Two Jackson High School graduates split $25,000 from lottery

JACKSON, Mo. -- You're 18 years old and getting ready for college. You win more than $12,000. What do you do with the money?

Two Jackson High School graduates found themselves in just that situation.

Nathan Brown and Pete Ressler claimed $25,003 Monday after a Lucky 7 bingo lottery ticket they purchased at Wink's Bait and Tackle Saturday afternoon proved to be a winner.

Ressler said he plans to pay off his Jeep, invest some money in the stock market and buy his mother a new refrigerator.

Brown said he will save the money and use it to help get through college.

"I don't want to do something stupid with it and blow it," Brown said.

Ressler said he intends to take his girlfriend out to celebrate and buy something for both his sisters, too.

The two friends, who are both assistant managers at the Jackson city pool, originally split the cost of two tickets. One yielded a $10 winner. They used that $10 to pay to buy five more tickets, one of which was the big winner.

"We went nuts for a while," Brown said. "That's a lot of money for a couple guys like us."

And it was enough money to gain instant popularity.

"People are calling all day long," said Ressler, though his grin suggested he didn't seem to mind. "People I didn't even know were calling about it."

Brown will attend Southeast Missouri State University in the fall. Ressler hasn't decided where he will attend college.

bmiller@semissourian.com

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