ST. LOUIS - The road to a repeat stirred up a little more anxiety for Fulton wrestling coach Eric Hudson, but the state-ranked Hornets calmed his concerns.
Fulton came away with six individual champions and qualified 11 wrestlers for state as the Hornets locked up their second straight Class 2, District 2 title by resisting North Central Missouri Conference rival Mexico late Saturday afternoon at John Burroughs High School.
Ranked No. 3 in the state by missouriwrestling.com, the Hornets racked up 225 points to hold off second-place and ninth-ranked Mexico (201). Fellow NCMC member Moberly was a distant third with 120.5 points.
"It was different, this one was a little more stressful," Hudson said afterward. "It was tighter this time and it's a little different team. We returned a lot of the seniors, but the two seniors (Taylor Gillooly and Noah Braun) we lost off of last year's team scored a lot of points - not only in the district tournament but at state.
"We had some younger guys that were in those spots now and Mexico has a good team. ... Overall, I think the kids did a really nice job of competing."
The top four finishers in each weight class qualified for the state championships starting Thursday morning at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.
Fulton's district-title winners were led by a trio of seniors coming off state championships last year. Josh McClure (38-1) prevailed at 145 pounds on Saturday, Trenton Clines (26-2) won at 152 and Zach Benner (39-0) triumphed at 220.
McClure secured a state title at 138 pounds last year after being a state champion at 113 pounds in 2014. Benner and Clines both captured their first state titles last year at 145 and 195 pounds, respectively.
The Hornets' other district champions Saturday were seniors Clayton Bristol (33-2) and Kobe Kaminski (17-4) at 285 and 195 pounds, respectively, and junior Brandon Dews (33-1) at 120.
Earning second-place finishes for Fulton were senior Andy Baysinger (33-5) at 160 pounds and sophomore Tucker Caswell (33-4) at 113, while junior Luke Berrey (33-7, 170) and sophomore Colton Bristol (26-10, 182) both finished third.
The Hornets' other state qualifier was junior Devan Hudson (27-11), who took fourth at 126 pounds.
McClure shut out Kirksville's Tanner Sparks in a 4-0 decision for the district title at 145 pounds. McClure also defeated Sparks during the regular season.
"Josh did what Josh does," Hudson said. "He was in position maybe to score a couple of more times - kind of a judgment, position thing, by the officials.
"We kind of knew that match would be like that, we knew it would be tight. ... I'm happy with what I saw out of Josh. He was a little more aggressive this time than the last time they wrestled."
Clines scored the only point of the match on an escape early in the second period and gutted out a 1-0 win over Moberly's John Heimann in the championship at 152 pounds. It was Clines' second victory in three meetings with Heimann this season.
"Trent's tournament, he had to really be mentally tough and hang in," Hudson said. "Kids were just blocking him from doing what he wants to do.
"... It's one of those things where we're just going to have to hang tough and when we get our opportunities, score."
Benner was as punishing as he has been all season, easily powering his way to a 17-1 technical fall over John Burroughs' Tom Bolstad for the title at 220 pounds.
"We were a little concerned about team points headed into that, so he knew we either needed a fall (pin) or technical fall," Hudson said. "He's done a nice job all year long and we just hope he can continue that."
Clayton Bristol built a 5-0 lead over Mexico's Terrese Aaron in the first period of the championship at 285 pounds and eventually preserved a 5-2 triumph. It was also Bristol's second win in three clashes with Aaron this season.
"Clayton said the same thing, "Once I got up five (points), I just kind of shut it down,'" Hudson said. "It was fine, we won, that's what we needed to do - that's what he wanted to do."
Kaminski - qualifying for state after not wrestling last year - edged Moberly's Chance Richards again in a 5-4 decision for the title at 195 pounds. Kaminski owns three one-point victories over Richards this season.
"For Kobe, this is his first chance to go to the state tournament," Hudson said. "... He had a pretty good tournament here, so I'm proud of Kobe."
Dews was impressive in winning the championship at 120 pounds, pinning Liberty-Wentzville's Ben Leach in 2 minutes, 19 seconds.
"Brandon did what we needed him to do," Hudson said. "He was pretty dominant all weekend."
Fulton can now focus its full attention on the ultimate prize - a Class 2 state team title that barely eluded it last year. The Hornets will head to the state championships with the most qualifiers and district champions of any team in Class 2.
Of course, Hudson knows that doesn't guarantee anything.
"I expect it to be like it always is - it's going to be tough," he said. "There's going to be ups and downs, kids will have to manage setbacks and we'll have to have backup plans for when things go wrong.
"Hopefully there are a lot of things that go right. It's a tough, tough tournament - we feel like we have our kids pretty well prepared for it. We just need to get in the (practice) room a little bit more, tighten up a few things and just be ready for whatever opportunity presents itself."