Two-for-two

EVANSVILLE — The Patriots’ two seniors wrestled matches that were not at all alike.

One found himself in some difficult spots. The other was in control the whole way.

Their results, though, were the same.

They are both state medalists.

Tony Wood continued his dominant, undefeated run while Cody Rowles scored the bulk of his points from the bottom position Friday as the Jay County High School classmates each earned state medals with opening-round wins in the IHSAA Wrestling State Finals at the Ford Center.

“It feels pretty good,” said Rowles, who had dropped his first-round matches in each of his previous two visits to the state finals. “I’ve been saying my whole life I was going to do it, and it’s my final year. It just feels good to finally do it and not just be a Friday night exit.”

“It was good,” said Wood, who placed seventh at 138 pounds last season and is appearing in the state finals for the fourth time. “I got the job done, pretty much what you’ve got to do on Friday night. Now I’ve got to just check weight, see where I am, get ready for that Saturday morning.”

Wood and Rowles will return to the Ford Center this morning to wrestle in the quarterfinals at 10 a.m. Wood’s next match is against Columbus North’s 13th-ranked Justice Thornton (35-2), who upset No. 5 Welsey Smith (46-3) of Plymouth 7-6 in the opening round. Rowles will take on New Palestine’s Gunner Butt (34-5), who is ranked 13th in the 126-pound weight class.

Semifinals will immediately follow the quarterfinals. Consolation matches for third, fifth and seventh places will be at 5:30 p.m., with state championship matches at 8:30 p.m.

The pair of victories Friday guaranteed Jay County multiple state medalists for the first time in six seasons.

JCHS coach Eric Myers often talks about the wrestling roller coaster, but on the opening night of the state finals there was no downside.

“It was fun,” he said. “It feels pretty darn good. … Any time you can get two state medalists, you’re pretty happy. …

“One of the things that you have to reiterate after the guys … is now we’ve got to be greedy. We’ve got to try and get the next best one and keep trying to climb that podium.

“We’re excited to see what both of those guys can go do tomorrow.”

Undefeated Tony Wood (45-0) of Jay County controls Lawrence North’s Blake Jones in their 138-pound opener Friday. Wood had an 11-0 lead in the third period before finally allowing an escape as he rolled to victory with a 15-2 major decision. Ranked fourth in the state, Wood will take on No. 13 Justice Thornton of Columbus North in the quarterfinal round this morning. (The Commercial Review/Ray Cooney)

 

The 18th-ranked Rowles (32-10) found himself in some trouble early in his 126-pound opener as No. 7 Layne Horn (44-2) of Rochester caught him with a single-leg takedown. He worked it into an arm bar/half nelson combination in an effort to get a first-period pin, but the Patriot senior fought it off and scored a reversal at the 34-second mark.

Horn went up again with an escape and pushed his lead to 5-2 with a takedown 1:20 into the second period, but Rowles almost immediately reversed it into a headlock and two-point near fall. Another headlock reversal midway through the third period put Rowles in control 9-5 and he carried that margin to his state medal.

“He kind of shot into my head a little bit, kinda rung me up,” said Rowles, looking back at his first-period predicament. “It took me a second to reset. But I just reset and decided I was just going to score the next point and just keep on scoring and try to score more than he does.”

“I’m able to throw really well from bottom,” he added. “He was able to let me get my hips out and just hook arms and do what I do best.”

In taking on Lawrence North’s Blake Jones (29-8) in the 138-pound bracket, Wood was what he has been all year  — patient, technical, dominant.

It took him more than a minute to get his first takedown as Jones tried to keep him at bay, but then he finished a single-leg takedown for a 2-0 lead. He ran a half-nelson for a two-point near fall in the final five seconds of the first period and never looked back.

A reversal and three-point near fall put Wood up 9-0 in the second period. He was ahead 11-0 in the third before finally he allowed Jones an escape, but then added two more takedowns to complete a 15-2 major decision.

“Tony did a really nice job,” said Myers. “He kind of worked with what he gave him. He loves to say, ‘Let’s just score points. Let’s find a way to score points.’ And that’s what he does. I think that’s, mentally, the best mindset you can have. Just go score the next points.”

With their wins, Rowles and Wood gave JCHS two state medalists in the same wrestling season for the first time since Mason Winner and Gaven Hare both finished eighth in 2018. If either wins this morning and makes it to the semifinal round, it will mark the first time a JCHS wrestler has been that deep in the state finals since Eric Hemmelgarn in 2014. The last Patriot to wrestler for a state championship was Casey Kenney in 2008.

Both have big goals, and Wood has not been shy about saying his mission this weekend is a state championship.

What is the key to making that happen?

“Not making the moment bigger than it is,” said Wood, who is now 45-0. “I mean, at the end of the day, it’s a wrestling match, on a mat, circle in the middle. Don’t make the moment bigger than it is and wrestle to my capability.”