Jay wrestlers win sectional

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It’s easy to focus on the champions; those who prove they’re the best.

For a team to be successful, the matches away from the spotlight are just as crucial as those vying for titles.

It’s a senior missing out on a championship but rebounding to place third.

It’s another senior rallying for an emphatic third-place finish in his final season.

Every point matters.

From trailing the Jets before the finals until securing the trophy with two weight classes to go, the Patriots proved it Saturday.

Jay County High School’s wrestling team crowned three individual champions and sent 11 to regional as it claimed the title of the sectional tournament.

“I’m probably going to be at a loss for words here and there trying to process all of it,” said JCHS coach Eric Myers, whose team hosted the tournament and broke a drought of 16 years without a sectional title. “They showed a lot of heart. We picked up points all over the place where we needed to.

“It was stressful but a lot of fun today.”

Jay County, which hosts regional Feb. 3, totaled 212 points as it battled with runner-up Adams Central (203.5) for the top spot most of the tournament. Four-time defending champion Bellmont was third with 193.5 points.

“It’s a big stepping stone for us,” said JCHS senior Gaven Hare, who was runner-up to Isaiah Baumgartner of South Adams at 220 pounds. “We’ve been working for this all four years. We’ve come close a few times (us) seniors, but this is for everybody who has wrestled in this program since the last time we won.”

South Adams, which had two champions and seven regional qualifiers, was fourth with 145 points.

The top four in each weight class advance to regional.

Mason Winner, a 160-pound sophomore who is ranked 10th in the state, was the first individual champion for the Patriots. He pinned Parker Bates of Adams Central 46 seconds into the second period to repeat as champion and move to 37-2 on the year.

Winner received a byes to the semifinal, where he pinned Michael Metz of Bellmont in 1 minute, 39 seconds.

At 170 pounds, Jay County junior Chandler Chapman won his first sectional crown with a 3-1 victory over Bellmont sophomore Caden Freidt. After a scoreless first period, Chapman (29-8) escaped to start the second and got a high-crotch takedown for a 3-0 lead. Freidt escaped late in the third period, and Chapman hung on for the victory.

“I never thought it could happen,” said Chapman, who lost to Freidt in last year’s sectional final. “I went in there, I knew he was really good, I just had to stay sharp.”

Chapman pinned Tommy Herman of South Adams 1:04 into their quarterfinal match and had a 2-1 decision over Sam Smith of Southern Wells in the semifinal.

George Lykins, a 195-pound sophomore, was the final JCHS champion. Colin Shaffer of South Adams took Lykins to the mat in the first period, but Lykins reversed him and turned it into a pin with 13 seconds left in the opening period. Lykins also received byes to the semifinal, where he pinned Dakota Roudebush of Bellmont in 2:49. Shaffer pinned Jashawn Berlanga of Adams Central 3:16 to reach the final.

Zakk Atkins (120 pounds) and Thomas Hemmelgarn (152) also wrestled for sectional championships but fell short as the Patriots had six in the finals.

But it was those on the secondary mats that helped Jay County earn its first team title since 2001.

After losing by fall in the second period of the semifinal, senior Seth Fugiett pinned his way to third place at 126 pounds. His classmate Mitchell Frasher (182) pinned Adams Central’s Joseph Collier with a minute left in the second period to also finish third.

And Jordan Schricker picked up a second-period pin over South Adams’ Austin McKibben to finish third at 138 pounds.

Dylan Racster (106) and Ian Liette (132) were both fourth to advance to regional.

“It’s pretty amazing what they were able to accomplish this year,” said Myers, whose team set its sights on winning sectional at the beginning of the season. “We’ve had a lot of ups and downs. For them to come together as a team, as a unit and put everything together and win this today is really satisfying.”

Wyatt Miller, a 106-pound South Adams senior, went 4-for-4 in sectional championship matches for his career. He won at 106 both as a freshman and sophomore before winning at 113 a year ago.

Saturday he was barely challenged. In his first match, the semifinal, he pinned Racster in 48 seconds, then deposited Bellmont’s Andrew Hutker in 1:29.

Baumgartner, a senior who had surgery to repair a torn ACL after his junior wrestling season, had a battle with defending champion Hare, scoring a takedown late in the third period for a 4-2 decision.

“It feels good knowing that I came through a lot,” he said. He missed the first two months of the season.

South Adams’ Michael Rupp, who was champion at 106 last season as a freshman, was runner-up at 113 this year.

Christian Summersett (132) finished third for the Starfires. Tayler Cuellar (285) was fourth.