GODFREY -- Eric Roberson sets a simple goal for his Alton wrestling team in Southwestern Conference matches.
“I don’t have any expectations,” the Alton coach said. “We just go out there and wrestle.”
After cruising past Belleville West 53-24 in a home SWC match on Thursday, the Redbirds are inching closer to another winning season in league play. Alton improved to 3-1 with three matches remaining.
“Belleville West and us have a little bit of a rivalry,” Roberson said. “It’s usually a close match. The last few years, it’s been really competitive. Our kids did a great job tonight. I’m proud of them.”
AHS’ next conference match will be against Edwardsville on Jan. 12 at home. Edwardsville, which beat O’Fallon on Wednesday, is in first place in the league standings at 4-0. Thursday’s win over the Maroons put the Redbirds in a second-place tie with O’Fallon.
Alton also has O’Fallon (Jan. 19) and Belleville East (Jan. 25) left on its conference schedule. Last year, the Redbirds finished in a tie for third with Collinsville in the SWC at 4-3.
“We expect to be competitive in every conference match we have,” Roberson said.
Alton will travel to Geneva High School on Saturday to compete in the Newbill Invitational Tournament. Last year, the Redbirds placed second to Harlem after winning it the year before.
“It’s a nice tournament for us,” Roberson said. “The reason we’re in it is so we can expose our guys to teams that aren’t from this area. We see some teams in our sectional up there. It’s a nice mix of teams. We’re excited and we always look forward to go up there and wrestle in that tournament.”
Alton began its conference season on Dec. 1 with a win over East St. Louis. After losing to Granite City on Dec. 8, the Redbirds bounced back to beat Collinsville the next week.
On Thursday, Alton had five first-period pins to seal the victory from the Maroons.
The match started with Alton senior Keontay Holmes pinning West’s Kyle McCovey in the first period at 182.
“At weigh-ins, we draw a weight class and (182) was where we start,” Roberson said. “That makes it more exciting for parents and fans. In a dual, sometimes you get on a roll and the wrestlers are on deck and in the hole and they see their teammates out there winning and winning and winning and it gets them a little more geared up and a little more fired up for the match. It doesn’t guarantee, but it certainly helps.”
Senior Keondrick Russell got a second-period pin at 195, then Grady Womack and Ryan Kane each had first-period pins at 220 and 285, respectively. After Alton forfeited at 106, it got a first-period pin by Garrett Sims at 113 and a forfeit victory by Gus Kodros at 120 to take a 36-6 lead.
Belleville West rallied to win the next four matches to cut the Redbirds’ lead to 36-24 before Alton came back with three straight wins.
“We kind of got things going with our upper weights and they got some tough lightweights,” Roberson said. “They have (Garrett) Bass in there (at 145) and they were sneaking back in it for a while. We looked strong and we looked good and we wrestled with some energy. We still got some things to work on. There are some areas that we have to get better at.”
Alton’s Scott Storz won by injury default at 152. With 1:03 left in the first period, Belleville West’s Brooke Holdt got injured after Storz scored a takedown.
“I hope she’s all right,” Robertson said. “She may have tweaked a knee or something in there. She’s a tough girl. Any girl who gets out there and wrestle, we don’t look at them as girls. They’re members of the wrestling team and they’re members of the wrestling community. We had a girl all year last year and she stuck it out all year. I’ve got a lot of respect for her.”
Nolan Woszczynski followed with a first-period pin at 160. Christian Everage wrapped up the match with a 16-1 victory over Tristan Caswell.
The Redbirds improved to 7-5 overall and 2-0 at home.
ALTON 53, BELLEVILLE WEST 24
106 -- Noah Trapp (BW) won by forfeit
113 -- Garrett Sims (A) pinned Hunter Laminack (BW),0:28
120 -- Gus Kodros (A) won by forfeit
126 -- Mitchell Millsap (BW) def. Hunter Hobbs (A) 5-0
132 -- Justin Kunderhandt (BW) pinned Lucas Tankersley (A), 0:58
138 -- Logan Johnson (BW) def. Pierre Evans (A) 13-0
145 -- Garrett Bass (BW) def. Courteney Wilson (A) 15-0
152 -- Scott Storz (A) won by injury default
160 -- Nolan Woszczynski (A) pinned Stefan Caswell (BW), 1:03
170 -- Christian Everage (A) def. Tristan Caswell (BW) 16-1
182 -- Keontay Holmes (A) pinned Kyle McCovey (BW) 1:21
195 -- Keondrick Russell (A) pinned Antwon Smith (BW) 2:59
220 -- Grady Womack (A) pinned Marcus Gates (BW) 1:08
285 -- Ryan Kane (A) pinned Dwight Orgeon (BW) 1:25