, but hopefully will get us on the pedestal,” said Whitney.