This past weekend the FZN boys wrestling team captured top honors at the Class 4 District 2 wrestling tournament hosted at Francis Howell High School. The Panthers edged the host school out for the title by outpacing the Viking 175.5 to 165.5. Holt finished in 3rd with 147 points. It was the first district title for the team since the 2004 season and first in Missouri’s large school classification since 1985! Seven individual wrestlers placed in the top-4 to advance to the state tournament to be held this weekend (2/20 – 2/22) at the University of Missouri. The Panthers were led by four individual champions: Storhm Jones (120 lbs), Logan Prinster (132 lbs), Chance Cole (160 lbs) and Derrick Buda-Smith (170 lbs). Cole and Buda-Smith dominated their respective fields by pinning all three of their opponents at the meet. Prinster recorded two pins and a technical fall in an equally dominating performance. Jones, a transfer from Granite City (IL), avenged an earlier loss this season by defeating JT Roberts of Francis Howell in the finals by an 8 – 4 margin. The Panthers also received a runner-up performance from Robert Medley (220 lbs), a third place finish from Parker Monnig (182 lbs) and a 4th place finish from Brendan Mahoney (285 lbs). FZN Head Coach Josh Cooper, in his fifth season as head coach, mentioned the title was a sum of total team effort, as all 12 Panther wrestlers entered in the meet recorded victories to boost the team point total.
The seven male wrestlers will join the Panthers two female state qualifiers: Zoe Santa-Cruz (115 lbs) and Ashley Head (152 lbs), who had previously qualified for state at their district meet held a week prior to the boys meet, at the state tournament. It is the 3rd state appearance for Buda-Smith, the second for both Santa-Cruz and Prinster. The remaining wrestlers are all making their debut at the state meet.