Indians qualify eight

CEDAR HILL -- Jackson's fate as the runner-up team in the Class 4 District 1 meet at Northwest High School was sealed with side-by-side decisions in the finals of the 189-pound weight class.

But it was a number of decisions leading up to that point Saturday that lifted host Northwest past Jackson 179.5 to 173 for the district crown. Lafayette (163.5) was third in the 14-team field.

"You would always like to win it," Jackson coach Steve Wachter said. "What's disappointing for the kids is that it was just great effort by every one of them. I'm not disappointed in their effort.

"You can't pinpoint any one thing. You've got to hand it to Northwest. They wrestled well in the finals and had a big finish. They deserved to win. They just wrestled great in the finals."

Northwest was 6-3 in the finals matches, winning two of four championship matches and four of five third-place matches.

Jackson's Blake Peiffer tries to get Mehlville's Jacob Jones onto his back during their 215-pound championship match.

Jackson was 2-3 in first-place matches -- with dominating wins by 103-pounder Levi Rayburn and 215-pounder Blake Peiffer -- and 2-1 in third-place matches.

Jackson and Northwest did not meet in any of the finals, but the Lions won two of three confrontations in the fourth-round wrestlebacks, which determined the final qualifiers in the state tournament and which wrestlers' seasons ended.

Michael Riney was pinned by in a tight match at 171 pounds, and Chris Hurst lost a 6-4 decision to Northwest's Andrew Brown, who went on to a dominating win in the third-place match. Levi Hobeck (140) and Ryan Marble (160) also lost fourth-round wrestlebacks. Hurst is a senior, while the other three are sophomores who could get a crack at state in 2010.

"I feel bad because those kids work so dog-gone hard," Wachter said. "It ought to make them hungry for next year."

The close calls continued in the finals. At 130, Doug Froemsdorf lost in overtime in the third-place match; and Blake Hooe fell 9-7 in the 145 championship match.

ANDREW JANSEN ~ Special to the Southeast MissourianJackson's Doug Froemsdorf works over Parkway South's Joe Wandersee during their 130-pound match Saturday.

When 189-pounder Justin Darnell fell 10-1 to Eureka's Maurice Alexander in the championship and Northwest's Darrell Risinger won the third-place match, the Lions clinched the title.

In other finals, Jordan Reisenbichler (112) and Josh Scott (125) claimed third-place wins, while Clay Rouse (119) placed second.

"I would have liked to have won a district championship as a team because I've never done it," Peiffer said. "Second is still something to be proud of."

Individually, Peiffer didn't have to settle for second. He rolled through his four foes in the tournament with four pins in a total time of 3 minutes, 27 seconds. In the final, he pinned Mehlville's Jacob Jones in 48 seconds to improve to 51-1.

"If I can help it, I don't like to go past the first period," Peiffer said. "I like to be as quick as I can. I came out before every match and got my mind set and approached each match like it was the state championship."

ANDREW JANSEN ~ Special to the Southeast MissourianJackson's Levi Rayburn works against Seckman's Matt Kraus during their 103-pound championship match Saturday at the Class 4 District 1 wrestling meet at Northwest High School.

Peiffer, a fifth-place finisher in the state at 215 last year and the top-ranked wrestler this year, scored two points early against Jones and put him on his back for a long stretch before finally getting the pin.

"Blake had some great stuff," Wachter said. "He, right now, going into state, has a lot of things going for him. He's figured out some things for himself as far as his offensive attack, and he's really wrestling well right now. It's what we expected. He's a great person, a great wrestler and he's done a great job leading us."

At the other end of the weight spectrum, Rayburn has set a tone for Jackson in earning his second state appearance at 103 pounds.

The sophomore improved to 46-1, capping his weekend with a 13-2 dominating decision against Seckman's Matt Kraus.

"He wrestled maybe one of his best matches of the year in the finals, and really I'm not sure that wasn't his best match this year," Wachter said. "He didn't make many mistakes and it was a match he needed to wrestle to get prepared for state."

ANDREW JANSEN ~ Special to the Southeast MissourianJackson's Blake Hooe tries to flip Lafayette's Vince Farinella during their championship match at 145 pounds Saturday.

Rayburn, who said he had wrestled Kraus each week as part of the Purler Wrestling Academy, hopes his experience at state last year will help in a field likely to be dominated by freshmen.

"I'm just hoping to place," Rayburn said, "but to place in the top four would be awesome."

Wachter said the team goal will be a top-10 finish.

"That's one of our big goals each year to be in the top 10 in the state," Wachter said. "All teams in any sport like to be listed in the top 10. The top four get trophies, but the top 10 is kind of a high-respect deal."

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:Jackson state qualifiers

Jackson's Josh Scott tries to escape from Seckman's Chad Kreutz during their 125-pound third-place match.

103 -- Levi Rayburn, first. Won 13-2 decision in championship vs. Seckman's Matt Kraus

112 -- Jordan Reisenbichler, third. Won 8-5 decision for third vs. Fox's Josh Suedmeyer.

119 -- Clay Rouse, second. Lost by pin vs. Seckman's Denny Kleinschrodt after pinning Northwest's Vinney Lawber in semifinals.

125 -- Josh Scott, third. Won 8-5 decision vs. Seckman's Chad Kreutz.

130 -- Doug Froemsdorf, fourth. Lost 3-1 decision in overtime to Parkway South's Joe Wandersee.

145 -- Blake Hooe, second. Lost 9-7 decision to Lafayette's Vince Farinella after winning semifinal decision vs. Eureka's Tyler Teahan.

189 -- Justin Darnell, second. Lost 10-1 decision to Eureka's Maurice Alexander after winning 3-1 semifinal decision vs. Northwest's Darrell Risinger.

215 -- Blake Peiffer, first. Won by pin vs. Mehlville's Jacob Jones to win all four tourney matches by fall.