“[Junior Sam Crane] had a cold sore on his lip, so he can’t wrestle,” sophomore Graham Ratermann said. “[Sophomore] Joe [Boettcher], our heavy weight, had a staph infection or something, [and junior] Harry Stanton our 220, has Infantigo or something … we’ve had a weird skin injury thing.”
As a result, the varsity team had five forfeits and a total of nine wrestlers on the mat. Five of the nine either pinned their opponents or won by minor or major decision, and had forfeits not been an issue, it could have been a close game.
After starting the match with two forfeits and the Jays up 12-0, the Bruins suffered a pin against 120 junior Brenden Wallace, pushing them back by an even greater margin, 18-0 Jays. State-goer last year, junior Quinn Smith lead the next two Bruins, junior Jason Kiehne and Ratermann, to win their matches after Smith recently returned from a burst bursa sac in his left knee. However, the short drive didn’t hold momentum long, as junior Sabien Cook, injured with a strained oblique, was pinned with 23.8 seconds left in the third and final period against his Jeff City in the 152 weight class, giving the Jays six more points and making the team score 30-11.
Even though the Bruins gained two more pins in the 160 and 182 matches, the Bruins had fallen too far behind. The varsity finished 48-23 Jays. However, the teams performance was satisfactory, Ratermann said, considering the injuries and loss of wrestlers at the time.
“I think we wrestled pretty well, but we just need to keep working in these next three practices we have,” Ratermann said, “So that way we’ll be in good enough shape and ready to go for districts.”
Occurring this Friday and Saturday at Jefferson City High School, the Bruins will have to battle the Jays once again along with Hickman and other rivals from around Mid-Missouri, the culmination of a season plagued with injury and illness. However, Ratermann believes the team will qualify four or five wrestlers to move onto state, Feb. 14 and 15 at the Hearnes Center, and has high hopes for what the team can accomplish.
“Finding ways to win those close matches is [what’s going to be most important] coming down into the later season,” Ratermann said. “Personally, I feel a little worn out, but I think all of us feel pretty confident [in] what we’re going to do.”
By Atreyo Ghosh and Kaitlyn Marsh
