Representing Indiana

The school wrestling seasons are long since over. But in the wrestling room at Jay County High School a handful of athletes are preparing for their next big matches.
Eric Hemmelgarn, Daniel Ostrowski and Mason Winner will take on athletes from across the country beginning Friday as they represent the Indiana State Wrestling Association.
Hemmelgarn, a JCHS sophomore, will compete for Indiana Gold at the National Wrestling Coaches Association/USA Wrestling Scholastic Duals, which begin Friday at Wabash College.
“These (tournaments) are huge,” said Jay County High School coach James Myers. “You’re wrestling the best (freshman, sophomores and juniors). The kid that is on the Indiana Blue team is ranked sixth in the nation for the freshman/sophomore division. That’s the type of kids he’ll be wrestling this weekend.”
Winner (90) and Ostrowski (125), who compete for the Patriot Wrestling Club’s elementary team, will travel to Kingsport, Tenn., to wrestle for Indiana White at the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Elementary National Duals Friday through Sunday. Coach Bruce Wood said he believes such meets are important in developing athletes for the JCHS program.
“They get so much more experience against other kids who are elite,” said Wood. “That gets them more prepared for down the road, especially in high school when that’s the level of wrestling it takes to be successful … Getting experience against other elite wrestlers at a young age gets them confidence and they learn a lot more about good wrestling.”
All three wrestlers had to earn their way onto the ISWA teams they’ll be competing with this weekend.
Hemmelgarn secured his spot thanks to his breakout performance at the Indiana High School Athletic Association Wrestling State Finals in February.
He was off the radar for a medal heading into the state finals after finishing fourth in the heavyweight division at the semi-state tournament in Fort Wayne. But after upsetting Perry Meridian’s Donte Winfield in the opening round he soared to a third-place finish, defeating top-ranked Kaden Suter of Martinsville in his final match of the weekend.
He was the top non-senior at the state finals, giving him his spot on the ISWA team for the Scholastic Duals.
“Confidence for Eric has been a big thing,” said Myers. “He’s finally opening up. I think he realizes what he has the potential to do. …
“You can see the switch came on for him … He’s been there now and he’s done it. He’s already preparing for next year.”
Competition for Hemmelgarn will open Friday at 8 a.m. The last JCHS wrestling to compete at the event was two-time state medalist Casey Kenney in 2008.
“I want to learn a lot,” said Hemmelgarn. “I’m going to see a lot of good people from other states. … I want to learn new things for next year. …
“It’ll help me a lot.”
Winner, a fourth grader at East Elementary, earned his spot on Indiana White thanks to placing seventh at last season’s ISWA state tournament. Ostrowski was selected for the team after finishing 23-4 this season with championships at the Bellmont Folkstyle Open, Connersville Folkstyle Open and Yorktown Folkstyle Open.
“Dan has been really successful particularly because of (defense),” said Wood. “He is really … a defensive master. That’s one of his biggest assets. … Guys have trouble taking him down and scoring on him.
“Mason has probably a lot more wrestling experience than a lot of kids his age, especially knowing that he only started three years ago. He’s wrestled a lot of matches and gone through a lot of practices. … He knows a lot of technique.”
Ostrowski and Winner, who helped the Patriot Wrestling Club to a second-place finish at the ISWA team state tournament, have the opportunity to wrestle 13 matches over the course of the three-day tournament. They open wrestling in pool competition Friday in a group that includes teams from Iowa, Michigan, Maryland and Virginia.


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