Competing with heavy hearts, Baylor's wrestlers put forth a performance the late Jim Morgan would have smiled about.
For four-time state finalist Mason Reiniche, who ranks seventh in the nation at 170 pounds, the 45-26 home victory over archrival McCallie provided overwhelming emotions Friday night.
As Division II's heavy favorites to land a sweep of the duals and traditional state tournaments, the state's top-ranked squad looks to sweep the team awards in honor of Coach Morgan starting next weekend in Franklin.
"We had Jim's chair close to our bench sitting next to Coach Schaack (Van Deusen) with his jacket on it," said Reiniche, who landed the quickest pin of the dual meet in 35 seconds. "Jim's grandson, Steven Morgan, came back that was on our team last year, too. (Coach Morgan's) birthday and funeral are coming up, and all we are here to do is work together to get better for him."
Morgan won 15 state championships in 25 seasons at Baylor, where he guided teams to a 539-84-1 dual-meet record and coached 59 individual champions.
As the successor to his "dear friend," Red Raiders coach Ben Nelson was proud to see his team keep an intense focus in a tough week.
A comeback fight by heavyweight Matthew Smith was one to note. Being shut out into the third period, Smith found steam late to roll from the bottom to the top and then pin his opponent for a 27-6 Baylor advantage.
The top of the lineup was given a spark as well by freshman Jackson Bond, who battled through pain and sickness to win a 10-5 decision at 106.
"Our guys had to process a lot of real-life stuff and were still able to take care of business," Nelson said. "I think Jim would be happy with the way they fought. They did him proud."
Baylor recorded six pins against Morgan's alma mater to keep a perfect dual-meet record intact at 16-0. Noah Horst and Andrew Pace also landed first-round pins for the "Big Red."
The match began at 160 pounds.
A moment of silence was observed before the match by both sides for Morgan, who also went 209-70-3 as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's coach.
"If matches were going slow, Coach Morgan would sit there and yell, 'Nothing is happening!'" Nelson said, adding a humorous story. "We were on a plane trying to connect to Minneapolis to go to a tournament, and before takeoff he's at the back yelling, 'Nothing is happening!'"
Thomas Sell and Jack Braman landed the only two pins of the night for McCallie, which also received dominant technical falls or major decisions from Emory Taylor, Nate Wysong and Alex Whitworth.
State champions are expected to come from each side individually, but the Red Raiders look to take the duals by storm next week on the grand stage. They will continue to be motivated by the program's longtime mentor and friend.
"When I came up to Baylor, Coach Morgan and Coach Schaack were on the mat teaching us moves and making us better even in their old age," Reiniche said. "The amount of love they have for Baylor wrestling and wrestling in itself is something I will never forget."
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.