By: Ross Martin
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — Knowing the dual with Lafayette could come down to a few points, Benton senior Cristian Dixon decided he would bump up to 145 pounds in a concerted effort to keep the Cardinals streak of city sweeps alive.
Dixon earned a hard-fought one-point decision in the night’s featured match over Fighting Irish freshman phenom Jay Greiner during a stretch of seven straight wins for Benton in the opening dual of the unofficial St. Joseph City Championships. The Cardinals’ late run resulted in the critical 43-30 victory win on Thursday night at Central High School to give them their seventh straight city team title.
In between, Lafayette beat Central 56-24 to end a 27-dual losing streak to its city rivals that dated back to 2006, but the Fighting Irish were unable to upset Benton, which closed the night with a 56-16 win over Central to keep the streak alive.
“It felt good to get the Benton spirit alive throughout (the night),” said Dixon, a four-time city champion — unofficial title given to wrestlers with a 2-0 record in the St. Joseph tri — and son of city champion Brett Dixon. “We just kept pounding back and staying strong as a team.”