Central's Gramling wins two medals in style at state swim championships

~ Jackson's Troxel also won a pair of medals

ST. PETERS, Mo. -- Central senior Jordan Gramling came home with third- and seventh-place medals Saturday at the Missouri Boys Swimming and Diving Championships at the St. Peters Rec-Plex.

But if medals were given for haircuts, Gramling may have come home with the gold.

Tiger assistant coach Chad Sierman brought the clippers to St. Charles County and gave Gramling what he called the "Tiger Stripe Special."

"I guess you would call it a modified mohawk with stripes," Central coach Dayna Powell said. "The one thing I can say about it is that it is intimidating."

Gramling said he got mixed reviews on his new 'do.

"It is an old-style cut, and some people liked it but some didn't," Gramling said. "I guess I will keep it until it grows out."

Gramling and his "Tiger Stripe Special" had a solid meet as he made it to the finals in two events.

Gramling finished seventh in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 21.66 seconds. That was a personal best for Gramling.

His final high school event, the 100 freestyle, proved to be his best as he finished third in 47.40.

"I wanted to be a state champ and I did not meet my goal with that time, but that last event was my best race of the entire season," said Gramling, whose brother Sam also won a pair of state medals in 2009. "It was a good season. I was the only one on the team to make it to state and I was able to win just about every invitational."

Jackson junior Kristian Troxel, the only Indian to qualify for the meet, won medals in two events.

Troxel was seventh in both the 200 individual medley (1:57.12) and the 500 freestyle (4:47.88). Troxel had finished 11th in the IM last year and fifth in the 500 freestyle.

"It was all right," Troxel said about his weekend. "I didn't have the endurance I need for the 500. It felt like I was swimming forever out there. I needed a break after so many years of swimming and I took one, and I guess it was more than it should have been.

"The break was fun while it lasted, but there will be no breaks before next season. I feel that I can do very well in the 500 next year if I train right."

Rockhurst, which was not the overwhelming favorite as it has been in recent years, won a tight team race with 269.5 points. Lafayette was second with 233.5 points.

The championship was a state-record eighth in a row for the Hawks, who won the team title despite not having a single individual champion.

Central was 24th as Gramling scored 28 points and Jackson finished 25th behind Troxel's 24 points.

Saxony Lutheran tied for 40th with four points as lone qualifer senior Connor McGinnnis placed 13th in the 100 backstroke (55.24).

None of Notre Dame's six state qualifiers placed in the top 16.

Reaching the state meet for the Bulldogs were seniors Alec Domjan, Matthew Jedlinski and Orry Newell, junior Dustin Parsons and sophomores Zach Smith and Jackson Voss.