Medal detectors

Two weeks ago there were 128 wrestlers in each weight class competing in the state’s regional meets.
That number shrunk to 64 for the four semi-state tournaments.
At the state finals this weekend at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, only 16 remain.
Andy Kohler, a 182-pounder from Jay County High School, is one of them.
Sawyer Miller, a 120-pound senior at South Adams, is too.
“It feels great,” said Kohler, a junior who is making his first state finals appearance.
The opening round begins at 6 p.m. Friday, with the quarterfinals resuming at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
Just qualifying for the state meet isn’t quite enough for Kohler, who enters Friday’s match with a 36-6 record and is one of three competitors in his weight class not ranked in the top 20 by IndianaMat.
“I can’t be satisfied with just qualifying,” he said. “If you just go there and get beat Friday night it might as well not mean anything.
“Yeah (qualifying) is good and yeah it’s a success, but you have to go farther. You can’t give up now.”
A win Friday night guarantees Kohler a place on the podium. The top eight placers in each weight class earn a state medal.
Standing between him and a medal is Evan Elmore of Avon, a senior who is 28-4, a two-time state qualifier and currently ranked 11th.
But Kohler isn’t intimidated by Elmore’s accolades.
“Even though he’s ranked 11th in the state, it doesn’t give him any advantage,” he said. “He doesn’t start with two points. He doesn’t start out with a leg. You both start in the same place.”
JCHS coach Eric Myers has noticed Kohler’s determination to reach Saturday, which is why he’s had a steady rotation of Kohler’s teammates beating up on him in practice this week.
“A lot of guys would be pretty content just to make it to the state finals and I think we’ve converted him into a believer and someone that wants to go out there and give it his all and try to medal,” Myers said.
After punching his ticket to state on Saturday, Kohler dropped the semifinal match 4-3 and then lost to Yorktown’s Hunter Heistand 6-3 in the third-place match.

All six of his losses have come to wrestlers who have reached the state finals. At the Franklin Invitational in Dayton, Ohio, he lost to 2014 Ohio state qualifier Dalton Jones of Hamilton Ross. He dropped a match to Winimac’s Gage Garpow in the finals of the Twin Lakes Invitational, and lost to Adam Central’s Kaine Luginbill — a state qualifier this year at 170 — in the conference tournament championship.
All of those defeats have been close matches, and Kohler is hoping to be on the other side of those decisions this weekend.
“I just need to learn how to win those matches now,” Kohler said, adding that competing with some of the top wrestlers in the state gives him motivation to get better. “I just need to stop losing 4-3 matches and 5-3 matches.”
Myers said it’s the little things — not giving up a reversal or an escape and instead trying to ride someone out — that can help him get the edge in those closely-contested matches.
“He’s got to minimize those points,” he said. “Kind of cliché, but he’s just got to score more points than the other guy.”
Miller (41-0) has a match-up Friday night with Dameion Rutledge. The Southport senior is 41-9, and is the only wrestler in the 120-pound field who isn’t ranked in the top 20.
“As we look at Friday night, I always thought that you want to be the (semi-state) champion in terms of getting the No. 4 draw,” said SAHS coach Barry Humble. “In this particular case the No. 4s aren’t bad.
“We’ve got to be ready to go. We’re going to wrestle him as hard as we can to get through Friday night.”
Miller, who was fourth at 106 as a freshman and third at 113 as a sophomore, tech-falled his way through the regional and semi-state tournaments, until he beat Ben Cauffman of Carroll by a 4-2 decision in the semi-state final.
Should Miller win on Friday, he’ll become the school’s first three-time state medalist. But he’s aiming higher after failing to reach the finals his junior season.
“I’m ready to win it,” he said after his semi-state championship.
The state tournament this weekend will mark the end of the 45-year coaching career for Humble, who will retire after this season.
“It’s a blessing,” he said. “It’s really a thrill to be able to get to this point. The ultimate wish would be obviously to go out with a state champion. We’ll take it where we’re at, but I believe Sawyer is capable.”
Humble added that his favorite part of coaching has always been the state tournament series. His first trip to the state finals was in 1977.
“To me, (coaching at the state finals) is a great way to finish,” he said. “I’m just grateful for the opportunity to have all these years and still be able to talk about it.”