Eight Bulldogs are going to state wrestling again this week.

Mexico District Wrestling Photo Gallery

Mexico qualified that many for the second straight year in its runner-up finish — behind Father Tolton — at the Class 2 District 2 Tournament in Mexico after two days of wrestling on Friday and Saturday. Four boys wrestled for district titles and two won district titles hoping to compete in the state championship match again on Thursday.

Head coach Gayle Adams said he would love to send even more than eight through districts but is happy that Mexico will have that big of a representation starting at 6 p.m. today on the first day of the MSHSAA Wrestling Championships at Mizzou Arena in Columbia. Returning state runners-up Carlos Juarez Ramirez and Grant Van Horn each won district titles at 106 pounds and 175 pounds, respectively; Kyler Carr at 150 and Grant Walker at 215 each finished second; Evan Blair at 113, Logan Hilderman at 120, Watson Azdell at 132 each finished third; and Travis Shramek at 285 took fourth.

“With where we’re at with injuries and sickness, I’m happy with eight,” Adams said. “The eight we put into the state tournament had a really good tournament. I’m proud of them because they stayed in here dogfighting.”

Van Horn will have one more shot at a state championship after medaling at state in each of his first three seasons. He won all three of his matches at 175 pounds, including a 19-6 major decision over Father Tolton’s William (Frank) Hazelrigg to pay him back for his only loss of the season. 

After wrestling so many matches in his career, Van Horn said there was less stress and fewer challenges going into districts because he has been through so much. Van Horn lost in his championship match at state a season ago and received a big boost by beating the returning state champion Hazelrigg.

“It felt relieving knowing I was back on top getting that win,” Van Horn said. “Frank is a good wrestler, but I turned my neutral game on that round in the first period, got my takedown and just dominated that match. It felt good.”

“He knows he’s got to get to attacking, wrestle through positions and keep wrestling,” Adams said. “Those guys are seasoned wrestlers and wrestle great kids, but we’re great, too.”

Juarez Ramirez started Mexico’s championship Saturday “with a bang” by beating Kirksville’s Jason Schutter by a 20-5 technical fall after winning his two other matches over the two days. He has two district championships as a sophomore and did well this season after overcoming “mental blocks.”

In January at the Mid-Buchanan Invite, Juarez Ramirez sustained his only loss of the season via a 1-0 decision to Mid-Buchanan’s Colby Schreck for first place in that tournament. That loss wasn’t all bad, however.

“My first loss hit me, but that made me a better wrestler,” Juarez Ramirez said. “I needed that loss because I felt invincible up to that point. Everybody is beatable no matter what so you have to watch out for everything.”

Juarez Ramirez said his district title match felt “neverending” but stayed focused despite taking at least six breaks to address his bleeding issues. He is thankful to all the Mexico fans and alumni for their help and support this season and wants to be ready for anything coming off his state runner-up finish a year ago. Adams believes Juarez Ramirez can come up big.

“He’s moving his feet and getting to his takedowns,” Adams said. “Anytime you have a lot of blood time like that, it's hard to get into a rhythm and stay focused, but he stayed on the attack.”

Azdell finished third after pinning Wright City’s Joseph Beitel to wrestle to a 3-1 record at districts to earn his final trip to the state tournament. Carr lost his championship match to Moberly’s Landon Morris — who picked up his 150th career win on Saturday — after beating Tolton’s Ben Schroeder 11-6 to be 2-1 at districts despite battling injuries. Walker upset the No. 1 ranked kid in the state, Westminster Christian Academy’s Luke Hornburg, with an overtime victory in the semifinals before losing his championship match to Moberly’s Brooks Head to go 2-1 at districts.

There are three first-time state qualifiers for Mexico, including Blair when he went 3-1 at districts with a pin of Moberly’s Gavin Lippelman for third place, Hilderman when he went 4-1 with a pin of Tolton’s Charlie Ruether for third place, and Shramek when he went 2-2 with a pin of Kirksville’s Aidan Dimmitt in the consolation semifinals and a technical fall loss to Moberly’s Rhett Wilborn to finish fourth.

“You want to keep setting that bar high, and you want those kids to keep reaching,” Adams said about having first-time state qualifiers. “You want kids to come into our program and see what we’re doing to get them to that level.”

Blair and Shramek each qualify as sophomores after gaining experience in the program a season ago while Hilderman makes it as a freshman. Despite being a freshman, Hilderman said he has been wrestling for eight years and Adams said he has done well even after a “growth spurt” that bumped him up from 113 to 120 pounds. 

“Hard work, partners, friends and coaches, they really have been part of my success this year,” Hilderman said.

Hilderman said all of those factors have helped him in “keeping his head on straight” or maintaining his composure after tough matches and losses. After all these years, he still loves wrestling.

“Wrestling is something you really have to love,” Hilderman said. “If you don’t love it, you really won’t have any success with it. It feels way better to win than in a team sport because it’s just you out there, and it’s hard and makes me mentally tough and in shape.”

As he has said for years, Adams believes Van Horn will be a state champion this week and has the same faith in Juarez Ramirez. After knocking off quality wrestlers this season, he said all of his kids are capable of earning medals.

“Our young guys are going to make some noise and are in the hunt to get some trophies,” Adams said. “We’re there, and we’re good.”