Wrestlers win for seniors

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Seniors, exit stage right.

The Jay County High School wrestling team Tuesday sent its seniors off with yet another victory with a dominating 66-18 win over the Fort Wayne North Side Legends for “Stage Light Senior Night.”

The first-time event, taken from both the University of Missouri and Floyd Central High School wrestling teams, gave the competitors and fans alike a different perspective at the sport.

“Wrestling probably isn’t the most popular sport out there so we have to do things to showcase it and make it a little more fun,” said JCHS coach Eric Myers, who earlier this season held practice outdoors in downtown Portland. “We have a huge stage. I thought it looked pretty cool.”

It gave Jay County (16-4) the opportunity to break the monotony of the wrestling season. With a change in venue and the team counting down the days to the conference (four) and sectional (11) tournaments, they rolled on.

Behind first-period pins from Thomas Hemmelgarn (152 pounds) and Mason Winner (160 pounds) as well as three forfeits, Jay County was out front 30-0. Then Nathanael Lykins pinned Lawrence Davis in the second period of their 195-pound bout for a commanding 36-0 advantage.

Hemmelgarn improved to 26-7, Winner advanced to 32-2 and Lykins moved to 15-7.

“We’re coming off a pretty intense stretch at the end of the year and Christmas-time,” said Myers, whose team travels to Woodlan on Saturday for the Allen County Athletic Conference individual championships. The Patriots are defending champions. “We looked pretty good tonight on the stage, which was fun.”

The Legends recorded three consecutive pins at 220, 285 and 106 pounds. Preston McIlroy handled JCHS senior Lucas Schmit (10-4) in 1 minute, 13 seconds, and Dakota Ault pinned Patriot senior Connor Davis (6-15) in 3:34. LaDonis Williams kicked off the light weights by pinning Dylan Racster (11-17) in 1:50 as the Legends cut the deficit in half, 36-18.

The Patriots never lost again, as 113-pounder Taylor Klarer started a string of five straight victories by pinning Mason Cotterman in 41 seconds.

“He’s a junior and hadn’t wrestled since his eighth grade year,” Myers said of Klarer, who moved to 18-14 on the year. “Little rust to shake off at the beginning of the season and he’s really come on right now.

“He’s really good on his feet and had a nice single leg in the beginning.”

At 120 pounds, Zakk Atkins used nearly all of the allotted six minutes to walk off the stage with a win. A pair of single-leg takedowns put him behind Donyell Smith 4-2 in the first period, but Atkins nabbed a 7-4 lead after a takedown and a three-point near fall.

Entering the final period he was up 14-7 before pinning Smith, moving to 26-11 on the year.

“(Smith) had a pretty good single leg and Zakk had to learn how to time it,” Myers said. “He gave up a couple early takedowns. He looked composed, he didn’t get flustered. I was kind of proud of him. He is really wrestling well.”

Following a Legend forfeit, Ian Liette (132 pounds) and Kasey Theurer (138) both got second-period pins. Liette defeated Madjid Tohir to move to 18-13 while Theurer beat Matt Miller for his first win of the year in just his second varsity match.

Seven of the 11 Patriot wins were pins, with the others coming by way of forfeit for Rylee Huftel (126 pounds), Jordan Schricker (145), Chandler Chapman (170) and Mitchell Frasher (182).

It was the final dual match of the season for Jay County. After the conference tournament Saturday, the Patriots host both the sectional (Jan. 20) and regional (Jan. 27) tournaments.

Myers is hoping the bit of a reprieve from the front-loaded schedule can give them a much needed break.

“We hope to get rested up, focused (and) improve technique,” he said. “I really want us to start shining by the time sectional rolls around.”