JC seeking more state berths

During the six years from 2000 through ’05, the Patriots were in a drought.
After sending two wrestlers to the state finals in 1999, Jay County High School’s wrestling team went six seasons without earning a state berth.
The six years since then have been far more productive.
Patriots have advanced to the state finals in four of six years since Kurt Hess broke through in 2006, with Casey Kenney adding state medals in 2009 and ’10.
After losing 2010 semi-state champion and state qualifier Drake Meska to graduation, Kyle Garringer leads the group of returning wrestlers hoping to continue the trend of trips to Conseco Fieldhouse.
“He just doesn’t give up,” said JCHS coach James Myers, whose team opens Friday at the New Castle 6-way, of Garringer. “At the finals of the sectional he was up early and gave up the lead. With about 10 seconds to go he ended up winning the sectional when he put the kid on his back.
“He gets after it … Regardless of what the score is, he’s wrestling to win.”
Garringer, wrestling with an injured shoulder, trailed Bellmont’s Ben Baker by three points with just 10 seconds left before coming up with a reversal and two-point near fall to earn the 189-pound sectional title. He went on to finish as the regional runner-up before coming up just short in the ticket round at the semi-state.
Making his second semi-state appearance in as many seasons, Garringer fell to Goshen’s Brandon Dillenbeck (37-3) by a 3-2 decision.
Now a junior, Garringer will wrestle at 195 pounds after the National Federation of High School Associations made a change to wrestling weight classes in April.
It marked the biggest changes to weight classes in nearly 25 years, moving the lightest class up to 106 from 103 and leaving just four classes — 145, 152, 160 and 285 — in tact. The changes came after four years of analyzing high school wrestling in an effort to evenly distribute wrestlers across the 14 classes.
Garringer and Meska were the only Patriots to make it to the semi-state last season, but five others were regional qualifiers and they will all be back this season.
After wrestling at 215 last season, Eric Hemmelgarn will move up to heavyweight this year.
“Eric Hemmelgarn moving up to heavyweight this year after wrestling at 215 last year has a really good chance. He’s going to be a pretty agile heavyweight,” said Myers. “He’s much bigger, much stronger than he was last year. He’s another kid who can make the next step past sectional and regional.”
Other returning regional qualifiers include junior Dustin Tighe and sophomores Conner Ray, Jesse Finnerty and Zach Metcalf. Another Patriot who could be in the mix for a long tournament run is senior Nick Leonhard, who reached the semi-state round as a freshman before struggling with injuries late in his 2010 campaign.
To open the season, Leonhard will be at 152 pounds with Metcalf returning to the 160-pound spot. Ray will be at 113 with Tighe at 132 and Finnerty at 145.
Seniors joining Leonhard are Eric Beougher (170), Austin Bentz (138) and Matt Shrack (HWT).
“I think they understand this is the last go-round, so I think they’re trying to make the most of it,” said Myers in complimenting the way his seniors have led the squad. “They realize we had a team that finished third in the sectional last year behind the two ranked teams in the state ... I think they see that we’ve got a chance to push for that No. 2 spot and maybe challenge Bellmont if we have a good day.”
Bellmont was ranked ninth in the state last season when it won its 21st straight sectional title, and runner-up South Adams was undefeated and ranked ninth heading into the tournament. They were the only two teams to finish ahead of JCHS, which had placed fifth a year earlier.
The remainder of the Patriot lineup hoping to continue building on that team tournament success includes freshman Alex Abbott (106) and junior Robert Cooper (120). The 182- and 220-pound weight classes are up for grabs, with at least three athletes competing for the starting job at each spot.
The Patriots graduated nine seniors in 2009, but have continued to perform well as younger wrestlers have filled key roles in each of the last two seasons. Now Myers belives his squad is ready to take another step.
“The last few years we didn’t really know what to expect after we lost that big group of seniors,” said Myers. “But the next group and the following group have stepped in and really done well. We’ve had good seasons the last two years. We’ve moved up in the sectional.
“Before we wanted to be … top five at the big tournaments. Now I really think we’ve got chances to win those.”[[In-content Ad]]