Five vying for state berths

Mason Winner is chasing his third straight trip to the state finals.

Thomas Hemmelgarn, Jordan Schricker and Chandler Chapman are once again one notch away from the sport’s pinnacle event.

And Dawson Frasher is hoping to make the best out of his final season.

Four seniors and a junior, the latter of whom is hoping to become the school’s second three-time state medalist, will put their strength and skills to the test on Saturday as the Jay County High School wrestling team sends five to the IHSAA semi-state tournament at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.

“We’ve got a shot to go 5-0 after that first round,” said JCHS coach Eric Myers. “Like to be 10-0 after that second round.”

South Adams, led by coach Jesse Gaskill, also has five semi-state qualifiers.

“All these guys are hitting goals they’ve wanted to,” Gaskill said. “They’re accomplishing what they need to with where they’re at.

“I think now it’s ‘Let’s just finish out on top as best as possible.’”

Saturday’s second round, dubbed the “ticket round” because winners “punch their ticket” to the state finals, is where Schricker (145 pounds) had his season end as a junior. Classmates Hemmelgarn (152)?and Chapman (195)never got there as they lost in the opening round.

“Devastated,” Schricker said of getting taken down to drop a 3-1 decision a year ago. “I want to come back. I want to get out of that ticket round.”

Schricker (34-8) meets Aaron McKinley of Maconaquah in his first match Saturday, with either Huntington North’s Matthew Kline (22-18) or Prairie Heights’ Ryan Rasler (35-3) awaiting him in the ticket round.

Hemmelgarn (27-10), who sits at 99 career victories, has Eastern (Greentown) freshman Brodie Porter (35-2) in the opening round, and will likely face sixth-ranked Carroll senior and returning state qualifier Ethan Hicks (38-1) in the ticket round.

“I’ve watched a lot of kids go in there top dog and get knocked off,” Myers said. “I’ve watched (No. 1 seeds) lose to (No. 4 seeds) and nobody thought that could happen. Thomas is on and he believes he can do it. He’ll be right there.”

Chapman (14-0), a two-time sectional and regional champion, meets Garrett junior Cole Bergman (18-13) in the opener with either DeKalb senior Lukass Roller (25-13) or 10th-ranked Marion senior and returning state qualifier Victor Lee (24-4) in the ticket round.

“We have complete confidence in Chandler but he’s going to have to come ready to wrestle because a returning state qualifier is no slouch,” Myers said. “It’ll be interesting. It’ll be fun to watch those two guys.”

Winner, a 182-pound junior, is 36-2 and ranked seventh in the state. While he faces Cass junior Cayl Garland (27-11) in the first round with a ticket-round matchup against Northridge junior Caid Lacey (23-7) or Wayne senior Justin McDonald (33-4), the returning semi-state champion isn’t likely to be challenged until the final. Junior Jake Lone (33-3) of NorthWood is ranked one spot higher than Winner and is a potential championship opponent.

“He’s going to have two kids gunning for him,” Myers said. “He’s one of those top dogs so he’s going to have to go out and wrestle.”

The 220-pound Frasher (17-5) has a first-round bout with Sea Davis (23-13), an Elkhart Central junior. A potential ticket round opponent is Leo senior Jayden Elwood (34-2), who Frasher’s teammate Lucas Schmit defeated during a dual earlier in the season, which gives Frasher a bit of a leg up because he beat out Schmit for the Patriots’ 220 slot heading into the sectional tournament.

“Any ticket-round match he would have drawn is difficult,” Myers said. “If he goes out there and wrestles he’s got a shot.”

Also in Frasher’s weight class is first-year Starfire wrestler Spenser Clark (21-17), who meets fifth-ranked Levi Leffers (35-1) in the opening round.

Clark knows he’s in for an uphill battle, but he’s embracing the challenge.

“I have Leffers; he’s really good,” said Clark, a senior. “I’ve just been practicing ... just working the hardest I can.”

South Adams freshmen Logan Bauman (26-12) and AJ Dull (25-10) have tough matches against Central Noble kids start their tournaments at 106 and 138 pounds respectively.

Bauman meets undefeated freshman Alex Ocampo (15-0), while Dull squares off against sixth-ranked Tanner Schoeff (33-4), a senior.

The Starfires also have 170-pound sophomore Christian Summersett (19-4) and heavyweight Andre Hughes (30-4) competing on Saturday.

“He’s hungry,” Gaskill said of Summersett, who is looking to become the first sophomore Starfire state qualifier since Sawyer Miller finished third in 2013. “He’s motivated. He’s setting himself up well.”