Eagles Back On Mat Wednesday For Home Meet

Sullivan’s grapplers return to the mat Wednesday for a home meet against conference foes St. James, St. Clair and Owensville, looking to build momentum in the final month before districts.

The Eagles had a light schedule in December. They defeated Washington, St. Charles West and Priory in duals and competed at tournaments in Wentzville and Fayetteville, Ark.

Head coach Matt Peregoy said the decision to reduce the December slate partly owes to strategy and a rule change by MSHSAA.

“MSHSAA changed the maximum number of matches per athlete before districts from 50 to 45,” Peregoy said. “We have always maxed our schedule out for matches per wrestler, so it was natural that we would have to find some matches to cut.”

Peregoy also said the grueling nature of the season presented an opportunity to leave something in the tank before February’s district tournament.

“I guess we’ll find out how it works out in February,” he said.

The Eagles will get plenty of work in this month, starting with Wednesday’s home quad meet. They also wrestle Friday at a tri-meet in St. Joseph while traveling Saturday to compete in the Cameron Tournament.

Sullivan will wrestle six more dual events and two more tournaments at Owensville and De Soto.

So far, Peregoy is happy with what he’s seen from his team.

“The work has been quality from what I can tell,” he said. “We still don’t have all of our weight classes set. That will come in the next couple weeks, but we have able to compete well.”

Peregoy said the tournament competition increased at Liberty and the Battle for the Belt in Arkansas. The Eagles were third and fourth respectively.

“I feel our finishes were pretty solid,” he said. “We were the highest finishing Class 2 team in Wentzville. Some of the teams we beat are top 10 state finishers in their classes.”

In Arkansas, the Eagles were fourth in a field of 28. They were topped by schools from Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas.

“That tournament is fun because of the diversity of wrestling styles that we see,” he said. “It forces the guys to wrestle outside their comfort zone and learn how to adapt to the opponent in order to win.”

Peregoy also likes visiting a tournament where Sullivan is competing against schools that are sometimes four or fives times their size.

“The other schools don’t give us much respect in seeding meetings, but our guys still find their way to the podium,” he said.

Individually, state qualifiers Dillon Witt, Evan Shetley and Tristan Brown are leading the way.

Witt and Brown are 15-1. Shetley is 14-1.

“Dillon’s only loss came to an Arkansas state champion. He also picked up his 100th career win in Arkansas. Right now, Dillon is wrestling very well,” Peregoy said.

Shetley’s only loss came to last year’s state champion from Centralia (naaaame). “That was one of the best matches I have seen at the high school level,” Peregoy said.

As for Brown, Peregoy said he is “wrestling at a completely different level” than he’s seen before.

“All three of these guys are in the discussion for the highest state honors,” Peregoy said. “I expect them to continue leading the charge through districts and state.”

Kobie Blankenship, Ransom Dudley, Ty Shetley and Kyler Martin have done their part, Peregoy said, winning 70 percent of the time.

“One thing is certain: no one guy wins us a team district title,” he said. “That is our collective goal. I am confident that all our guys will step up to give us the best opportunity to complete that goal when the time comes. Everyone will have a part to play and they will be ready.”

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