Athletic Director Drew Lohnes and Athletic Trainer Petra Knight scrambled as they prepared for wrestling Districts, which were hosted at Ritenour this year.

They kept up with two long days of wrestlers being taped, and containing the area to keep guests impressed with Ritenour’s new foyer and gym floor.

Districts began with a small malfunction of the national anthem music not playing. Thankfully, Shaelyn Matkins, Ritenour senior cheerleader and choir member, stepped in and started off the competition with a performance that garnered a standing ovation.

The Huskies began with some losses, but ended the day strong with two quick pins by seniors Tyron Welch and Adewale Adeoye.

Both Welch, who took first in Districts, and Adeoye, who took fourth in districts, qualified for State.
Welch took second place in the State competition.

“I did not accomplish all (my goals) but I got pretty close. My goals were to win every tourney” Welch said.
Welch, ranked 2nd in the state, went undefeated through Districts and continued his wins in day two, up until he qualified for State.

“(Tyron stood out because) he’s going up for 2nd in state at 160, and he was a champion at the Ritenour Invitational, Fort Zumwalt East Invitational, All Suburban Tournament, St Charles West Invitational, and Jaguar Invitational, and Runner- Up at MICDS Invitational. His cumulative varsity record over three years was 93-11,” Coach Conye Ausar said.

The Huskies prepared for districts season with their tri-meets and tournaments.

“The regular season is practice for the post-season,” Ausar said.

With the season coming to a close, Ausar reflected on his senior class.

“This group of seniors remind me of my 2010 class; strong character, integrity, disciplined, and most importantly, not afraid of hard work. All the seniors who wrestled for four years have been state qualifiers: Adewale Adeoye, Uzain Khan, and Tyron Welch,” Ausar said.

The Huskies overall were building towards the future this season as majority of their team were freshman and new to the wrestling program.

They finished their season 1-2 in conference and 4-9 in overall in dual meets.

“I wanted to win our conference before it no longer existed, and I wanted to take more student-athletes to state, but bringing home a 2nd place medal makes all those unaccomplished goals easier to deal with” said Coach Ausar.

Welch had some words of wisdom to pass on to current and future wrestlers.

“Work hard and do not relax, there’s never time to chill,” Welch said.