Nine Jackson wrestlers qualify

ST. LOUIS -- The Class 4 District 1 wrestling tournament could not have gone any better for Jackson's Jordan Reisenbichler.

The junior was a district champion and in the process defeated Lafayette's Ryan Jones in the finals at 112 pounds Saturday. Jones had pinned Reisenbichler twice during the regular season.

Reisenbichler was the lone Indians champion at the district tournament, which was held at Lindbergh High School. But he will be joined by eight of his teammates at the state meet, which starts Thursday in Columbia, Mo.

The top four finishers in each weight class at each district qualified for the state tournament.

"I am happy overall because I thought that nine was the most that we had a chance of getting through to state," Jackson coach Steve Wachter said. "It would have been nice to have a few more get to the championship round, but I am definitely happy to have nine guys continue on."

The Indians proved to be best when under pressure as they won all seven of their matches in the crucial wrestleback round Saturday. That was the win-and-go-to-state or lose-and-go-home round.

That was followed by a rough semifinal round in which Jackson won just twice.

The highlight for Jackson was the performance by Reisenbichler, who improved to 38-11 this season. He convincingly defeated Jones 11-5 in the finals. Jones had pinned Reisenbichler in the first period in the finals of the Parkway South tournament and had a third-period pin with the score 2-2 in a tournament in Jefferson City.

"I had to watch out for the cradle, which is the move which got me the other two times I faced him," Reisenbichler said. "I really felt ready to go today and was hoping that I would face him again. I tried to be more aggressive. I feel I have been getting better all through the year and this was the best tournament of the year for me."

It also was the first tournament championship of any kind this season for Reisenbichler, who had finished third at 112 in last year's district championship. He went on to win one match and lose two at state. He hopes for much better results this time.

"I accomplished one of my goals today by winning a district title," Reisenbichler said. "This is going to help out with my seed at state. I was pretty nervous last year going to the state tournament. But I worked harder in the offseason and I think it will be an advantage for me having been there before. It won't seem as big. I am going to try and finish in the top three or four."

Reisenbichler was ranked eighth in the latest state poll at 112.

Freshman Kodi Byrd was the only other Jackson wrestler to compete for an individual championship at districts. He was pinned in the finals at 103 by Seckman sophomore Matt Kraus.

The other Jackson wrestlers who won in the key wrestleback round to advance to the state tournament were junior Levi Rayburn (119), senior Mitchel Hazelwood (135), junior Levi Hobeck (140), junior Blake Hooe (145), senior Adam Kirchdoerfer (152), junior Ryan Marble (171) and junior Michael Riney (189).

The state meet will be held Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia.