Three Patriots favored

Three Patriots and five Starfires will be favored to earn semi-state berths.
Jay County and South Adams High Schools will have a combined 19 athletes competing at the JCHS regional tournament — the event includes the top four finishers from the Jay County and Delta sectional tournaments — which begins at 8:30 a.m. Saturday. The top four athletes in each weight class will advance to the New Haven semi-state, which means the opening match of the day is win-or-go-home.
Senior Drake Meska and sophomore Kyle Garringer, both sectional champions this season and semi-state qualifiers a year ago, lead the group of seven Patriots.
Meska (38-2) is ranked seventh in the state at 140 pounds and will take on Monroe Central’s Tim Baker (17-6) with a semi-state berth on the line. Two other state-ranked wrestlers — Bellmont’s No. 9 Brooks Faurote (23-4), who Meska defeated in the sectional finals, and Yorktown’s No. 17 Cole Van Horn (11-3) — will compete at 140 as well, but Meska could not meet either of them until the championship.
Charlie Hirschy (25-13) of South Adams will also take on Joseph Crabtree (27-8) of Muncie Central in the 140-pound bracket with the winner advancing to take on the Meska/Baker winner in the semifinals.
Like Meska, Garringer (29-4) will also take on a Monroe Central wrestler, David Tinsman (17-11), in his first match in the 189-pound bracket. Also at 189, South Adams’ Cody Conner (20-9) will wrestle Scott Neff (29-5) of Yorktown.
Sectional runner-up Eric Hemmelgarn (30-9), a freshman, is the other first-round favorite for JCHS as he battles Taylor Morris (7-27) of Monroe Central.
Sectional champions Josh Ehr, Todd Batt, T.J. Burnfield and Gabe Sprunger, and runner-up Isaac Werst will all be favored to reach the semi-state.
Josh Ehr (37-0) tops the list of five Starfires who will be favorites in their first-round matches. The senior and two-time state qualifier, who is ranked second in the state at 152 pounds, meets Yorktown’s Jason Brown (11-15).
Ehr could then face a semifinal battle against 10th-ranked Jarod Schwartz (36-3) of Adams Central.
At 125 pounds, 12th-ranked Batt (36-1) of the Starfires will face Wes-Del freshman Devin Gill (25-9). His road to a regional title could include 19th-ranked Rhett Hiestand (32-9) of Yorktown, who meets Jay County sophomore Dustin Tighe (12-18) in the first round.
Burnfield (17-1), who is ranked 18th in the state at 145, opens the regional against Muncie Central’s Cole Staton (10-17). He faces a potential regional championship match against Yorktown’s Andrew Hiestand (39-2), who is ranked No. 2.
Sprunger (32-5) will meet Larry Smith (19-8) of Wapahani at 135 pounds. His bracket includes top-ranked Devon Jackson (40-0) of Yorktown and No. 7 Isaiah Bradley (29-3) from Muncie Southside.
At 171, Werst (32-6) opens against Winchester’s Eric Sauser (22-8). Jay County’s Zach Metcalf (13-12) also battles Spencer Osborn (19-3) of Muncie Central, with the winner advancing to take on the Werst/Sauser winner. The bracket also includes No. 4 Ryley Hankenson (34-1) from Bellmont and No. 18 Seth Edwards (25-11) of Yorktown.
Other opening matches for JCHS are: 103 — Conner Ray (22-19) vs. Tyler Rigney (28-6) of Muncie Southside; and 130 — Jesse Finnerty (16-19) vs. Hunter Randolph (25-4) of Wapahani.
Also competing for South Adams in the first round are: 103 — Keegan Puterbaugh (12-14) vs. No. 3 Brock Bevans (38-2) of Yorktown; 112 —L.J. Moser (31-8) vs. No. 9 Schuyler Phillips (37-3) of Yorktown; 119 — Eric Pimentel (22-11) vs. Angel Rascon (25-5) of Winchester; 160 — Jordan Landers (23-13) vs. Jordan Simmons (22-1) of Winchester; HWT — Maverick Morningstar (26-10) vs. Librado Reyes (15-5) of Muncie Southside.[[In-content Ad]]