Kenney 4th in state (02/23/2009)

INDIANAPOLIS - Only the best of the best could beat Casey Kenney.

The Jay County High School senior took home his second state medal Saturday, finishing fourth in the 119-pound weight class at the IHSAA Wrestling State Finals at Conseco Fieldhouse.

"The kids we lost to today are top-notch kids," said JCHS coach James Myers. "We're not disappointed. He had a good weekend."

Kenney won his first two matches at the state finals, defeating No. 10 John Petrov (38-5) of Hanover Central 9-2 Friday evening and then fighting off fifth-ranked Justin Kieffer (44-3) from Roncalli 12-10 in Saturday morning's quarterfinals. He dropped out of the running for the state title with his third loss of the season against Anderson Highland's second-ranked Camden Eppert, and then dropped the third-place match 7-5 to No. 6 Alex Johns of Evansville Reitz.

Eppert went on to defeat No. 1-ranked Brandon Wright of Cathedral 3-2 in the championship match in overtime. It was the third straight state championship match meeting for the pair, with Eppert winning the 103-pound title in 2007 and Wright taking the 112-pound crown last year.

"It was a pretty good day," said Kenney after the loss to Johns. "I thought I wrestled pretty well against Eppert.

"I could deal with (not being in the championship match), I just wanted to win the last match."

The deciding moment of Kenney's third-place match came about a third of the way into the second period. Already trailing 3-0, Johns caught him for a takedown and a two-point near fall to push the advantage to seven.

"We gave up two back points," said Myers. "At this level, that can be the match, and it was."

An escape earned Kenney his first point of the match. He added a takedown, but couldn't quite get Johns turned to his back in the closing seconds of the period.

The Patriot senior closed the gap to 7-5 in the third, but couldn't pull even as Johns was content to avoid him for the two-point win.

"This last match I just made some stupid mistakes, giving up a takedown at the very end of the (first) period and getting caught on my back," said Kenney. "That was about the only points he scored the whole match.

"It was frustrating because I knew I could beat the guy."

Kenney opened Saturday's action by dominating Kieffer, cruising to a 10-3 lead. But in the third period he got caught in a headlock, and a near fall closed the gap to just two points.

That was the least of the worries as Kenney spent a majority of the period just trying to keep his shoulders off the mat. He managed to do so, got a reversal to extend his lead and held on for a 12-10 win.

"Against Kieffer, Kenney was wrestling great," said Myers. "He was a takedown machine. He was controlling the match, but then he gave up a big one. It didn't end up costing us.

"He doesn't get put on his back often. ...

"It wasn't the way he wanted to go out. He was on his back for a good minute, but he came out and ended up winning the match."

Eppert was able to defeat Kenney for the third time this season by attacking with single-leg takedowns. He got one in the first period and three more in the second on the way to the 8-4 win.

"I like wrestling him," said Kenney, who scored all of his points on escapes. "It makes you better. I thought I wrestled him the best I have all year today, so I'm happy with that."

Kenney, who was the 103-pound runner-up last season, racked up a 92-5 record in his junior and senior seasons. His 142 career wins are the most in Jay County history. He won sectional, regional and semi-state titles each of the last two years.

His only losses over the course of the last two seasons came to Indian Creek's Ethan Raley (33-0) in the 103-pound state championship last season, Eppert (39-4), a two time state-champion and four-time state medalist, and Johns (52-2), a three-time state medalist.

"His season and career have been great," said Myers. "Desire, dedication, his want, his will have gotten him this far. That's why he's had success."[[In-content Ad]]