EHS wrestling sent four athletes to the IHSA state meet last week and later welcomed home history. Freshman Luke Odom and sophomore Noah Surtin placed third and fifth, respectively — making them the first two to place in the same year.

“It feels good, especially since we’ve been working so hard,” said Odom, who is ranked first in the state at 106 pounds and finished the season 43-5. “It’s nice to have our work pay off.”

Odom came back from a loss in the semifinals to fourth-ranked Dylan Ragusin of Lombard Montini with a win in the quarterfinals to send him to the third-place match.

“I feel like I could’ve done better, but getting third just means I have some more work to do to get where I want to be, which is on top of the podium next year,” Odom said.

Even though he fell short of his goals, Odom is optimistic and confident.

“I force myself to believe all the hard work and sacrifices I have put in are going to pay off,” Odom said, “and (I) tell myself that no one else works as hard as I do.”

Surtin, who is ranked seventh in the state at 113 pounds, also believes in hard work and resilience and is proud of what he and Odom achieved.

“It’s a great accomplishment, but it’s not what we wanted,” Surtin, who finished with a record of 37-8, said. “… Not everything will go my way, and after a tough loss, you (have to) get back up and beat your next kid.”

Seniors Rafael Roman and Baylor Montgomery qualified for state, but both lost in the first round. Roman finished with a 38-11 record, and Montgomery finished at 33-14.

“I expected that I would have a challenging three days ahead of me if I wanted to accomplish the goals I set for myself and that no match is guaranteed, so I would have to fight for every match that I had,” Roman said.

Entering the state tournament, Roman said he didn’t want to regret how he performed.

“Towards the end of my season, I started to wrestle at my best, and I started peaking at the right times,” Roman said. “I feel I have definitely met my goal of leaving everything on the mat this year.”

While this season was the seniors’ last, Odom and Surtin will return next year and make another bid for state.

“We both came up a little short (this year),” Odom said, “but we’re going to come back stronger than ever next year and will be Edwardsville’s first ever state champs.”