Wrestling for redemption

Ethan Reiley and Mason Winner both came up short of their goals Saturday.

Reiley, a Jay County High School freshman, lost his final two semi-state matches after earning a berth in the state final.

Winner, who had three semi-state titles to his name and was hoping to become the school’s first four-time champ, lost in overtime and instead placed second.

Both are using those setbacks as a driving force as they compete in the IHSAA Wrestling State Finals on Friday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

“Take things away that I’ve done wrong, fix ’em and dial in and keep wrestling hard,” Winner, a senior, three-time state medalist and the team’s first wrestler to reach state all four years, said of how he’s moving on from that championship loss. “Keep head up, chest out, still take it one match at a time.

“Take nothing for granted. Take something from the loss and build on it.”

The opening round is set for 6 p.m. Friday, and a victory guarantees a top-eight finish and a state medal. The tournament then resumes at 9:30 a.m. Saturday with quarterfinal and semifinal matches. Consolation finals begin at 5 p.m. with the state championships slated for 7:30 p.m.

Reiley, an unranked 113-pounder, is one of five freshmen in his weight division and admitted after earning his state berth he didn’t compete with the same intensity that got him there in the first place.

He too is working to put his two losses behind him.

“Knowing that I could have wrestled way better and I didn’t really give it my best that I could have,” he said of overcoming those defeats, which dropped him to 37-5 on the year. “I had to put it behind me because I know that since I didn’t, it was not too good for me and I was going to have to wrestle really tough on Friday to overcome it.”

Reiley meets fellow freshman and sixth-ranked Logan Frazier (35-2) of Crown Point in the opening round. Potential quarterfinal opponents Saturday morning are second-ranked junior Cole Ross (37-2) of Evansville Mater Dei or junior Dylan Driver (31-10) of Westfield.

But the focus for Reiley, first and foremost, is forgetting about his defeats Saturday and who he could face in a quarterfinal match in order to prepare for Frazier.

“I don’t think he wrestled bad (on Saturday), he just did not wrestle with the same focus and the edge that he had in those first two matches,” JCHS coach Eric Myers said. “Now we talked about resetting his goals. He’s achieved goals. Now he’s got to reset a goal. That goal has to be placing at the state finals.

“That, I think, has turned his focus to just focusing on that one match. I think that will help him in moving forward and regaining his focus and that edge.”

Aside from Ross and Frazer, the top eight wrestlers at 113 are in the bracket, including top-ranked junior Alex Cottey of Perry Meridian. Cottey (38-1) was second in the state at 106 pounds each of the last two years.

Though Winner (41-1) is ranked second in the state, the 182-pound field is about as stacked as it can get. And his first two matches could hardly be any more difficult, as far as rankings are concerned.

Top-ranked Joseph Walker (29-2), a Mishawaka senior who didn’t lose until his final two semi-state matches, meets No. 3 MaCartney Parkinson (38-2), a Mater Dei senior, in the opening round.

Winner has a bout with sixth-ranked Johnny Parker (35-6), a junior from Indianapolis Cathedral. Whomever emerges victorious meets either Walker or Parkinson first thing Saturday morning in the quarterfinal. It’s a gauntlet from the get-go.

“It’s said over and over the big thing about that is taking it one match at a time, looking at Parker from Cathedral and focusing on that match,” Myers said. “Staying alive and getting through Friday night; seeing what happens with that No. 1 and No. 3 matchup. Keep that in the back of our minds and worry about who comes through that after we get through our own battle.”

Winner is no stranger to the pomp and circumstance of Friday night at the state finals. He’s won that opening-round match in each of the last three years, in the process becoming the first wrestler to earn a medal in his first three seasons and joining 2014 graduate Eric Hemmelgarn as the only three-time medalists.

A win Friday gives him another piece of history; more state medals than any wrestler in the history of the school.

“It’ll be pretty special,” said Winner, who boasts a career record of 167-13, the most wins of any Patriot. “Another thing in the history books. It’s always special to set the bar higher for someone else to try to achieve higher and do better.”

One, possibly two more days of wrestling remain in the season, which began back on Nov. 18. Three months later, Myers is just as excited for the sport’s premier event.

“I’ve had the opportunity to coach such great kids so many times that they’ve been kind enough to bring me along,” he said. “Every time I’m there it stirs up that same feeling. You get a little bit more comfortable every year but you still get that same excitement, that same intensity.

“You’re just glad you’re able to be there and wish you were still young enough and you still have the ability to compete, but it’s the next best thing.”