Six set sights on state

It’s been four years since the Patriots sent more than one wrestler to the state finals.

A season ago, seven got one step away from the sport’s pinnacle.

Saturday, a half dozen Jay County High School wrestlers — two of which will get their last shot — are hoping to advance to Bankers Life Fieldhouse as they compete in the IHSAA wrestling semi-state at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.

“If we have a good day we could get multiple through,” said JCHS coach Eric Myers. The Patriots last had two state qualifiers in 2013, when then-senior Kyle Garringer placed sixth at 195 pounds and Eric Hemmelgarn was fifth at heavyweight pounds as a junior.

Ivan Hemmelgarn, Eric’s younger brother, and Tyler Leonhard were both one match away from reaching the state finals as juniors but lost in the ticket round at semi-state. With their high school careers on the line, they’re not going to wrestle with any regrets.

“For me, leave it all out there,” Hemmelgarn said. “Senior year, I’ve got nothing to lose. I might as well leave it all out there on the mat.”

Hemmelgarn is 34-5 as a 160 pounder, and he has an opening-round match against Elkhart Central’s Tykeas Baker (30-9). His potential opponents in the ticket round — a win in the second round “punches a ticket” to the state finals — are Peru senior Jeffrey Closser (22-11) or New Haven’s Nick Potter (38-5), who is ranked 18th in the state.

With help from his older brother — Eric is the school’s only three-time state medalist — Hemmelgarn isn’t overlooking his first-round match. He said Eric has told him he’s seen many times wrestlers get too focused on the ticket-round match and end up getting beat in the opener.

Leonhard was Jay County’s only regional champion Saturday, which put him in a good position for his opening 152-pound match as he meets Garrett freshman Clayton Fielden (31-12) to begin the tournament. Either Layne Evans (33-3) of Northfield or ninth-ranked Nathaniel Weimer (23-4) of East Noble would await in the quarterfinal. Weimer qualified for state as a freshman at 106 pounds and finished eighth at 126 as a sophomore. Leonhard, who is ranked 20th, isn’t fazed by Weimer’s credentials, or the other four ranked wrestlers in his bracket.

“Knowing there are better kids in your bracket gives you the confidence to push yourself harder,” he said. “You have to have the mentality that ‘I am better than that kid.”

Juniors Gaven Hare and Kaimen Sanders return to semi-state looking to build off last year’s appearance during which they both lost in the first round.

“Last year I had the second-best kid there,” said Hare, a 220-pounder who is ranked 13th in the state with a 35-5 record. “Now I’m the second-best kid there. It doesn’t really change my approach. I was going there to win last year and I’m going there to win this year.”

Hare meets Goshen junior Steven Worlds (26-18) in the first round, and if he wins he would take on either Kokomo’s Nick Fox (34-5) or New Haven’s Austin Amstutz (34-7) in the ticket round.

Sanders, a 126-pounder, was fourth at regional as a sophomore so he had to wrestle a regional champion in his first semi-state match last season. He was third at regional this year, so he squares off against regional runner-up Jaylon Gibson (38-5) of Marion. Garrett’s Dylan Demarco (34-10) and Adam Ledesman (31-12) of East Noble meet in the other opening-round match.

“This year I have a kid that is a lot more beatable so I have a better chance at going,” Sanders said. “Now I just have to focus on how to beat him and what to do. I feel like I have a pretty good chance.”

Sophomore Thomas Hemmelgarn is a first-time semi-state qualifier, and he boasts a 23-9 record at 170 pounds. He meets Bishop Dwenger’s Isaac Cornewell (28-9) in his opener, with No. 11 Tristan Goering (20-3) of Elkhart Memorial and Northwestern’s Evan Cardwell (33-7) as potential quarterfinal opponents.

“Coming off my injury like I am it is probably the bet thing that could have happened ot me this season,” said Hemmelgarn, who broke his collarbone while wrestling in the summer and missed football season. “I think it is great.”

Mason Winner, a freshman, has set his sights on becoming the school’s first four-time state qualifier, and he is two matches away from completing the first step. Winner, who is seventh in the state at 145 pounds and has a 32-2 record, has a matchup with Mississinewa freshman Kyler Funk (25-12) in the opener. His potential ticket round opponents are Woodlan’s Zack Zink (13-9) and Prairie Heights senior Riley Rasler (46-1), who is ranked third and finished sixth in the state at 138 pounds last year.

Winner is not intimidated by the possibility of meeting Rasler in the ticket round. He’s embracing the challenge.

“Take it one tournament at a time, one match at a time,” he said. “Keep chugging along.”

South Adams sends three to semi-state, including returning qualifiers Wyatt Miller and Isaiah Baumgarter, both of whom lost in the ticket round last season.

Miller, who was sectional and regional champion at 113 pounds and is ranked 14th in the state, puts his 33-3 record on the line against Bishop Dwenger’s Emmett Delaney (23-13). His potential quarterfinal match opponents are Tanner Schoeff (38-2) of Central Noble and Phupesh Chauhan (29-6) of Oak Hill.

Baumgartner (32-6), who is No. 18, meets Huntington North’s Charlie Agnew (16-12) in their 195-pound match, with Justin Samons (24-15) of Wabash and two-time state medalist and fourth-ranked David Eli (36-1) of Elkhart Memorial as possible ticket round opponents.

SAHS freshman Michael Rupp (28-6) opens the 106-pound tournament against Jordan George (28-10) of Homestead. No. 19 Fernando Flores (40-2) of Goshen or Niglel Lenoir (22-19) of Kokomo will await in the ticket round.