It was "good to be blue" Thursday night at the Jefferson gym when the J-Hawks tangled with Kennedy in a makeup Mississippi Valley Conference wrestling meet.

Jefferson got a nice draw starting at 195 pounds, got an early lead and controlled the Cougars all night en route to a 40-15 win.

“The J-Hawks did a nice job tonight” Jefferson Coach Dick Briggs said with a smile. “It is good to be blue. Kennedy is a tough team and it has been awhile since we have beat them.”

Briggs said starting the meet at 195 proved to be a big break for the J-Hawks.

“It was a nice place for us to start and finish,” he said. “I thought we battled well in the middle, too.”

The J-Hawk big guys came out and jump started the J-Hawks with a pair of decisions and a forfeit for senior Mic Vesey to go up 12-0.

Jefferson switched things up, starting Drake Allen at 195 and moving Brandon Leary up to the 220 spot. Allen beat Dakoda Aldrich, 3-1 in overtime, to start the meet, and Leary posted an 8-3 decision over Zack Goodall.

“Allen isn’t 220. He has weighed 195 all year. We just wanted to see how this could work,” Briggs said of moving Allen down. “We will see where Drake lands, but I don’t think it will be at 195.”

The little guys kept things rolling as the J-Hawks got two more decisions. Senior Griffin Bollman scored a major decision over Kobi Cowen, 15-1, and Patrick Rashed scored and 11-17 decision over Nathan Waterhouse at 113. Those wins pushed the J-Hawks' lead to 19-0.

The Cougars picked up their first points in the 120 bout when Taylor Moss beat Cody Hensel, 5-4.

“The guys came out and got the ball rolling right away,” Briggs said.

The Cougars managed just two more wins by decision and a pin by third-ranked Luke Kremer at 132.

Jefferson controlled the mat all night but didn’t get a pin until the final match of the night when freshman Dalton Kuehl managed to stick Curtis Stacey at 182 to finish off a well-rounded performance.

“I am really excited about our freshman,” Briggs said. “(Luke) Sedlacek wrestled tough, (Kelly) May got a win, and Dalton got the pin.”

Sedlacek was beaten by Ryan Rodriguez, 7-3, at 138 and May scored a 4-1 decision over Ben Feuerhelm at 145.

Jefferson senior Shavez Butler also got into the act with a 15-10 upset win over Shane Williams at 160.

To make things even more special it was senior night for the J-Hawks.  Four of the five J-Hawk seniors - Leary, Vesey, Bollman and Butler - picked up wins. Spencer Brosseau had the misfortune of being matched against Kremer.

JEFFERSON 40, KENNEDY 15
195 - Drake Allen (CRJ) dec. Dakoda Aldrich, 3-1 (OT)
220 - Brandon Leary (CRJ) dec. Zack Goodall, 8-3
285 - Mic Vesey (CRJ) won by forfeit
106 - Griffin Bollman (CRJ) major dec. Kobi Cowen, 15-1
113 - Patrick Rashed (CRJ) dec. Nathan Waterhouse, 11-7
120 - Taylor Moss (CRK) dec. Cody Hensel, 5-4
126 - Michael Moncivais (CRJ) dec. James Ruzicka, 12-6
132 - Luke Kremer (CRK) pinned Spencer Brosseau, 1:45
138 - Ryan Rodriguez (CRK) dec. Luke Sedlacek, 7-3
145 - Kelly May (CRJ) dec. Ben Feuerhelm, 4-1
152 - Keenen Nosek (CRK) dec. Shane Lockhart, 5-3
160 - Shavez Butler (CRJ) dec. Shane Williams, 15-10
170 - Josh Allen (CRJ) won by forfeit
182 - Dalton Kuehl (CRJ) pinned Curtis Stacey, 3:24