Patriots double Oak Hill (12/13/07)

This time around, the Patriots finished the job.

Jay County High School's wrestling team led Oak Hill by 16 points Wednesday night with three matches to go. In the same situation at Saturday's Delta Duals, it gave up three consecutive pins to Greenwood in fading to its only loss (36-34) of the day.

But Sha White and Zach Ainsworth finished off the visiting Golden Eagles with back-to-back pins for an impressive 48-24 victory.

"It was a pretty solid performance," said JCHS coach James Myers. "The guys finished today. We didn't do that against Greenwood. So, it was nice to see us come back and get two pins instead of giving up three. It was an excellent job by the guys tonight."

Oak Hill pulled to within 12 points at 36-24, but then White put the match away. The junior scored a quick takedown in the 171-pound match and then fought for more than a minute before getting the pin in 1-minute, 49 seconds.

Ainsworth added a pin in 1:05 over Joel Millspaugh at 189 pounds to complete the victory.

Senior Lucas Schmiesing scored the fastest pin for the Patriots at 152 pounds. In the final home dual meet of his career, the senior finished off Taylor Freeman in just 48 seconds.

Kyler Blowers (HWT) won his match in 52 seconds, and Ben Theurer (135) put Mitch Slaughter's shoulders to the mat in 2:27.

Junior Casey Kenney ran his undefeated streak to 20 matches with a 9-0 major decision over Chandler Staggs.

"Ainsworth wrestled a good match ... getting a take down and working for a fall," said Myers. "Casey wrestled one of their better guys tonight and did a good job, didn't give up a score. Even the guys who lost wrestled pretty well."

On top of that list was Skylar Finnerty, who spent most of his match fighting off Jacob Rosman. Rosman was in control all the way at 140 pounds, but Finnerty refused to give up a pin or even a final two points for a major decision after trailing 6-0 through two periods.

"They've wrestled several times in the past," said Myers. "(Finnerty) knew with 6-0 he couldn't give up a near fall to make it a major, not knowing how the rest of the meet would turn out. Getting one and getting within five made it pretty difficult ..."

Each of the other two Jay County wins in matches that went the distance came by major decision. Caleb Culy (130) defeated Mason Meredith 9-1, and senior Josh Lochtefeld (125) topped Nate Linna 13-2.

"I'm just glad for these seniors," said Myers of the group that includes Schmiesing, Lochtefeld, Aaron Miller and Brad Tipton. "This senior class has been excellent. ... They're going to go on to do good things. I'm really proud of them."

Freshman Drake Meska won the 103-pound match by injury default.

The victory made the Patriots 2-0 in their only two dual meets thus far, setting them up for the series of tournaments they'll host. They will be back home Dec. 22 for the East Central Indiana Classic, and JCHS also plays host to both the sectional and regional tournaments.

"They're real excited about getting into the tournament season," said Myers. "Everything we wrestle now is a tournament, except the dual meet against Marion. They're anticipating it. We set ourselves up with a lot of early victories against some quality kids ... I think we're looking good."[[In-content Ad]]