The Edwardsville wrestling team made the hike to Arnold, Mo. for their first tournament of the season and returned back with a championship. The Ron Sauer Duals, hosted by Fox High School, is a varsity-only tournament held on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1. They finished Friday 3-0, securing their spot in the Gold Bracket for the following Saturday.

The Tigers went on to triumph over Seckman High School on Dec. 1, winning the Duals 46-27 in the championship match. They kept command of the tournament, winning 63-15 over Holt High School and 71-3 in the quarterfinal match against Quincy High School.

“It’s nice to get off to a great start,” coach Jon Wagner said to The Intelligencer. “I thought the kids wrestled outstanding.”

There were many close matchups against Seckman in the championship match. Junior Lloyd Reynolds won 3-1 in overtime and senior Joshua Anderson secured his match at 2-1.

According to coach Wagner, Reynolds’s and Anderson’s matches gave the Tigers the momentum they needed to collect the championship. The rest of the team soon followed suit: sophomores Drew Gvillo, Grant Matarelli, and Connor Surtin and seniors Noah Surtin and Jack Evans all won by pins.

University of Missouri-commit Noah Surtin moved up from his regular weight class to 132 on Friday, but it proved no problem. Surtin pinned both his opponents from Ozark and Oak Forest.

“I just go with whatever the coaches tell me to do and if they think having me at 132 is what’s best for the team, that’s what I do,” Surtin said to The Intelligencer.

This is the first time in five years that the Tigers have triumphed in the Ron Sauer Duals, and it shows promise for the rest of the season.

Edwardsville returns to conference play at 7 p.m. Thursday at Belleville West High School.