The Waterloo wrestling team is this week’s Republic-Times Team of the Week.

The team is on a roll.

Last week, the Bulldogs became the 28th school in Illinois history to score the most points in a dual meet.

“It was a perfect night,” first-year Bulldog wrestling coach Pat Stewart said, explaining that  is team scored the maximum amount of points possible in a dual meet by collecting eight forfeits and six pins against Mater Dei last Tuesday.

Stewart said he knew history was within reach when the first few wrestlers pinned their competition.

“I told the last two or three kids they needed a pin,” he said.

And they pulled through, as WHS junior Joe Snover sealed the deal for his team in the last match with a pin. A total of 14 Waterloo wrestlers scored six points each on the night.

“We’ve been on the bottom end of the record books, and now we’re on top,” Stewart said.

Waterloo also defeated Althoff on Tuesday night, 61-14, advancing their record to 7-2 on the season.

The Bulldogs’ success doesn’t end there, though.

The team went on to take first place in the eight-team Jerseyville tournament over the weekend.

“You get a first place victory,” Stewart said. “That’s been pretty few and far between (for Waterloo).”

A few days later, Waterloo won the Jerseyville Tournament for the first time since 2003, according to Stewart, by a score of 175.

Jerseyville came in second (168) and East St. Louis placed third.
All 14 of the WHS wrestlers placed but one.

First place finishers were: Mack Mundy (132 weight class), Pat Bieber (182), who is now 15-1 for his matches this season, and Issac Dodd (195), who is 9-0 for the season.

Second place Bulldog finishers were: Paul Stewart (126), Joe Snover (170), Jackson Jennings (160) and Denis Wilson (220).

Third place Waterloo finishers were: Max Jennings (145), Lucas Hagar (152) and Tyler Mohl (285).

“We’re still young, we have a lot of freshman and sophomores in the lineup,” Stewart said, adding that he only has four seniors, one of which is out due to an injury. All three active seniors placed in the tournament, with three underclassmen placing.

The Bulldogs will return home Wednesday against Cahokia for senior night. The team will then wrestle in the highly competitive Mascoutah Invitational on Friday.

“We could have a wake-up call this weekend,” Stewart said.

Congratulations Bulldogs, keep up the good work!