Freshmen fitting in

During the 2024-25 campaign, a trio of freshmen led the Patriot tankers.

History repeated itself as a new trio of freshmen put together a strong day in the first dual meet of the season.

Freshmen were responsible for six of the 10 individual victories for the Jay County High School swim teams on Wednesday as the girls beat the Bluffton Tigers 173-133 while the boys fell 190-109.

“I’m ecstatic with how the kids swam tonight,” said JCHS coach Matt Slavik. “Where we're at right now with the start of the season, it’s good to see some times with the work that they’re putting in and a lot of positives through the night. So it’s a good feeling kicking off the season like this.”

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Jay County swim vs. Bluffton (12/3/2025)

Grady Warvel led the Patriot boys (0-1, 0-1 Allen County Athletic Conference) with two of the four first-place finishes. (The others came from Bryden Carter in the 1-meter diving with a score of 174.3 points and Carson Westgerdes in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1 minute, 7.63 seconds.)

The JCHS freshman dominated the 200 individual medley. He hit the wall after 2:10.24, while Bluffton’s Braden Lemler took just under 10 seconds longer to claim second place with a 2:20.19.

Warvel’s second individual event ended up a little bit tighter, but he still beat Lemler’s 59.53 with a time of 57.39.

“I’ve been working hard in practice,” Warvel said. “Definitely my 200 IM (stood out), I dropped two seconds. My 1 fly wasn’t my best, but I still felt pretty strong on it.”

Fellow freshman Elly Byrum claimed the same races on the girls side.

She beat out teammate Kaitlyn Fisher (2:44.10) in the 200 IM by swimming a 2:36.27.

To win the 100 butterfly, she had to beat her older sister, Brooklynn Byrum, who didn’t go down easily. Elly Byrum edged Brooklynn Byrum by 1.09 seconds with a final time of 1:10.68.

“I just swam a strong first 50,” Elly Byrum said. “The third 50, I just tried to stay with her because we stayed with each other the whole 100. Then the last 25 I just used the rest of my energy and just barely pulled through.” 

    Kali Wendel, a freshman at Jay County, pushes back toward the start blocks during the 500-yard freestyle against Bluffton on Wednesday. Wendel earned the runner-up spot in both the 500 freestyle and the 200 freestyle to help fuel a 173-133 victory over the Tigers in the Allen County Athletic Conference opener. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)