Garringer eyeing title

Kyle Garringer has come so close.
He’s been to the semi-state tournament three times. In each of the last two years he’s lost “ticket-round” matches by just a single point.
But Garringer isn’t looking to just squeak through for his first state berth.
His goal: “Win the semi-state.”
Garringer, Eric Hemmelgarn and Conner Ray will all have a chance to earn a trip to the state finals when they represent Jay County at the semi-state wrestling tournament hosted by Snider at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne at 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
“I just have to stick to the basics of wrestling, use my fundamentals, not get too wild on the mat,” said Garringer, who is ranked fourth in the state at 195 pounds, of what he needs to do to accomplish his goal Saturday. “Just stay in good position and keep plugging away, keep pressure on the guy the whole time. Don’t let up.”
The Patriot senior has not let up all season.
He takes an undefeated record — 42-0 — into the semi-state and is coming off of sectional and regional titles in tournaments held at JCHS. His sectional crown came with a 21-6 technical fall over Union City’s Duran Bocanegra, and he won the regional championship by beating Brendan Gill of Delta 9-3.
Garringer will open his action in the semi-state tournament against Fort Wayne South Side’s Tyler Elkins (22-12), who he defeated earlier this season at the Garrett Invitational. A victory would send him to the ticket round to take on either Ross Walker (24-11) of East Noble or Russell McDorman (30-6) of Western.
The only other wrestler ranked in the top 10 in the weight class is No. 9 Joseph Ross (32-1).
An athlete must win each of his first two semi-state matches in order to earn a trip to the state finals.
“It’s the same formula — continue to push the pace, make the guy react to our offense,” said JCHS coach James Myers. “He’s got so much that he can do on his feet this year that he hasn’t been able to do it the past. … He’s real slick. He feels pressure. If he has to go to his second, third, fourth offense, that’s not an issue for him.”
Hemmelgarn (40-1), who is ranked fifth in the state, enjoyed his first trip to the semi-state last season as he defeated Huntington North’s Andrew Mason 2-1 in overtime in the ticket round. He went on to drop his next two matches on pins to finish in fourth place, but shocked the heavyweight class a week later when he went 3-1 in Indianapolis to finish third in the state.
Like Garringer, the junior has won sectional and regional titles this season with pins against Mason Morningstar of South Adams and Darrius Connell of Muncie Central respectively.
“I’d really like to see him stay aggressive,” said Myers, noting that his goal is for both Hemmelgarn and Garringer to win semi-state titles. “I thought he flipped the switch in that finals match last week. I really believe if he wrestles with that intensity I don’t think there’s a heavyweight in our semi-state that can touch him this weekend.”
Hemmelgarn will face off against Western’s Sydney Allen (19-5) in the opening round with Woody Kline (23-13) of Heritage and Justin Lee (24-5) of Central Noble looming as potential second-round opponents. The top wrestler on the other side of the bracket is Eastside’s Matt Beard, who is 38-0.
“I have to score takedowns first,” said Hemmelgarn. “I have to score points early, because that will just help me in the long run. … I have really good defense, so once I score first it’s pretty hard for somebody to take a shot on me.”
Ray (27-15) advanced to the semi-state with a fourth-place finish in the regional tournament, leaving him with the most difficult first-round draw among the three Patriots. He will take on Andrew Ledford (42-3) of Kokomo in the 120-pound bracket.
A win against Ledford would put him up against either East Noble’s Sterling Lutter (33-3) or Woodlan’s Shaun Snyder (26-4) in the ticket round.
The junior, who noted that he’s never even been to semi-state as a spectator, is looking forward to wrestling at the coliseum and getting to share the experience with Garringer and Hemmelgarn.
“You look up to them,” Ray said. “It’s going to be so exciting. I’ve never been to something like that. I have no idea what it’s really like. I just can’t wait.”[[In-content Ad]]