Mexico isn’t finished when its back is against the wall.

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That’s the attitude the Bulldog wrestling program had this season and on Saturday during the second day of the Class 2 District 2 tournament in Mexico. Five Bulldogs qualified for this week’s Class 2 state meet at Mizzou Arena in Columbia today and Thursday, including sophomore Grant Van Horn for the second time and four for the first time — senior Gavyn Martin, junior Keegan Koons, and sophomores Watson Azdell and Dalton Arndt.

Saturday brought exciting finish after exciting finish for Mexico as all of its qualifiers had to earn their trip after moving to the wrestlebacks bracket following a loss. Koons, Azdell and Martin each won their bubble matches in three of four matches that took place on Mat 1 laid across Gary Filbert Court, qualifying at 113 pounds, 126 pounds and 132 pounds, respectively.

“Anytime you win more than you lose in that bubble match, you want to win all of them, but the odds are against you when you got your back against the wall,” head coach Gayle Adams said. “These kids are putting the time in and they’re getting to see what it does. Seeing this excitement, I think these kids are like, ‘Man, I want this.’ That’s what’s fun about it.”

Last season, Mexico sent four wrestlers to the state meet and will be coming back with one more this year. After losing two bubble matches, Mexico’s final chance to add to its total was Arndt in the 215-pound consolation semifinals. Arndt was down 5-1 in his 215-pound bubble match against Winfield’s Corey Brock before catching his opponent with a sudden pinfall.

Arndt finished his day with a pinfall win over Macon’s Hayden Burns to take third place. Koons, Azdell and Martin each took home fourth place.

“That shows character of the kids — being a competitor. That’s what makes a great wrestler,” Adams said. “He throws the kitchen sink at them and you never know what he’s going to give them. He’s a strong kid, he’s quick for a big guy and it’s kind of deceiving.”

Mexico sent five to last year’s state meet, including Van Horn when he placed fourth at 132 pounds. Van Horn will be heading back after finishing as the runner-up in the 138-pound bracket after losing a 5-0 decision to returning state medalist Parker Crane, of Hallsville.

Before that, Van Horn was involved in a nailbiter with Kirksville’s Lane Patterson — someone who has given Van Horn trouble in the past. The match was tied at 2 going into an overtime period, and Van Horn earned the sudden victory.

“I was just trying everything I could,” Van Horn said. “I had lost to that kid three times before this one. I just happened to win when it really mattered. (Qualifying for state) still is as exciting as it was the first time. It’s still a cool feeling to know that you’re progressing in the season.”

Van Horn sees himself making it to at least finals this season, and Adams foresees him going even further. Adams has stated he expects Van Horn to be a state champion this season and now he needs to “close that gap” after his loss to Crane in Saturday’s finals.

“I think he can win every match,” Adams said. “It’s not that I’m disappointed in his performance. We’ve got to get better at his offense and set some stuff up. It was his first time wrestling him. We’ve got to open it up and see what our offense will bring to it.”

The moments shared between coach and wrestler happened Saturday, like when Van Horn fist bumped his coach after defeating Patterson. Emotions ran even higher as the first-time qualifiers shined as Koons and Azdell both leapt into the arms of Adams after winning a 12-1 major decision and 9-2 decision, respectively.

Adams couldn’t help feeling more emotional when Azdell was in his clutches as there is some blood shared between them.

“Watson Azdell is my nephew so that’s a little special to me, just another family member qualify for a state tournament,” Adams said. “My uncle, back in the day, he qualified. My cousin qualified, I qualified and placed, my son is a placer so now my nephew qualified. Mexico wrestling is more than just my family, but what’s good is I keep putting family members’ names up on the board.”

The board he is referring to is the one displayed in the team’s wrestling room that lists the program’s state qualifiers. Azdell saw that board every day in practice, and even further back in his life, deciding to use that as motivation.

“I’ve been wrestling since I was five years old, and I set a goal when I was five years old to get on that board,” Azdell said. “My dad told me, for state qualifiers, I’ve got my uncle Gayle up there, my uncle Phil and multiple cousins up there. I just wanted to be part of the family to get my name on that board.”

The board was on Koons’ mind as well and allowed him to turn a quick pinfall loss in the championship semifinals into a decisive bubble match victory.

“It’s been my wish, as soon as I walked into the wrestling room, I want to be on that board,” Koons said. “I feel really good about myself.”

Martin said he wrestled more in previous years as Saturday’s feeling felt great to him. He was firmly in control of Wright City’s Lane Graves before finishing the match with a pinfall to officially earn a trip to state.

The additional work Martin put in before this season helped him to end his senior season the way he wanted at the state meet.

“Working out over the summer, I just tried to work on my strength,” Martin said. “My brother (kids club coach Jade Moran), he helped me out with a lot of stuff like moving on my feet and stuff like that because I had problems with that at the beginning of the season.”

Like Mexico’s other state qualifiers, Martin said he is going in with confidence he will do well, and Adams said he has much confidence in him as well.

“Gavyn is ranked pretty high in the state — I think he’s top 8,” Adams said. “Even though he took fourth, he’s going to wreck someone’s bracket at the tournament.”

Witnessing Saturday’s events hopefully should motivate others to join the five newest additions to the board, Adams said. Freshmen Grant Walker and Jayden Hodge each were one win away from state but fell in the bubble match. Hodge trailed St. Charles West’s Jacob Gurley 6-2 in the third round of wrestlebacks before earning five points in the closing seven seconds of the match.

“I don’t think they fully understand how exciting this is,” Adams said. “When they see this — this atmosphere, people are cheering, and our coaches are excited for them — it’s hard to replicate that all through the season. Sometimes, not getting that reward is good as it makes a little fire in their belly and makes them want to work harder.”