Fatima won the Class 1 District 1 boys’ team championship with 176 points last weekend at Kelly High School, securing five individual champions and three third-place finishers, all of whom advance to this week’s state championships at Mizzou Arena.

“We had a strong showing,” said Coach Kurt Strope. “Last year we had 11 qualifiers; this year we had eight. But we did what we could with what we had. I think a lot of people going into that tournament, with other teams in the district, were kind of doubting us and counted us down and out this year, but I think we went in there and showed them what’s what.”

Strope knew going into it that competition would be fierce, but that didn’t change his approach. “We attack in every position,” he said. “We just kept trying to put points on the board, and made them stop us if you could.”

Fatima lost just five matches throughout the tournament.

After a successful Friday night in the early rounds, the Comets were on a mission to win everything on Saturday.

Caden Rosentreter (106) defeated Gavin Florek of St. Pius X (Festus) by technical fall (16-1, 2.55) in the championship match, improving to 47-4 on the year.

Rosentreter defeated Kage Ngethe (Principia) by fall (0:19) in the quarterfinals. After opening with a bye, Rosentreter pinned Cammden Zipprich (Valle Catholic) (1:21).

Will Berhorst (113) also claimed first place after beating Jude Chantharasy (Brentwood) by fall (3:53) in the title match to move to 37-15 on the season. Berhorst defeated Troy Dement (St. Francis Borgia) by fall (3:39) and pinned Clayton Stewart of Valle Catholic (3:05) in the semis.

Fatima’s third individual champion, Tucker Tune (120), entered the quarters after an opening bye and knocked off Mason Myers (Brentwood) by fall (3:17) before setting his sights on Korbin Furnace of Principia, whom he pinned (0:37). In the title match, he beat Cash Hancock (St. Pius X - Festus) by decision, 10-7. Going into the state, Tune has a record of 19-2.

Fatima’s next champion was Nolan Laux (132), who was ranked sixth in the state and seeded second at the district tournament. He began his run with a quarterfinal defeat of Frank Scheiter of Priory by fall (2:34), then moved on to Teagon Peterson (Valle Catholic), winning by MD (10-0). In the championship, he won a 6-0 decision over top-ranked Class 1 wrestler Owen Carver of Blair Oaks to go to 27-8.

“That might have been a picture of what the finals may be at state,” said Strope of Laux and Carver.

Logan Laux (150) was Fatima’s final champion on Saturday, winning his final match over Liam Callahan of St. Francis Borgia (MD 12-3) to improve his season record to 32-10. He entered the fray in the quarters after an opening bye, knocking off Erick Dunn (Lift for Life Academy Charter, fall, 1:04) and Brendan Top (Priory, fall, 6:00).

Jesse Schroeder (175) finished the day in third place, but also found himself in a coveted position after his consolation semifinal pin of Chris Utterback (Blair Oaks, 2:00), as that was his 100th career win.

“I’m very proud of him,” said Strope. “It’s a pretty exclusive club; it takes a lot to get there. His sister, Skyla, got into the 100-win club, and hopefully, that gives their younger brother, Tucker, something to shoot for, too. Hopefully, in the next year or two, he can get there himself. It would be cool to see all of them in with 100 wins.”

Schroeder won his first-round match over Ashton Le (St. Mary’s South Side) by fall (1:47), then pinned Ty Webb (Veritas Christian Academy at 1:14. He lost in the semis to Hunter Hylton (St. Pius X — Festus) by fall (4:24) to reach the medal round.

In the third-place match, he pinned Seth Shackles of Kelly (4:28).

Tucker Schroeder (138), meanwhile, likewise earned third place, ending the day with a 6-5 decision over Madden McNutt (St. Pius X - Festus).

After byes in the first two rounds, T. Schroeder lost to Lucas Drury (Valle Catholic — TF, 22-5, 6:00) in the semifinals on Saturday. He then pinned Stephen Hust of Kelly (0:39) to advance to the medal round.

Zachary Kloeppel (144) rounds out state qualifiers as he claimed third place with a win over Samuel Thomas (Kelly — TF, 16-1, 3:35). Kloeppel’s first match came in the quarterfinals, which he won in a 4-1 decision over Nick Doster (South Callaway). After falling to Andrew Schilly (Valle Catholic) by fall (1:09) in the semis, Kloeppel defeated Thomas Sego of Blair Oaks by fall (1:34) to earn the hardware and a berth at state.

Harlan Deardeuff (190) finished with a pair of wins. “He definitely wrestled above where he was seeded,” said Strope. “He improved tons and tons throughout the season.”

Deardeuff won his tournament opener with a pin of Zachary Glass (Kelly) but lost in the quarters to Lavelle Peete, Jr. (Lift for Life Academy Charter) by fall (3:10). That moved him to the wrestlebacks, and Deardeuff won an MD (10-0) over Elijah Nutter (South Callaway) to advance. His day came to an end in the consolation semis against Derek Huhn of Blair Oaks, who won by pin (1:15).

Overall, Coach Strope is pleased. “We’ve had our ups and downs this year, but I think we’re in good shape to make some noise at state,” he said. “I think we were sitting at 20 right now as a team, going into the tournament. That’s not giving us much credit, but we’re going to battle for every point and see if we can improve on that ranking. I don’t think very many teams thought we were gonna come out district champs, but we did that.”