Now it counts.

While the team has had a nice season–finishing 9-4 in duals and winning the Fort Zumwalt North tournament–the season really starts this weekend.

The Windsor wrestling team is heading into the district tournament on Friday and Saturday at Farmington with an abundance of optimism. The Owls return three state qualifiers–Jacob Warren, Ryan Yarnell and Drew Kinder. Others, such as Andrew Marler, have a great shot at advancing to the state tournament this year.  

Marler, a senior who is the No. 1 seed in the 220-pound weight class at districts, said, “I feel like I started out a bit rough this season, but I knew if I wanted to have a shot at being a contender for state, I had to step it up. I feel like I’ve probably had my best season so far this year and I’ve already beaten almost all the guys I’m going up against in districts, so I have some confidence against them.”

The team’s head coach, Kevin Stoffey, said, “We’ve had a very good year. We went 9 and 4 in dual meets, won a major tournament in the Fort Zumwalt North tournament and as a team we did very well and also had some individuals who had some very good seasons as well.”

The Owls have three wrestlers who received No. 1 seeds for the district tournament–Marler, Yarnell and Warren. Grant Pauli received the fourth seed in the 138-pound weight class, while Connor Richey, Christian Homeier and Kinder received the fifth seeds in their respective weight classes.

Stoffey also spoke about his expectations for the district and state tournaments.

“Once we get to the districts, we focus a bit more on individual goals, and hopefully we get get 6 or 7 guys through to state, but it gets tough, only the top 4 go, so there isn’t much room for error.”