Dresser dunk. Hip Heist. Guillotine. Half Nelson. Banana Split.

What to the rest of the universe may sound like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, these terms are a secret language for success in the world of wrestling. Using maneuvers such as the “underhook,” Jack Lenox, freshman, took sixth place at state, accompanied by 4 additional state qualifiers from MHS.

With a record of 42 and 10, Lenox devoured the competition during regular season, consistently defeating upperclassmen components.

“It’s a pretty cool feeling,” Lenox said. “I’m pretty happy with how I did this year and I’m glad I have a few more years to keep improving.”

Lenox won his first state match 4-0, before moving onto quarterfinals the following day to face a senior from Joplin.

“There were two seconds left and he shot a double leg and almost took me down,” Lenox said. “In overtime, I got an underhook and did a dresser dunk and pinned him.”

Losing to a junior from Timberland in the semifinals, Lenox placed 6th overall and coach Diefenbock  said he couldn’t be more proud.

“He’s a big time competitor, hates to lose, and is a very smart wrestler,” Diefenbock said. “He’s got a good start to his career and it’s a good building block to next year’s season.”

Besides Lenox, the other state qualifiers only began wrestling in high school, which Diefenbock said is very impressive.

“They had a lot of ground to catch up on compared to some of the guys at state who have been wrestling their entire lives,” Diefenbock said. “It’s tough, it’s definitely a grind, but they put in the work and definitely saw results.”

For senior, Sam Wood, the state tournament was bitter sweet.

“At the beginning of the season I didn’t even think I was going to make it to state, so just qualifying was cool,” Wood said. “I had a lot of one on one time with coaches before the tournament, so I felt prepared.”

Losing his first match to the first seed, Wood fought hard in his second match, but lost 7-8 after a tough call from the referee.

“I should have won because I had him pinned at the last second,” Wood said. “It was kind of controversial because everyone thought I should have won, but the ref said I didn’t.”

Wood said he wishes the matches could have gone better, but he’s happy with his performance overall.

“Ending my senior season with a loss like that was really tough, but it happens,” Wood said. “It was fun to go because going to state was my main goal.”

After two previous seasons were cut short because of injury, Mitch Boehlem, senior, was ecstatic to make it to the state tournament.

“I’m only a three year wrestler and most of these guys have been wrestling their entire life, so just to make it to state was pretty great,” Boehlem said. “I just wanted to stay healthy through the season and making it to state was a surprise.”

Recovering from a shattered foot and sprained ankle prior to this season, Boehlem committed himself to hard work inside and outside of practice.

“I had surgery, rehab, and physical therapy and I just had to work really hard to get my strength back,” Boehlem said. “Since this was my last year of wrestling, I just really wanted to commit everything.”

Although the tournament proved difficult for the team, Boehlem said he’s proud of their performance.

“They were tough matches, but we did what we could,” Boehlem said. “It was a great season.”