Setting big goals

Mason Winner expects a state medal, preferably the one that places him atop the podium.

It’s a given that the first Patriot wrestler to medal in each of his first three seasons would have a big goal. But he’s not the only one.

A pair of other seniors are hoping to rebound for strong final seasons and the girls wrestling program continues to grow.

Winner is on track to become the most decorated wrestler in Jay County history, as he is already one of only two three-time state medalists for the Patriots. He finished fifth at 182 pounds last season after taking eighth at 160 in 2018 and seventh at 140 in 2017. (The other is 2014 graduate Eric Hemmelgarn.)

“He’s a leader in our room,” said JCHS coach Eric Myers. “We just really look to him. He leads us in practice.

“He’s got great technique. He works a lot in the offseason.”

Winner has often repeated his goal — to win a state championship in honor of his grandfather. If he were to do so, he would become Jay County’s first state champion since David Ferguson and Geoff Glogas in 1987.

“I think for Mason to make the last jump, to get to the top of that podium, it’s just little things,” said Myers. “Just cleaning up little things on his feet, and mainly in the neutral position. And finding a way to win some of those tight matches.”

After losing in the state quarterfinal round last year, he was able to bounce back to win two matches to earn his fifth-place medal.

“I think that experience can really help him,” Myers added. “I think he’s improving and he’s taking those experiences and trying to build off them.”

Winner isn’t the only Patriot returning after having state tournament success last season.

On the girls’ side of the ledger, Lizzie Dollar is back after finishing as the runner-up at 98 pounds in the Indiana High School Girls Wrestling State Finals. She advanced to the championship match before falling to Chesterton’s Madelina Rearick.

Lita Chowning added a seventh-place finish at 113 for JCHS.

“It’s really a growing thing in Indiana and the nation,” said Myers, whose girls will wrestle in four girls-only tournaments this year in addition to the state finals. “I’ll be excited to see how they can do this year. It’s really exciting for them to compete in a girls-only tournament.”

While Winner is the only returning semi-state qualifying boy from a year ago, two others on the roster have experience at the tournament in Fort Wayne. Both George Lykins and Zakk Atkins got there as sophomores, but didn’t make it back last season.

Lykins projects to fill the lineup at 195 pounds this year after missing the tournament last season because of an injury.

“He was one of two sophomores in the bracket at 220 at semi-state his sophomore year. I look for him to have a breakout year,” said Myers.

“He’s wrestling more with Mason this year, and I can see that really helping him improve.

“He’s a really strong kid and he’s able to use that strength to get himself out of a lot of precarious positions.”

Atkins, who projects at 120 pounds, was a semi-state qualifier as a sophomore and placed third in the sectional last season before dropping out at the regional level.

Cooper Jacks, a senior, was also third in the sectional last season as he returns to wrestling at either 220 or heavyweight.

The senior class also includes Garrett Mann (152/160), Dylan Racster and Brian Newman (126/132).

Myers expects Ethan Reiley, a freshman who placed seventh in the middle school state tournament last season, to step into the lower weight classes. He will join Jayden Maymi (113) and Dylan Garringer (120/126), who were both fourth in the sectional last season. Cameron Gage will be in the 138/145 range, with Kadin Ridenour and Ryan Herring also helping to fill out the middle weight classes.

There aren’t as many grapplers out for the team as there have been in past years, but thus far that hasn’t necessarily been a bad thing.

“I was a little bit disappointed in the numbers, but then the group that we have, whenever we get in there and start working and drilling, it’s a group that really gets after it and I just see them being really productive,” said Myers, whose team was the sectional runner-up last season.

“I think that we will be in the hunt to compete for an ACAC title,” he added. “And I think that we can be in the hunt at the sectional and regional. … top four to six in team state … That’s our goal. With a little bit of inexperience that we have, we may be setting our goals a little high, but that’s kind of the point of setting goals too.”