The Tiger wrestling squad continued a strong start to its season with a double-win at home Tuesday. The Tigers beat Webb City 46-27, then defeated Glendale 50-21. Webb City won its dual with Glendale 52-23. Republic ended the night with 96 overall points. Webb City had 79 and Glendale had 44.
The home wins were a follow-up to the Tigers’ season-opening championship in the Bolivar Invitational Saturday. Coach Jerry Morton says his wrestlers are just outworking the competition at this point in the season.
“You work harder than they do and it’s going to show. We had a couple of matches [tonight] where that showed,” he says. “We’re going over fundamentals and we’re staying basic, basic, basic, work hard, and it’s going to win you matches.”
One of the highlights of the early season is freshman Devon Owen, who finished 2nd at the Bolivar tournament in the 106-pound division, then won both his matches Tuesday.
“He wrestled in our 8th grade program. He’s just further than I thought he was going to be,” says Morton. “He’s doing great things. He’s willing to learn. He wants to listen. He wants to get better, and it shows every day in the practice room and out here on the mat.”
The JV wrestlers will compete this weekend in the Rolla JV tournament. The varsity Tigers host Willard on December 17th.
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