JCHS seeks to surpass seven

Seven.

That’s the number to beat.

Jay County High School’s wrestling team will have a dozen athletes, including six sectional champions, take the mat Saturday as it hosts regional competition with a goal of increasing its number of semi-state qualifiers from a year ago.

Delta and Adams Central also have 12 wrestlers apiece competing Saturday. Cowan is next with 10.

A victory in the first round of the regional guarantees a semi-state berth, as the top four wrestlers in each weight class advance to the tournament next weekend at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

The Patriots are especially well-positioned after they dominated the sectional tournament on their home floor a week ago. Sectional champions — Daniel Moore, Taye Curtis, Cody Rowles, Ethan Reiley, Tony Wood and Cameron Clark all won titles for JCHS — take on fourth-place finishes from the Delta sectional in the opening round.

The 11th-ranked Clark (30-1), who was a regional runner-up last season before going on to win the semi-state and place seventh in the state finals, will open his regional tournament at 145 pounds against Cowan’s Kyler Coffey (15-11). He could face off with either No. 15 Kolten Rhonemus (31-4) of Delta or Bryan Hernandez-Lopez (32-5) of Blackford in the championship match.

No. 4 Wood and No. 8 Rowles are both two-time defending regional champions and carry undefeated records — 34-0 and 33-0, respectively — into Saturday’s tournament. Wood will open against Delta’s Jacob Snodgrass (10-17) in the 138-pound bracket while the first match for Rowles at 126 pounds will be against Avry Brooks (22-13) of Wapahani. Both are heavy favorites to win regional titles with no state-ranked rivals in their brackets.

The 17th-ranked Ethan Reiley (32-2), who is also the regional favorite, will start his day in the 132-pound bracket against Daleville’s Noah Gibson (22-13).

Taye Curtis (30-4) opens his action in the 120-pound bracket against Dylan Altic (17-13) of Wapahani, and Daniel Moore (27-4) will take on Yorktown’s Jayden Cline (12-9) in the first round at 113 pounds. Curtis would likely face No. 5 Neal Mosier (32-0) of Delta if he makes it to the championship match while Moore’s road to the top of the podium would probably go through No. 10 Levi Johns (33-2) of Bluffton, who the Patriot senior knocked off in the sectional title match.

In addition to the six sectional champions, Jay County had four wrestlers finish as sectional runners-up. Their first-round matches for the regional are as follows:

•Griffin Byrum (14-6) vs. Quentin Keen (27-5) of Winchester at 106 pounds

•Christian Wittkamp (30-5) vs. Yorktown’s Drew Barr (16-8) at 152 pounds

•Landon Mills-Blowers (19-17) vs. Reazon Davenport (21-5) of Daleville at 160 pounds

•Bryce Wenk (28-5) vs. Delta’s Ryder Turner (20-14) at 182 pounds

Wenk, Reiley, Moore and Curtis all joined Clark Wood and Rowles as semi-state qualifiers last season.

Also wrestling in the regional tournament Saturday are a pair of Patriots who face uphill battles after placing fourth in the sectional tournament. Alan Ortiz (24-17) will open at 220 pounds against Jackson New (22-7) of Yorktown and Juaquin Flores (23-13) will start his day against Muncie Central’s Gabe Harty (37-4) in the 195-pound bracket.