July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Semi-state champ (02/16/2009)
JCHS wrestling
Semi-state champ (02/16/2009)
By By RAY COONEY-
FORT WAYNE - Casey Kenney is going to Conseco again.
The Jay County High School senior didn't just earn his second straight trip to the state finals Saturday. He also won his second consecutive semi-state title, dominating the first three rounds before winning a rematch of last week's regional championship 3-1 over Derek Bevans of Yorktown.
"For two straight years he's won three of the four biggest tournaments the state has," said JCHS coach James Myers, a state medalist in 1997. "I don't know how many times its been done in the history of Jay County wrestling. To win two semi-states, two regionals and two sectionals is quite an accomplishment."
South Adams will also be represented at the state finals as three of its seven competitors Saturday finished in the top four to earn state berths. Todd Batt finished second, and Josh Ehr and Jim West were each third.
The season ended in disappointing fashion for JCHS 140-pounder Ben Theurer. After cruising through his first-round match, the senior lost 8-3 to Leo's Justin Beck in the quarterfinals.
The top four competitors in each weight class earned a trip to the state finals.
After pinning Tommy Poynter of DeKalb in the opening round at 119 pounds Saturday, Kenney rolled to his state berth with relative ease.
He led just three-point lead against Whitko's Dylan LeTourneau after the first period, but pulled away in the second half of the second.
Kenney scored a quick reversal to start the second before giving up as takedown as LeTourneau pulled to within 5-3. Kenney escaped and made the rest of the second period his. He got a takedown with 17 seconds left and then added a three-point near fall for an 11-3 lead en route to his 13-4 victory.
"It feels good," said Kenney immediately after defeating LeTourneau. "Now I'm just wrestling to get a better seed at state instead of wrestling to get to state.
"I didn't want to do anything stupid to get caught ... and pinned. So I just stuck to the basics with takedowns."
But Kenney did not stop there, clobbering Elkhart Central's Alex Filer with a 21-6 technical fall in the semifinal round to set up a rematch with No. 7 Bevans in the championship match.
Bevans, who was undefeated before falling to Kenney a week earlier in the regional finals, needed overtime to survive his ticket-round match. But he pinned Marquis Williams of Snider in the semifinals.
His success, however, ended when he lined up against Jay County's senior star.
The key moment in the match came in the second period, when Kenney scored a takedown to get a 2-1 lead. An escape to start the third period pushed Kenney's advantage to two points, and Bevans was unable to pull even.
"It was a little different," said Myers of the semi-state title match as compared the regional. "Casey was more aggressive putting pressure on Derek.
"Casey got an escape in the third period, and Bevans hadn't really threatened to score on us the whole match."
Kenney, who is ranked eighth in the state and finished as the state runner-up a year ago, takes a 43-2 record with him to the state tournament. Both of his losses this year came against No. 2 Camden Eppert of Anderson Highland, and his only loss last season was in the state championship match against No. 4 Ethan Raley of Indian Creek. Raley and Kenney could potentially meet in the second round of the state tournament this season.
Theurer crushed Lakeland's Brock Bateman with a 17-1 technical fall in the first round, but trailed 2-0 against Beck in the match with a state berth on the line. However, he started the second period down and got an escape followed by a takedown at the 1:25 mark to grab the lead.
The JCHS senior continued to stay on top for the next minute, only to have Beck get a reversal and two-point near fall late the period. Theurer did not score again as Beck added a takedown in the third to end his season.
"I thought with the lead with about 10 seconds to go in the second period he was in good shape," said Myers of Theurer, who gave up points late in periods in the same round last season in a loss to Eastern's Chad Barrett. "And then it happened again, he gave up that reversal, near fall at the end of the second. We got rode out in the third.
"This is two years in a row now he's been leading and given up big points at the end of periods. Especially going into the third down instead of having a lead was sort of aggravating for him."
Even though he fell short of the state finals, Theurer turned in an outstanding year that included his second sectional title. He finished his senior season at 36-6 and added his name to the short list of Patriots who have earned 100 career victories.
"I was proud of him," said Myers. "He has nothing to hang his head about. He had a great season and a great career at Jay County."
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The Jay County High School senior didn't just earn his second straight trip to the state finals Saturday. He also won his second consecutive semi-state title, dominating the first three rounds before winning a rematch of last week's regional championship 3-1 over Derek Bevans of Yorktown.
"For two straight years he's won three of the four biggest tournaments the state has," said JCHS coach James Myers, a state medalist in 1997. "I don't know how many times its been done in the history of Jay County wrestling. To win two semi-states, two regionals and two sectionals is quite an accomplishment."
South Adams will also be represented at the state finals as three of its seven competitors Saturday finished in the top four to earn state berths. Todd Batt finished second, and Josh Ehr and Jim West were each third.
The season ended in disappointing fashion for JCHS 140-pounder Ben Theurer. After cruising through his first-round match, the senior lost 8-3 to Leo's Justin Beck in the quarterfinals.
The top four competitors in each weight class earned a trip to the state finals.
After pinning Tommy Poynter of DeKalb in the opening round at 119 pounds Saturday, Kenney rolled to his state berth with relative ease.
He led just three-point lead against Whitko's Dylan LeTourneau after the first period, but pulled away in the second half of the second.
Kenney scored a quick reversal to start the second before giving up as takedown as LeTourneau pulled to within 5-3. Kenney escaped and made the rest of the second period his. He got a takedown with 17 seconds left and then added a three-point near fall for an 11-3 lead en route to his 13-4 victory.
"It feels good," said Kenney immediately after defeating LeTourneau. "Now I'm just wrestling to get a better seed at state instead of wrestling to get to state.
"I didn't want to do anything stupid to get caught ... and pinned. So I just stuck to the basics with takedowns."
But Kenney did not stop there, clobbering Elkhart Central's Alex Filer with a 21-6 technical fall in the semifinal round to set up a rematch with No. 7 Bevans in the championship match.
Bevans, who was undefeated before falling to Kenney a week earlier in the regional finals, needed overtime to survive his ticket-round match. But he pinned Marquis Williams of Snider in the semifinals.
His success, however, ended when he lined up against Jay County's senior star.
The key moment in the match came in the second period, when Kenney scored a takedown to get a 2-1 lead. An escape to start the third period pushed Kenney's advantage to two points, and Bevans was unable to pull even.
"It was a little different," said Myers of the semi-state title match as compared the regional. "Casey was more aggressive putting pressure on Derek.
"Casey got an escape in the third period, and Bevans hadn't really threatened to score on us the whole match."
Kenney, who is ranked eighth in the state and finished as the state runner-up a year ago, takes a 43-2 record with him to the state tournament. Both of his losses this year came against No. 2 Camden Eppert of Anderson Highland, and his only loss last season was in the state championship match against No. 4 Ethan Raley of Indian Creek. Raley and Kenney could potentially meet in the second round of the state tournament this season.
Theurer crushed Lakeland's Brock Bateman with a 17-1 technical fall in the first round, but trailed 2-0 against Beck in the match with a state berth on the line. However, he started the second period down and got an escape followed by a takedown at the 1:25 mark to grab the lead.
The JCHS senior continued to stay on top for the next minute, only to have Beck get a reversal and two-point near fall late the period. Theurer did not score again as Beck added a takedown in the third to end his season.
"I thought with the lead with about 10 seconds to go in the second period he was in good shape," said Myers of Theurer, who gave up points late in periods in the same round last season in a loss to Eastern's Chad Barrett. "And then it happened again, he gave up that reversal, near fall at the end of the second. We got rode out in the third.
"This is two years in a row now he's been leading and given up big points at the end of periods. Especially going into the third down instead of having a lead was sort of aggravating for him."
Even though he fell short of the state finals, Theurer turned in an outstanding year that included his second sectional title. He finished his senior season at 36-6 and added his name to the short list of Patriots who have earned 100 career victories.
"I was proud of him," said Myers. "He has nothing to hang his head about. He had a great season and a great career at Jay County."
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