Two titles (01/28/08)

With a No. 3 ranking and an undefeated record, it was no surprise Casey Kenney rolled to a sectional title Saturday. But he wasn't the only Patriot star.

Ben Theurer also won a sectional crown as the Jay County High School wrestling team matched its best performance since the tournament switched to its current format.

The Patriots advanced seven wrestlers to the regional round - the top four in each weight class move on - finishing fifth in the nine-team field with 163 points.

JCHS was in a mob of teams battling for second place behind No. 6 Bellmont, which won easily with 301.5 points. Bluffton finished as the runner-up - the top two teams advance in the team tournament - 14 points ahead of the Patriots, followed by South Adams (175) and Norwell (174).

Josh Mann picked up the lone championship for South Adams.

"It was a pretty good performance from the team today," said Myers, whose team was also fifth in 2005. "They wrestled extremely hard. For us to get three to the finals and place as many as we did was great."

Kenney, a junior, had no problems securing his first sectional crown and third consecutive regional berth. As the No. 1 seed at 103 pounds he earned a bye in the opening round, then defeated Adams Central freshman Nathan Hess in the semifinals.

He stayed in control in the championship match against Bobby Perry of Bluffton, scoring early takedowns in each of the first two periods. The wrestlers traded takedowns in the third period as Kenney took the title 6-2.

Despite the victories, which improved his record to 38-0 on the year, Kenney was upset about giving up two points in the finals.

"I think I could have wrestled better," said Kenney, downplaying his championship, "but I guess I'm happy."

"We expected him to win," added Myers. "He was a little disappointed in performance, but he did exactly what he needed to. He won the sectional."

Theurer (135) was a bit more of a surprise as he entered the tournament as the No. 3 seed despite having just five losses this season. But everything fell into place.

While Theurer won his first two matches, No. 2 seed Ryan Holsten of Blackford suffered a first-round upset and top-seeded Chase Sprunger of South Adams went down in the semifinals. Theurer's wins over Adams Central's Nathan Bluhm, Union City's Cole Sells and Norwell's Grayson Smith advanced him to the championship.

Like Kenney, Theurer took control early in the finals against Ryley Hankerson of Bellmont. He drove Hankerson to his back midway through the first period, and held the 2-0 lead.

In the second period, the junior needed just three seconds to score his escape, and quickly added a takedown to go up 5-0. Hankerson managed a takedown in the third period, but Theurer stopped the momentum there as he took an 8-4 victory.

"The No. 1 and No. 2 seed lost matches, and that opened up the door for me to go to the finals and I took the advantage," said Theurer, who is now 29-5.

"I think I wrestled well on my feet and top ... my conditioning is better."

Kenney and Hess gave the Patriots two champions for just the second time in the nine-team format, joining Kurt Hess and Bill Spahr from 2005.

"Ben wrestled great today," said Myers. "He was the No. 3 seed in the sectional and finished first. He just looked pretty solid all day."

Skylar Finnerty (140) also made the finals for Jay County after starting the day as the No. 3 seed. He finished as the runner-up, getting pinned by Bellmont's Tyler Baker 27 seconds into the second round.

Cameron Pfeifer, a semi-state qualifier last season at 112 pounds who has wrestled 125 most of the year, moved up to 140 and still turned in an excellent effort. He improved to 19-7 on the year, finishing third with a win in the consolation finals of South Adams' John Striker.

Josh Lochtefeld (125) topped Zachary Barr of Blackford to finish third as well. He is now 25-5.

Caleb Culy (130) and Zach Ainsworth (189) each dropped consolation finals matches to place fourth. Aaron Miller (171) and Kyler Blowers (HWT) each finished in fifth place.

"Cameron Pfeifer has been wrestling 125 all year and wrestled 140 today," said Myers. "I think it showed a little bit in the semis ... but he had a great tournament to finish third."

Mann scored the lone title for the Starfires, who had hoped to earn the second team regional berth behind Bellmont. The sixth-ranked wrestler in the state at 130 pounds pushed his record to 36-0 with a victory over Bluffton's Jace Hill in the championship.

Jim West (HWT) was the only other South Adams wrestler to make the finals. He fell to Bellmont's Clint Wurm and is now 30-6 on the year.

Gabe Sprunger (103) and Josh Ehr (112) added third-place efforts, and Colt Gentis (119), John Striker (140), Dustin Hunt (145) and Jackson Werst (215) all advanced by finishing fourth.[[In-content Ad]]