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DES MOINES – The road to Wells Fargo Arena was filled with obstacles for Jackson Kinsella.
As a sophomore, the wrestler spent nearly the entire season wrestling behind a mask, protecting his face after suffering two broken orbital bones in the year prior.
The confidence to continue wrestling didn’t subside after the injuries as Kinsella developed a never-say-die attitude, knowing that anything could happen at any time.
“You never know what’s going to happen. I could walk away from here and trip on the step over there and break my neck,” said Kinsella after finishing in eighth place at the 2019 Tradition State Wrestling Tournament.
The mask didn’t seem to hold him back throughout the season, apart from having to ditch it in the finals of the John J. Harris Invitational finals after it appeared to break.
A 3-2 loss to Jax Flynn of Solon ended his first fully healthy season with back-to-back losses and his third loss in two days after not falling once since December.
Creston/O-M head coach Cody Downing noted afterward that despite the disappointment of the ending, being a state placewinner is no small feat.
Building on the experience gained is exactly what Downing wants Kinsella to do.
“I think we both had higher hopes for the finish up here, but you’re on the stand as a sophomore. It’s really an upperclassmen dominated weight so I’m happy with that and its something we can build on,” Downing said.
After the match, Kinsella admitted the mask will likely sit in the back of a locker next season.
“I think this is probably the last I’m ever going to wear a mask. It drove me nuts here toward the end,” Kinsella said.
It took less than 20 minutes after the final loss for Kinsella to start thinking about the offseason ahead and update his goal for the following year.
With a family history of wrestling success, Kinsella is anxiously awaiting another shot at a state crown, trying to become the first to do so in his families history.
“My uncle was a two-time state runner-up. Never got it won,” said Kinsella. “I want to be the first state champion in my family and possibly two-time state champion.”
It wasn’t just the state tournament he had his sights on.
After qualifying for Junior Nationals in freestyle and greco wrestling last May, the soon-to-be maskless grappler is eyeing that next.
The sophomore wants to be a freestyle all-American or better yet, a freestyle national champion next.
That will be just one step in his offseason that he quickly set high expectations for.
“I’ll probably be a man on a mission this offseason. I’m not going come back here with eighth place or anything lower than a state title next year,” said Kinsella.
Bracket drama
Along with the anxieties of wrestling at his first state tournament, Kinsella was tasked with a tougher draw after his Class 2A 170-pound bracket was redrawn two days before the tournament started.
Kinsella was moved from the No. 3 seed to the No. 8 seed, setting up a quarterfinal contest with top seeded Paul Ryan.
It wasn’t something that bothered Kinsella as he said Thursday afternoon, knowing his next match was up against an undefeated foe.
Kinsella fell by 5-2 decision to Ryan, who went on to win the state title at 170 pounds Saturday night.
In his second round consolation match, the sophomore won by fall before getting pushed into the seventh place match after losing to Spencer Mooberry of Osage by a 7-6 margin.
The loss to Mooberry proceeded the seventh-place loss to Flynn.
Kinsella’s last two losses were both by a one-point decision.
Flynn reversed the Panther early in the third period to take a 3-2 lead and prevented Kinsella from getting any other offensive points the rest of the way.
“It just seemed like we lost our offense, which can happen,” said Downing. “You tend to go away from what worked up here. That’s kind of what pressure does to you.”
No matter what internal or outside forces Kinsella was battling it’s a feeling the sophomore won’t soon forget.
“We maybe didn’t get the results here we wanted, but I got two more trips here and I plan on being a two-time state champ now,” said Kinsella.
Kinsella’s results
170 – First round: Jackson Kinsella (C/O-M) pinned Sam Miller (VM/E) 3:48; Quarterfinals: Paul Ryan (Mt. Vernon) dec. Kinsella (C/O-M) 5-2; Conso second round: Kinsella (C/O-M) pinned Aiden Carr (Gilbert) 3:06; Conso third round: Spencer Mooberry (Osage) dec. Kinsella (C/O-M) 7-6; 7th place match: Jax Flynn (Solon) dec. Kinsella (C/O-M) 3-2.