Hemmelgarn, Garringer medal

INDIANAPOLIS — Kyle Garringer walked away as a state medalist, fulfilling a dream he had worked for his entire career.
Eric Hemmelgarn picked up a medal for the second straight season and had an experience that only added to his fire to bring home a state championship next season.
Hemmelgarn and Garringer finished fifth and sixth respectively Saturday at the IHSAA Wrestling State Finals at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, giving Jay County High School two state medalists in the same season for the first time in 16 years. They combined to score 12 points, giving the Patriots a 30th-place finish out of more than 100 teams.
“Placing at state, that’s a good way to finish,” said Garringer, fighting back the emotion after the final match of his career. “It’s a good feeling.”
After picking up victories in the opening round on Friday night, both Jay County wrestlers suffered losses in Saturday morning’s quarterfinal round. But they were able to bounce back.
Garringer (195) and Hemmelgarn (HWT) both wrestled to scoreless first periods as they were on the mat at the same time on opposite ends of the fieldhouse.
Hemmelgarn wasted little time taking the lead in the second period, needing just four seconds to come up with an escape against Merrillville’s Shawn Streck. Garringer started in the bottom position in the second period and also took the lead with a reversal on Justin Berumen of Delphi at the 1:32 mark.
Garringer stayed in control the rest of the way as he scored four points in the final period on the way to a 6-3 victory.
Streck came up with an escape to pull even with Hemmelgarn, but the JCHS junior would not allow the match to go to overtime. He snagged a single leg for a takedown with just 10 seconds remaining as he took a 3-1 victory.
“After you take a loss like that and you miss out on an opportunity to get into the state semifinals and then you bounce back and get a chance to wrestle for fifth place, that says a lot about them,” said JCHS coach James Myers. “They were hungry and they wanted to keep wrestling and get as high as they could.”
Hemmelgarn, who was third in the state last season, looked as if he was headed to the state semifinals again as he built a 5-1 lead in his quarterfinal match Saturday. But he got caught with a roll 30 seconds into the third period, fell behind 7-4 and suffered a loss by pin in 5:09 to Austin Little of North Posey.
After his victory over Streck he won by disqualification in the fifth-place match when Joshua Bartoszek of Hanover was called for an illegal throw. Hemmelgarn landed hard on the mat and was down for several minutes, but was able to walk off under his own power.
“This morning I had control the whole match and just one mistake cost me,” said Hemmelgarn, who finished the season at 47-2. “I was rolled right to my back and he pinned me. … I felt like I couldn’t move. It happened so fast.
“It fuels the fire for next year definitely,” he added. “My goal … is I’m going to win the title, no doubt about it. I’m going to work hard.”
Garringer’s quarterfinal loss came to one of the best pound-for-pound wrestlers in the state. He fell by pin in 1:12 to Mitch Sliga, a Fishers senior who went on to win his second consecutive state championship.
After his win over Berumen, Garringer meet up with Benton Central’s Jacob Ricks in the fifth-place match and the pair went back and forth for the first three minutes. Garringer fell behind 2-0 early before pulling even with an escape 31 seconds into the second period.
But Garringer aggravated a right shoulder injury that he has battled for several years midway through the second period and was limited the rest of the way. He gave up a takedown just six seconds after returning to the mat following the injury time and was unable to pull even again as he fell 7-3.
“I wasn’t nearly as aggressive,” said Garringer of the way he was forced to wrestle after hurting his shoulder. “I had to hold back. I was pretty limited.”
Garringer, a leader of the Patriots’ program for the last four seasons, finished his career with 140 victories and a 47-3 record in his senior season. He won two sectional titles and a regional title and was a four-time semi-state qualifier.
“He had an outstanding career. … He’s a state medalist,” said Myers. “I know that’s what he’s always wanted to do.
“He means a lot to our program because of how hard he worked in the wrestling room all the time. He’s a good kid. I know he’s upset right now … but he’s going to look back … and this is an experience that he’ll never forget.”[[In-content Ad]]