One at a time

Tony Wood is seeking his second semi-state championship and fourth state finals berth.

Cody Rowles is trying for a third state berth.

Bryce Wenk is hoping to break through after coming agonizingly close in 2022.

The trio of Patriots with semi-state experience lead a group of seven Jay County High School wrestlers who will compete in the tournament at 8:30 a.m. Saturday at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.

Semi-state newcomers for the team will be Griffin Byrum, Jacob Robinson, Juaquin Flores and Alan Ortiz.

For all of them, it will take two victories — the second round is referred to as the “ticket round,” as wrestlers have the opportunity to punch their ticket to the state finals — in order to extend their season for one more week.

“We’re pretty excited,” said JCHS coach Eric Myers. “I think one of the biggest things that we tell wrestlers going into the semi-state is that everybody wants to look at that ticket round because that’s the round that you punch your ticket to state. We want to make sure that we don’t overlook that first-round match. We’ve got several tough first-round matches. Some of our first-round matches are tougher than would-be ticket-round matches. Just like we started the state tournament series off with, we want to take it one match at a time.”

Wood, who is 40-0 and ranked fourth in the state, is the heavy favorite at 138 pounds. All four of the other state-ranked wrestlers in the bracket are on the opposite side. Yorktown’s No. 9 Justin Boone (33-3), who Wood pinned in the first period of the regional championship match, is the highest among them.

In order to get to the finals for the fourth consecutive year, Wood will first half to go through Angola’s Dallas Davidson (37-6). A win would send him to meet either Kendi Quoi (25-10) of Snider or Grant Howard (26-10) of Madison-Grant in the ticket round. Elkhart’s Cameron Dews (35-4) looks like Wood’s most likely semifinal opponent.

“He’s just got to go and stay focused all the way through and set himself up as well as he can for next week,” said Myers of the senior who is the program’s first four-time regional champion and can become a two-time semi-state champion Saturday. “He’s got the right attitude. He just likes to wrestle and he likes to score points. … I feel like as long as I’ve been coaching I don’t know if I’ve known anybody that loves wrestling as much as Tony loves it.”

    Jacob Robinson (29-10) of Jay County holds Adams Central’s Max Byerly in a precarious position while trying to get a leg sweep during their third-place match at 150 pounds in the regional tournament Saturday at JCHS. Robinson’s first match in the semi-state will be against Luke Teusch (35-1) of Huntington North. (The Commercial Review/Ray Cooney)

 

Rowles and Byrum will open the semi-state against brothers.

The 18th-ranked Rowles (28-9), who upset No. 5 Neal Mosier (34-1) of Delta in the regional semifinal and went on to avenge his sectional championship loss to Union City’s Bradin Daniels (34-2) in the championship, will start his 126-pound bracket against Prairie Heights junior Boston Baas (21-15). Byrum (32-5), who is ranked 20th, gets the younger brother, freshman Brayden Bass (32-5), to open the 106 bracket.

A win for Rowles would send him to meet Tripp Haisley (23-4) of Madison-Grant or Kaeden Benedict (23-11) of Homestead with a trip to state on the line. No. 16 Drew Waldon (28-4) of DeKalb is a possible semifinal opponent, with regional rivals Mosier and Daniels potentially looming in the finals.

Byrum’s ticket-round match would likely be against New Haven’s seventh-ranked Julianna O’Campo (33-1), who was a state qualifier as a freshman in 2022.

As he did after winning the sectional championship two weeks ago, the junior expressed confidence.

“I expected going to semi-state,” Byrum said. “I saw myself as a semi-state guy last year. …

“I just put so much work in on the offseason that I expect this is where I should be.”

Wenk (36-3) will start his day in the 190-pound bracket against NorthWood’s Keith Miller (23-7). His likely ticket-round opponent is No. 19 Mickey Daring (32-3) of Bishop Luers.

The senior is hoping to turn his semi-state luck. He was up 8-3 on NorthWood’s Trey Tobias in the ticket round two years ago, only to have Tobias rally and get a takedown and three-point near fall in the final 10 seconds to steal the win. Wenk lost 8-6 in overtime to Laish Detwiler of Goshen in the opening round last season.

“I’ve been really wanting to do this my entire life, really,” said Wenk. “So, this time if I’m up in the ticket round I’m going to sell out and hopefully make it to state …

“It would feel amazing. I’d probably be content right there, but I would have to keep going and try to get first or second there so I would get a good (state) draw.”

Ortiz will face a familiar opponent in Homestead’s Caleb Evans (37-5), having lost to him 3-2 in a dual match last season. (They did not meet this year as Ortiz bumped up to heavyweight with Jay County’s Bryce Cox losing to Evans by a third-period pin.) A win over Evans would send Ortiz to the ticket round for a likely match-up with 18th-ranked Travis Henke (36-1) of Northridge.

Robinson and Flores will each start the day against opponents who have lost just one match this year. For the former in the 150-pound bracket, it’s Huntington North’s Luke Teusch (35-1), who Jay County’s Cameron Clark beat in the semi-state semifinal last season. For the latter at 175, it’s Ethan Farnell (36-1) of Maconaquah.

Both would face less daunting opponents in the ticket round if they are able to pull a first-round upset.

“I’m excited,” said Flores. “I don’t watch too much about other people. I just try to wrestle my match — hand-fighting pretty good, getting to my shot, finishing.”