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By Chris Parker & Zach Mason
The 2018 Class 4 138-pound final was the culmination of an eight-year grind for Waynesville’s Sean Sax.
He came into the tournament as a three-time placer, but an appearance in a state final much less a championship had eluded the Waynesville senior.
Sax remedied earning an appearance on Friday night with a semifinal win, but there was still one piece of the puzzle he needed to put in place.
“I’ve been working my whole life for this,” Sax said. “I’ve been wrestling for 8 years. I had zero losses when I got here and that’s how I planned to come out it.”
Sax used a first period takedown to get control of the match against Staley’s Blake Berryman.
“I knew he is a very physical guy, so I knew he’d be clubbing on my head and as soon as he clubbed on my head I got to my shot,” Sax said. “I didn’t stop from there I just kept grinding. After I rode him out, I rode him out again, because I knew I could break him.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND
The Westminster signee rode out Berryman for the entirely of the second period. In the third period, Sax chose to remain on top up 4-0. Berryman scored a reverse early in the final period to pull within two but an escape and takedown for Sax would ice the championship with a 7-3 win.
He finished his senior season with a perfect 49-0 record.
Ozark’s Gorn, Lebanon’s Christian fall in title matches
Ozark’s Jace Gorn faced long odds coming into the Class 4 285-pound championship match against Chaminade’s Danny Conley. The senior out of St. Louis was ranked No. 1 in the state coming into the tournament sporting a 45-1 record a year after winning a title in this weight class as a junior.
Gorn gave the defending champion everything he wanted and more, but ultimately would come up on the short end of a 1-0 decision. The lone point came on a Conley escape early in the third period.
Lebanon sophomore Trevor Christian saw he season end with a loss to Francis Howell’s Peter Enos in a 9-3 decision. Christian finished his second year of high school wrestling with a stellar 50-3 record.
