South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

South St. Louis County News

St. Louis Call Newspapers

Two Lindbergh wrestlers to compete during Class 3 State Championships

Lindberghs Ben Lachmann struggles to avoid a pin by Lafayettes Adam Varner Saturday afternoon during the Class 3 Sectional 1 Tournament at Lindbergh High School. Lachmann was declared pinned moments later.
Bill Milligan photo
Lindbergh’s Ben Lachmann struggles to avoid a pin by Lafayette’s Adam Varner Saturday afternoon during the Class 3 Sectional 1 Tournament at Lindbergh High School. Lachmann was declared pinned moments later. Bill Milligan photo

“Wrestle to win, don’t wrestle to not lose.”

That was the motto that Tom Gose, the head wrestling coach at Lindbergh High School preached to his grapplers last week as they prepared for the state sectional tournament, in which the Flyers played host.

Gose’s advice paid off for two Flyers as they qualified for the state championships this weekend in Columbia in a year that has seen its ups and downs.

“Considering who we’ve had out of the lineup with injuries, I expected to get four qualifiers for state,” Gose told the Call. “The sectional keeps getting tougher, but you’ve got to be happy for the two guys that qualified.”

Qualifying for the state championships at 130 was junior Jeff Streibig, who found himself pinned by Brian Sanguinet of Lafayette in the sectional championship match. Despite the loss, Gose praised the efforts of Streibig throughout the tournament.

“He (Streibig) didn’t have an easy match in the whole tournament,” Gose said. “He didn’t wrestle well in the final and got pinned. Brian (Sanguinet) is one of the top 10 guys in the state. He’s very, very good and doesn’t make mistakes.”

Also qualifying for the Flyers was senior Dan Virtue at 145, who defeated Jacob Johnson in the third-place match after losing to him in the first round of the tournament.

“Dan had a different kind of day than Jeff,” Gose said. “Right now I think that Daniel and Jeff both have a good chance to medal at state and that’s not me being opportunistic for the newspapers.”

At the state championships, it comes down to three things, according to Gose. Talent, skill and believing that they can get the job are the keys to success for Streibig and Gose in Columbia this weekend.

“They definitely have the talent and skill,” Gose said. “Doesn’t matter what we coaches say, right now it’s all between their ears.”

The Class 3 State Championships begin at 6 this evening — Feb. 19 — with the championship matches of each weight class being at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. For more information, go to

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