Unbeaten Rampley leads Jackson's five seniors to state

The Rampley name is synonymous with wrestling success at Jackson High School.

Kevin Rampley won a state title at 138 pounds in 1977 with a 30-0-1 record. Kremer and Kamden Rampley, Kevin Rampley's sons, both own third-place finishes from the state meet the last two years.

Now a senior, Kamden Rampley is trying to follow in his father's footsteps with a state title. Kamden Rampley sits at 50-0 heading into the state meet, which begins today and runs through Saturday at Mizzou Arena in Columbia.

"My dad won state, and there's not a lot of father-son state champion pairs. That's one of my goals to get that," Kamden Rampley said.

Added Jackson coach Steve Wachter: "He has a good genetic background in wrestling. It doesn't hurt any, does it?"

This will be the third straight trip to the state meet for Kamden Rampley, who fell to eventual state champion Louis Caputo in the semifinals at 189 pounds last year before rallying to take third.

Rampley has been perfect so far this season at 215 pounds. CBC senior Wes Vilda, runner-up at 215 pounds last year, has been ranked No. 1 at 215 pounds throughout the year according to missouriwrestling.com. Vilda, the 2004 champion at 215 pounds, is 38-0 this season.

"I'm not looking to go up there and murder him," Rampley said, "but I want to go up and beat him. Being the underdog gives me that extra drive."

Rampley will open up with Kevin Wisniewski (8-24) of Fort Zumwalt South.

Wachter said he does not think the pressure of being undefeated will affect Rampley.

"I don't think he thinks about wins and losses as much as wrestling hard and positioning," Wachter said. "What helps him is his mental approach."

Along with his quest to join his father as a state champion, Rampley also has a chance to break former teammate Cody Rouse's single-season state record of 52-0. Rouse set the record last year en route to a state title in the 152-pound weight class, a mark he shares with Caputo.

Rampley said setting the state mark would be nice, but he simply wants to wrestle to the best of his ability.

"I would like to go out state champion," he said. "But if it doesn't happen, I would hope I wrestle to the best of my ability and leave everything out there."

The Indians will have a veteran group heading to Columbia, with five senior state-qualifiers. Rampley is the only Jackson wrestler with state-experience making the trip.

"Any of those kids going up there have a shot to place," Wachter said. "Some may have a better draw than others, but you can't count anyone out. Everyone is important on this team."

At 140 pounds, Russell Brown (33-18) will likely have the toughest route to travel of Jackson's qualifiers. Brown finished fourth in the district meet, and will have to face Fort Zumwalt West sophomore Mike Gagliano in the opening round. Gagliano (11-0) won the state title at 125 pounds last year.

Brown said he hopes to win some matches at the state meet, and is thrilled to be able to compete in Columbia.

"Senior year, it's been my goal my whole life to make it to the big house," he said.

Ben McMillian (47-5) finished runner-up at 145 pounds at the district meet and will face Ryan Greco of Blue Springs in the opening round. McMillian won the conference title at 145 this season.

At 152 pounds, Sean Gant will face Ron Henry of Riverview Gardens. Gant also finished second at the district meet.

"It's definitely going to be an adrenaline rush," Gant said. "Hopefully, I can win some matches and place."

Cole Jansen finished second at the district meet in the heavyweight division, and will face Jayson Palmgren of North Kansas City in the opening round. Jansen was an all-state lineman in football and a conference champion in wrestling.

"I really want to be all-state in football and wrestling," Jansen said.

Central sends four

For the second straight year, Central will send four wrestlers to the state meet. The number matches the top total during coach Josh Crowell's tenure at Central.

Three of the four are making their second straight appearance, with juniors Garrett New, Matt Latham and Tyler Yeargain all back for a second straight time. Senior Chris Griffith, who will not compete due to injury, also qualified.

"I'm proud of all the kids that qualified, and getting multiple qualifiers over and over is what you want," Crowell said. "Really, there's no limit right now [for them]. The amount of work they put in is what they'll get back."

New won the Class 3 District 1 title at 152 pounds at Farmington, the second straight year Central had a district champion.

"We thought he had a chance," Crowell said of the district crown. "He knew he had a chance. Having a chance and accomplishing something are two different things. Following through on that, he did a good job."

New (31-13) will face Alex Belosi of Holt in the opening round. By winning the district title New is matched up with a fourth-place district finisher in the opening round.

Crowell said even though New should be the favorite in the opening round he cannot be overconfident.

"At state you never know what can happen," Crowell said. "When you go up there you'd like to think it will be a better matchup -- and usually it is -- but if you take it for granted you'll get bumped on the head."

Latham (29-17) finished second at 125 pounds at the district meet, and will face Blake Robbins of Branson.

Yeargain (34-10), who won a Tiger Classic title earlier this season, finished fourth at the district meet and will face defending 130-pound state champion Corey Carr of Park Hill in the 130-pound division.

Crowell said in the past simply qualifying wrestlers for the state meet was the goal of his team, but as the program has improved getting to state can no longer be enough.

"You have to step it up a notch," he said. "As a coaching staff and as a program, once you get up there, let's place."

Griffith (36-10), a third-place finisher at the district meet, hurt his knee in the semifinals at district, but was able to continue and still qualified for the state meet.

"We had no idea it was as serious, neither did Chris," Crowell said. "You feel for the kid. He was so close to qualifying as a sophomore, so close as a junior and he finally makes it this year."