Mehlville Senior Qualifies for State Wrestling

A resilient Mehlville Panthers wrestling squad reached Northwest High School for the Class 4, District 1 tournament on Friday. Although they placed only one finalist for the state tournament in Columbia starting this Thursday, the lessons of the season resonated with the wrestlers and coaches during what would be the final rounds of competition for most of the team. 

“I hoped some of our kids would qualify for state, and I think a lot of them worked hard enough to get there, but the results did not come out that way. We got Jimmy (Brockman) through and we’ll build on that,” said Mehlville coach Chad Coleman.

In district competition, the only way to guarantee one will qualify for state is to stay in the championship bracket until the finals. Otherwise, athletes run the risk of wrestling for the fourth and final place in the consolation bracket.

Senior Jimmy Brockman took that risk, losing his second-round match in the 135-poung weight class, but successfully prevailing in the consolation matches to reach the third place contest. Brockman knew he was on his way, but still had to battle to secure the state-qualifying position. Brockman, who previously qualified for state his sophomore year, has only wrestled in two matches this season. 

Brockman went down 3-2 early in his match against Matthew Jackson of Oakville, and struggled for points during the first period.

In the second period Jackson shot deep, preventing Brockman from sprawling, but the Panther wrestler was able to lean his hip in and turn Jackson with a twist. The neck wrench move, while not pretty, earned Brockman two points and gave him a lead he would not relinquish.

“It feels kind of surreal, it feels good to be going (to state),” said Brockman following the match. “I don’t really remember too much of the match, but when I got him on his back I thought I had it.”

Mehlville had high hopes for two other wrestlers who came up short in their effort to make it to Columbia this weekend. Senior Kyle Schaeffer (171-pound), who has aggravated his knee injury from last year, and junior Dillon Diamond (103-pound) both lost in the middles stages of the consolation bracket.

While Mehlville struggled during this rebuilding season, the squad left everything on the mat during the finals in an effort to salvage what was possible and build for next year. Mehlville's representation in the state tournament will be small with only Brockman participating, but the squad will bring along some wrestlers to support their state finalist.

“We should have a good time next weekend,” Coleman said. “Its been a tough year but we hope Jimmy will perform well and earn a top six place.”