Jackson wrestlers excel early with blend of youth, experience

Jackson's wrestling team wrapped up another strong weekend with its second straight Tiger Classic title on Saturday and will head into the Christmas break with momentum on its side.

The Indians have faced some of the top wrestling programs across the state at the Parkway South Tournament, Missouri Duals and Tiger Classic over the last three weekends. Jackson finished third in its previous two tournaments before the Classic.

"You can see some improvement over the last three weeks," Jackson coach Steve Wachter said.

Wachter was especially pleased with the progress of Jackson's younger wrestlers. At the Tiger Classic, freshmen Jamie Schumacher and Justin Miller each had strong performances, with Schumacher finishing second at 112 pounds. Miller won the Black Bracket title to finish ninth. Sophomore Luke Rayburn finished ninth at 103 pounds.

"They improved over the tournament," Wachter said.

Overall, the Indians had six wrestlers in the championship matches at the Classic, up from only three the previous year. Kamden Rampley and Cody Rouse brought home titles at 189 and 152, respectively. Five of Jackson's eight wrestlers who finished fourth or better were juniors or younger. Juniors Josh Schumacher (second), Ben McMillian (fourth) and Sean Gant (fourth) also made the championship round.

Rouse, one of three seniors to make it to championship matches, put on a dominating performance at 152. Rouse won all but one match by pin, and he was never threatened in an 8-4 decision in the championship match.

"He pretty well dominated his weight class, but it was a good finals match," Wachter said.

Central had four wrestlers finish sixth or better, with Ryan Davis' third-place result the top finish.

Central coach Josh Crowell said while the team could have wrestled better, he thinks this performance should help them get better.

"Why I like this tournament is because it's a good indicator of where we're at," he said.

Central gets two on all-tournament team

A second-place finish at the Northwest/Mobil "On the Run" Classic netted Central two players on the all-tournament team.

Senior guard Eli Harris led the Tigers with 46 points in the tournament. Darnell Wilks, a 6-foot-6 sophomore forward, added 32 points for the Tigers over the tournament.

Bloomfield Christmas Tournament starts Monday

The Bloomfield Christmas Tournament will get under way on Monday, with 16 boys basketball teams from Southeast Missouri vying for the title.

Dexter comes in as the top seed and has dominated the tournament of late. Portageville is seeded second. The championship will be 8:30 p.m. Dec. 30.