Semi-state Winner

FORT WAYNE — Mason Winner didn’t keep it secret regarding his goal as he began his high school wrestling career.

He wanted to become the first Patriot to qualify for the state finals all four years.

As the buzzer sounded to make his 7-4 lead final, Winner clapped his hands and pointed toward the side of the mat at his father, John.

Step one complete, but he didn’t stop there.

Winner, a Jay County High School freshman, went on to two more victories to earn a semi-state championship and was one of two Patriots to qualify for the state finals Saturday at the IHSAA semi-state meet at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.

“Feels pretty good,” said Winner, who as the 145 pound champion will join junior Gaven Hare in the state finals Friday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Hare finished fourth, and the top four in each weight class earn a trip to the state finals.

“Next it’s to the Bank,” Winner said.

Jay County coach Eric Myers wasn’t surprised at the performance of his highly-touted and skilled youngster.

“The kid is a phenomenal wrestler and he’s got poise for a freshman that is incredible,” said Myers, whose Patriot team has two state qualifiers for the first time since Kyle Garringer and Eric Hemmelgarn both earned medals in 2013. “He always believes in himself and it is always a lot of fun to coach him.”

Winner is the first semi-state champion since Hemmelgarn — the school’s only three-time state medalist — went back-to-back in 2013 and ‘14.

An early single-leg takedown gave Elkhart Central’s Xander Shroud a 2-0 lead over Winner in the championship match. Starting the second period in the down position, Winner escaped to cut the deficit in half and used an ankle pick to nab a 3-2 lead. Once Winner got on top, there wasn’t much Shroud could do.

“Just work and grind,” Winner said. “My pace is just go, go, go. Very few people can keep up with that pace.”

Winner, who is ranked eighth in the state and 36-2 on the year, scored a takedown in the third period to extend his advantage to the eventual final score.

He needed 3 minutes, 31 seconds, to pin Mississinewa’s Kyler Funk in their opening-round match, then picked up a 7-4 decision over No. 3 Riley Rasler of Prairie Heights to earn a berth in the state finals. In the semifinal, he had to grind out a 3-0 decision against No. 5 Joel Arney of Fort Wayne Carroll to become the first Patriot to wrestle for a semi-state championship since Hemmelgarn in 2014.

“Mason, I am super proud of,” said Myers, whose team scored 38 points to place sixth. Yorktown won the team title with 145 points, Bellmont was runner up with 94 points and Bellmont was third with 85.

Hare, who is ranked 13th at 220 pounds, pinned Goshen’s Steven Worlds with nine seconds remaining in the first period in the opening round, and punched his ticket to state with a 3-2 decision over Kokomo senior Nick Fox. Hare then lost 14-8 to Lakeland’s Austin Evans in the semifinal before dropping a 3-2 decision to Carroll’s Tyler McKeever in the third-place match.

“He wrestled pretty well today,” Myers said. Hare is 37-7. “It would have been nice to get that third-place match.”

Jay County seniors Tyler Leonhard (152 pounds) and Ivan Hemmelgarn (160) had their respective careers come to a close with losses again in the ticket round. Leonhard (36-5), who got a takedown with 20 seconds for 5-4 opening-round decision against Garrett’s Clayton Fielden, gave up a late escape in his 4-3 loss to ninth-ranked Nathaniel Weimer of East Noble.

Hemmelgarn (35-6) locked in his signature cradle to pin Elkhart Central’s Tykease Baker in 3:17 before losing a 5-3 decision to New Haven’s Nick Potter in the quarterfinal.

Winner, Leonhard and Hemmelgarn all wrestled in their ticket-round matches at the same time, a portion of the day during which Myers said was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster.

Wyatt Miller, a South Adams junior, lost in the ticket round in back-to-back years. Miller, who is ranked 14th at 113 pounds, led Central Noble’s Tanner Schoeff 10-7 in the third period of their quarterfinal. A late flurry gave Schoeff nine straight points and the 16-10 decision.

“He lost the control that he had,” SAHS coach Jesse Gaskill said. “He set the pace of the match in the beginning but he totally lost control.”

Miller, who needed 54 seconds to pin Bishop Dwenger’s Emmett Delaney in the opening round, ended his year 34-4.

Junior Isaiah Baumgartner also had his season come to a finish in the ticket round for the second time in as many seasons. The 18th-ranked Baumgartner got pinned in 1 minute, 18 seconds, by Elkhart Memorial’s David Eli, who was fifth and seventh in the state respectively each of the last two years. Baumgartner, who was battling a right leg injury he suffered Friday night, reached the ticket round with a 16-8 major decision over Huntington North’s Charlie Agnew.

“First match looked pretty good,” Gaskill said. “He had to change the pace of the match because he was giving up that one leg.”

The two-time SAHS semi-state qualifier finished with a 33-7 record.

For Jay County, junior Kaimen Sanders lost in the opening round for the second consecutive season. Marion senior Jaylon Gibson needed 3:09 to get the pin in their 126-pound match. Sanders (23-11) scored the first takedown, but gave up four straight points before injuring his right shoulder shortly before the pin.

Thomas Hemmelgarn, a 170-pound Jay County sophomore, was tied 3-3 after the first period against Bishop Dwenger’s Isaac Cornewell. Hemmelgarn escaped to start the second period to get back to his feet, but Cornewell threw Hemmelgarn (23-10) to the mat for a pin in 3:58.

South Adams’s Michael Rupp wasn’t able to get much going in his opening round match. The Starfire freshman lost to Homestead’s Jordan George by an 11-3 major decision, falling to 28-7 on the year.