Two Hound wrestlers advance, two get eliminated on day one

Maryville's state qualifying contingent was reduced from four to two on the opening day of competition at the Class 1 State Wrestling Championships at Mizzou Arena Thursday.

Sophomores Nate Alexander and Brendan Weybrew won their opening round matches to advance to the quarterfinals, while senior Derek Steins and junior Dane Hull went 0-2 and were eliminated from the tournament.

Alexander (28-3) got the day started off on the right foot by taking a 12-3 major decision from Skout Rainey (25-18) of Lafayette County in their first round match.

He faces No. 1-ranked Ryan Strope (45-2) of Fatima in the quarterfinals today in Bout 182.

Weybrew (39-3) pinned first round opponent CJ Graham (24-21) from Plattsburg less than a minute into the second period. In the quarterfinals, he'll take on Warsaw's Austin Bair (32-15). Bair also recorded a first round pin of Brandon Western from New Madrid Central.

Stiens lost a 6-3 decision in the opening round to Luke DeOrnellis (26-8) of Fatima, sending him to the consolation side of the bracket where he was ousted with a 5-4 loss to Plattsburg freshman Cody Hartman.

The 0-2 showing ended Stiens' Spoofhound career which included three straight trips to state. As a senior, he finished with a record of 30-16.

Making his first state tournament appearance, Hull (27-19) had to forfeit both of his matches against Whitfield's Rodney Hahn and Blair Oaks senior Zach Barlow.

The Class 1 Quarterfinal matches begin at 9:30 a.m. today.

Winners advance to the semifinals which start at 6 p.m. tonight.