Third in 2A

With two of their key cogs still out with injuries, the Patriots held their spot.

The No. 3 seed heading into Saturday’s Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Class 2A team state tournament, host Jay County fought through a rematch of last year’s final for a 37-34 victory over Western to finish in third place.

The win over the Panthers, who upset the Patriots for the 2023 Class 2A team state title, finished off a day that saw JCHS mix up the lineup in an effort to find points with Taye Curtis and Cameron Clark still sidelined.

“If you asked me at the beginning of the school year, I’m a little bummed. Today, I’m pretty happy,” said Myers, who also lost Christian Wittkamp (transfer) and A.J. Myers (injury) prior to the season. “I felt like we had gust top to bottom in the lineup that wrestled hard, the hardest I’ve seen the wrestle all year — battling in every position, fighting off their backs, winning big matches. It was really a fun day for us.”

After a bye in the opening round, Jay County knocked off Oak Hill 38-32 in the quarterfinal before falling to second-ranked and second-seeded Delta 56-15 in the semifinal. The Eagles went on to take out No. 1 Bellmont 39-28 in the championship match.

There were upsets across the state for championships Saturday, with No. 3 Rochester knocking off No. 1 Adams Central in Class 1A, No. 3 Floyd Central topping No. 1 Terre Haute South in Class 3A and No. 2 Crown Point beating top-ranked Brownsburg in Class 4A.

With Myers strategically shifting his lineup, the Patriots trailed 29-22 after giving up a forfeit to 13th-ranked Lye Tishner at 132 pounds. Their next three wrestlers delivered what was needed.

A.J. Heskett and Tony Wood each bumped up a weight class, with the former first finishing off Chase Sullivan with a pin in 1 minute, 34 seconds. Wood, the 2023 state medalist who is ranked fourth at 138 pounds, needed just 42 seconds to pin Erik Hunt at 144.

With a five-point lead in the team score, any kind of win from Jacob Robinson would finish off the match. After a scoreless first period, he got an escape followed by a take down 10 seconds later in the second. A three-point near fall in the third secured a win for both him and the team. (Myers then gave up a forfeit in the final weight class for the 37-34 final score.)

“We were able to get some people in the right spots, juggle around our lineup a little bit,” said Myers. “I’m hoping our lineup will be fully back intact by the sectional. … I’m not gonna mind not having the stress of trying to piece together a lineup. But I’m able to piece it together because we’ve got guys that come out and work hard. They’re able to fill in the spots … I’m really proud of our effort today and I’m proud of our guys.”

Jay County is now 16-3 with two losses to Delta and one to Adams Central.

Bryce Wenk, ranked No. 17 at 215, and Wood were the only Patriots to go 3-0 on the day. Grant Linville, a 106-pounder, was 2-0 with a pair of victories that were key to each of the JCHS wins.

With the Patriots trailing 19-15 to Oak Hill in the quarterfinal, Linville caught Manuel Mora with a far-side cradle for a pin in just 46 seconds. Later against Western, this time with the score tied, he used a series of near falls for a 17-8 major decision over Jack Hunter.

“His pin against Oak Hill was enormous,” said Myers. “And then it took him a little while to wake up here again Western, but in the second half of that match he really put it on the kid. I’m happy with his effort here today.”