COLUMBIA -- Two years ago Kearney wrestling coach Chad Hopkins was excited about his team, but he knew what was waiting for him one year later.

It was the 2011-12 team where he saw the real potential for a Class 3 team title.

That potential was realized Saturday, Feb. 18, at Mizzou Arena in Columbia, as the Kearney wrestlers put a bow in a dazzling performance at the 2012 MSHSAA Wrestling Championships.

The Bulldogs turned a two-horse race for the team title into a victory lap during the Class 3 finals. Kearney finished with 177 points to Staley’s 159.5 to win the program’s second team title.

“We knew that if we wrestled like we had all year, and like we did at (the USA Wrestling/Dollamur Kansas City Wrestling Classic) we could do this,” senior Morgan Fitzgerald said. “We are built to go deep in tournaments.”

Kearney put six wrestlers in the finals — Jaret Singh (113 pounds), Kevin Kinney (132), Grant Leeth (138), Tanner Minder (145), Blain Drescher (160) and Morgan Fitzgerald (170) — and five (Singh, Kinney, Leeth, Minder and Fitzgerald) walked away with state championships. The nine state qualifiers set program records for number of points scored, wrestlers in the finals (six), state champions (five) and tied the record for medalists (seven).

“For the program, this just validates the message we have been sending for five years now,” Hopkins said. “Good things happen when you work hard. I am hoping that is what we take away from this.” Kearney wrapped up the team title in the finals, but the Bulldogs won it with their performance Friday, Feb. 17, in the semifinal round.

With six wrestlers competing for a spot in the state finals, all six wrestlers came through with victories. In the process, Kearney catapulted itself from second place into first heading into the final day of the tournament.

“Six-for-six was phenomenal,” Hopkins said. “... As a coach you know the deeper into the tournament, the better you are going to be. The problem is keeping the kids focused on the big picture part of it. That is exactly how we saw this playing out, but for the kids it is hard for them to see it.”

It was actually a little bit of a weight lifted off the team’s shoulders to be ahead after the semifinals.

“The first couple of rounds everyone is looking for bonus points, and that is a lot of pressure,” Leeth said. “Nobody out here is going to go out there and get pinned. That is where we were going to beat Staley is getting our bonus because they aren’t as good at that.”

Kearney had 19 matches where they scored bonus points, including 11 pins, with nine qualifiers. Staley finished with 15 matches where they scored bonus points, including nine pins, with 12 qualifiers.

The biggest win in the semifinals came from junior Blain Drescher who upset Farmington’s No. 2-ranked Ryan Wadlow, 2-1.

Although he finished second overall, the weekend was a big one for Drescher, Hopkins said.

“He was telling his dad he was ready to wrestle freestyle and get better on his feet,” Hopkins said. “He had that taste of success — real success — I am not talking about winning 35 matches on the varsity team and not qualifying for the state tournament or being a state qualifier.

“He has always been a kid that has just lived off his talent. Sometimes that catches up to you. Finally around Christmas time he bought into the hard work aspect, and I think he only lost three matches after Christmas. Two of those were to Trevor Engle and then in the final to Austin Rugraff.”

What made the state title even sweeter is that all nine Kearney wrestlers contributed. Six made the finals, sophomore Seth Brayfield (120) took third in a very competitive weight class, senior Tony Borden (152) won two matches with a torn labrum and freshman Tyler Horton (220) won two matches in a weight class not many freshman ever see success in.

“That’s something we have kind of been talking about,” Hopkins said. “We only took nine kids, and three other teams had 12 wrestlers (Farmington, Neosho and Staley). ... We needed contributions, and we got that from every kid. Every kid was either first, second, third or in a bubble match. That says a lot about the way they felt about each other and what they wanted to get out of this weekend.”

As Hopkins said, and his wrestlers back up, this title was not won over the course of three months. This is something that stemmed from freestyle and Greco-Roman workouts, going to national tournament and putting in the work when other teams were resting

“It has been our goal for the last 364 days,” Leeth said. “It is nice to get it.”