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Semoball Awards: Essner uses intellect, ability to shine for Jackson again
Thursday, July 28, 2022
Then-Jackson junior midfielder Wil Essner looks to make a move and advance the ball against Chaminade College Prep in the 2020 MSHSAA Class 4 Quarterfinal match in Creve Couer.
Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com
The 2021 Jackson High School boy’s soccer team had an immense amount of pressure placed upon it even before the season got underway last August.
Not only were the Indians the defending MSHSAA Class 4 state champions, but the 2021 squad had to try and outrace the shadow of that championship club that had graduated several talented seniors, including 2021 Semoball Boy’s Soccer Player of the Year, goalkeeper Luke Mirly.
If those obstacles weren’t enough, the Indians lost 2020 Semoball Boy’s Soccer Player of the Year, forward Chalon Domian to an injury for the majority of the 2021 season.
That led to veteran Indian coach Zack Walton needing a supreme effort and performance from his top senior last fall, midfielder Wil Essner.
And Essner delivered. He was recently named the 2022 Semoball Boy’s Soccer Player of the Year at the 2022 Semoball Awards at LaCroix Church in Cape Girardeau.
“Wil played a huge role for us,” Walton said. “The reality was, Wil was like a coach out on the field.”
From his center midfielder position, Essner directed the younger Jackson players throughout each game and ultimately led the Indians back to the MSHSAA Class 4 state championship game, where they fell 2-0 to Rockhurst.
“Wil’s soccer knowledge is some of the best that I have ever had from other players,” Walton said.
That intellect and guidance proved critical, as Jackson navigated its revamped roster.
Though the season was nothing short of tremendous, the Indians had to labor through eight losses in the season, which was the most since 2014.
“The thing about Wil is,” Walton said, “he can make other players around him better because of his soccer knowledge and his communication on the field.”
Essner was named to the Class 4 All-State First Team as a junior and as a senior, but he reached a level of accolades that no other Jackson player had ever done.
Essner was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-American Team.
“Obviously,” Walton continued, “he has soccer skills, his ballhandling, his vision on the field is some of the best. We’ve had some players come through (here) that had some pretty good skills, as far as foot skills, but he had the ability to understand the game and relay that to his other teammates.”
Essner finished the 2021 season with nine goals and eight assists (he had 32 goals and 61 assists in his career) and will take his game to Columbia College in the fall, which should be a natural fit for Essner after what he achieved in high school.
The Cougars advanced to the NAIA National Semifinals for the third straight season last fall and the program has not lost a game in the American Midwest Conference in five years.
"His determination and the dedication to the sport has been outstanding," Walton told Semoball.com last December. "That kid's been going back and forth to St. Louis for years trying to get exposed the best way he can. It's cool to really see some things pay off for kids when they put in all that hard work because it doesn't always pay off. Kids put a lot of hard work in sometimes don't get these awards or don't get the recognition, and that's difficult sometimes, but it's really awesome when you see it come through for a kid."