JC senior shines

The entirety of the Jay County High School wrestling team and its coaching staff stood, yelling instructions and cheers to Matt Shrack.
Patriot fans roared when he scored the tying escape with just 26 seconds left. And they gave a heartfelt ovation when he came up with winning points on a takedown 22 seconds later.
The JCHS senior, wrestling his first varsity match of the season on senior night, scored the winning points of the heavyweight match with just four seconds left as part of the Patriots’ 54-19 victory Thursday over the visiting Oak Hill Golden Eagles.
“It felt amazing,” said Shrack. “It felt absolutely amazing. I love this team. I love Jay County wrestling.”
Shrack’s heavyweight battle came after Jay County had already built an insurmountable lead, but it was clearly the match of the night.
The senior had a chance to score early against Oak Hill’s Ethan Bowland, but couldn’t complete a takedown. Instead, Bowland recorded the first points 40 seconds into the opening period and then tried to ride out the victory.
Shrack laid prone on the mat for most of the final five minutes, face red with sweat dripping as he tried to score an escape. He came through twice.
He cut his two-point deficit in half when he escaped Bowland with just 12 seconds left in the second period.And then he pulled even in the third when he got to his feet and pulled away from the Golden Eagle sophomore at the 26-second mark.
With the match tied and overtime looming, Shrack made the most of his moment. He dodged a shot, spun around and slammed Bowland to the mat with just four seconds left for the winning takedown to roars from his teammates and the JCHS fans.
“He’s gritty,” said Patriot coach James Myers. “The kid was just riding him tough and I think he was just determined to win tonight.”
The Patriots swarmed Shrack in hugs after referee Keith Mughmaw raised his arm in victory. He had earned a handful of varsity wins in previous seasons, but this one was special.
“Matt Shrack, that was the match of the night,” said Eric Beougher, one of the team’s three other seniors, of his classmate and the school’s homecoming king. “He really deserves it. He’s the hardest-working kid on the team. He just has the most heart. He deserved that win tonight.”
Shrack got the opportunity to wrestle after sophomore Eric Hemmelgarn, who is undefeated at heavyweight this season, told Myers he wanted to give up his spot for senior night.
“I love Shrack, and this was his moment,” said Hemmelgarn. “This is his last year wrestling and I just wanted to make it the best for him, and we sure got that tonight. ...
“I’m pretty sure everybody was about to cry because we were so excited for Shrack. It’s just a great feeling.”
The two heavyweights compete against each other every day in practice, forming a bond that led to Hemmelgarn’s unselfish decision.
“I love him so much,” said Shrack of his teammate. “He showed me how to be a better wrestler. I appreciate everything that he does for me.”
It was a big night for all of Jay County’s seniors, as Nick Leonhard, Austin Bentz and Beougher also scored victories in the final home dual match of their careers.
Beougher (170) looked as if Oak Hill senior Jake Garza physically outmatched him, but he said he made up for it with technique and conditioning.
He stayed alive despite giving up a couple of takedowns and a near fall in the opening period, and then made his move in the second. Trailing 7-4, he caught Garza in a left headlock, tossed him to the mat and pinned him in 2 minutes, 43 seconds.
“It’s all about technique and keeping composure and not letting him push you around and shove you around on the mat,” said Beougher. “I circled so he didn’t push me around and kind of got in his head a little bit. He was taking a lot of shots on me ... but I sprawled and kept my hips down.”
“He was big,” added Myers of Garza. “(Zach) Metcalf wrestled him last year over there. We knew if we could get out of the first period close we were going to be OK because I thought our conditioning was a lot better than his.”
Bentz’s victory at 138 pounds started Jay County’s comeback from an early 16-6 deficit. He gave up the first point on an escape, but went on to grab a 4-1 lead in the second period on the way to earning a 7-1 decision over Riley Johnson.
Jesse Finnerty (145) then rallied from a 5-0 deficit and near pin in the first period to take a 9-7 lead before pinning Devon Mitchener with just 10 seconds left in the match.
“We got off to a good start and then they had a couple of wins,” said Oak Hill coach Andrew King. “I could feel the momentum swing and we just couldn’t get the freight train stopped. It kept going.
“(At 145) we had him on his back in the first period — it was just millimeters from being stuck — and then we ended up getting stuck. ... 145 is where the tide started to change.”
Leonhard gave the Patriots the lead for good with a dominating effort at 152 pounds. He had near falls in each of the first two periods before finally putting away Chris Cunningham in 4:40.
Zach Metcalf (160) added a pin in 2:15, and then Beougher defeated Garza to cap a run of five straight JCHS victories.
Kyle Garringer and Nick Spahr came up with consecutive pins at 195 and 220 respectively to set the stage for Shrack’s dramatic comeback, and freshman Alex Abbott (106) closed out the match with a 17-0 technical fall over Nick Horsley.
Robert Cooper (113) had the other win for the Patriots as he opened the match by pinning Shane Curtis in 5:18.
“Abbott looked good tonight,” said Myers. “Robert (Cooper), a couple of weeks ago we had a nice discussion, and since then he’s won five matches for us. He’s really stepped up. We told him he could help our team if he wanted to, and he has.
“I’m excited. We got a big victory on senior night. All of our seniors got in the lineup tonight and picked up victories for us. It’s awesome.”[[In-content Ad]]