Patriots control ACAC tourney

Eric Myers woke up about 3:30 a.m. Friday and wasn’t able to fall back asleep.

The Patriot wrestling coach had thoughts running through his head of a looming matchup with Adams Central later that evening in the conference dual tournament.

Through the first five matches, the Jets were in control.

A pair of upperclassmen made sure Myers could sleep soundly after the first two rounds.

Mitchell Frasher got a pin to tie the team score and Chandler Chapman put the Patriots up for good as the Jay County High School wrestling squad opened the Allen County Athletic Conference dual tournament it hosted with a pair of victories.

“It makes me feel better that I don’t have to stress all night about that match,” said Myers, whose team is defending champion and defeated Woodlan 75-3 in the opening round before disposing of Adams Central 43-25.

“Glad to have that one under our belt,” Myers added.

South Adams beat Bluffton 52-27 in its only match of the evening. It had a bye in round two. The tournament continues at 9 a.m. today with rounds three through seven. The Patriots and Starfires are the only undefeated squads. Adams Central, Southern Wells and Woodlan are all 1-1, Heritage is 0-1 and Bluffton is 0-2.

Jay County trailed Adams Central 16-4 after five matches, but sophomore Mason Winner helped the hosts turn the dual around. Winner, a 160-pounder, pinned Parker Bates in 3 minutes, 38 seconds, to make it 16-10 Jets.

At 170 pounds, Frasher trailed Paul Faurote 4-2 in the second period and wasn’t able to break free. But with 51 seconds remaining in the second, Frasher was able to maneuver himself so Faurote’s shoulders touched the mat for the win.

“Took a little bit to get going but he got the pin,” Myers said.

Chapman’s second-period pin over Joseph Collier at 182 pounds put Jay County out front for good, and was the third in a stretch of four consecutive pins for the Patriots. Nathanael Lykins defeated Jashawn Berlanga by fall in 1:29 at 195 pounds.

“There were a lot of different factors that went into that,” Myers said of the victory to stay undefeated. He mentioned Ian Liette, who battled to not surrender a major decision in a 9-2 loss to Logan Mosser, and Kaimen Sanders, a senior who got a 12-1 major decision over Trey Brunner at 138 pounds.

Gaven Hare pinned Devin Lotter in 1:15 during their heavyweight match, and Zakk Atkins picked up a 7-2 win at 120 pounds over Jake Jackson. Lita Chowning received a forfeit at 106 pounds.

“It was an all-around effort, I felt like,” he said.

Against Woodlan — it hosts the individual conference championships Jan. 20 — the Patriots were hardly challenged and got 30 of their points from forfeits.

Atkins earned an 11-4 decision to kick off the tournament, and the other seven wins in contested matches for Jay County were pins. At heavyweight, Connor Davis needed just nine seconds to beat Alexandria Marsh, and it took Dylan Racster 18 seconds to pin Mitch Hert at 106 pounds.

Thomas Hemmelgarn, a 152-pounder, beat Dan Herschberger in 4:09, Winner handled Andrew Miller in 40 seconds and Chapman defeated Keegan Jones 15 seconds into the second period. Lykins pinned Jayden Keller in 2:18.

Seth Fugiett (138 pounds), Jordan Schricker (145), Tayler Klarer (113), Liette (126) and Hare (220) all won by forfeit

“It was a good effort,” Myers said. His team meets Heritage in round three, Bluffton in round four and South Adams in round five before a bye in the sixth round. The Patriots close the tournament against Southern Wells.

“I was happy with our guys,” Myers added.

South Adams, which meets Southern Wells first thing this morning, had three first-period pins against Bluffton on Friday.

Brandon Wynn pinned David Kahn 28 seconds into their 126-pound match, and Christian Summersett disposed of Logan Medaows in 38 seconds at 132 pounds.

At 106 pounds, senior Wyatt Miller took care of Wyatt Corkwell in 28 seconds as well.

“That comes from setting the tone from start to finish and making sure that we mean business,” SAHS coach Jesse Gaskill said. The Starfires meet Woodlan in round four, Heritage in round six and Adams Central in round seven. “Especially with a long weekend we don’t want to have guys out there too long.”

At 160 pounds, Alex Sator pinned Lance Clark with 10 seconds remaining in the match. The Starfires also got pins from Austin Gorney (182) and Tayler Cuellar (285). Michael Rupp beat Grant Bultemeier by a 13-3 major decision while Dylan Zurcher (138) and Collin Shaffer (195) both received forfeits.