Peiffer looks for state talent at Tiger Classic

Jackson senior Blake Peiffer looks forward to wrestling meets like this weekend's Tiger Classic.

He knows he'll face some of the top talent in the state at the 35th rendition of Central's annual meet.

"You have to get your mind ready to go knowing that you're going to have a tough weekend," Peiffer said. "No match is going to be a slouch match. You have to prepare yourself early in the week and being ready for it -- taking practice seriously, going through drills, running, conditioning."

Action begins today at 5 p.m. at the Central Junior High, with the finals expected to start Saturday around 5:30 p.m. The 20-team field includes seven state champions and 68 state qualifiers.

Peiffer is the lone local wrestler who made a championship match at last year's Tiger Classic. He lost to Seckman's Jake Glore.

Peiffer knows this weekend's matches are a small step toward his ultimate goal -- a state championship.

"I'm training hard now, practicing hard, going into every match like it's that state-championship match and not backing down from the top-ranked guys," Peiffer said.

The Indians finished seventh last year, the first time they finished outside the top four since 1989. Veteran Jackson coach Steve Wachter likes his team's chances to improve on last year's finish since he returns five state qualifiers from last season.

"This tournament is really set up for a team that has some good individuals, but also some team balance," he said. "It gives you a good idea of dual strength of a team and small tournament strength. If you've coached for a while, you know some teams might not place as well in this tournament, but they have four or five great individuals that could place well at the state meet."

Jackson's returning state qualifiers are Levi Rayburn (103 pounds), Doug Froemsdorf (130), Michael Riney (189), Justin Darnell (215) and Peiffer (285). Peiffer said this weekend will be the last time he wrestles at 285. He'll move down to 215, where he wrestled last year, and Darnell will move to 189, where he wrestled last year.

The host Tigers finished 14th last year, but second-year coach James Brake sees a lot of improvement this year.

"Last year, we were pretty young, pretty inexperienced," Brake said. "It's kind of amazing what a year will do if you work hard. Last year we ended the season 2-4, this year we're off to a quick start. We're 4-1."

Brake said that the hot start has changed his team's focus for this weekend's meet.

"Last year, we looked at this tournament to see what we need to improve on and get a look at who we need to beat to get to the state tournament," he said. "This year, we're going to kind of do the same thing, but the expectations are a little bit higher.

"We're not just going to see where we're at, we're going out there to see how high we can get, how many teams we can knock off. I think that's the biggest difference."

The Tigers return a pair of state qualifiers in Zach Wilson and Trey Grovenor.

Brake likes the leadership he's seen in his room this year, and said he's had to do little to motivate his team because the more experienced wrestlers are doing it for him.

"They know they've got potential to be a great team," he said. "Each win we get just really forces them to step it up on their own. I really don't have to say a lot."