Senior secures win vs. Spartans

After beating the Spartans by a half a point in the New Haven Invitational on Saturday, Eric Myers wasn’t sure how his team would stack up in a dual meet.

“We didn’t really have an idea where we would be,” he said.

With two matches to go, the Patriots and Spartans each had seven victories and the score was tied at 28.

A freshman with high aspirations and an upperclassman with experience gave Myers his answer.

Mason Winner earned a second-period pin and Tyler Leonhard won by decision in his final home meet to lift the Jay County High School wrestling team to a 37-28 victory Thursday on senior night.

“We come together real hard in dual matches,” said Myers, Jay County’s coach.

The Patriots moved to 7-0 this season in duals, and can cap an undefeated season Tuesday at Fort Wayne North Side.

“They work hard and build off each other,” said Myers, noting his team is not quite wrestling to its full potential yet. “I’m hoping in a week or two we are. That is the plan.”

Winner, a freshman, also felt as if he wasn’t wrestling his best, but he earned a crucial tie-breaking pin of Homestead junior Patrick Flanagan in their 145-pound match. 

“Before every match I tell myself not to take it for granted,” said Winner, who had a successful middle school career and has his sights set on being a four-time state qualifier. “If you go in overconfident — it happened to me before — I went in overconfident and ended up losing.

“I told myself (not to) take it for granted and got the six points.”

The youngster used a single leg takedown in the first period against Flanagan for a 2-0 advantage. He escaped to start the second period and had another single for two more points before letting Flanagan escape. With a 5-1 lead, Winner took Flanagan to the mat one final time before turning it into a pin in 3 minutes, 39 seconds, to put the Patriots ahead 34-28.

“I felt like I did my part to support my team,” said Winner, who moved to 19-1 on the year and is ranked eighth in the state by IndianaMat.

“Mason went out there and took care of business,” Myers added.

With one match to go, Leonhard defeated Joe Parrish by a 9-5 decision at 152 pounds to secure the win. It was the 101st career victory for Leonhard (22-4), a two-time semi-state qualifier who is currently ranked third in the Fort Wayne semi-state.

Leonhard’s classmate Ivan Hemmelgarn, who is ranked sixth at 160, kicked off the evening with a 17-4 major decision over Scott Lentz. Hemmelgarn used his bread-and-butter move, the cradle, four times. 

“Ivan has wrestled 170 for us,” Myers said. Hemmelgarn improved to 23-3 on the year. “He really can wrestle (160), but he has wrestled (170) here and there just to make our team a little bit stronger.”

Thomas Hemmelgarn (12-5) followed with a 6-0 decision over Tom Wible at 170 as Jay County nabbed a quick 12-0 lead. Chandler Chapman (7-0) beat Noah Kiessling with a 4-0 decision and Max Schmit (8-11) received a forfeit at 182.

Four matches in, Jay County had a 16-0 advantage over Homestead. JCHS freshman George Lykins lost by pin at 220, and Gaven Hare, who is the top-ranked 220-pounder in the Fort Wayne semi-state, bumped up to 285 and proceeded to pin Isaiah Oakley in 4:45.

“We gambled a bit at 220 and heavyweight,” Myers said. “If Gaven wouldn’t have been able to get that pin, it really wouldn’t have paid off for us.”

Hare is 23-3, tied with Ivan Hemmelgarn for most wins on the team.

At 113 pounds, Jay County sophomore Zakk Atkins was trailing Zach Cawood 9-0 in the third period. From his back, Atkins (11-8) rolled Cawood and pinned the Homestead sophomore with 12 seconds remaining, jumping and flexing after earning the improbable victory.

“We preach ‘Keep looking for one, keep trying to find it,” Myers said. The win by Atkins made it 28-12 Jay County before Homestead won four straight matches to tie the score. “That was the difference in the match there. We are looking at being tied if he doesn’t come up with that.”