Senior Josh Carpenter made St. James High School wrestling history over the weekend.

However, he left the Missouri Boys’ Class 2 Championships wondering what might have been if not for an ill-timed knee injury.

Carpenter ended his Tiger wrestling career by reaching the Class 2 215-pound championship match. And he tied for the best St. James placement in state competition with his second-place finish Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 25-26 at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia.

The Tigers sent two wrestlers to the Class 2 state tourney and both had strong finishes. In addition to Carpenter’s flirtation with a state title, sophomore Lucas Jackson turned heads at 285 by finishing 2-2, missing an all-state finish by losing in the ‘blood’ round.

Carpenter matches Drake Ortiz with his second-place state finish as the best in Tiger program history. Ortiz finished second in the Class 2 220-pound weight class in 2018.

Carpenter certainly had to work for it. In the opening round Carpenter went toe-to-toe with Excelsior Springs’ Cooper Lester, pulling out a 5-4 victory. Next, in the quarterfinals, Carpenter posted a dominating pin over Winfield’s Alexavier Bennet in 1:53.

That moved Carpenter into the semifinals, where he survived an 8-7 thriller over Maryville’s Sadler Viau.
The 215-pound championship match was a repeat showdown against Nevada’s DJ Glidewell, who handed Carpenter his first defeat of the season in the title match of the district tournament the previous week.

Thursday’s state title match started off evenly...until Carpenter felt a “pop” in his knee. Quickly, the momentum turned and Glidewell posted a pin fall victory over the compromised Carpenter.

Carpenter finishes the season with a 28-2 record - both losses to Glidewell. Carpenter said he was to have doctors check his knee this week.

“It was definitely good until I got to the end,” said Carpenter, in his third straight state tourney and his second trip to the podium (he finished fifth at 215 in 2025). “He went to do (a move), I twisted the knee and it popped, then there was a burning sensation.

“My feeling was, ‘This kind of sucks!’ I would have been fine if I had lost a decision. (Glidewell) is just really quick at getting on his feet, and he’s always moving. I just didn’t feel like I got to finish the match.”

“We told Josh we know this kid (Glidewell) was good,” said St. James head coach Justin McEnaney. “We were going to give him our best shot. And I think he would have made it a close and exciting match had he not gotten hurt. For Josh, before the season started the goal was to get to the finals and wrestle either (Glidewell) or (Boonville’s Bryce Newham), whoever was the winner of that match.” As it turned out, Glidewell defeated Newham in the semifinals.

Certainly, Carpenter had no breather.

“My starting match, I just didn’t feel good,” he said. “I felt severely dehydrated. The match came and I felt sick to my stomach. I drank some Pepto, lots of water and some honey. And in the quarterfinal against the Winfield kid I felt great.

“In the semifinals it was a one-point match against (Viau). I usually don’t have issues wrestling someone stronger than me. But I’ve got to give him credit - he was REALLY strong.”

Carpenter found himself down 4-1 to Viau in the second period when the tide turned.

“A throw turned it a the end of the second (period),” he said. “I double-hooked his arms and got a throw. I got three points for the takedown and four points for a near fall, and I went into the third (period) up 8-4. After I got that, I knew there was not much left to do if I didn’t put myself in a compromising position.”

“We were actually losing (in the semifinals); I was worried,” McEnaney said. “Then he got that big move, and was able to win even after getting taken down at the very, very end.”

Even though Carpenter now shares with Ortiz the top-spot on the Tigers’ all-state board, he hopes he’s surpassed some day soon.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said. “I hope someone from St. James in the near future is able to win it all.”

Jackson had an early shocking performance to kick off his state tourney run.

Opening against one of the Class 2's 285 favorites, Jackson stunned Cardinal Ritter’s Gabriel Casteblanco, pinning him at the 2:42 mark. It was only Casteblanco’s second defeat of the season.

However, at the end of that match Jackson, too, tweaked his knee. And he was not the same the rest of the way. Jackson lost to Mexico’s Travis Shramek by fall in the quarterfinals.

Jackson bounced back to pin St. Charles West’s Reggie Jones in the second round of wrestle-backs, but was then eliminated in the blood round by a quick pin to Moberly’s Carter Bloss.

“He had a really impressive performance at state,” McEnaney said of Jackson. “This is his first year of experience at the varsity level. And he beat the projected No. 1 - stunned him and pinned him. Jackson hurt his knee at the end of that first match and that messed it up the rest of the tournament. I was proud he bounced back and kept going. I think if he had not hurt his knee, he would have placed.”

McEnaney feels Jackson’s performance last week will spur him on for another deep state run next season.
“I think he can be really good,” McEnaney said. “The goal for him next year is to place.”

Missouri Boys’ Class 2

State Tournament

Feb. 25-26 at Columbia

Mizzou Arena

Top-10 Team Standings: 1. Centralia 115.5, 2. Marceline 106.5, 3. North Callaway 105, 4. Lathrop 90, 5. Warsaw 87, 6. Lawson 85, 7. Brookfield 79, 8. Maysville 75, 9. Cameron 72.5, 10. St. Pius X Festus 71; Odessa 130.5, 2. Seneca 127.5, 3. Mexico 121, 4. Savannah 108.5, 5. Ste. Genevieve 104, 6. Father Tolton 102.5, 7. Oak Grove 95.5, 8. Southern Boone 76, 9. Excelsior Springs 71, 10. Cassville 60; 26. St. James 27.

St. James Results:

215 - Josh Carpenter 2nd (3-1). First Round beat Cooper Lester, Excelsior Springs, 5-4. Quarterfinals pinned Alexavier Bennett, Winfield, in 1:53. Semifinals beat Sadler Viau, Maryville, 8-7. Championship Match was pinned by DJ Glidewell, Nevada, in 1:20.

285 - Lucas Jackson (2-2). First Round pinned Gabriel Casteblanco, Cardinal Ritter, in 2:42. Quarterfinals was pinned by Travis Shramek, Mexico, in 1:59. Consolation Round 2 pinned Reggie Jones, St. Charles West, in 1:13. Consolation Round 3 was pinned by Carter Bloss, Moberly, in :36.