The Jackson wrestling team competed in its first tournament of the 2017-18 season, the Patriot Classic, and placed third overall with a score of 244.
Placing ahead of Jackson in first was Francis Howell at 310 and Lafayette in second at 266.
Three Indians took first place in their respective weight classes out of the 14, which were sophomore Alec Bailey (7-1) at 113, sophomore Rhett Wiseman (8-0) at 106 and freshman Garner Horman (8-0) at 132.
Wiseman received three-straight byes in round three through five to reach the first-place match where he faced Francis Howell’s JT Roberts.
Wiseman won his first match in a 3-2 decision over Lafayette’s Jalin Reese and then O’Fallon Township’s Austin Kostedt via pinfall 30 seconds into the third and final period.
Horman scored a team-high 29 points for Jackson, who did not receive a single bye in the tournament.
In his last five matches including his one for first-place against Hickman’s Jacob Waldron, Horman pinned each of his opponents in the first round.
Horman was not able to pin his first opponent, Gabe Frankenberger out of second-place Lafayette, but instead won the match by tech fall at 17-1.
Bailey lost his first and only match thus far in the first round to Lafayette’s Carson Boren due to injury default, but after receiving a bye in the second round, he would be victorious in each match to follow.
Bailey pinned McCluer North’s David Vance with 21 seconds remaining in the first period in round three, and then defeated Dez McSellers out of Rockwood Summit via a 11-7 decision.
Bailey then received a bye to move on to the championship match where with seven seconds left in the opening period, he pinned Hickman’s Thomas Hancock.
Three other wrestlers for Jackson placed in the top three with junior Justin Singleton (7-1) taking second at 182 pound, junior Braden Vaugier (7-1) placing third at 138 and senior Owen Leible (5-1) earning third at 285.
Singleton only received one bye, which was in round five, winning three of his first four matches via decision.
Singleton’s win before round five and reaching the 182-pound first-place match, his match against Rockwood Summit’s Karthik Mogallapu went into overtime.
Singelton came out on top over Mogallapu for a 10-8 win, but Singleton was pinned 18 seconds into the second period of his championship duel by Parkway South’s Ty Osby.
Vaugier received a bye to start the tournament, then won his next by pinfall and the next via a 4-3 decision over Jacob Roberson out of McCluer North.
In the fourth round, Vaugier received a bye before facing Francis Howell North’s undefeated Jacob Smith to see which wrestler would advance to the championship match at 138 pounds.
The match went all three periods, but Vaugier failed to score a point against Smith to lose by decision at 4-0 as Smith went on to place first in the tournament.
Vaugier won his final match decisively against conference opponent Garrett McClure out of Poplar Bluff via technical fall at 15-0 to take third place.
Leible did not compete in Jackson’s two dual meets to start the season against Carbondale and McCracken County, but he was able to win his first match of the season at 6-0 against Lafayette’s Anthony McRoberts.
In his second match, Leible faced O’Fallon Township’s undefeated Mason Baker and lost by decision at 5-3.
Baker went on to win the 285-pound bracket as Leible won his next two matches by pinfall and then major decision at 9-0 to advance to the third-place match.
Leible received a bye in round five, but then faced off against conference opponent in Poplar Bluff’s Kendrick Gordon, which Leible won via a 5-2 decision.
Five more Indians finished in the top 10 starting with sophomore Grady Livingston (5-3) in fourth at 120, senior Jacob Dudley (6-2) in fifth at 170, freshman Cole Amelunke (5-3) in sixth at 195, sophomore David Ekstam (5-3) in sixth at 160 and sophomore Noah Uhrhan (4-4) in sixth at 145.
In Livingston’s first match, he faced tournament champion Jayden Carson out of Lafayette where he fell by major decision at 19-6.
Livingtson won his next match in round two over O’Fallon Township’s Gabe Thomas by decision at 4-2, and then he received three byes before competing in the third-place bout against Poplar Bluff’s Quinten Bell.
Livingston fell to Bell by a 7-5 decision to place fourth overall in the tournament.
Dudley lost his first two matches, received a bye and then pinned all three of his final opponents to take fifth place.
Jackson will now host back-to-back meets starting Thursday when the Indians will face off against Dexter and Kennett followed by Mehlville, Poplar Bluff and Saint Louis University on Friday.
The Indians will have another home meet on Tuesday, hosting De Soto and Potosi before competing in the Tiger Classic starting Dec. 15.
