For the Centralia boys wrestling program this season, winning is contagious.

That was the case Thursday night in the Panthers’ home meet with Marshall and South Callaway. They only lost one match all night and recorded 13 pinfalls — nine in the first period — to dominate Marshall 75-6 and South Callaway 72-3.

For those that had the chance to wrestle two matches, since South Callaway had many open spots, returning state champion Kyden Wilkerson, Ethan Adams and Wyatt Adkisson pinned both of their opponents, with Wilkerson wrapping up each of his bouts in the first period. Bryson Dubes, Brayden Dubes, Jesse Shannon, Rex Bryson, Brayden Shelton, Mason Adkisson, Ian Tuggle and Payton Mabrey each recorded a victory.

Head coach Luke Grameke said the roll Centralia went on against Marshall, in particular, showed the strength of this team. Once returning state champion Brayden Dubes pinned his opponent in the second period, the next seven Panthers followed suit with pinfalls — five happening in the opening two minutes.

“They came out, and they were ready to wrestle at home,” Grameke said. “Winning is contagious so once one person wins a good match, it kind of overflows and the energy in the gym helps motivate all along the way.”

Around the time Marshall and South Callaway finished their duals, Centralia went to the wrestling room to warm up prior to the gym darkening and the mat being illuminated by one light hanging from the rafters. While in there, he said the team’s many seniors made sure everyone was ready to rumble and made sure it stayed that way during the dual.

“Our seniors did a good job leading, getting out on the mat, and our bench and all of our seniors on the bench were hooping and hollering,” Grameke said. “I’m going to give (the credit) to our senior leadership. They did a great job of helping motivate and getting everybody excited to go out and wrestle.”

Grameke said it helps also to be able to install six returning state medalists and three returning state champions into the lineup. The seniors Wilkerson and Brayden Dubes were atop the state podium last year as was the senior Shelton. The senior Shannon and sophomore Bryson Dubes each were fifth-place medalists, and senior Seth Hasekamp was a runner-up each of the last two years.

The “top-end” talent is brimming on Grameke’s team, but the leadership they are passing on to the younger Panthers — such as the 138-pound freshman Bryson and Wyatt Adkisson at 144 pounds — is just as valuable to Centralia’s success as a team, coming off a second-place finish at state a season ago.

“It’s that leadership that’s really starting to carry over into our younger kids and playing dividends,” Grameke said. “Once they got the ball rolling, then we have individuals back-to-back at 138 and 144 that are freshman and sophomore and they are bookended by seniors. You have Jesse Shannon getting things started at 132, and Ethan Adams at 150 just continuing to get that ball rolling.”

At 190 pounds, the sophomore Tuggle was able to pin Marshall’s Chris Davis in the first period and then struggled with South Callaway junior Eli Benningfield, who qualified for state last year, losing a 5-0 decision.

“Benningfield is an absolute horse, and he’s a terrific wrestler,” Grameke said. “I thought Ian Tuggle did a terrific job of staying in good position and getting to spots where we thought we could be more dominant. Now he knows what he needs to work on and has a game plan for that next matchup or maybe somebody that has that similar skillset.”