Patriot youth ready for semi-state

The youth movement is in full force for the Patriots.

As a half dozen members of the Jay County High School wrestling team prepare for Saturday’s semi-state tournament, four of them are freshmen.

The other two are seniors making their first trip to this level of the state tournament.

Patriot coach Eric Myers has his work cut out for him beacuse for the first time in more than a decade the team has no returning semi-state qualifiers.

“The No. 1 thing is keep focusing on one match at a time,” said Myers, whose squad will begin competition at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne. “A lot of times kids get to semi-state or state and they kind of let themselves gawk up in the stands a little bit.

“They’ve got to put their heads down. I tell them whenever they look out on the mat you’ve got to shut out everything that’s outside that circle. Take it one match at a time.”

That mentality can be tough for youngsters or anyone else who is two matches away from reaching the state finals — wins in the first two matches Saturday guarantee a top-four finish and a state berth.

But the Patriot freshmen — Cody Rowles, Taye Curtis, Tony Wood and Cameron Clark — have competed in high-profile matches already in their young careers at middle school state as well as national tournaments.

Seniors R.J. Heskett and Blake Pruett aren’t quite as experienced as those four, but they’re still on the cusp of ending their JCHS wrestling careers at the state’s highest level.

“They’ve wrestled really well to get to this point,” Myers said of the six Patriots. “Very deserving. “We talk all year about setting themselves up and giving themselves an opportunity to qualify for the state finals so whether its first through fourth (at regional) they all have a shot on Saturday. “Obviously our champions have a little better shot but everybody’s got a shot.

“If someone comes out focused and catches fire, anything can happen.”

Rowles and Wood were the Patriots’ two regional champions, and they’ll square off against kids who placed fourth in their respective regional tournaments.

Rowles (34-1) meets Fairfield senior Ryan Keller (19-14) in the first round at 106 pounds. Potential opponents in the ticket round — a win punches their ticket to the state finals — are Carroll sophomore Gilbert Ruselink (23-5) and Peru freshman No. 18 Jalen May (24-5).

“Cody comes in as a champion,” Myers said. “He has a fourth-placer first round, but something we emphasize is one match at a time. If we start looking at the ticket round or the semifinals that’s where we get in trouble.”

Other semi-state qualifiers at 106 include eighth-ranked Tanner Tishner (27-1) of Western and No. 16 Keegan Malott (18-2) of East Noble.

Wood (34-3), who is ranked ninth at 120 pounds, meets Aidan Sanderson (19-8) in the first round, with Cole Sailors (25-4) of Pero or Mikey Kallimani (30-4) of Jimtown awaiting in the ticket round.

“Tony set himself up really well,” Myers said.

Wood’s bracket also features sixth-ranked Aidan Sprague of East Noble, No. 11 Jacob Veatch of Leo and No. 14 Justin Puckett of Northridge.

Having taken third at regional, 113-pounder Taye Curtis will have to go through at least one ranked opponent in order to get to state. Curtis has an opening-round match with No. 19 Elliott Cornewell (33-2) of Bishop Dwenger, with either Beau Brabender (27-3) of Northridge or Anthony Martin (19-4) of Western in the ticket round.

“He’s got a tough first-round match but he’s wrestling as well as he’s wrestled all year right now,” Myers said. “He’s very confident. It’s the right time to be wrestling like that.”

Bellmont junior Isaac Ruble, who is ranked third, and fifth-ranked Hayden Brady of Garrett are also in Curtis’s bracket.

Cameron Clark (26-4) meets Garrett junior Brayden Baker (23-5) in the first round at 132 pounds, with Robert Dinn of Western and Braxton Miller of DeKalb as potential ticket round opponents.

“The way his draw played out he may have a tougher first-round match than he may have in the second round,” Myers said. “We really have to focus on who he’s got first round. Definitely a winnable match there for Cameron, but it’ll be a tough one and he’ll have to grind one out there.”

R.J. Heskett, a 138-pound senior with a 29-7 record, was a sectional champion two weeks ago but took third at regional, squares off against Ben Miller (27-4) of Lakeland ahead of a ticket round match against either No. 15 Brody Arthur (24-1) of Oak Hill or Jared Landez (21-9) of Carroll.

Patriot senior Blake Pruett, who is 24-10 at 160 pounds and had his sophomore and junior seasons cut short because of meniscus injuries, is upset-minded after placing fourth at regional. He’s got 10th-ranked Landon Buchanan (32-2) of Jimtown in the first round, with Mekhi Spencer (24-5) of Snider and Bryce Buckley (38-3) of Eastern (Greentown) as potential ticket-round opponents.

“It’s going to be pretty tough,” Pruett said. “But I think I’m going to do pretty good. I think I’ve improved drastically since my leg injuries so I think I’m going to go out there pretty mean, be able to upset a couple matches.”