With the regular season officially finished as of last Friday’s MCC Tournament, the Saint Louis U. High wrestling team is now shifting its sole focus towards making final preparations for the postseason, which begins with the district tournament on Feb. 13.

“The MCC Tournament lets us wrestle a couple guys that we're going to see in our district. More importantly, it gives us a feel for the competition and what other teams in the St. Louis area have been doing this year. Sometimes we get stuck going to tournaments or duals an hour away, which is good, but doesn’t give us a great look at the competition we’ll see at districts and sections. The MCC Tournament allows us to see what level of wrestling is going on in our area,” said coach Espen Conley.

The last competition of the year for SLUH wrestling was the MCC Tournament. Hosted by CBC, the tournament featured CBC, Chaminade, DeSmet, SLUH, and Vianney. The team had to rush from school Friday afternoon to arrive at Bommarito Campus for the 4:00 weigh-ins and 5:00 start time.

SLUH faced their toughest opponent, CBC, first. One of the best teams in Missouri, CBC’s roster of state placers and champions would provide SLUH wrestlers with the chance to experience state tournament-like competition seven weeks before the tournament itself.

With only four matches in their first dual, SLUH posted a slow start, going 0-4. They did receive four byes due to empty slots in CBC’s roster, but ultimately fell 51-24.

Next, the Jr. Bills wrestled Vianney, a district opponent. Connor Whalen and Will Coovert both won their matches by decision as SLUH also picked up a handful of byes. Although the final score, 24-24, was tied, SLUH won the dual via a tiebreaker based on who gave up more forfeits. SLUH only surrendered one, while Vianney had three.

With their third dual of the night, SLUH wrestled their Jesuit brother, De Smet. Cam Perry and Bobby Conroy each recorded wins, with Perry winning by decision and Conroy winning by fall. Despite these strong individual performances, DeSmet trumped SLUH, winning 39-27.

SLUH faced Chaminade for their final dual of the night. Whalen, Coovert, Caleb Schellenberg, Alex Nance, and Logan Nuemann all tallied wins by fall. Propelled by these pins, SLUH beat Chaminade 54-24, an impressive end to the tournament and their regular season.

“I’d like to, and expect to, see us beat DeSmet next year. I think the level of wrestling in our room matches, or even tops, the level of wrestling in their room. For Chaminade and Vianney, we took care of business. The only thing I can say about that is that I want to see us put up even more points next year,” said Conley.

In addition to their final regular season competition, the SLUH wrestlers had their final regular season Covid test on Monday. Receiving all negative results on Wednesday afternoon, the wrestlers were cleared to participate in full contact drills for the week’s four remaining practices. With just one full week left before the District Tournament, every extra repetition that the wrestlers can practice will be to their advantage on the 13th. 

Last year, the team managed to send three wrestlers from the District Tournament to the State Tournament—then-seniors Augie Lodholz and Kevin Flack and then-junior Bobby Conroy, who went on to place fourth in the 180-pound weight class.

This year, with six seniors and several promising underclassmen, the team is hoping to make a similar run in the altered postseason. Last year, at the District Tournament, the top four wrestlers in a 16-man bracket would progress to the State Tournament, where the top six would earn medals. This year, the postseason has a slight twist.

The typically 16-man bracket will be broken down into two eight-man brackets, each taking place at a different location. The top four wrestlers from each bracket will then meet at the Sectional Tournament, two weeks later, on Feb. 27. From here, the top three will proceed to the State Tournament, slated for March 13, which will be a 12-man bracket instead of the traditional 16-man format. 

Regardless of this year’s postseason format, the wrestlers are determined that their work, beginning last November, will pay off. With more practices and matches than most other teams were able to schedule, the Jr. Bills are looking forward to putting on a show on the 13th.

“Obviously I expect everyone we are bringing to districts to go to sectionals. Our district is cut in half now, so I think everybody has a really good chance to make it through. We just gotta wrestle our best and do the things we’ve been working on the whole season. I expect to see some good results,” said Conley.