Jackson's Peiffer drops into hunt for third place

Jackson junior Blake Peiffer's march toward a state wrestling title ended Friday when he lost his Class 4 215-pound state quarterfinal match in Columbia, Mo.

Peiffer lost to Oak Park's Kolton Kono, 6-4. But Peiffer rebounded to defeat Ritenour's Derreon Richardson, 6-1.

Peiffer manhandled Park Hill's Thomas Bowen, earning a 15-4 decision.

Peiffer will take on St. Joseph Central's Ben Pister today, with the winner advancing to the third-place match.

At 152 pounds, Jackson senior Justin Miller stayed alive Friday. After losing to Winnetonka's Dan Capp in the opening round Thursday, he's won his last three matches. He advanced when Hazelwood West's Kirk Moore was injured during their match, then beat Northwest's Ben Fowler, 5-0, on Friday. He capped the night with a 4-1 victory over Francis Howell Central's Mitch Mossberger.

Miller will face Ft. Zumwalt West's R.J. McCravy today with a berth in the third-place match on the line.

In Class 3, Central's season came to an end.

Sophomore heavyweight Trey Grovenor lost to Willard's Chris McMullin, 15-7, on Thursday, but rebounded to knock off Ft. Zumwalt North's Ben Kayser, 4-2. He pinned Neosho's George McKinney in 3 minutes, 59 seconds Friday to advance to another match. But Lebanon's Justin Britt pinned him in 1:58 to end his season.

Central's Zach Wilson lost to Ladue's Patrick Collins, 6-4, in their 160-pound match Thursday, then rallied to defeat Neosho's Jason Ruzic, 1-0. But Wilson lost to Lee's Summit West's Dan Ehrhard, 7-5, in overtime Friday.

Jackson's Levi Rayburn (103 pounds), Doug Froemsdorf (125 pounds), Jamie Schumacher (145 pounds), Michael Riney (171 pounds) and Justin Darnell (189 pounds) all lost their first two matches Thursday.