Adam Wachter made his first trip to state as a 125-pounder (above) his junior year. He finished 25-10. Jackson USA Signal/Mark Evans

The way Adam Wachter saw it, the third period always belonged to him.

Few opposing wrestlers could stand up to the Jackson High School senior in the latter stages of a wrestling match -- including the grapplers in the Class 4A state meet.

"I don't give him any room to breathe. I stay after him," the JHS senior said, in analyzing his late-match approach. "You go out and prove you're more man than he is, that you have him worn down and you're going to prove it."

Wachter trailed Hazelwood Central's Tim Yazawa with less than 30 seconds remaining in their quarterfinal match. Wachter got a take-down, forcing overtime and pulled out a 5-3 win. He then beat Belton's Casey Sanders 8-3 in the semifinals and downed Oak Park's Travis Craig 9-3 in the championship match.

In each match he dominated the later stages.

"Conditioning is really one of the biggest factors in the sport. (Along with strength), being able to do it late in the match," Wachter said. "We really worked hard this year. Coach (Steve) Wachter got us in pretty good shape for the tournament."

"He's very intense in practice," said Steve Wachter, his cousin and coach. "What you see at a dual is what you see everyday in practice. He's one of the hardest working kids I've ever coached."

Wachter rapped up a sterling career with a 36-4 record as a senior and a 140-pound state championship. He had gone 25-10 as a junior, making ti to state as a 125-pounder.

"I wanted to place high in state," he said, "but winning state was something I dreamed about. It wasn't really one of my goals. I wanted to place in the top six, at least."

Thanks to Yazawa, a top six finish was almost what Wachter had to settle for.

"It was a touch match," Wachter said. "I wasn't really sure what to expect. Coach Wachter got a scouting report that he liked to throw people. He's a big judo kid. So I was real cautious with him. I expected a real tight match because I didn't try a whole lot until he had worn him down a little."

Avoiding any judo moves the Hazelwood wrestler might have, Wachter held on until it was time to make his move.

"The later it got, I felt I was in good shape and I could go," he said. "In the last two matches I didn't score in the first period. In the third period I had them worn down and I could take it to them and score at will."

"He's got a tremendous work ethic and he's really dedicated to lifting," Steve Wachter said. "He's also a straight-A student. He wrestled a lot in the offseason and he weight trains year around. He's put a lot of time into the sport."

The Indians enjoyed another strong season, finishing third in the tough SEMO Conference, behind Ste. Genevieve and Farmington, and third in district, behind Oakville and Fox "about what we expected" as Wachter put it.

Wachter also took first place in the Fox Tournament, the Tiger Classic, the SEMO Conference Tournament and the District 1 Tournament. Wachter's last loss was in the St. Charles West Tournament in the third week of January.

Of course the state meet at the Hearnes Center in Columbia was a different animal. The best of the best hits the mat and fantastic won-lost records go out the window.

"All through the tournament there were a lot of tough matches," Wachter said. "There weren't a lot of pins in any of the weight classes."

Wachter excelled in the atmosphere and joined the Indian elite, bringing home a state championship medal and posing atop the state medalist platform.

"It was unbelievable, standing up there. They were all taking my picture," he said. "I saw my mom taking my picture, right above the entrance and thought of all the time that had gone into it."

Wachter has wrestled since fourth grade, first in the local Optimist program, then in AAU. He has traveled to tournaments since eighth grade.

He listed Coach Steve Wachter (a cousin) and his dad, Rodney Wachter, as the biggest influences on him.

The senior does not anticipate continuing his competitive wrestling career. Neither is he ready to completely step away from the sport.

"Competitively, I'll probably call it quits," said Wachter, who will probably pursue an engineering degree at the University of Missouri-Rolla. "I'll try to help out with Optimist and AAU wrestling and maybe get into coaching later on."

Other than his parents, Rodney and Barb Wachter, he was quick to thank his teammates and coach for helping to make his success possible. He noted that his parents "went through a lot these last four years," in keeping up with his wrestling schedule.

"Just try your best," he advises young wrestlers. "Good things will happen if you stay after it."

Adam Wachter definitely stayed after it -- and no one can argue that good things did indeed happen.