One Patriot advances to semi-state (02/05/07)

Cameron Pfeifer did what he had to do. Then decided to save the rest for next week.

Pfeifer, the Patriots' only sectional champion a week ago, became their only semi-state qualifier Saturday as he advanced through the Jay County regional. He won each of his first two matches before taking an injury default in the finals to finish second.

Two other Patriots - Casey Kenney (103) and Ben Theurer (130) - had a chance to advance as they reached the consolation finals, but each lost those matches to finish in third place.

The top three wrestlers in each weight class, along with those from regionals at Carroll, Goshen and Peru, earned a spot in Saturday's semi-state tournament hosted by Woodlan at the Allen County Coliseum.

Bellmont led all teams with 11 wrestlers advancing to the semi-state, including 10 who reached the finals and six champions. No other school had more than three wrestlers in the championship round, and Yorktown was second with seven semi-state qualifiers.

"We wrestled well today," said JCHS coach James Myers. "I was pleased. We lost some tough matches in the semis and then wrestled well in the third-place matches. We got a kid through who wasn't feeling very well today."

That was Pfeifer, who missed several days of school and practice with an illness during the week. He still wasn't in very good shape physically Saturday, but he fought through the matches necessary to earn himself another week of action.

After scoring an 18-7 major decision over Jeff Dobbs of Delta in the opening round, Pfeifer faced a stiff challenge from Bellmont's Carlin Hormann in the semifinals of the 112-pound tournament. He trailed 3-2 early and 5-4 in the second period, then tied the match at five before needing injury time at the 30-second mark to recover as he seemed ready to pass out on the mat.

When the match resumed Hormann worked his way for a takedown at 12 seconds for a 9-7 lead, but Pfeifer immediately turned the tables on him. In the final five seconds of the second period the Jay County sophomore scored a reversal and a two-point near fall to grab the lead for good at 9-7. He added another takedown and near fall in the third as he guaranteed himself a spot in the semi-state with a 13-7 win.

"I didn't wrestle very well because I was sick," said Pfeifer, who looked woozy as he walked off the mat after defeating Hormann. "I felt like I was going to pass out in my second match. ... I just kept going, didn't stop.

"It feels pretty good. It's just an accomplishment for me."

Pfeifer, who is now 32-10 on the year, was slated to face Derek Bevans of Yorktown for the regional title, but chose to take an injury default in hopes of being healthy next week.

"He didn't wrestle particularly well in the first round. We knew we were only going to get a few periods out of him," said Myers. "He gutted it out and really hung with it. It was really a tight match (against Hormann) until the end when he put him on his back."

Pfeifer's sectional victory a week ago gave him a big boost in the regional as he took on two wrestlers who each entered the day with just seven wins. Had he finished second in the sectional, he would have had to deal with Bevans (37-4) in the semifinal round instead of the finals.

"The draw was much easier," said Myers. "Getting that victory over (third-place finisher Bruce) Murray from Bluffton last week was big."

Kenney and Theurer each turned in big first-round wins, but dropped their next two as their seasons came to an end.

Theurer's was the big win of the day as he upset Delta sectional champion Tanner Armantrout of Muncie Southside.

After finishing fourth at the Jay County sectional, Theurer (28-15) trailed 2-0 after the first period against Armantrout (19-8). But he used a big second period to take a 5-2 lead and then finished off the Rebel sophomore with a pin in 5-minutes, 30 seconds. But he ran out of steam in the next two rounds, getting pinned by runner-up Ryan Holsten of Blackford in the semifinals in 2:47 and falling 14-4 to Tim Strayer of Yorktown in the third-place match.

"He wrestled (Armantrout) earlier in the conference and wrestled him really tough," said Myers. "(In the third-place match), their styles were so similar we knew it was going to be a tough match.

"Either way it went today we were going to have a tough road for most of the guys because they took fourth (at sectional)."

Kenney (34-8) was a third-place finisher in the sectional and controlled his opening match for a 6-0 win over Jacob Anderson of Yorktown. But he lost 7-1 to eventual champion Ethan Fiechter of Adams Central, then dropped an 8-3 decision to Southside's Jacob Armantrout in the consolation finals.

In other matches for Jay County, Skyler Finnerty (135) lost a 25-7 technical fall to Southside's Storm Smith, Aaron Miller (140) suffered a pin in 2:42 against eventual champion Kyle Mosier of Yorktown and Tom Smith (189) fell by a 13-4 major decision to Yorktown's Ashton Freeman.

Josh Lochtefeld (119), who qualified for the regional with a fourth-place sectional finish, was unable to wrestle because of an injury.[[In-content Ad]]