Last year Joseph Jones and Cordell Byrd made history.

This year they repeated it. And then some.

In winning Division II district titles as juniors in 2012, Jones (138 pounds) and Byrd (145) became the first teammates in Ross history to do it in the same season. They pulled off the feat again last weekend to continue what has been a remarkable season for a Rams team that will send a school-record five wrestlers to the state tournament, which runs today through Saturday in Columbus.

“We’d been stuck on four for years, so to get five is a big step for the program,” said Jones, who will take a 46-match winning streak and 49-1 record into action this evening at the Schottenstein Center. “It’s been a great year.”

In addition to sending five to state, Ross also won the inaugural Southwest Ohio Conference title, a third consecutive sectional championship and, perhaps biggest of all, advanced all the way to the semifinals of the first state team tournament after upsetting No. 2 seed Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy in the quarterfinals.

And to think, Byrd almost missed all of it.

After reaching state as a sophomore and junior, Byrd elected to give up the sport his senior year, saying he just needed a break. But the staff, students and coaches at Ross weren’t having it.

“Everybody was trying to talk him into it,” wrestling coach Rich Dunn said. “Other coaches, other students, even the non-wrestlers, they were all saying ‘C’mon, Cordell. That’s what you are. You’re a wrestler. Finish the job. Everyone looks up to you. It would be a crime not to give us a senior year.’”

After a few months of hearing it every day, Byrd joined the team on Jan. 2.

“I couldn’t go a whole season without looking at these big, goofy kids,” joked Byrd, who earned his 100^th career win earlier this season after getting off to an 0-2 start following his hiatus.

Jones’ 49 wins are a single-season record for Ross, and his 158 career victories smashed the previous mark of 134, set by Joe Conrad.

He and Byrd will be joined in Columbus by senior teammates Tyler Bridwell (195) and Frank Heimkreiter (22) and sophomore Dalton Jones (160). Juniors Andrew Dunn (152) and Gavin Peacock (285) are alternates.

“It’s crazy to think you’ve won 40-some matches in a row, and all you want now is four more,” Jones said. “But I know they’re going to be the four toughest ones to win.”

If Jones can win his first three, he will be the first Ross wrestler to reach the finals. The previous best finish belongs to Aaron Ray, who took third in 1999.

Division I: Another area wrestler trying to continue an impressive run is Fairfield senior Adam Sams, who has pulled off back-to-back triple crowns by winning league, sectional and district titles the last two seasons.

But Sams’ stay in Columbus was a short one last year after going 0-2 the first day.

“I’ve tried not to think about it too much, but it’s something that sits in the back of your head and pushes you forward toward the goals you want to achieve,” he said.

Sams already passed his older brother Austin to move into fifth place in Fairfield history. Now he has his eyes set on bettering Austin’s best state finish of third, which he accomplished as a senior in 2011.

“I’m definitely shooting for first,” he said. “But anything in the top three would be great because there’s always been this little competition between Austin and me.”

Sams (36-3) hasn’t lost a match since early January and hasn’t lost to a Division I opponent all season.

He will be joined by senior teammates Greysun Barden, a 120-pounder and three-time state qualifier, and Dylan Lauffer (152), who is making his first trip to state.

Lakota East senior Austin Daly, who beat Barden in the 120-pound district final last week, also is making his third trip.