Nixa High School football & track star made headlines as an 8th grader, too

I met young Jackson Cantwell and his parents, Christian and Teri, in the spring of 2021 when he was a 6'-6", 12-year-old eighth grader at Nixa Middle School. At the time, he had already smashed multiple national youth shot put & discus records. The son of a pair of Olympians (Christian won a silver medal in the shot put at the 2008 Beijing Olympics), Jackson was born with natural ability. He also works hard in the weightroom and on his technique. Jackson is a state champion thrower, and he's a dominant left tackle for the Eagles. Today, the Nixa High School junior is the number-1 ranked college football prospect for 2026 in the nation. This is the first feature story about Jackson broadcast in Springfield, MO about this soon-to-be superstar in the making.