Saturday was the conclusion of the Mexico boys’ biggest tournament of the season.

Mexico Boys Wrestling Districts Photo Gallery

The Bulldogs couldn’t help but feel prepared on the second day of the Class 2 District 2 tournament in Boonville as eight qualified for this week’s Class 2 state tournament at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, starting at 6 p.m. today. It is the most state qualifiers the Mexico boys program has seen since the 11 on the 2018 state championship team. 

Among those going are district champions Carlos Juarez Ramirez at 106 pounds, Grant Van Horn at 157 and Emille Scanavino at 285; second-place Kyler Carr at 144, third-place Brayden Arnold at 113; and fourth-place Watson Azdell at 132, Isai Hernandez at 165 and Grant Walker at 175. Outside of Van Horn and Azdell, everyone else is a first-time state wrestler and five are underclassmen — three freshmen. Considering all of this, head coach Gayle Adams said it truly was a great day for the program.

“At the end of the day, like I heard people say in the stands and people came up to me, we wrestled really gritty today,” Adams said. “Did we probably overperform? Probably. But I also think, the coaching staff that I have, we got our kids ready to wrestle and we had game plans. Our guys stuck to it.”

Adams said his wrestlers were so prepared this season after competing in tournaments against schools in Class 3 and 4 and even some out-of-state. He said every wrestler had a good day, even the ones that didn’t qualify, such as sophomores Evan Wilson and Jayden Hodge. Wilson was one match away from qualifying at 138 pounds, and Hodge lost an overtime bout 10-8 at 190 — while being underweight by about 15 pounds — after tying the match late at 8.

A change that Mexico made this season was to its scheduling, which required the Bulldogs to primarily wrestle on the weekends so they could be at school during the week. The senior Scanavino — who defeated Boonville’s Ryder Comegys 2-0 for first — said this helped the team and him make a comeback after missing the previous two seasons due to torn menisci in both knees.

“We wrestled some really hard tournaments with really hard competition so we were able to prepare ourselves for districts,” Scanavino said. “Normally, we just go to these small tournaments every year, but we went to big ones. I wasn’t that stressed with school anymore.”

Adorned with two knee braces, Scanavino is happy to finally be heading to state after the bad luck that confronted him to start his career. Support from his family and friends was helpful, especially from his former teammate Deacon Haag, who Scanavino regards as his teacher. 

“One of my teammates busted my lip open and I had to wear a facemask (at districts) so I went 0-2 my freshman year,” Scanavino said. “(Deacon Haag) was a big inspiration for me to keep wrestling after the torn menisci. I wanted to make sure I made him proud.”

Hernandez said the “game plan” involved Adams and the coaching staff mapping out each wrestler's possible district opponents with the brackets. He said it worked out how his coaches said it would, and Adams said this is a tactic the program has used before.

“We’ve been doing this a long time, and we do a lot of scouting,” Adams said “But, at the end of the day, we don’t wrestle to beat this certain kid. We wrestle, we scout and are like, ‘OK guys, if we do this, we’re going to be beating a lot of kids.’ We wrestle to get in good positions.”

The first-time qualifier Hernandez said “it is an honor” to go to state and credits God and the preparation done by Adams and the coaching staff. Ultimately, though, Hernandez had to execute and did so in his blood-round (consolation semifinals) match against St. Charles West’s Caden Sigmon, who tied the match at 3 in the third period before Hernandez pulled out the important 6-3 victory.

“I looked up at the scoreboard and thought I was down 3-4,” Hernandez said. “I was like, ‘I need to get this takedown really fast.’ In reality, I was the one up 4-3.”

Adams said his freshmen Juarez Ramirez, Carr and Arnold were prepared, not just because of their work with the coaches, but also with some assistance from family that wrestled in the program before. Juarez Ramirez, who was one of three Bulldogs with more than 30 wins along with Van Horn and Scanavino, has two older brothers that qualified and won state medals for Mexico: Ricardo and Brayan Ramirez.

“What’s nice is I get to poke on one of my coaches, Ricky, because Ricky and Brayan never won a district title,” Adams said, jokingly. “He’s been in the youth program and middle school program, watching his older brothers, and he’s known me forever.”

Juarez Ramirez — who defeated Moberly’s Kaiden Leonard by a 16-0 technical fall for first — credits the help from coach Adams and his brothers, who “walked” him through the sport, as well as his “second families” the Blairs and Coles. This season has been for all of them.

“I just wanted to make my family proud,” Juarez Ramirez said. “I had to do it for the team, my family and everybody that got me here. I’m just happy to be here and happy I got this far. I also got to thank God for everything he did for me.”

Van Horn has wrestled in many big moments already in his career, going into Saturday as a two-time state medalist. He admitted it is easier to deal with all the pressure at this point in his life and was happy to finish atop the district podium — defeated Marshall’s Mason Evans by 15-0 technical fall for first — for the second time in his career after falling short last season. However, Van Horn hopes to win his first state title this week but won’t be dealing with the pressure alone as he has seven other Bulldogs going with him this season.

“That’s awesome,” Van Horn said. “Taking home second as runner-up district champions is cool. I was so comfortable with my team, the environment and my coaches that I wrestled more relaxed than I ever have. I just felt normal.”

Adams said Van Horn and Azdell are role models for the younger kids as multiple-time qualifiers and convince them that “they don’t want to be left behind.” 

Azdell defeated Kirksville’s Ty Rachinski 4-1 in his blood-round match to officially qualify for the second time in his career. Last season, Azdell was one of five Bulldogs that went to state and admitted “it was a lot to take in” since it was his first state appearance. He knows what to expect this time.

“I had some off days this season that had me thinking whether I was going to make it or not,” Azdell said. “It’s really how you warm up, how you practice and how that mindset is right before you go out on the mat. If you think you’re the baddest guy out there, you probably have a good shot at being the baddest guy out there.”

Walker agrees with the importance of having a tough mindset as that is what led him to earn a state spot with a 14-5 major decision over Boonville’s Rhodes Leonard in the blood round.

“Going to state was my goal this year,” Walker said. “I got my head in the right position. Leading up to it, I was a little down, but I got my head right.”

The Bulldogs were “put through the wringer since November,” Adams said, and Carr not only agrees with that statement but is grateful that was the case since he felt prepared even as a freshman. Arnold said he couldn’t have made this far this year without his teammates.

“I made it pretty easy at districts after all the rough competition,” Carr said. “That was the make or break, having all the rough competition at the beginning. Once we get towards the end, it gets easier.”

“I feel rewarded,” Arnold said. “Put in the work, you get outcomes. I worked hard in practice and saw results.”

After being a coach for a long time, Adams said he grows older, but he never is tired of the sight of seeing kids seize their dreams after months and even years of hard work. The fathers of Carr and Arnold wrestled for Mexico and now the next generation is carrying on the Bulldog tradition, which brings higher participation numbers, and yes, higher numbers at state.

“Winning brings kids out, winning brings fans out and winning brings the better out of all the kids,” Adams said. “If these kids keep doing what they’re doing, we’re going to keep getting the good numbers and support we need from Mexico, from the youth and kids are going to want to be in Mexico wrestling.”