February 14, 2023 at 5:50 p.m.
One for the win
Slim margin is plenty for Wood to earn semi-state championship
One for the win
FORT WAYNE — One point.
It’s the slimmest of margins.
But it was all Tony Wood needed to be in control.
The Jay County High School junior used a single point — it was awarded to him when Logan Uhlman of Adams Central was called for fleeing the mat — to propel himself to the top of the podium Saturday as he won the 138-pound semi-state championship at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
Wood didn’t show much outward emotion after his arm was raised early Saturday evening, but he was feeling it.
“I usually stay pretty calm during my matches, but I’m pretty excited,” said Wood, who is ranked fourth in the state and is now a three-time state qualifier. “I’m super jacked, ready to wrestle next week already.”
“(It feels) really good,” he added. “Losing two semi-state finals in a row is not the best feeling. I really wanted it this time.”
Wood’s effort led the way to a third-place finish for the Patriots, who also had Cameron Clark, Cody Rowles and Christian Wittkamp advance to the state finals. (The top four from the semi-state — those who win their first two matches of the day — move on to state.) They will compete beginning at 2 p.m. Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
JCHS was within 1.5 points of first place midway through the day but was unable to climb as Rochester — it had nine wrestlers win opening-round matches — successfully defended its title by scoring 77 points. Delta was two points behind in second place and the Patriots (62) were third followed by Snider (56.5) and Bellmont (52.5).
“I felt like we wrestled fairly well,” said Myers. “Semi-state wrestling is almost always a roller coaster where you’ve got some big highs — getting a kid like Christian Wittkamp through — and you also have your lows,” he added, referencing close losses for senior Ethan Reiley and junior Bryce Wenk, who saw their seasons come to an end.
“We’re really blessed and happy to have four guys wrestling next week in the state finals. We’re really looking forward to it.”
Wood and Uhlman wrestled a scoreless first minute, with the former awarded the penalty point at the 42-second mark. He added one on an escape 19 seconds into the second period to go up 2-0, and Uhlman got his escape point 11 seconds into the third.
The Adams Central coaches were calling for Uhlman to “re-attack” off of Wood’s shots.
Myers often talks about Wood’s high wrestling IQ, and the junior showed it by simply standing his ground in the center of the mat and refusing to take shots that would allow Uhlman to counter. When Uhlman finally went for a couple of shots late in the match, he wasn’t able to finish them.
“I knew that I was solid enough that he wasn’t going to score his offense on me,” Wood said. “And he was kind of keeping space, so there was no need to go rush and get a takedown when I’m winning.”
The victory pushed Wood (41-0) over the hump after he had been to the semi-state championship each of the last two years and lost to Aidan Sprague of East Noble both times. It marked the sixth time he and Uhlman have met this season, including in the sectional and regional championship matches. (Wood has won them all, accounting for all but two of Uhlman’s eight losses on the year.)
None of Wood’s other matches were close as he pinned Oak Hill’s Tyson Kendall in the opening round, defeated Garrett’s Hayden Williams by an 8-1 decision in the “ticket round” and scored a 15-6 major decision over Cooper Baldwin of Peru in the semifinal.
Clark (36-2), who is ranked 11th at 145 pounds, also advanced to the semi-state championship match but was unable to come away with a second consecutive title after winning at 138 pounds last season.
After winning three consecutive decisions — 8-2 over Thomas Sidel of Homestead in the opener, 7-1 over West Noble’s Teegan Clouse in the ticket round and 9-5 over previously unbeaten Luke Teusch of Huntington north in the semifinals — Clark never led in the championship match, giving up a takedown to DeKalb’s 17th-ranked Braxton Miller in 17 seconds. He needed just six seconds to escape, but allowed another takedown and two-point near fall to trail 6-1 at the end of the first period.
Miller (37-2) recorded a takedown of his own in the second period for the final margin.
“He struggled a little bit getting his offense going,” said Myers. “He wrestled really well today up until that point. (Miller) kind of had an answer for Cam’s offense.”
Friday will mark the third trip to the state finals for Clark, who placed seventh at 138 pounds last season.
Rowles (37-3), who was upset in the ticket round last season after qualifying for state as a freshman, found his way to some redemption. After pinning Northridge’s Graysen Beasley in 5 minutes, 42 seconds, in the first round, he used a headlock to put the shoulders of Rochester’s Aaron Swango to the mat in 2:27 to earn his state finals berth at 126 pounds.
“It feels great to punch my ticket,” said Rowles, who is ranked eighth in the state.
“When I finished that double-leg, I felt like I hurt him a little bit,” he added, referencing a first-period takedown. “And I just knew that I was going to win the match.”
He dropped his final two matches of the day — 6-0 to 10th-ranked Hayden Brady of Garrett and 10-2 to Cowan’s sixth-ranked Jackson Bradley, who he had lost to in the regional semifinal the previous week.
Christian Wittkamp (34-8) earned his state berth thanks to a 6-4 ticket-round win over Kaleb Lounsbury of Prairie Heights in the 152-pound bracket. That came after he built a 13-2 lead over Homestead’s Jake Thrash in the opening round en route to an 18-11 win.
“It feels amazing,” said Wittkamp, who wrestled junior varsity in Illinois last season. “I’ve wanted this for my whole life. This is just an amazing experience. I didn’t think I would make it this year. … It’s awesome.
“All my teammates and my coaches, they’re the reason I got here. They got me so much better this year.”
He dropped the semifinal match by pin in 51 seconds to No. 4 Mitchell Betz (37-1) of Western and lost 8-0 to Carroll’s No. 16 Jackson Todd in the third-place match.
Senior Ethan Reiley, ranked 17th in the state at 132 pounds, advanced to the ticket round but came up short of returning to the state finals.
A state-qualifier as a freshman, Reiley (36-3) had a 3-0 lead over No. 19 Brody Hagewood of Prairie Heights with a trip to the state finals on the line. But Hagewood caught him in a spladle for a reversal and three-point near fall in the final period to rally for a 5-3 victory.
Bryce Wenk, a junior 182 pounder, rallied from a 5-2 deficit with two takedowns in the final 21 seconds against No. 11 Laish Detwiler (42-4) of Goshen. But he ran out of gas in overtime, giving up a takedown in 22 seconds to fall 8-6.
Senior Daniel Moore (113) and junior Taye Curtis (120) qualified for the semi-state but did not wrestle Saturday.
It’s the slimmest of margins.
But it was all Tony Wood needed to be in control.
The Jay County High School junior used a single point — it was awarded to him when Logan Uhlman of Adams Central was called for fleeing the mat — to propel himself to the top of the podium Saturday as he won the 138-pound semi-state championship at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
Wood didn’t show much outward emotion after his arm was raised early Saturday evening, but he was feeling it.
“I usually stay pretty calm during my matches, but I’m pretty excited,” said Wood, who is ranked fourth in the state and is now a three-time state qualifier. “I’m super jacked, ready to wrestle next week already.”
“(It feels) really good,” he added. “Losing two semi-state finals in a row is not the best feeling. I really wanted it this time.”
Wood’s effort led the way to a third-place finish for the Patriots, who also had Cameron Clark, Cody Rowles and Christian Wittkamp advance to the state finals. (The top four from the semi-state — those who win their first two matches of the day — move on to state.) They will compete beginning at 2 p.m. Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
JCHS was within 1.5 points of first place midway through the day but was unable to climb as Rochester — it had nine wrestlers win opening-round matches — successfully defended its title by scoring 77 points. Delta was two points behind in second place and the Patriots (62) were third followed by Snider (56.5) and Bellmont (52.5).
“I felt like we wrestled fairly well,” said Myers. “Semi-state wrestling is almost always a roller coaster where you’ve got some big highs — getting a kid like Christian Wittkamp through — and you also have your lows,” he added, referencing close losses for senior Ethan Reiley and junior Bryce Wenk, who saw their seasons come to an end.
“We’re really blessed and happy to have four guys wrestling next week in the state finals. We’re really looking forward to it.”
Wood and Uhlman wrestled a scoreless first minute, with the former awarded the penalty point at the 42-second mark. He added one on an escape 19 seconds into the second period to go up 2-0, and Uhlman got his escape point 11 seconds into the third.
The Adams Central coaches were calling for Uhlman to “re-attack” off of Wood’s shots.
Myers often talks about Wood’s high wrestling IQ, and the junior showed it by simply standing his ground in the center of the mat and refusing to take shots that would allow Uhlman to counter. When Uhlman finally went for a couple of shots late in the match, he wasn’t able to finish them.
“I knew that I was solid enough that he wasn’t going to score his offense on me,” Wood said. “And he was kind of keeping space, so there was no need to go rush and get a takedown when I’m winning.”
The victory pushed Wood (41-0) over the hump after he had been to the semi-state championship each of the last two years and lost to Aidan Sprague of East Noble both times. It marked the sixth time he and Uhlman have met this season, including in the sectional and regional championship matches. (Wood has won them all, accounting for all but two of Uhlman’s eight losses on the year.)
None of Wood’s other matches were close as he pinned Oak Hill’s Tyson Kendall in the opening round, defeated Garrett’s Hayden Williams by an 8-1 decision in the “ticket round” and scored a 15-6 major decision over Cooper Baldwin of Peru in the semifinal.
Clark (36-2), who is ranked 11th at 145 pounds, also advanced to the semi-state championship match but was unable to come away with a second consecutive title after winning at 138 pounds last season.
After winning three consecutive decisions — 8-2 over Thomas Sidel of Homestead in the opener, 7-1 over West Noble’s Teegan Clouse in the ticket round and 9-5 over previously unbeaten Luke Teusch of Huntington north in the semifinals — Clark never led in the championship match, giving up a takedown to DeKalb’s 17th-ranked Braxton Miller in 17 seconds. He needed just six seconds to escape, but allowed another takedown and two-point near fall to trail 6-1 at the end of the first period.
Miller (37-2) recorded a takedown of his own in the second period for the final margin.
“He struggled a little bit getting his offense going,” said Myers. “He wrestled really well today up until that point. (Miller) kind of had an answer for Cam’s offense.”
Friday will mark the third trip to the state finals for Clark, who placed seventh at 138 pounds last season.
Rowles (37-3), who was upset in the ticket round last season after qualifying for state as a freshman, found his way to some redemption. After pinning Northridge’s Graysen Beasley in 5 minutes, 42 seconds, in the first round, he used a headlock to put the shoulders of Rochester’s Aaron Swango to the mat in 2:27 to earn his state finals berth at 126 pounds.
“It feels great to punch my ticket,” said Rowles, who is ranked eighth in the state.
“When I finished that double-leg, I felt like I hurt him a little bit,” he added, referencing a first-period takedown. “And I just knew that I was going to win the match.”
He dropped his final two matches of the day — 6-0 to 10th-ranked Hayden Brady of Garrett and 10-2 to Cowan’s sixth-ranked Jackson Bradley, who he had lost to in the regional semifinal the previous week.
Christian Wittkamp (34-8) earned his state berth thanks to a 6-4 ticket-round win over Kaleb Lounsbury of Prairie Heights in the 152-pound bracket. That came after he built a 13-2 lead over Homestead’s Jake Thrash in the opening round en route to an 18-11 win.
“It feels amazing,” said Wittkamp, who wrestled junior varsity in Illinois last season. “I’ve wanted this for my whole life. This is just an amazing experience. I didn’t think I would make it this year. … It’s awesome.
“All my teammates and my coaches, they’re the reason I got here. They got me so much better this year.”
He dropped the semifinal match by pin in 51 seconds to No. 4 Mitchell Betz (37-1) of Western and lost 8-0 to Carroll’s No. 16 Jackson Todd in the third-place match.
Senior Ethan Reiley, ranked 17th in the state at 132 pounds, advanced to the ticket round but came up short of returning to the state finals.
A state-qualifier as a freshman, Reiley (36-3) had a 3-0 lead over No. 19 Brody Hagewood of Prairie Heights with a trip to the state finals on the line. But Hagewood caught him in a spladle for a reversal and three-point near fall in the final period to rally for a 5-3 victory.
Bryce Wenk, a junior 182 pounder, rallied from a 5-2 deficit with two takedowns in the final 21 seconds against No. 11 Laish Detwiler (42-4) of Goshen. But he ran out of gas in overtime, giving up a takedown in 22 seconds to fall 8-6.
Senior Daniel Moore (113) and junior Taye Curtis (120) qualified for the semi-state but did not wrestle Saturday.
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