Kenney earns state medal (02/21/2009)

INDIANAPOLIS - Regardless of what happens today, Casey Kenney will walk away as a two-time state medalist.

Kenney, a Jay County High School senior, guaranteed himself a state medal Friday night by winning his opening-round match at the IHSAA Wrestling State Finals at Conseco Fieldhouse.

All three South Adams wrestlers in competition ended their seasons Friday.

Kenney, who is ranked eighth in the state, opened his road in the loaded 119-pound weight class against No. 10 John Petrov of Hanover Central. He controlled the match and improved his record to 44-2 with a 9-2 victory.

Petrov finished his sophomore season at 38-5.

The tournament resumes today at 9:30 a.m. when Kenney will take on fifth-ranked Justin Kieffer (45-2) of Roncalli. Kieffer denied a possible rematch of last season's 103-pound state championship match by knocking off Indian Creek's Ethan Raley 3-2 Friday night.

Raley topped Kenney in last season's state title bout.

If Kenney (44-2) defeats Kieffer, he would meet the winner of a quarterfinal match between No. 2 Camden Eppert (36-4) of Anderson Highland and No. 3 Justin Brooks (39-0) of Warsaw. Eppert is responsible for both of Kenney's losses this season.

Still alive on the opposite side of the 119-pound bracket are No. 6 Alex Johns (50-1) of Evansville Reitz, No. 7 Derek Bevans (41-2) of Yorktown, No. 1 Brandon Wright (45-2) from Cathedral and No. 10 Daniel Bradley (39-1) of Knox. Wright won the state championship last season at 112 pounds, and Eppert was the 103-pound champion in 2007.

Brooks is a three-time state medalist, and Johns has won a pair of state medals. Kieffer and Bevans, whose only two losses this season came against Kenney in the regional and semi-state title matches, each own one state medal.

Kenney would need three victories today in order to become the third JCHS wrestler to win a state title. Geoff Glogas and Dave Ferguson both accomplished the feat in 1987. The last Patriot to earn a state crown in any sport was Kerri McClung in the shot put in 2000.

South Adams got a school-record seven wrestlers to the semi-state round with three moving on to the state finals, but will walk away without a state medal.

Freshman Todd Batt wrestled the closest match for the Starfires as he went up against No. 8 Aurleio Medina (46-5) of Munster at 103 pounds. He lost 6-2 to finish his year at 38-5.

Sophomore Josh Ehr (32-11) put up an impressive fight against top-ranked senior Joshua Harper of Mishawaka, but suffered an 8-2 defeat in the 130-pound bracket. Harper is trying to become just the eighth four-time state champion in Indiana history.

Jim West competed in the heavyweight bracket against Delphi's Wes Everett, who is ranked 13th in the state. Everett extended his record on the year to 45-1 by pinning West (35-8) in 2-minutes, 48 seconds.[[In-content Ad]]