Jackson captures district

Jackson won its first district wrestling title since 1996 by capturing the Class 3 District 1 meet Saturday at Jackson.

The Indians finished with a team score of 167, just ahead of Northwest with 150 and Fox with 147. Jackson sent nine wrestlers to sectionals, one behind Northwest's 10. The top four from each weight class qualify for sectionals.

"This was our goal since the beginning of the year," Jackson coach Steve Wachter said. "Winning a district title with this quality of teams is a great feat."

Jackson had six wrestlers in championship matches, with three individual champions. Brock Howard (140 pounds), Cody Rouse (145 pounds) and Kremer Rampley (160 pounds) each won titles. All three were returning district champions, with Howard picking up his fourth district title.

"At the beginning of the season coach told us to write down our goals," Howard said. "My goals were to be district and sectional champ, and my ultimate goal is state."

Jackson led in the team standings 143-125 over Fox heading into the final round. Both Fox and Northwest, which had 124 points, gained ground on Jackson in the lower weight classes. Northwest had third-place finishers in three of the first four weight classes.

Fox had two champions and a second in the first three matches. Meanwhile, the Indians did not have a wrestler in the first four classes. But after Josh Schumacher took second at 130 for Jackson and Ben Wachter finished fourth at 135, the Indians got three straight pins to help them take control.

"When we hit those three in a row with Brock Howard, Cody Rouse and Greg Ludwig, that really sunk it back in for us," Wachter said. "We needed to swing the momentum back badly."

The match of the night belonged to Rampley, who improved to 42-0 with three wins on Saturday. Rampley, the second seed, defeated No. 1 Bret Beavers in a double overtime decision.

Neither wrestler was able to post any takedowns. In the second overtime Beavers was in the down position, and Rouse was able to keep him down to win the match.

"That was a great battle," Wachter said. "Beavers is an outstanding wrestler. That was worth the price of admission."

Andy Glass was one of the big surprises for Jackson, making it to the championship match at 215. Glass was only 16-8 heading into the district meet, but came out his first match and upset the top seed Corey Simons 8-5. Glass lost a tight match 3-1 to Jacob Roesch in the finals.

"I knew Andy could do that," Wachter said, "it was just a matter of him believing he could. It was no surprise to the coaches."

Jackson will travel to Lindbergh High School for this Saturday's sectional meet.

Team scores -- 1. Jackson 167, 2. Northwest (House Springs) 150, 3. Fox 147, 4. Oakville 122, 5. Eureka 114, 6. Seckman 84.5, 7. Mehlville 54, 8. Rockwood Summit 42, 9. Poplar Bluff 26

Jackson results

Championship matches

130 -- Chris Bonacker (NW) maj. dec. Josh Schumacher 10-0

140 -- Brock Howard (J) pinned Matt Mitchell (O) 3:19

145 -- Cody Rouse (J) pinned Jesse Gunderson (O) 2:45

160 -- Kremer Rampley (J) double ot dec. Bret Beavers (F) 1-1

171 -- Tony Sthair (F) pinned Blake Ulrich 1:56

215 -- Jacob Roesch (M) dec. Andy Glass 3-1

Third-place matches

135 -- Kyle Foley (O) pinned Ben Wachter 4:50

152 -- Greg Ludwig (J) pinned Dany Seitz (E) 1:57

189 -- Kamden Rampley (J) dec. Mike Nowicki (E) 5-2

Class 2 District 1Central had four sectional qualifiers during its district meet at Ste. Genevieve. The Tigers placed seventh in a nine-team field.

Jonathan Poston (125) was second, Matt Latham (119) placed third, and Chris Griffith (112) and Cory Huskey (152) both finished fourth.

"All in all, the kids wrestled pretty well," Central coach Josh Crowell said. "We had a chance to get a couple of more through that just didn't go our way, but I'm proud of our kids."

The Tigers will compete this Saturday in the sectional meet at Farmington.