Submitted by
Dee Loflin, SMT Writer

Dexter, Missouri – The DHS Wrestling Team traveled to Poplar Bluff to take part in the two day SEMO Conference Wrestling Tournament which consisted of 11 teams located throughout Southeast Missouri.

Competition is always tough at any tournament; however this tournament featured three of the more elite wrestling programs in the state.  Farmington, Jackson and Ste Genevieve were on hand to try and dominate the tournament. 

Dexter competed hard and had a good showing by being in 5^th place after the first three rounds were completed Friday evening.  Junior Trevor Waldner, Sophomore Dylan Bazarian and Freshman Ethan Stevens all went 3-0 for the night. 

Senior Logan Quertermous was 2-1 featuring an exciting overtime victory over Ste Gen’s Corey Heberlie 11-9. 

Unfortunately, freshman Storm Massey was injured in his first match of the night against Jackson and was unable to compete during the rest of the tournament.

The tournament continued Saturday morning with wrestling resuming at 10:30 a.m. with the final two rounds of pool wrestling.  Dexter slipped to 6^th place following these rounds, but had some very competitive matches. 

Sophomore Heavy Weight Cameron Craft pinned both of his opponents during Saturday’s morning session.  Cameron is really improving and his hard work is really beginning to show on the mat. 

Medal Round

132 Weight Class: Dexter’s Trevor Waldner 31-2 currently ranked 6^th in Class 2 faced off against Farmington’s Brandon Briese currently ranked 8^th in Class 3 in the Championship match. 

Trevor was battling back pain and never really got anything going and gave up a first period pin to Briese.  This was Trevor’s second loss and first time he’s been pinned this year.  Both of Trevor's losses have been to SEMO Conference foes and Champions, Briese of Farmington at 132 and Tyler Rush of Jackson at 138 pounds.

152 weight class: Dexter Sophomore Dylan Bazarian 24-7 faced off against Jackson’s Clayton Collier for the 152 pound championship.  Dylan got the first take-down of the match to gain a 2-0 , but ended up losing the match 13-2 to take the second place finish.  Coach stated, "Dylan had a really good tournament and is 10-1 since dropping down to the 152 pound class where he was a State Qualifier last year."

182 weight class:  Senior Logan Quertermous  met Farmington’s Devin Savage for the 3^rd place medal.  After a scoreless first period, Logan turned Savage to his back for a nearfall 3 and a 3-0 lead heading into the final period.  Quertermous was hit with a stall call late in the 3^rd period to make the final 3-1 in Dexter’s favor.  "Logan had a really good tournament and is starting to finally get in wrestling shape after missing almost 6 weeks of the season due to a concussion during the final week of football." commented Coach and "I look for Logan to end his senior season strong."

Final Standings for 2013 SEMO Conference Wrestling Tournament

1. Jackson  407
2. Farmington  348
3. Ste Genevieve  320
4. Sikeston  174.5
5. Poplar Bluff  174.5
6. Dexter  157
7. Windsor  124
8. Cape Central  114
9. NMCC  110.5
10. Notre Dame  110
11. North County  83.5

The Dexter Wrestlers will be back in action on Thursday, January 24^th as the Bearcats travel to Jackson, Missouri to take on the Indians.  They will compete in a Triad with the host and the Sikeston Bulldogs.  Matches begin at 5:00 p.m.

Look ahead to a future tournament on Saturday, January 26th as they travel to St. Louis to take part in a Priory Invitations which will be an 8 team tournament.  This tournament will consist of Clayton, Cleveland NJROTC, Dexter, Festus, Luthern St. Charles, Missouri Military Academy, Winfield and host Prior as wrestling will begin at 9:30 a.m.