The Junction City Blue Jays had two wrestlers claim first place titles in their weight class, and went on to finish third out of nine teams in the JCHS Invitational on Saturday.

Max Bazan captured first place at 113 pounds and Aryus Jones first at 160 pounds for Junction City. Kamari Smith finished second at 152 pounds, and

Coach Bob Laster credits Jones, who recently returned from a football injury last fall, to bringing another aspect to the mental part of the Blue Jay wrestling team. “We always tell guys, the guy that you wrestle with can make you better. And I think that’s what he’s doing with some of the guys on our team, as well as the physical part of our team . I think our guys have a guy to look up to and see how things are supposed to go, so I think that’s one of the big reasons for some changes going on with our team.”

Logan Roether finished in third place at 120 pounds, John Clark third at 145 pounds,  and Tanner Bogenhagen fourth at 120 pounds for Junction City.

Team scores:

–Wichita Kapaun Mt. Carmel 165

–Shawnee Heights 163

–Junction City 128

–Shawnee Mission Northwest 78

–Salina South 77

–Highland Park 71

–Wabaunsee 62

–Atchison County 55

–Topeka West 28