The crowd was electric at the Fort Osage-Warrensburg dual Thursday at Fort Osage High School.
It was Senior Night for the Indians and plenty of family members were there in strong support for the seniors, including top-10 ranked wrestlers like Antonio Martinez, Isaac Ward and Kaison Schreier.
The Indians put on a show as they took a 56-17 victory.
Ward, who is ranked No. 3 in the Class 4, 190-pound division, had a family member in the crowd holding up a giant cutout of a headshot of him as a baby. He had multiple family members in attendance to support him including his sister, Haley Ward, who was a four-time state champion for Fort Osage.
In his match with Jacob Bott, he had eight takedowns on his way to a 24-5 tech fall victory in 3:29.
“They had (the baby photo) during football season,” Ward said. “I had no idea they were going to bring that. My family has been really supportive of me. They have been waking up and going to the gym with me. Them being there for me has been the most important thing for me.”
Ward added that he was pleased with how he did on his feet.
“I’ve been pressuring people and getting a lot of takedowns,” Ward said. “I think all the moves I have been working on in practice are showing on the mat now.”
Martinez received a ton of support as well as his family was in the stands supporting him. His father and mother had T-shirts that had a photo of Antonio on it, showing a photo of him posing in a wrestling singlet when he was 5 years old.
The 144-pound senior gave his family and the rest of the Fort Osage fans plenty to cheer for as he controlled the match from start to finish and took a 19-5 lead before using a barbwire to pin Hunter Worley in 1:03.
“My mom put me in wrestling when I was 5 and I fell in love with it and stuck with it,” Martinez said. “It’s definitely changed my life so much. I have been talking to a few colleges about joining their programs.
“I think I wrestled pretty good. I got to my attacks and got the pin for the six.”
Schreier (126 pounds), a two-time state champion, joined his senior teammates as a winner. He locked up both of Henry Wheeler’s arms after a takedown and put his opponent on his back for a pin in 1:26.
“I was thinking this was going to be like any other dual, but once I got here and saw the atmosphere and saw the support, it felt really special,” Schreier said. “My parents had a big head of me when I was a baby and they had shorts with my baby photo on them.
“I didn’t take wrestling seriously when I first started. I was 4. I just got put into it. I eventually grew to love it.”
Ryan Rodriguez (150) was another senior who picked up a win as he defeated Justus Griffith 3-2. Senior Nathan Park (215) won by forfeit.
Other Indians to win included:
106: Brennan Leeds pinned Oaker Cook in 48 seconds.
113: Grant Dunn won by fall in 1:22 against Cade Wedgewood.
120: William Dufour won by forfeit.
165: Gabriel Allen pinned Maxwell Smith in 33 seconds.
285: Angelo Torres won by fall in over Sean Fair in 2:50.
“It’s really bittersweet. Sometimes it’s hard to believe they are that old,” Fort Osage Brandon Wackerman said of his seniors. “I have a senior of my own (Alaina Wackerman on the girls team). We held this in the old gym, so it was kind of a throwback.
“The Warrensburg fans traveled well and some of our youth kids were here. We wrestled hard and wrestled well.”
For Warrensburg, Dayton Dunn (132) pinned Brendan Mathis in 2:23; Jaylen Civil (138) topped Luke Steffens 11-5; Tate Cook (1650 earned a 21-3 tech fall victory against Kalel Phillips in 3:13; and Kolby Charlton won by decision over Michael Hillmon 7-3.
Girls
The Fort Osage girls team put on a strong display like the boys team and dominated Warrensburg and won 65-15.
Seniors Alaina Wackerman (125) and Kylie Dunn (130) picked up wins as the former won by a 15-0 tech fall over Delaen Bowers and the latter pinned Cerissa Holsey in 3:30. And senior Ayden Vaeao (190) completed the trifecta with a pin in 55 seconds over Gwen Baker.
Other Indians to win contested matches included Jauzlyean Gray (135), who pinned Aurora McCune in 58 seconds; Ariel Biggs (140), who won by fall in 1:22 against Frankie Nelson; Madison Lightner (145) pinned Reba Cornelius in 56 seconds; and Isabelle Adams pinned Adrienne Keller in 1:20.
Lexi Newman (106), Memri Snow (113), Bridget Wood (155) and Hali Windes (235) all won by forfeit for the Indians.
The Tigers saw Kendra Oswald (110) earn a 15-0 tech fall win over Lilly Veach, Alexis Ilnicky (115) take a 9-1 major decision over Emmara Hefter and Avee Bevans (120) win by forfeit.