Dudelston wins only JC title

At the start of the sudden-death overtime period, Casey Parisot of Woodlan took a shot at Jay County’s Dallas Dudelston.
Parisot missed, and Dudelston took him to the mat for a takedown seven seconds into the extra period, securing a victory in the championship match of the Allen County Athletic Conference tournament Saturday.
“It was amazing,” said Dudelston, who pumped his fist and clapped his hands after defeating Parisot 4-2 in the 132-pound weight division.
It was Jay County’s only conference title at the meet it hosted. The Patriots finished fourth as a team with 168 points. Adams Central scored 230.5 points to knock off defending champion Leo, which was second with 202. Southern Wells edged Jay County by a half point.
The top-seeded Dudelston, who picked up wins against Mason Stevens of Southern Wells and Bluffton’s Zach Mournsey en route to the title match, didn’t panic when he found himself trailing 2-0 entering the second period.
Starting the second in the down position, the junior wasn’t able to get away from Parisot, but with 33 seconds remaining in the period he scored a reversal to tie the match at two points apiece.
Dudelston (25-7) rode out Parisot in the third period and then got the win in overtime.
“He took me down first but I knew I had to stay with it because usually I’m more of a third-period type of guy,” Dudelston said. “I get to that third period, I get on the top position, work my legs and start trying to turn him.
“It eventually breaks him, which is what happened in overtime.”
First-year Jay County coach Eric Myers was happy Dudelston was able to come back from the early deficit.
“It takes a really mentally tough kid to do that sort of thing — to be down 2-0 in the first place and then ride that kid out in the third,” he said. “I feel like that ride out really broke (Parisot). He was tired, he was frustrated (and) Dallas took advantage of it.”
South Adams, which finished fifth with 143 points, had five wrestlers compete in the finals but only two came away with victories.
Sawyer Miller, a senior, won the conference title at 120 for his third ACAC title in as many years. His younger brother Wyatt, a freshman, was victorious at 106.
“I didn’t wrestle my greatest at first, but when I started to get in the groove I started to get more takedowns from the neutral position,” said Wyatt Miller (29-1), who beat Nick Liter of Adams Central by a major decision, 17-9. The freshman tallied four takedowns in the match — one in the first period, one in the second and two in the third. “I knew I was good on my feet so I knew if I could get more takedowns I could boost my score up.”
Sawyer (31-0), a two-time state medalist, found himself in a 4-0 hole to Leo’s Eddie Loraine after the first period. He started the second in the down position, nabbed a reversal 28 seconds in, then continued to chip away at the deficit.
The Starfire senior, who is ranked second by IndianaMat, notched three straight takedowns, letting go of Loraine after the first two to concede the one-point escape.
“Being down 4-0, the best part in my opinion is that he didn’t lose his composure and started working his way back,” SAHS coach Barry Humble said of the elder Miller. “He had to come back a long way — give up a point to get two — and kind of work his way back.”
With an 8-7 lead after two periods and starting the third in the top position, Miller conceded an escape, took Loraine to the mat for two points then repeated the process again.
“He comes out really hard and then he kind of dies down,” Miller said. “That’s when I started taking control.”
Jay County’s Levi Hummel (160) and Andy Kohler (182) also wrestled for conference championships in their respective weight classes, but finished second to two wrestlers from Adams Central. Hummel (22-9) lost to Nick Liter by a 6-4 decision, and two-time state finalist Kaine Luginbill defeated Kohler (29-3) by a 5-3 decision.
For South Adams, Boaz Marbac­­h (152), Isaiah Baumgartner (195) and Mason Morningstar (285) all finished second after falling in their respective title matches.
Placing in the top six for Jay County were Chris Pfeifer (third – 285), Kaimen Sanders (fourth – 113), Colton Compton (fourth – 126), Tyler Leonhard (fourth – 152), Jacob Schmit (fourth – 170), Gaven Hare (fourth – 195), Tristan Atkins (fifth – 120), Ivan Hemmelgarn (fifth – 145) and Jon Blankenship (fifth – 220).
Placing for South Adams were Josh Lahr (fourth – 132), Briar Goodwin (fifth – 113), Keegan Boxell (sixth – 138) and Corbin Bloemke (sixth – 160).