Jackson wrestlers remain unbeaten with pair of routs

JACKSON, Mo. -- Jackson wrestling coach Steve Wachter always wants his squad to be peaking as the regular season winds down and the postseason looms.

If Thursday night was any indication, the Indians should be right on schedule.

Jackson remained unbeaten in dual meets this season with a pair of victories, thumping Dexter 70-6 and Sikeston 69-3 on Senior Night to improve to 9-0 on the season.

As far as peaking, Wachter was noncommital. But the results speak for themselves.

"You plan it that way, but sometimes it doesn't work that well," he said.

Jackson’s Stephen Dunn, top, tries to turn Sikeston’s Gage Barber during their 220-pound match Thursday at Jackson High School. Dunn won by fall. (ADAM VOGLER)

Against Dexter, Jackson took command early with three pins and a forfeit staking the Indians to a 24-0 lead. Sophomore Jarrett Reisenbichler wasted no time in pinning Brandon Twomey in 57 seconds at 106 pounds, and senior Kodi Byrd did the same to Steven Parks in 50 seconds at 113. After freshman Jake Byrd pinned James Mullins at 120, barely beating the first period buzzer with a fall in 1:59, Jackson led 18-0.

Dexter got on the board when Trevor Waldner pinned sophomore Ryan Baker in 41 seconds, but that was all the points Dexter would get. Jackson closed with pins in six of the remaining nine matches.

"We were pretty flat against Dexter," Wachter said, the quick lead notwithstanding. "We wrestled better against Sikeston."

In that second match, Jake Byrd won by technical fall over Javeon Bonner 25-10 at 120 pounds for an early 5-0 lead. Sikeston's lone win came at 126, when Cody Middleton decisioned freshman Micah Collier 4-0. Jackson then rattled off 12 consecutive wins, nine by pin.

Jake Byrd said the early points help build team confidence.

Jackson’s Jarrett Reisenbichler, top, tries to pin Sikeston’s Garrett Middleton during their 106-pound match. Reisenbichler won by fall.

"I think it gives a lot of people momentum," he said after hiking his season mark to 33-4. "Whenever I pull ahead, I like to get more points on the board."

The night's highlight came at 170 pounds, where senior Chris Reed scored a late takedown to defeat Sikeston's Clay Porter 3-2. Reed trailed 1-0 entering the third period before scoring an escape to knot the score 1-1. Then, with 12 seconds remaining in the match, Reed got a shoulder into Porter and was able to flip the Sikeston junior to the mat for the winning points.

"That's closer than I like them," Reed said after improving to 23-11 on the season. "Going into the third period, I was a little nervous. I figured I've got to get a takedown and wear him out. Just try to work my best shot."

Wachter was glad to see Reed's resilience against one of the top wrestlers in the area.

"Porter's a really good wrestler. Chris Reed had a really good match," Wachter agreed. "That was a big win for Chris on Senior Night."

Also shining for the Indians was Reisenbichler, who scored two pins and kept his unblemished record intact at 37-0.

"I lost like five matches last year, and I wasn't happy with that," Reisenbichler said. "I'm hoping this year is my redemption year."

Also scoring two pins were Kodi Byrd (34-3) at 113 pounds, junior Tyler Rush (35-4) at 138, senior Jackson Rushin (26-13) at 160, senior Stephen Dunn (10-0) at 220 and sophomore heavyweight Preston Hobeck (34-3).

"You never like to get beat, but Jackson was definitely the better team," Sikeston coach Chris Lowe said. "You've got to use this to try to get better. You can't go negative; you've got to find a positive out of every loss."

Dexter coach James Sneed echoed Lowe's sentiments.

"We wrestled hard against [Jackson]," he said. "Anytime you wrestle Jackson you just try to compete, and I thought our kids competed tonight."

Jackson 70, Dexter 6

106 -- Jarrett Reisenbichler J pinned Brandon Twomey :57

113 -- Kodi Byrd J pinned Steven Parks :50

120 -- Jake Byrd J pinned James Mullins 1:30

126 -- Micah Collier J won by forfeit

132 -- Trevor Waldner D pinned Ryan Baker :41

138 -- Tyler Rush J pinned Ty Harmon 1:59

145 -- Dylan Rush J maj. dec. Ethan Stevens 14-3

152 -- Clayton Collier J dec. Dylan Bazarian 5-2

160 -- Jackson Rushin J pinned Brandon Quertermous 2:26

170 -- Chris Reed J pinned Michael Hurst 1:29

182 -- Josh Stone J dec. Logan Quertermous 10-3

195 -- Chris Collier J pined Jason Mattison 2:23

220 -- Stephen Dunn J pinned Brandon Wick :37

Hwt -- Preston Hobeck J pinned Cameron Craft 1:22.

JV -- Jackson won 78-6

Jackson 69, Sikeston 3

120 -- Jake Byrd J tech fall Javeon Bonner 25-10

126 -- Cody Middleton S dec. Micah Collier 4-0

132 -- Stone Selsor J pinned Chase Rogers 3:18

138 -- Tyler Rush J pinned Jacob Stinnett :33

145 -- Dylan Rush J pinned Zac Stinnett 1:07

152 -- Clayton Collier J dec. Antwuan Dorsey 4-0

160 -- Jackson Rushin J pinned Taylor McIllwain 1:39

170 -- Chris Reed J dec. Clay Porter 3-2

182 -- Josh Stone J pinned Brayden Reynolds 1:08

195 -- Chris Collier J maj. dec. Mitchell Garner 10-2

220 -- Stephen Dunn pinned Gage Barber :57

Hwt -- Preston Hobeck J pinned Brendan Morgan 1:37

JV -- Jackson won 60-9