Jack Klebba News Today

Helias Catholic High School will be celebrating Homecoming next week.

The Helias Lady Crusaders finished 16th in the Class 4 state track and field championships last season. They’re looking for a better finish this year. “There’s a lot of points out there I think we can get at state,” Helias coach Phil Pitts said as the track team prepared for today’s opener against Jefferson City and Rolla at Adkins Stadium.

The Helias Crusaders started Thursday with 11 Class 2 state qualifiers. They’ll start today with 11. “It was a strong start for us,” Helias coach Weston Keleher said. “The whole group was ready to wrestle.” Helias went 9-2 in first-round matches Thursday morning at Mizzou Arena, with eight of the wins coming by fall. Those bonus points helped the Crusaders to second place in the team standings with 40 points.

With 11 qualifiers, the Helias Crusaders have the numbers to get a high finish. But how high? “We have a chance at scoring a lot of points,” Helias coach Weston Keleher said as the Crusaders prepared for the Class 2 state tournament that begins this morning at Mizzou Arena. “Can we score enough points to win it? I don’t know.”

Senior Night is always special. For Helias wrestling coach Weston Keleher, Tuesday night’s Senior Night had a little something extra special. “This is a special group to me, they’ve been with me for four years,” Keleher said of the eight seniors who were honored between dual victories against Capital City and School of the Osage at Rackers Fieldhouse.

The numbers told Carter Prenger what he had to do. Helias entered the final match in Wednesday night’s dual against Jefferson City trailing the Jays 31-27. A regular win at 120 pounds couldn’t win the dual, a major decision would only tie it. It was win by fall or by technical fall.

It was over before it even started. The Helias Crusaders won 10 matches by forfeit Thursday night on their way to a 78-6 wrestling dual victory against the Rock Bridge Bruins in Central Missouri Activities Conference action in the Helias Gym.

Carter Prenger did it again. Earlier this season, Prenger won by fall against defending Class 1 113-pound state champion Brayden Dubbs of Centralia. Friday night at the Missouri Duals, Prenger won by fall against Class 1 106-pound champion Lucas Barry of St. Michael the Archangel.