The Centralia boys dominated yet another Clarence Cannon Conference meet on Thursday at home.

The Panther fans witnessed Centralia defeat Highland 77-0, Macon 58-24 and Palmyra 58-23 and also senior Rex Bryson pick up his 100th career pinfall victory. 

The reigning state champion Bryson has already had an eventful senior year by signing to wrestle in college for the University of Buffalo and earning his 150th career win. Bryson said he has been stuck on 99 pinfalls for a little while but is glad he was able to secure 100 on a home mat.

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“It was awesome,” Bryson said. “It was nice to be in front of the home crowd and be in front of all my friends and family and the community.”

Bryson said he doesn’t wrestle many third-period matches because of his style. He said he attacks early and that leads him to many early victories.

“I have a high pace,” Bryson said. “It’s kind of the way I’ve always been. I stick to it because it works.”

Head coach Luke Gramke said he was happy that the community got to watch the team’s and Bryson’s accomplishments. 

Gramke isn’t surprised to see the 175-pound Bryson add another milestone to his decorated career. In terms of Bryson’s ability to pin opponents, Gramke thinks of past Panthers like Brayden Shelton, Brayden Dubes, Sam and Seth Hasekamp, and Trevor Bodine.

“I just get to sit in the corner and go, ‘Yay,’” Gramke said about Bryson. “He’s a phenomenal talent, and he works his butt off.”

Louis Suddarth was one of several Centralia wrestlers to defeat two opponents on Thursday along with Charlie Robinson, Eason Gooding, Blake Bodine and Walker Adkisson. The 165-pound Suddarth, who is Bryson’s drill partner, also wrestled in the state finals last season and has had a good start to this season with second-place finishes in two tournaments.

“They get to be drill partners,” Gramke said. “They are both unbelievably competitive so you get to lean into that as a coach. Nobody likes losing so they get on each other’s case a little bit whenever a loss does happen.”

Bryson said he has plenty of coaches and players that wrestle him during the summer and practice during the season. He focused on becoming a better wrestler every day. 

“You’ve got to have a growth mindset,” Bryson said. “There are always places where you can get better. My lungs and my body, I’m trying to get bigger and become more muscular and become better in the cardio aspect.”

The heavyweight Marshall Kable has top-three finishes in tournaments this season, Waylon Adkisson has a couple runner-up finishes at 113 pounds and Charlie Robinson has a win and a runner-up finish at 138 pounds.

Gramke said Centralia has faced tough competition already in tournaments and expects to see more before districts. The Battle at the Katy Trail tournament in Sedalia is one of the biggest in the state and Centralia finished second behind North Callaway. In the Hallsville Holiday Tournament, Centralia was second behind Class 3 Helias Catholic.

“We were a little closer to full strength when it comes to the Hallsville tournament and lost to a very talented Helias team, who is ranked very highly in Class 3,” Gramke said. “We’re still going to focus on becoming closer to full strength as the year goes on.”

The defending Class 1 state champion Centralia has seen positive aspects from this year’s roster, Gramke said. At the Hallsville tournament, Gramke said he was proud to see every kid standing to watch teammates’ matches instead of being elsewhere.

“We are gritty and care about each other,” Gramke said. “They’re invested in each other. They’re sitting matside cheering each other on, and that’s what I think is really cool so far.”