Jackson pins down second straight SEMO title

~ The Indians had three individual champions and outdistanced Farmington.

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- With its second straight SEMO Conference wrestling championship already in the bag, the only thing left for Jackson was to see if Kamden Rampley could continue his unbeaten season.

The senior, who entered the tournament 40-0 on the year, pinned Farmington's Jacob Hise 56 seconds into the third period to claim the championship of the 215-pound weight division.

"He wrestled tough like he has all year long," Jackson coach Steve Wachter said.

Rampley's victory was one of three top finishes for Jackson, which won the event for the 16th time since 1973.

The Indians' 391.5 points were 37 more than second-place Farmington's total of 354.5.

Ste. Genevieve (318.5) finished third, Windsor (278.5) was fourth, and North County (224.5) was fifth, followed by Poplar Bluff (175) and Central (168). Dexter placed ninth, New Madrid 10th and Sikeston 11th.

"It was pretty tough really all the way through," Wachter said. "We wrestled well early but the final were tough. This was just a great team effort."

Jackson's Cole Jansen won by pin against Tyler Espstein of Farmington in the 275-pound class.

In the 145-pound class, the Indians' Ben McMillian also won via pin against Kyle Ketcherside of Windsor.

Blake Peiffer lost to Ste. Genevieve's Tanner Wolk by pin in the final of the 189-pound weight classs, while 152-pounder Sean Gant lost 1-0 to the Ste. Genevieve's John Vogt. Also reaching the final for Jackson was 119-pounder Kyle Brown, who lost an 11-3 decision to Curt Gegg of Ste. Genevieve; 135-pounder Josh Schumacher, who lost a 4-2 decision to Adam Johnson of Ste. Genevieve; and 140-pounder Russell Brown, who lost an 8-5 decision to Michael Zaricor of Farmington.

Will Perry beat Poplar Bluff's Paul Sweesy 18-9 to claim third place for Jackson in the 171 division. Also finishing third were Justin Miller at 125 and Will Perry at 171.

Jackson's other top finishers were Luke Rayburn, fourth at 112; Anthony Werner, fourth at 160; and Jamie Schumacher, fifth at 130.

For Central, Chris Griffith lost to Windsor's Joe Lamar 14-5 in the final of the 112-pound weight class.

Tyler Yeargain (130) and Garrett New (152) each finished third while Matt Lathan (125) placed fourth.

"It was a little more tough this year," Wachter said. "It was more balanced."