Four state qualifiers lead Jay's encore season

It’s not uncommon for the Patriots to send wrestlers to state.

In recent years it’s been a ritual.

But the Patriots made history last season, sending three for the first time.

They’re all back, and so is another wrestler who qualified in the past.

“I’m just excited to see our guys,” said Jay County High School wrestling coach Eric Myers, whose team officially opens its season Tuesday. (The girls-only squad began Thursday.) “They came in and were pretty mature for a young group so now they have a year of high school wrestling under their belt.

“They kind of know what to expect. I think it kind of hardens some kids and prepares them.”

Cody Rowles, Tony Wood and Cameron Clark competed in the state finals last year as freshmen. (All three lost in the first round.) Junior Ethan Reiley went during his own freshman season, giving Jay County four state qualifiers on its current roster.

“It’s a fun group,” Myers said. “They eat, sleep and breathe wrestling.”

Myers said all three of the sophomores will bump up a weight class, going to 113 pounds, 126 and 138, respectively. He noted Wood will compete as low as 120 and as high as 132.

Reiley bumped up to 126 last year but Myers felt it wasn’t his natural weight and he didn’t get enough time to adjust.

In addition to the four who have state experience, Jay County features two more wrestlers who have quite a resume in their young careers. Bryce Wenk was a runner-up at 182 pounds in the state tournament for only freshman and sophomores.

Then there’s A.J. Myers, son of former JCHS coach and current middle school coach James Myers, who was a middle school state champion last year. The younger Myers will fill in as the team’s top wrestler at 170 pounds.

“Pretty awesome,” said Eric Myers (no relation). “He’s been around (the sport) for a long time.”

Jay County has two seniors returning with varsity experience in Cameron Gage and Ramon Bravo. Gage, who will wrestle at 152, is a two-time regional qualifier and one of the leaders during practice. Bravo, who missed the end of last season because of the coronavirus, will slide back in at 195 pounds.

“They may not be our state-qualifier guys but they are leaders in the room,” Myers said. “They’re guys I can look to.”

Myers said junior Nate Paxson is the front-runner of a group of about a half dozen athletes vying for the spot at 160 pounds. Conner Specht, a sophomore, will be at 220, and junior Max LeMaster is slated to take the 285-pound spot as classmate Peyton Bennett misses the start of the season for an undisclosed reason.

Last season, Jay County was not initially invited to participate in the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association team state championships, but it was later extended an invitation after numerous teams had to withdraw because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Completely off the radar going in, Jay County stunned the state in finishing third in Class 2A. This year, holding down the No. 3 ranking in the class, the Patriots will return to the tournament set for Jan. 8 at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.

“Pretty fortunate to show what we had there,” Myers said, noting defending team state champion Bellmont returns its entire squad. “We’re going to have to wrestle the best we possibly can to give ourselves a shot to be top four (or) top two.

“You have to be on all day to win it. We’ve got to prepare ourselves for the next month and a half to get there.”

Jay County hosts the Allen County Athletic Conference team dual tournament Dec. 10 and 11. 

The annual East Central Indiana Classic is set for Dec. 23 at Jay County. The Patriots also host Delta, Winchester and Yorktown for a triple dual Dec. 7. 

The ACAC individual tournament is slated for Jan 21 at Bluffton before JCHS hosts the sectional and regional tournaments Jan. 29 and Feb. 5, respectively.

“I’m just really excited to get out there,” Myers said.