The St. Louis wrestling team destroyed the competition at their conference dual in Millington Jan. 13.

This was a very interesting dual. The first match got off to a fairly normal start. The Sharks were speeding through their matches beating out the competition. As the meet progressed to the 160-pound weight class, something unexpected happened. 

Within the first 15 seconds of the 160-pound match, Aaron Bowerman fell flat on his belly and let out a blood-curdling scream. Nate March, first-hand witness and Bowermans’ best friend described the event as, “The team was in utter disarray. Emotions were all over the place, mainly consisting of fear and sadness. Several were in tears including myself and team captain Braden Ball. We are so glad he is okay.” Unknown to the crowd at the time Bowerman had severely dislocated his elbow. After about a 45-minute display of pure agony, Bowerman was wheeled off the mat and into the corner of the gym, where he remained for the next two matches. In the middle of the third match an ambulance arrived and took Bowerman to the hospital.

The Sharks continued to fight throughout the night despite the emotional upheaval eventually beating out both teams to secure two wins on the night. The final team scores were 45-25 over Millington and 72-12 against Carrollton both in favor of the Sharks. Two match winners for the dual were: Colin Kuhn, Genaro Soto, Craig Bebow, Martine Wiggins, Justice Onstott, Ben Dousuah, and Braden Ball. 

This was a major conference dual as coach Kevin Kuhn explained, “Over the past 12 years the conference championship has been us or Millington, they ended our 8-year conference streak and now we are in position to start another.” After this rollercoaster of a day, the Sharks were back on the mat Saturday, Jan. 15, for the Flushing Team Dual Invitational.