Missouri wrestlers gain a class, lose sectional round

After the annual MSHSAA elections brought the creation of a new wrestling class in May, a recent meeting of the board of directors brought some changes to the old wrestling playoff format.

With four classes instead of three, the sectional round of the state playoffs has been eliminated, with the top four wrestlers in each weight class advancing directly from the district tournament to the state meet.

"I don't think it should affect us too much," Jackson coach Steve Wachter said of the new format. "It just means a guy better be ready that one weekend."

Each class will contain an estimated 52 schools, down from the 70 per class under the old system. The four classes will each be broken into four districts, with district meets spread over two days instead of a one-day meet. The district tournament will be held Feb. 11-12, the weekend before the state meet.

Wachter said having the district meet pushed back a week could cause some problems for coaches as far as keeping their team's ready.

"I don't like the off time, because you can't hardly redo your schedules," he said. "That could be hard on teams."

The state meet will be spread out over three days as in years past. The meet will stay at the Hearnes Center in Columbia, with next season's state meet set for Feb. 17-19.

Classification assignments will not be released until Oct. 29.

Rouse reaches nationalsJackson senior Cody Rouse will travel to Fargo, N.D., in July for a national wrestling tournament.

Rouse won the 160-pound weight class in the Greco-Roman division at the Southern Plains Regionals in April. The Southern Plains region is made up of seven states, including Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arkansas and Texas.

Rouse will likely wrestle at 152 pounds at the national meet.

Cramer signs letterWade Cramer, a Notre Dame graduate, has signed with Culver-Stockton College to play soccer.

Cramer was a member of the Bulldogs' 2002 state champion team and a starting defender on last season's club. Cramer was on the all-state first team this past season.

Wulfers enjoys successNotre Dame graduate Matt Wulfers, in his first season with the traveling baseball team the Midwest Prospects, was hitting .455 as the team recently finished up a tournament in Nebraska. Wulfers was off to a 15-for-33 start entering the tournament, with five doubles, two triples and 11 RBIs.

SEMO all-conference soccer Jackson led the way for all-conference picks with six on the first team of the SEMO soccer all-conference team.

Molly Hartmann, Kt Biri, Ashley Bartels, Lucy Hartmann, Randi Kraust and Kylie Werner all made the first team. Notre Dame placed five on the first team, and Central had three representatives.

Sierra Ellis, Lauren Mehner, Emily Buehrle, Amanda Dirnberger and Kristen Boos represented Notre Dame, while Julie Underwood, Heidi Pilsner and Megan McDonald made the team from Central.

College notesn Advance native Curtis Griffin, a junior at the University of Tennessee-Martin, competed in the bull riding competition of the College National Finals Rodeo for the second straight year last week. Griffin finished 25th in the event, failing to score in two of three rounds. In his second ride Griffin ranked 12th with a score of 57.5. Tennessee-Martin finished 14th as a team.

Stuart McIntosh, a Jackson graduate, finished sixth in the pole vault at the NAIA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

McIntosh, a freshman at Lindenwood University and state champion in the pole vault as a senior at Jackson, recorded a vault of 15 7 3/4.