Five from JC seek state berths

Casey Kenney gave Jay County High School a state qualifier, and a state medalist, in each of the last two seasons. The only other Patriot to qualify for the state meet in the last decade was Kurtis Hess in 2005.

On Saturday, five JCHS wrestlers will try to earn a trip to Indianapolis when they compete in the semi-state tournament hosted by Woodlan at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.

"It's a great feeling, you work all these years for that," said Matt James, who will be joined by fellow senior Kyler Blowers, junior Drake Meska, sophomore Nick Leonhard and freshman Kyle Garringer, of the chance to earn a berth in the state finals. "It's not over yet. You want to get farther. I want to go to state."

Jay County expected only four wrestlers to be in action at the semi-state meet. But Blowers was informed this morning that he will get to make the trip in place of injured heavyweight Elijah Justice of Blackford.

South Adams, which had state qualifiers in Josh Ehr and Jim West last season, will send five wrestlers to the semi-state meet.

T.J. Burnfield, John Striker and Nick Taylor will join Ehr and West.

The top four wrestlers in each weight class will advance to the state finals, meaning most must win two matches in order to move on.

Some, including James, Garringer, Taylor and Burnfield, will need three victories because of the addition of the "pigtail" to include the Randolph County wrestlers who were unable to attend the regional meet hosted by JCHS.

For the Jay County wrestlers, Meska seems to have the most manageable path to a state berth.

"Drake probably got the best draw of the four guys," said Patriot coach James Myers. "He's done a really nice job this year just controlling matches, making guys wrestle his pace, wrestle his style.

"If he can slow people down, wrestle his pace, he's going to do really well."

Meska (39-3), who finished second in the sectional and third in the regional at Jay County, will open his day in the 130-pound weight class against Dantrell Goodman (12-8) of Elkhart Memorial. He would then meet either Tucker Smith (33-6) of Homestead or Chris Herring (27-14) of Marion in the quarterfinal, or "ticket", round.

"I need to start finishing some more shots," said Meska of his key to semi-state success. "I've been in deep on some shots and just not been able to finish them. ... I need to get off the bottom a little bit more."

Leonhard (19-14) is the underdog in his bracket, but that is nothing new to him. He was third in the sectional, but came through in a big way in the regional to earn another third-place finish at 145 pounds.

His first semi-state match will come against Huntington North's Brant Hiple (34-4). The winner will advance to wrestle either Tanner Boman (26-4) of DeKalb or Levy Francois (27-7) of New Haven for a trip to the state meet.

"I was really happy (to get to semi-state)," said Leonhard. "I just think I went out there just to have fun ... After getting beat by Josh Ehr ... I figured I just might as well have fun."

"I think a couple of other guys have taken on that mentality too," added Myers. "We've got a chance now. First, second, third, fourth, it doesn't matter. As long as we're wrestling this weekend, we've got to win two matches just like everyone else does."

Ehr, who beat Leonhard in the regional semifinal round, is 40-0 and ranked eighth in the state. He opens the semi-state tournament against Maconaquah's William Page (19-11) and could meet No. 13 Bryce Schendel (31-6) of Garrett in the ticket round.

West, the No. 4 heavyweight in the state at 37-2, will take on Dominque Stauffer (28-6) of Elkhart Central in the first round Saturday. The other opening-round match for SAHS is John Striker (33-8) against Whitko's Dylan LeTourneau (35-5) at 125 pounds.

In pigtail matches, Burnfield (36-7) will battle Winchester's Kevin Dines (23-13) at 140 pounds and Nick Taylor (27-10) will take on Steve Phillips (20-8) of Randolph Southern at 171 pounds.

Garringer's pigtail match at 189 pounds will come against Monroe Central's Steven Thomas (22-9). With a 26-15 record this year, he is the only freshman in the 189-pound bracket.

There are now freshmen in the Woodlan semi-state in the 215-pound or heavyweight classes.

"I want to at least win my first match and get a little bit more experience," said Garringer. "It's a lot different up there."

Blowers takes Justice's spot in the semi-state field and will meet Justin Hersberger (21-15) of WInchester in a pigtail match. The winner will advance to wrestle No. 10 Jacob Clark (34-6) of Goshen.

James (36-6) faces a brutal back-to-back pair in his first two matches. His pigtail match will be against Andrew Chalfant (33-4) of Winchester, who wrestled most of the season at heavyweight. If he wins that match, he would have to battle undefeated at third-ranked Dylan Green (44-0) of Kokomo.

"I haven't wrestled my best in a while," said James. "I think if I come out and wrestle my best, I can take anybody ..."

"As I told him all week, he can win matches," added Myers. "He's capable of beating anybody at semi-state.

"It's a tough draw, but if Matt goes out and executes the game plan, I think he's more than capable of beating both of those two individuals."

No matter what happens Saturday, perhaps the most exciting part of the semi-state experience is that the Patriots will have Meska, Leonhard and Garringer all returning to the team next season.

"I want them to see that their hard work has paid off," said Myers. "Regardless of what happens the rest of the way, this was a good group of kids. They really achieved a lot ... Hopefully they learn from this experience."[[In-content Ad]]