Varsity Wrestling took on the Parkway South Patriots, Dec. 5.

Darkness surrounded the mats illuminated by an intense spotlight. The mats and the wrestlers featured on them took center stage.

The meet started off interesting as Brendan Krask, 132 lbs, squared off against South wrestler, Matt Wandersee in a three-round bout where both sides had their ups and downs. In the end, Wandersee was victorious, 3-0.

After that Garret Armfield, 138 lbs; Justin Slattery, 145 lbs,  and Benjamin Schroeder, 152 lbs, all had byes and got Eureka off to a commanding 18-3 lead.

Kyle Ridings, 160 lbs, was defeated by South’s Michael Aldrich, 14-6.

The next match of the 170 pound weight class was the most exciting of the meet. Zach Seiler, 170 lbs, took on South’s Jacob Hayes  in an even match. The two competitors were of equal skill and the match came down to the final seconds as Hayes tied it up with a questionable takedown as the buzzer sounded to send the match to overtime.

In overtime Seiler took advantage of the first take down and quickly scored to end the thrilling match.

Luke Gentry, 182 lb, and returning state champion, Matt McClimens, 195 lbs, dominated the next two matches. Gentry overpowered his opponent for three solid rounds, while McClimens was able to end his match in the first round with a pin.

The next two matches were also byes. Brendan Schulte, 220 lbs,  and Aaron Leggett of Parkway South both walked to the center of the mat and had their hands raised as winners.

Then came a lightweight battle of the 106-lb weight class. Dustin Aschinger was pinned by Connor Kleppel from South.

Makoto Sullivan, 113 lbs. also won by no contest, as Parkway South had no wrestler in the 113-lb weight class, giving Eureka their 30th point of the meet from just byes alone.

One-hundred twenty lb Clayton Wegener’s match vs Antonio Vaghi was an interesting one as both players took control of the match at times. After three hard fought rounds Wegener prevailed.

The final match of the meet, Luke Seiler, 126 lbs, demonstrated Eureka’s dominance as he won 8-0 with a pin of South’s Tyler Emerson.

Overall the meet was an exciting one to watch for Eureka fans. The team dominated the meet in almost every match and even the ones they lost were close contests. Resulting in a final score of the meet, 57-19.