Jackson Daniel Cantwell (born May 27, 2008) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

Nixa High School Nixa High School is a public high school in Nixa, Missouri, United States. Nixa High School received the National Blue Ribbon in 2013 and 2022. It was ranked 30th in the state and 1st in the Springfield metropolitan area by '' U.S. News & World ...

Nixa, Missouri Nixa is a city in Christian County, Missouri, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 23,257. It is a principal city, and the second largest city in the Springfield, Missouri Metropolitan Area. History The area was f ...

. He is one of the top college recruits for the class of 2026. He is also a top

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete and a high school national champion in

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

Early life

Cantwell was born on May 27, 2008, to Olympic

ers

Christian Cantwell Christian Cantwell (born September 30, 1980) is a World Champion American shot putter. He won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics and placed 4th at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Biography Cantwell was born in Jefferson City, Missouri. He gr ...

and Teri Steer. He began training three days a week in

at age six for a club in

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in Missouri, United States. It was founded in 1821 as the county seat of Boone County, Missouri, Boone County and had a population of 126,254 as recorded in the 2020 United States census, making it the List of cities in Misso ...

. At age 12, he broke the AAU national shot put record for his age group, and he later set world records in the 12-year-old and 13-year-old groups in both shot put and

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

. In eighth grade, Cantwell was able to

bench press The bench press or chest press is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. The bench press is a Compound movements, compound movement, with the primary muscles involved ...

. Cantwell enrolled at Nixa Public High School, where he played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

as an

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and continued competing in track and field. He became the starter on the football team as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

and was named a

MaxPreps MaxPreps is an American website that specializes in coverage of American high school sports. The site is currently owned by PlayOn. Founded on August 1, 2002, the company has covered up to 29 sports, including boys, girls, and co-ed sports. ...

first-team freshman

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

. He also won the Missouri state shot put championship as a freshman with a toss of over . He had received over a dozen offers to play

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for top programs by the end of his freshman season. In 2024, Cantwell broke the national sophomore record in shot put with a toss of and later won the high school national championship, beating out second place by over . He was named the Gatorade Missouri boys track and field player of the year. As a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Aircraft * Ekolot JK-05L Junior, a Polish ultralight aircraft * PZL-112 Junior, a Polish training aircraft * SZD-51 Junior, a Polish-made training and club glider Arts and entertainment Characters * Bowser Jr., ...

in football, Cantwell recorded 158

pancake block A pancake, also known as a hotcake, griddlecake, or flapjack, is a flat type of batter bread like cake, often thin and round, prepared from a starch-based batter that may contain eggs, milk, and butter, and then cooked on a hot surface such ...

s and helped Nixa finish second in the Missouri Class 6, being named the ''

Springfield News-Leader The ''Springfield News-Leader'' is the predominant newspaper for the city of Springfield, Missouri, and covers the Ozarks. The ''News-Leader'' has a daily circulation of 32,363 and a Sunday circulation of 51,402 as of September 2013. Sunday si ...

'' player of the year, the Gatorade Missouri player of the year, and one of three finalists for the national Gatorade player of the year award. Cantwell is a five-star prospect and a top player in the class of 2026, being ranked number one nationally by

247Sports 247Sports is an American network of websites that focus mainly on college recruiting, athletic recruitment in college football and college basketball, basketball. It is owned and operated by Paramount Global, Paramount. The website hosts a large ...

Composite, Rivals.com, and On3.com, while

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

ranked him second. In May 2025, he committed to play for the

Miami Hurricanes The Miami Hurricanes, known informally as The U, UM, or The 'Canes, are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. The Hurricanes compete in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Coll ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantwell, Jackson 2008 births Living people Players of American football from Missouri Track and field athletes from Missouri American football offensive tackles American shot putters American discus throwers