16 local wrestlers qualify for state meet

A total of 16 area high school wrestlers qualified for state competition with their performances during Saturday's district meets.

Jackson qualified eight wrestlers in Class 4, Notre Dame qualified five in Class 2 and Central will send three in Class 3.

The top four finishers in each district weight class made the cut. The state meet will be held Thursday through Saturday in Columbia.

Class 4 District 1

Jackson had two district champions in the meet at Northwest-House Springs, senior Jordan Reisenbichler at 119 pounds and senior Ryan Marble at 171.

Reisenbichler defeated Danny Ferrel of Seckman 5-1 in the finals, while Marble downed Timothy Niewald of Seckman 6-1.

"They wrestled really well," Jackson coach Steve Wachter said.

Four Jackson grapplers fell short in title matches to place second.

Sophomore Kodi Byrd (103) lost 6-5, senior Levi Rayburn (112) lost 12-2, senior Levi Hobeck (140) was beaten 14-6 and senior Michael Riney (189) dropped a 3-2 decision.

Seniors Blake Hooe (145) and Lucas Slinkard (heavyweight) both finished fourth.

"I was really proud to qualify eight," said Wachter, whose squad sent nine to last year's state meet. "We thought we could maybe take eight to 10. I was proud of their effort."

Reisenbichler, Marble, Byrd, Rayburn, Hobeck, Hooe and Riney all also qualified for state a year ago.

Jackson came up a bit short of the district team title despite having the most state qualifiers, placing second with 166 points. Seckman was first with 184.5 points.

"Seckman just outwrestled us today," Wachter said.

Now the Indians will turn their attention to state.

"You go up there with the attitude you want to do your very best and give great effort. You do that and sometimes you have a pretty good chance to do well," Wachter said.

Class 2 District 1

Notre Dame had a strong showing during the meet at De Soto in just the program's second season.

Ryan Harter (189) captured a district title with an 8-5 victory.

Austin Kight (130) was second after losing 15-6 in the finals.

Jacob Murphy (140) and Trevor Foltz (171) were both third while Trenton Gross (119) placed fourth.

Kight and Foltz were Notre Dame's only state qualifiers in last year's inaugural season of wrestling for the Bulldogs.

Notre Dame also fared well in the team competition, placing third with 106.5 points.

Ste. Genevieve was first with 197.5 points and St. Clair finished second with 181.

Class 3 District 1

Central's top finisher in the meet at Farmington was senior Kevin Flesher (189), who placed second after a 3-1 loss in the finals.

Senior Jawaun Howard (145) and junior Austin Martin (140) were both fourth.

Flesher and Howard also qualified for state last year, when the Tigers sent six grapplers to Columbia.

"I thought all our guys wrestled a really good tournament," Central coach James Brake said. "There was just some really good competition. In other years we might have gotten more through."

-- From staff reports