It was a night wrestling fans could see coming for a few years.

On Thursday night at the Mankato East gym, Cougars senior Clint Adams picked up three wins and became the winningest wrestler in, not only school history, but Mankato history. His 185 career wins surpassed the previous city mark of 182 set by his brother, Clint Adams, in 2002.

Cody’s accomplishment came during an East quadrangular which Maple River won with 3-0 record. The Cougars were second at 2-1, St. Clair was third at 1-2 and Blooming Prairie was last at 0-3.

“I guess I’ve known this was coming for a while,” he said. “Ever since my brother started coaching me and I started winning in high school I guess I thought this might be possible.

“My brother and my coaches deserve most of the credit. They’re the ones that taught me everything I know.”

Older brother Clint said he saw Cody’s record coming three years ago.

“You could see he had the ability,” Clint said. “All he needed to do was stay healthy.”

East assistant coach Jon Dierks, who briefly held the city’s all-time win mark from 1999-2001, said he also saw it coming the same time Clint Adams did.

“When he was a sophomore going for his first state title you knew it was within reach for him,” Dierks said. “Plus, they upped the match limit so that improved his chances, too. When I was wrestling you could have up to 30 matches before sections. Now it’s up to 36 so you knew it was going to happen.”

East head coach Bruce Urbatch said the formula for Cody’s milestone was simple: “All he had to do was stay healthy and keep winning.”

While Adams commanded the individual spotlight on Thursday, it was Maple River who made a team statement. The Eagles demonstrated they are worthy of their No. 11 ranking in Class A by winning all three meets comfortably.

Maple River opened with a 57-16 win over St. Clair, followed with a 42-29 victory over East and closed out with a 60-9 win over Blooming Prairie. The three wins improves Maple River’s record to 5-1.

Class A’s ninth-ranked Kyle Sieberg (112 pounds), 3rd-ranked Aaron Norgren (160), 5th-rated Andrew Bach (171) and 9th-ranked Matt Trio (189) went undefeated for the Eagles. Sieberg, Bach and Trio had two pins apiece.

East picked up its two victories with a 51-27 decision over Blooming Prairie and a 69-9 verdict over St. Clair. Michael Davis was one of six East wrestlers who were undefeated on the day and was involved in the showcase bout of the night against Maple River’s Alex Bach.

Davis is ranked fifth at 145 pounds in Class AA and Bach is ranked eighth at 145 in Class A. The Cougars bumped Davis up a weight to set up the match and the two waged a close battle throughout. Davis held a slim 7-6 lead in the closing seconds when Bach attempted a throw that was slipped and Davis turned it into a takedown at the buzzer.