ST. LOUIS – Men's Wrestling cruised to a 34-12 win over American Midwest Conference (AMC) opponent Hannibal-LaGrange Tuesday night at home. The Spartans improved to 3-1 in duals with their only loss at the hands of NCAA DII Central Oklahoma.

The win was also the Spartans first in conference play, as both the Spartans and Trojans will meet again at the AMC Conference Tournament in late January along with Lyon, Williams Baptist, Central Baptist and Lindenwood-Belleville.

Ryan Thomas started the night off right for MBU at 174. Thomas won by an 11-5 decision over Austin Hawes. Hannibal would take their only lead of the night at 184 after a pin, but from then on it was all Spartans.

Esteban Rua started a string of seven straight matches won by MBU. Rua defeated his opponent by a 7-2 decision to tie the match at 6-6. From there his teammates took over, beginning with Easton Simmons in the heavyweight match. Simmons pinned his opponent in 2:47 to give MBU the 12-6 lead and they wouldn't trail again.

A win via forfeit at 125 gave MBU six more points followed by wins from Parker Neptune, John Bobeen, Bryce Bachowski and Clayton Wegener. Both Neptune and Bobeen won by decision, 18-13 and 6-4. Bachowski pinned his opponent in 2:02 for six points and Wegener upped the total to 34 when he won by major decision 12-1. HLG took the last match of the night with a pin.

The Spartans are back at it tomorrow for a home dual against MacMurray College. The women will kick things off at 7 pm and the men will follow.