Jackson wrestling's rising star Kade King aims to continue perfection at Kansas City Stampede

Jackson junior Kade King elevates the leg of his Murphysboro opponent on Wednesday, Dec. 18, in Jackson.

Kaiden Karper ~ kkarper@semoball.com

Every year, the Jackson wrestling team spends the first month of the season compressed with major home duel meets and tournaments that span 30 teams.

As the cream of the Southeast Missouri wrestling crop, the upperclassmen are always well-positioned to stand out and make a run at the state championships. An Indian has won the Semoball Award for Wrestler of the Year in each of the previous three years.

While Brysen Wessell and Graidy Rice have received warranted attention early on, another wrestler to keep an eye on is Kade King. The lightweight junior is 14-0 entering this weekend's 2024 Kansas City Stampede Tournament, joining Wessell and Joah Moore as Jackson's unbeaten trio.

"My mentality going into this is, I feel like I can beat anybody," King said. "I mean, I gotta trick myself to believe that, but it's just I gotta be confident but not arrogant and know that my abilities can help me place and do well in the tournament."

King cleaned up in the Missouri-Illinois Challenge on Wednesday, Dec. 18 in Jackson. He pinned Xavier Toliver-Cook of Carbondale in 44 seconds, pinned Jaycen McBride of Marion before the end of the first period, and defeated Lemar Treshansky of Murphysboro by a 16-1 technical fall.

"I think I'm giving good pressure forward," King said. "I think I'm moving right, good stance and positioning. But I definitely do think there's some stuff that I can improve on, and we'll carry that into this weekend."

King finished last season 37-14, a Class 4 District 1 silver medal, and an appearance in the Class 4 state tournament, all as a sophomore.

King has clearly looked new and improved so far this season. He pointed to his improvement on neutral as a sign of his success.

"A lot of my feet, focusing more on the little things and the mental aspects, but I just spent a lot of time wrestling on my feet with different people like Marcus Hayne," King said. "He really helped me improve on my defense, but I really focused on my defense and my re-attacks."

While King and the varsity squad trek to Kansas City, the junior varsity squad tangles with varsity wrestlers in the Tiger Classic, hosted by Cape Central at the field house at Terry W. Kitchen Junior High School. The JV squad reached legendary status with a state-record 300th straight dual meet victory, set on Wednesday.

“It's really a tribute to the community because it's a culture here,” said. Jackson head coach Steve Wachter, who is in his 43rd year running the program. " We call it our wrestling family that we have, but that's what's made it.”