Following his team’s tri dual against William Chrisman and Raytown, the entire Grain Valley wrestling team let out shouts and cheers.
They were celebrating the 150th win for Grain Valley’s “Mr. Consistent” Zac Bleess. He pinned both of his opponents, including Raytown’s Michael Battaglia, which was the milestone victory as he helped lead Grain Valley to a 66-12 victory over the Blue Jays and a 51-22 victory over the Bears Wednesday at home.
The Blue Jays edged the Bears 34-33 in the other dual.
“I am extremely proud of Zac,” Grain Valley head coach Donald Horner said. “Wrestlers like him are very rare and very special. I will never get to coach a Zac Bleess again. He does everything right and he’s Mr. Consistent. All the positive things you can say fit Zac Bleess.”
Bleess (138 pounds) said he was happy about the accomplishment, but he said it’s just a small step to what he ultimately wants to accomplish – being a state champion.
“It shows that I have been consistently good all four years,” Bleess said. “That means a lot to me. All that matters is how the end of February goes.
“I thought (he was going to get 150 wins) earlier but we had a tournament cancelled because of bad weather.”
Bleess said he’s wrestling well at the right time as the district tournament is a little more than two weeks away.
“I have felt really good about my wrestling lately,” Bleess said. “We have been working on my fakes and snaps, so I can transition into my shots. If I can get better setups, it makes getting to those shots a lot easier.”
Sjoeren Aumua (165) is another wrestler who has been coming on strong as of late. A little more than two weeks ago, he won his weight bracket in the Suburban Conference Tournament. He started the season late due to a shoulder injury he suffered during the football season.
On Wednesday, he matched Bleess and got two pins to finish the day unbeaten.
“I had some losses in my first tournament,” said Aumua, who is wrestling through a broken hand. “I took that to heart. I don’t like losing. I am very competitive. I haven’t lost since then. I am knocking the rust off. My shoulder feels 100 percent.
“Today, I got in my fake go behinds. That’s my bread and butter.”
Cylus Andrade (132) picked up his first two varsity wins as he was filling in for Justin King, who was held out of the dual. He got two pins himself to finish 2-0.
“It feels great to dominate,” Andrade said. “I felt great on my feet. I need to work on finishing on my shots, but everything else felt great.”
Others to finish 2-0 for Grain Valley were Kaeler Byrd (106 pounds), who had two wins by forfeit; Brady Jones (126), who had a win by forfeit and a pin; Kobe Hughes (144) who had wins by forfeit and pin; Brody Braa (150), who also had triumphs by pin and forfeit; and Dalton Burch (175), who won by fall in both of his matches.
Aiden Larson edged William Chrisman’s Elias Kroesen 7-5 and Austen Neal pinned Raytown’s Roman Butler in the 157-pound bouts.
Raytown had two wrestlers who finished unbeaten as Atilano Madrid (120) picked up two wins by forfeit and Sam Pilkington (285) pinned both of his opponents.
For the Bears, Cameron Russell (113) had a win by forfeit and captured a 13-4 major decision; Vershawn Dudley (190) had both of his wins by forfeit; and Logan Perrin (215) pinned both of his opponents.
Girls
On the girls side, Grain Valley swept both duals, earning a 30-21 victory over Chrisman and a 31-6 win over Raytown.
Raytown took the tiebreaker in an 18-18 tie with the Bears.
Below is a list of wrestlers who finished 2-0 for each team:
Grain Valley: Lucy Dampf (140), Cecilia Del Real (145), Brooklyn Koepkey (155), Jayden Moehle (190), Aubrey Boos (235)
Raytown: Joselyn Orr (120)
William Chrisman: Analea Hewitt (100), Da’Neya West (120), Siliaga Aupiu (130)
