There were several main-event worthy matches to be seen on Thursday night in Centralia.

Centralia vs Moberly, Southern Boone Photo Gallery

The crowd had waited all week for Centralia’s first home duals of the season after an earlier home dual against Blair Oaks was canceled due to winter weather and ended up seeing the Class 1 No. 3 Panthers defeat Southern Boone 63-18 and lose 39-38 to Moberly and the Lady Panthers to defeat Moberly 45-6 and lose 42-36 to Southern Boone.

Head coach Luke Gramke said there was a good reason why the Moberly boys dual was so competitive and came down to the final match, which was a pinfall loss by Waylon Adkisson to Kaiden Leonard after Adkisson had a first-period pinfall against Southern Boone. Moberly ran out a full lineup with six seniors and five returning state qualifiers. 

“We had a few kids in close matches that had to dig a little deep and find a way to win,” Gramke said. “We had other individuals that understood the task and finished the job early.”

Centralia’s state-ranked wrestlers Bryson Dubes, Rex Bryson and Ian Tuggle each didn’t go past the second period to pin their opponents, but others ran into Moberly’s best. Weston Ward, who is a multiple-time state medalist, reigning state finalist and is ranked fifth at 144 pounds in Class 1, won twice but needed decisions both times.

Both of Ward’s opponents were state-ranked as he defeated reigning state qualifier Landon Morris, of Moberly, 7-5. His most-contested bout of the night came against Southern Boone’s Grant Leininger as each exchanged reversals until Ward held him off 8-7. Gramke said it was a nice night for Ward after having to back out of last weekend’s tournament at Lafayette (Wildwood) with a medical forfeit.

“Our whole approach to wrestling is to wrestle hard for six minutes,” Gramke said. “He knew the countdown there (against Leininger) and knew how much longer he had to hang on. It was a gritty win for sure.”

Wyatt Adkisson is ranked second at 165 pounds in Class 1 for Centralia this year and is a returning state qualifier and had a tough match ahead of him after pinning his Southern Boone opponent in the first period. Returning state medalist Gage St. Clair defeated Adkisson to win the matchup that went Centralia’s way earlier in the season.

“It was a kid we wrestled earlier in the year and we were able to beat 4-2 so we knew it was going to be close,” Gramke said. “He gave up five points right off the bat so for him to wrestle back, it’s good. He hates losing. Those losses don’t hurt us right now. They help us figure out more pieces of the puzzle and see where we need to go.”

The Panthers have a couple of state-ranked freshmen that went undefeated. Charlie Robinson, 132-pound ranked tenth at 132 pounds, pinned his opponents in the first and second periods, and 150-pound No. 6 Louis Suddarth had a first-period pin and then a 16-0 technical fall that turned three points into five for Centralia.

“They’re both talented freshmen coming up through our youth program, both have wrestled for a long time and both are having great years,” Gramke said. “They were both able to go out there and wrestle good-quality kids.”

Returning state qualifiers Gage Fallaw and Rhett Wilborn each picked up pinfalls in the third period to help give Moberly the edge. 

The Centralia girls had plenty of wiggle room against Moberly since the Lady Spartans had several open spots. They did have Breanne Gibbs, a returning state champion that went undefeated a year ago, and she faced first-ranked undefeated 155-pound freshman Jayci Shelton. 

Shelton hadn’t faced many opponents past the first period this year but had two state-ranked opponents that earned state medals last season. First, Shelton pinned Southern Boone’s Addy Pasley in the third period and then fell behind 5-0 in the first period to the second-ranked Gibbs before coming back to win 8-6.

“Breanne is a tremendous wrestler, and she’s extremely strong,” Gramke said. “She’s very good at upper body and Breanne capitalized in that position ending up going feet to back and going up 5-0. Jayci didn’t freak out and took it one point at a time. She hasn’t given up too many points, and she’s hasn’t gotten out of the first period too many times, by far in a way, that’s her most competitive match. That’s what we need because she needs to feel that pressure.”

Jayci’s sister Madie Shelton, a returning state qualifier, won by first-period pinfall against Southern Boone, and first-year wrestler Jamila Juma pinned her Moberly opponent in the second period. Ally Baer had a tough assignment against Southern Boone’s returning state champion Callie Bergthold, and Baer was pinned on the way to a 42-36 dual loss for the Lady Panthers in a matchup that involved several open spots.

“Madie is disciplined with what she does. We’re taking what we’ve learned and then turn into what we perfected,” Gramke said. “Jamila getting a win was excellent and not only won, but she got a few takedowns and was able to score from bottom.”