Miller and Moser reach podium

INDIANAPOLIS — For the second straight season, the Starfires walked away from the state finals with two state medals.
South Adams High School sophomore Sawyer Miller climbed one step up the podium Saturday at the IHSAA Wrestling State Finals at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, following last season’s fourth-place finish at 106 pounds with a third-place effort at 113 to become the Starfires’ first two-time medalist. L.J. Moser broke through in his second trip to the state finals to finish in eighth place at 120.
They combined to score 12 points, tying them for 30th out of more than 100 teams at the state finals.
“It’s pretty awesome,” said SAHS coach Eric Myers. “We’re fortunate to have kids who have worked that hard in the offseason. All the credit goes to them. They have done an awesome job putting in the extra time. And you just hope that those kids serve as role models to everybody else.”
Miller’s only loss of the day came in the state semifinals as he fell by pin to Hanover junior Stevan Micic (48-0), who went on to win his second consecutive state title. And then Miller bounced back to avenge a loss from the semi-state.
The sophomore took on East Noble’s Connor Knapp in the third place match and took the early lead with a first-period takedown. Knapp closed the gap to 2-1 with an escape in the second period, and then grabbed a one-point lead when he caught Miller in a cradle for a two-point near fall.
Miller (43-3) came up with an escape to force overtime, and then got 20 seconds into the first overtime period.
“I hit my lift single, which I used a lot last season, but I didn’t use any this year really,” said Miller. “My coaches really wanted me to start hitting it at state. So I practiced it a lot during the week and I hit it multiple times.”
“It felt really good to come back and win,” said Miller, who had lost 12-2 to Knapp in the semi-state semifinal round. “My goal was to win state twice. Hopefully I can get it next year.”
Miller’s first win of the day Saturday came by a 4-3 decision over Damon Kuhn of Evansville Reitz in the quarterfinals.
He became the third South Adams wrestler to win his final match at the state finals. His third-place finish ranks second in Starfire history only to Todd Batt’s runner-up effort last year.
“He just had an awesome tournament,” said Myers. “He lost to who I think is the best wrestler here, period. Other than that he racked up three wins, and three pretty good wins. And then to beat a kid that beat him 12-2 last week is just awesome, icing on the cake.”
Moser had a difficult run Saturday after earning himself a state medal with a 2-0 victory over Luis Munoz of Warsaw in Friday night’s opening round.
He dropped his quarterfinal and consolation semifinal matches by decision, falling 7-2 to Corydon Central’s Bailey LaHue and 3-0 to Merrill-ville’s Adam Garcia. He was tied at 2-2 with Franklin Central’s Andrice Martin early in the second period of the seventh-place match, but gave up a takedown at the 1:42 mark and could not recover as he fell behind by four points before getting pinned in 4:47.
Even though Saturday didn’t go as well as he would have liked, Moser said he was thrilled to end his career as a state medalist.
“Wrestling on Saturday is way better than wrestling on Friday night,” said Moser, who lost in the opening round last season. “It’s a way better feeling knowing that you made it to Saturday.
“(Winning on Friday) was probably the coolest experience I’ve ever had.”
Moser finished the season at 29-4 and totaled 121 victories in his career. He became just the eighth wrestler in school history to earn a state medal.
“For him to come from where he was in middle to school to where he is now is really awesome,” said Myers. “I’m really proud of the kid.
“He thought for a little while he was regional quality and he wanted to be better than that. He put in the time in the offseason to do it. He made himself top eight in the state.”


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