Two members of the St. James High School boys’ wrestling team have advanced to the Missouri Class 2 State Championships through their respective performances at the District 3 Tournament, held over the weekend at Buffalo High School.

Senior Josh Carpenter in the 215-pound weight class and sophomore Lucas Jackson at 285 were the Tiger wrestlers to qualify for the Class 2 State Tournament, to be held Wednesday and Thursday, Feb. 25-26 at the Mizzou Arena in Columbia.

The top four finishers in each weight class moved on from district to state tournament competition.
It is the third consecutive year that Carpenter has been a state-qualifier.

Saturday, Feb. 21 Carpenter finished second at 215 in the district tourney. Undefeated and ranked No. 2 in Class 2's 190 weight class in MissouriWrestling.com entering district competition, Carpenter opened by pinning both Kayden Carson of Buffalo in :45 and Brody Price of Osage in :47 to advance to the semifinals. There, Carpenter pinned Riley James of Cassville in 3:51 to reach the district championship match. And in the finals he suffered his first loss of the season, 10-4 to DJ Glidewell of Nevada.

L. Jackson placed fourth at 285 for St. James. Jackson won by fall over Zion Lewis of Osage in :45 to open then pinned Strafford’s Cristian Mondragon in 2:18 to reach the semifinals. There, Jackson was pinned by Seneca’s Taylor Barwick in 1:46. And in the consolation semifinals Jackson won by fall over Logan-Rogersville’s Carson Stinnett to reach the third-place match. And in the third-place match Mondragon pinned Jackson in 3:22 in a rematch of the quarterfinal contest.

The biggest disappointment for the Tigers was at 190, where senior Zane Achterberg finished 2-2 - one win short of state placement. Achterberg, undefeated and ranked No. 1 at Class 2 190 in the MissouriWrestling.com state poll, won his first two matches by fall at district before losing for the first time to Cassville’s Zachary Myers in the semifinals. And in the bubble match for a state placement Achterberg lost to Owensville’s Cael Walker by fall.

Also for the Tigers, both Tristian Morgan at 113 and Lucas White at 175 fell just short of state placement, losing in the bubble round of consolation.

Class 2 District 3 Tourney

At Buffalo

Team Standings: 1. Seneca 230, 2. Cassville 211.5, 3. Clinton 132, 4. Monett 119.5, 5. Sullivan 98.5, 6. Nevada 95.5, 7. Logan-Rogersville 85, 8. Owensville 72, 9. Osage 64, 10. Hollister 59, 11. St. James 58, 12. Reeds Spring 49.5, 13. Strafford 44, 14. Eldon 42, 15. Buffalo 38, 16. Aurora 6.5.
St. James Results - 113: Tristian Morgan (0-2). 132: Owen Jackson (0-2). 138: Ian Lucas (0-2). 150: Lucas Bell (0-2). 157: Gavyn King (1-2). 175: Lucas White (3-2). 190: Zane Achterberg (2-2). 215: Josh Carpenter 2nd* (3-1); Championship Match lost to DJ Glidewell, Nevada, 10-4. 285: Lucas Jackson 4th* (3-2); Third-Place Match was pinned by Cristian Mondragon, Strafford, in 3:22.

*-State Qualifier