SA grapplers face strong schedule

It’s hard to imagine the Starfires having a better season.
That’s mostly because, until the tournament, they were undefeated.
South Adams High School’s wrestling team, which opens its season Saturday at the Homestead Invitational, turned in a dominant regular season in 2010-11.
The Starfires were a perfect 27-0, winning the Allen County Athletic Conference regular-season and tournament titles. They also won championships at the Tri-High Invite, Homestead Invitational, East Central Indiana Classic and their own Spencer Haworth Invitational.
SAHS coach Eric Myers is looking forward to another great season with three semi-state qualifiers returning, but another perfect run might be a little much to ask.
”I wouldn’t count on an undefeated season this year,” said Myers, whose team finished last season ranked 17th in the state and then placed second to No. 7 Bellmont in the Jay County sectional. “We wrestle Bellmont in a dual this year. ... We’ll have a dual with Mason, Ohio, this year (at the New Castle Invitational). They look really tough every year we go there. And then we go to Ben Davis instead of the (East Central Indiana Classic) this year and Hamilton Southeastern is there.”
The Starfires will also compete in the Troy, Ohio, Invitational this season in place of a tournament hosted by Tri.
”There is going to be a lot of different competition for these guys this year,” Myers said.
Todd Batt returns to lead the team and will wrestle at 138 pounds in the new weight-class system, bumping up from the 125 spot a year ago.
The senior is coming off of a season in which he won 41 matches, including sectional and regional titles at Jay County. He went on to advance to the state finals for the second time in his career before falling to eventual seventh-place finisher Baron Rieker of Columbus East in the opening round in Indianapolis.
Batt has 105 victories for his career, which is within range of the school record of 144 by 2011 SAHS graduate Josh Ehr.
He could also make school history if he can earn another trip to the state finals this year.
”He’s been there twice and he’s looking to place this year,” said Myers. “He really needs to have his sights set on being as high on that podium as he can be in his last year. South Adams has never had a guy go to state three times either.”
The other two returning semi-state qualifiers for the Starfires are Eric Pimentel and Charlie Hirschy, who each advanced through the regional after third-place sectional efforts. Pimentel, who will wrestle at 126 pounds this year, finished 23-14, and Hirschy, who will be at 145, put together a 26-16 mark.
L.J. Moser will be back to wrestle at 113 pounds after racking up 30 wins last season. The team’s other returning 20-win wrestler is Jordan Landers, who will compete at either 160 or 170.
The rest of the South Adams lineup includes Matt Nussbaum (106), Sawyer Miller, who could wrestle anywhere from 106 to 120, Boaz Marbach (120), Austin Grabau (132), Nick Batt (152), Klayton Hinshaw (160/170), Isaac Werst (182) and Mason Morningstar (220). Either Kyle Kilsby or Cody Conner, both of whom were injured in the preaseson, will wrestle at 195 pounds, and Cody Caldwell, Nathan Bauman, Nathan Wynn and Andrew Beachey are all in the mix at 285.
“This team is totally different from teams of the past,” said Myers. “They’ve been with me so long that I walk in and for about the first hour of practice I don’t have to say a word. They just run it.”
Myers said he hopes his squad can send several wrestlers, led by Batt, to the state finals. And he also thinks the Starfires could have a chance to break Bellmont’s streak of 21 straight sectional titles.
“We always have to shoot at winning (the sectional),” he said. “We had a great team last year and still fell about 30 points short to Bellmont. And Adams Central is going to be real tough this year, but I think you’ve always got to shoot for that number one spot.”[[In-content Ad]]