Three members of the St. James Youth Wrestling organization made it to the USA Wrestling Missouri State Tournament earlier this month.

St. James youths Brody Pierce, Gabriel Roberge and Gage Hudson all competed at the state tournament.

In the state tournament, held March 14 in Springfield:

*Pierce, a second-grader, competed in the 45-pound weight class of the age 8-U Division and finished 2-2.

*Roberge, an eighth-grader at 145 in the Age 14-U Division, finished 1-2.

*Hudson, an eighth-grader at heavyweight in the Age 14-U Division, placed sixth with a 1-3 record.

“It was a good tournament for them,” said St. James Youth Wrestling head coach Paul Roberge. “No one went two-and-out; they all won matches there.”

Not bad finishes, considering two of the three are first-year wrestlers with the youth wrestling club.

Pierce competed in the 6-U State Tournament last year, but this is the first year of wrestling for both Gabriel Roberge and Hudson.

Both Roberge and Hudson competed for the St. James Middle School Wrestling Team until the season ended in December. Then both switched over to St. James Youth Wrestling.

“Gage is pretty aggressive,” Paul Roberge said. “Because he’s a pretty big kid, he knows how to be aggressive. He has really started learning some moves and utilized them. Gabriel was really good at middle school and I told him it’d be different in youth wrestling, which is really way harder. Everybody in state are tough and we’re in a tough district - District 8, with St. Louis-area schools. At the youth level he went to a couple of tough tournaments and got discouraged. But we went to district and he had a four-man bracket and went to state, and that kind of boosted his confidence.

“Brody finished in second place at the 6-U state tournament last year. He’s a little ball of fire; just never stops. And this year he started learning some moves and started putting everything together.”

Paul Roberge, a former high school wrestler and powerlifter from Rolla, is in his fourth year as President/head coach of St. James Youth Wrestling. Also coaching in the program is Steve Achterberg.

“Jason and Casey Petty started it 15 or 16 years ago, when their kids were in school,” Roberge said of the organization. “(Former St. James High wrestling head coach) Beau Moreland took it over, along with James Pogue and Craig Lonning and they did it a number of years. And I followed them.

“We have been able to turn it into a 501 3c non-profit program. We have been able to raise funds to buy equipment for the youth program and the high school program.”

The program’s wrestling room is also used by the St. James High School and Middle School wrestling programs.

Roberge said there is usually between 30 to 35 youth wrestlers participating in St. James Youth Wrestling workouts. The organization offers wrestling for kids age 4-14. Practice begins the first week of November and runs through the state tournament in March.

Those interested in getting kids participating can go to the organization’s Facebook page, “St. James Youth Wrestling Club.” Or text Roberge at 573 201-9235.