February 3, 2018 at 10:47 p.m.
Two Patriots win regional
Jay's Chapman, Winner claim titles while Patriots send eight to semi-state
Two Patriots win regional
Copyright 2018, The Commercial Review
All Rights Reserved
Chandler Chapman and Mason Winner faced familiar foes in the final.
They got a result with which they’ve become accustomed.
Victory.
Chapman and Winner were crowned champions and the Jay County High School wrestling team had eight qualify for semi-state on Saturday from the IHSAA regional tournament it hosted.
“It’s amazing,” said Chapman, a 170-pound junior who defeated Bellmont’s Caden Friedt by a 3-1 decision for his first regional championship. “Get my name on the wall (in the wrestling room). It’s awesome.”
Jay County had two others wrestle for titles but instead they settled for runner-up.
South Adams has four advancing to semi-state, including 106-pound champion Wyatt Miller.
The top four in each weight class qualify for semi-state, which is Feb. 10 at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.
Yorktown repeated as team regional champions with 165 points. Jay County was second with 116 and Adams Central scored 91 points for third. South Adams totaled 56.5 points for seventh out of 16 teams represented.
“I’m really proud of all of our guys,” said JCHS coach Eric Myers, whose team had 11 compete Saturday on the heels of the program’s first team sectional championship in 17 years. “We just keep battling. Seemed like earlier in the year we kind of let up in the placement matches and struggled a little bit to get back up at the end of the day when we had any adversity.
“Seems like we’re really getting over that. We’re battling back when things don’t go our way 100 percent or we’re disappointed with a loss. We’re coming right back and wrestling hard and finding a way to win.”
In fact, that’s exactly the route Chapman and Winner, a 160-pounder, had to take in their final matches; come back from a deficit.
Chapman (32-8), who clinched a semi-state berth by pinning Winchester’s Jayminson Myers in the second period and beat Southern Wells’ Sam Smith by a 3-0 decision in the semifinal, fell behind Friedt 1-0 in the second period. He was awarded an escape early in the third period to tie the score but the official changed his call.
Chapman responded by escaping for good with 23 seconds left. Then he threw Friedt to the mat for a takedown and rode out the final seconds for the 3-1 decision.
“It was the same strategy going in, make him tired,” Chapman said of what it took to beat Friedt for the second time in seven days. They met for the sectional title a week earlier. “He changed up his strategy a little bit … he took a lot more shots this time. We sprawled (and I) stayed out of danger.”
A week after Winner beat Parker Bates of Adams Central for the sectional crown, they met again in the regional final.
Bates scored a takedown for a 2-0 advantage, but it was short-lived as Winner, who’s ranked 10th in the state, escaped then notched his own takedown for a 3-2 lead.
“My philosophy is, ‘So what? They get the first takedown,’” Winner, who pinned Delta’s Spencer Ashburn in the first period of the opening round and Bellmont’s Michael Metz in the second period of the semifinal, said of if he panicked or not when Bates took him to the mat. “It doesn’t matter. Keep wrestling. Just push the pace. As long as you keep wrestling and score the next point everything will be OK.”
It’s exactly what he did, taking Bates to the mat in the second period and getting a pin at 2:31 for his first regional championship after finishing runner-up as a freshman. He moved to 40-2 on the season.
“He was excited to get that and he’s excited to see what next week brings,” Myers said.
Miller, a senior who is ranked seventh in the state and won regional last year at 113 pounds, was hardly challenged on his path to the title at 106 this year. He pinned Tyler Fritz of Daleville in 29 seconds to reach semi-state, then scored a 16-1 tech fall over Tyler Johnson of Norwell in 5:02. He pinned Zachary Todd of Yorktown in 3:24, keeping his unblemished record intact at 34-0.
Jay County’s Zakk Atkins (120) and Gaven Hare (220) both wrestled for regional titles but finished second.
Tayler Cuellar, a 285-pounder for South Adams, was also runner-up.
Jay County’s other semi-state qualifiers were Jordan Schricker (third – 138), Mitchell Frasher (third – 182), George Lykins (third – 195) and Thomas Hemmelgarn (fourth – 152). Isaiah Baumgartner (third – 220) and Michael Rupp (fourth – 113) qualified for South Adams.
“I’m just really proud of those guys for having that attitude and turning that corner,” Myers said.
All Rights Reserved
Chandler Chapman and Mason Winner faced familiar foes in the final.
They got a result with which they’ve become accustomed.
Victory.
Chapman and Winner were crowned champions and the Jay County High School wrestling team had eight qualify for semi-state on Saturday from the IHSAA regional tournament it hosted.
“It’s amazing,” said Chapman, a 170-pound junior who defeated Bellmont’s Caden Friedt by a 3-1 decision for his first regional championship. “Get my name on the wall (in the wrestling room). It’s awesome.”
Jay County had two others wrestle for titles but instead they settled for runner-up.
South Adams has four advancing to semi-state, including 106-pound champion Wyatt Miller.
The top four in each weight class qualify for semi-state, which is Feb. 10 at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.
Yorktown repeated as team regional champions with 165 points. Jay County was second with 116 and Adams Central scored 91 points for third. South Adams totaled 56.5 points for seventh out of 16 teams represented.
“I’m really proud of all of our guys,” said JCHS coach Eric Myers, whose team had 11 compete Saturday on the heels of the program’s first team sectional championship in 17 years. “We just keep battling. Seemed like earlier in the year we kind of let up in the placement matches and struggled a little bit to get back up at the end of the day when we had any adversity.
“Seems like we’re really getting over that. We’re battling back when things don’t go our way 100 percent or we’re disappointed with a loss. We’re coming right back and wrestling hard and finding a way to win.”
In fact, that’s exactly the route Chapman and Winner, a 160-pounder, had to take in their final matches; come back from a deficit.
Chapman (32-8), who clinched a semi-state berth by pinning Winchester’s Jayminson Myers in the second period and beat Southern Wells’ Sam Smith by a 3-0 decision in the semifinal, fell behind Friedt 1-0 in the second period. He was awarded an escape early in the third period to tie the score but the official changed his call.
Chapman responded by escaping for good with 23 seconds left. Then he threw Friedt to the mat for a takedown and rode out the final seconds for the 3-1 decision.
“It was the same strategy going in, make him tired,” Chapman said of what it took to beat Friedt for the second time in seven days. They met for the sectional title a week earlier. “He changed up his strategy a little bit … he took a lot more shots this time. We sprawled (and I) stayed out of danger.”
A week after Winner beat Parker Bates of Adams Central for the sectional crown, they met again in the regional final.
Bates scored a takedown for a 2-0 advantage, but it was short-lived as Winner, who’s ranked 10th in the state, escaped then notched his own takedown for a 3-2 lead.
“My philosophy is, ‘So what? They get the first takedown,’” Winner, who pinned Delta’s Spencer Ashburn in the first period of the opening round and Bellmont’s Michael Metz in the second period of the semifinal, said of if he panicked or not when Bates took him to the mat. “It doesn’t matter. Keep wrestling. Just push the pace. As long as you keep wrestling and score the next point everything will be OK.”
It’s exactly what he did, taking Bates to the mat in the second period and getting a pin at 2:31 for his first regional championship after finishing runner-up as a freshman. He moved to 40-2 on the season.
“He was excited to get that and he’s excited to see what next week brings,” Myers said.
Miller, a senior who is ranked seventh in the state and won regional last year at 113 pounds, was hardly challenged on his path to the title at 106 this year. He pinned Tyler Fritz of Daleville in 29 seconds to reach semi-state, then scored a 16-1 tech fall over Tyler Johnson of Norwell in 5:02. He pinned Zachary Todd of Yorktown in 3:24, keeping his unblemished record intact at 34-0.
Jay County’s Zakk Atkins (120) and Gaven Hare (220) both wrestled for regional titles but finished second.
Tayler Cuellar, a 285-pounder for South Adams, was also runner-up.
Jay County’s other semi-state qualifiers were Jordan Schricker (third – 138), Mitchell Frasher (third – 182), George Lykins (third – 195) and Thomas Hemmelgarn (fourth – 152). Isaiah Baumgartner (third – 220) and Michael Rupp (fourth – 113) qualified for South Adams.
“I’m just really proud of those guys for having that attitude and turning that corner,” Myers said.
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