Fourth in 138

EVANSVILLE — Tony Wood fought to the end.

Following blood time with 23 seconds left, he hunted for his opportunity for a takedown.

After a reset to the center of the mat with 10 seconds left, he went on a furious attack. Brady Ison was able to hold him off.

Wood, a Jay County High School senior, dropped the final match of his high school career 3-1 to Ison as he finished fourth at 138 pounds Saturday in the IHSAA Wrestling State Finals at the Ford Center.

“That’s nothing to sleep on,” said Wood, who was unbeaten headed into the tournament and had his sights set on a state championship. “It’s still really cool, especially when you get out here on the podium and see everybody. That feels really nice.

“Obviously I would have liked to place higher. I didn’t quite reach my goals, but I still feel like I wrestled really good, had a good day. Can’t be mad at that.”

Fellow Patriot Cody Rowles placed eighth at 126 pounds. It was a difficult final day as he came up just short in the quarterfinals against No. 13 Gunner Butt (35-7) of New Palestine and went on to drop his next two matches as well. Still, thanks to his victory Friday night, he finished his career with a medal in his third visit to the state finals.

“I’ve never performed here like I’m capable of,” said Rowles, who had qualified for state twice previously. “I just never could really make it click at this tournament. But it’s been pretty fun. I’m glad I could end it on the podium.”

Wood became the first Patriot wrestler to reach the semifinals since Eric Hemmelgarn in 2014 despite failing to get an escape against No. 13 Justice Thornton of Columbus North after choosing the bottom position to start the second period Saturday morning. Thornton finally broke a scoreless tie with an escape with 1:08 left in the match and still led 1-0 as the wrestlers returned to the center of the mat in the neutral position with 15 seconds left. But Wood got to Thornton’s body, forced him to the mat, gained control for a takedown and held off Thornton as he scrambled to find an escape or reversal as the final second ticked away.

“I just kept pushing the pace,” said Wood. “He kinda wanted to keep that a low-scoring match and he did a really good job of that. …

“I’m still looking to score. I really wasn’t too worried about losing, and I found a score and I won that match.”

The dream of a state title came to an end in the semifinals as Wood never quite found his footing against eventual state champion No. 2 Kyrel Leavell of Warren Central. He fell behind 5-0 en route to a 9-3 defeat.

The loss sent him to the third-place match against No. 3 Brady Ison (31-7) of Brownsburg. Wood fought off a single-leg takedown for a while but gave up two points with 20 seconds left in the first period. He fell behind 3-0 on an Ison escape in the second before getting an escape of his own early in the third. He went after Ison in the final 23 seconds of the match but couldn’t get home for the two points he needed to extend the match, and his career, into overtime.

“I think Tony just showed that he’s right there,” said Myers. “He’s able to wrestle with those kids. … Tony was feeling pretty good toward the end of the day. I felt like that may have been the best match that he wrestled the whole tournament. He was really moving his feet well. Super close to having that first takedown and he couldn’t get past that arm. Ison was able to adjust and ended up getting the two. I’m really proud of the state tournament Tony had.”

Jay County’s No. 18 Cody Rowles wraps up New Palestine’s 13th-ranked Gunner Butt on Saturday during the quarterfinals of the 126-pound bracket at the state finals. Rowles dropped the match to Butt in sudden victory overtime and went on to finish eighth. (The Commercial Review/Ray Cooney)

 

Rowles was looking good for a trip to the semifinals early Saturday against Rioux as he had a 4-1 lead in the second period. But the third-ranked wrestler in the state got an escape and takedown to pull even, then rode out Rowles in the third period. In sudden victory, Rowles was unable to hold off Rioux’s double-leg takedown as he fell 6-4.

He took a lead again in the consolation semifinals with a double-leg takedown of No. 10 Matthew Maldonado. But the Merrillville junior responded with a headlock for a takedown and two-point near fall and went on to hand Rowles a 9-3 defeat.

The seventh-place match was the fourth in a series between Rowles and Union City’s Bradin Daniels, who were once teammates at East Jay Middle School. (Daniels knocked off Rowles for the sectional title, Rowles avenged the loss in the regional championship and Daniels won the showdown in the semi-state finals.) Rowles fell behind 2-0 and could never lock in his headlock on the Indian junior as he fell 5-0.

“How many kids Friday night would love to have that medal?” said Myers. “We were just so close to bumping into the semifinals there in that overtime match. We even had a double where we had hips covered and couldn’t quite stop that momentum that he had. 

“After that we had a tough match with the Maldonado kid, and then Daniels again. That’s kind of the way it happens sometimes. …

“He was able to have a great state tournament series and finally get a medal. I think he’ll be able to look back at his state finals as a pretty big success even though Saturday was a little rough on him.”

The Patriot seniors closed out a pair of outstanding careers.

Rowles finished it off with a state medal after having already won four Allen County Athletic Conference championships, three sectional titles and three regional championships. He posted a career record of 140-22.

Wood is a two-time state medalist, two-time semi-state champion, the school’s first four-time regional champion, a four-time sectional champion and a four-time Allen County Athletic Conference champion. He edged Eric Hemmelgarn for second on the school’s all-time wins list — 2020 graduate Mason Winner is at the top with 170 — as he finished at 163-13.

“I’ve been really blessed to have the opportunity to coach those guys,” said Myers, the emotion of the moment beginning to hit him. “It’s gonna be an adjustment for us not to have those guys in the room and out on the mat. But at the same time, you’ve just got to be so thankful that you had the opportunity to have them representing Jay County, had the opportunity to coach them, had the opportunity to have them in the room. … I’m really proud of what they’ve been able to accomplish.”