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Hazelwood East Wins 5 Wrestling Dual Meets, Ritenour Invitational Title
BY JIM WIENERS
Hazelwood East Head Wrestling coach Bill Henricks saw an opportunity for his team after the Spartans lost their season-opening dual meet Dec. 6 to Hazelwood West and it came after what he saw were two days of hard-working practices.
East rebounded from their loss by winning the Ritenour High Invitational last Saturday at Costilow Fieldhouse. East, the top seed in the Ritenour Invitational, won five dual meets and lost none. There were no individual medals but it gave each of the wrestlers the opportunity to wrestle five times in a day, the maximum allowed by the Missouri State High School Activities Association.
“I think it’s a good idea,” said Henricks.
East opened in with a pair of wins in Pool One, a three-team pool, and won in dominating fashion. After a 65-18 win over Park Hills Central East defeated Spanish Lake rival Trinity Catholic, 54-18, the first time these two teams have met ever.
By winning Pool One East joined three other pool winners in the Championship Pool. The toughest, and closest dual match came first with a 40-28 win over Rockwood-Marquette who is “not as good this year (compared to last) but still a solid team,” said Henricks. Then East doubled up Mary Institute-Country Day School, 48-12 and wrapped up with a dominating 59-18 over Suburban North Conference rival and tourney host Ritenour.
Three wrestlers went 5-0 for East. They were juniors Dominique Thornton (152 pounds) and Andrew Winston (275) and senior Jay Warren (140).
TRINITY CATHOLIC, in their fourth year of existence, went 0-2 in Pool One losing to East and Park Hills Central, 43-42 on a tie-breaker for most takedowns. Trinity went to the Orange Pool and won three matches — 54-30 over McCluer, 54-15 over University City and 54-30 over Soldan. “The guys came out and wrestled real hard,” said Trinity head coach Mark Harris, a 1992 Ritenour High graduate, “and I was pleased with their performance.”
McCLUER went 0-5 but their last match in the Orange Pool, 43-42 to University City, was on a takedown of most takedowns. The other Orange Pool losses were to Trinity and to Soldan, 48-36. McCluer lost Pool Two matches to St. Charles High, 45-24 and Rockwood-Marquette 60-15.
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