Jay wrestlers suffer first loss of season

COLUMBIA CITY — The Patriot veterans took care of business on the mat in their first road match of the season. But they couldn’t get enough support from the freshmen and first-year wrestlers to claim a win over the Eagles.

The No. 9 Jay County High School girls wrestling team suffered its first loss of the season 48-30 at the hands of the Columbia City Eagles on Thursday.

All three of the Patriots’ ranked wrestlers, Katie Rowles (fourth – 100-pound weight class), Amara Crawford (seventh – 190) and Maleah Parsons (13th – 140), secured victories.

Crawford had the most dominant win, pinning Lacey Ernst of Columbia City (3-0) 31 seconds into the 170-pound match. Rowles needed 1:32 to pin Adisyn Omelian and 1:41 came off the clock before Parsons got Laken Garcia on her back.

Jay County (2-1) also got wins from Madison Gage in the 155 weight class and Kelly Jones in the 145 match. Gage pinned Kiersten Williamson in 5:48, while Jones beat Jaylynn Smith in 42 seconds.

Five Patriots also got pinned in the match and a pair of forfeits in the 110 and 130 weight classes tipped the scales for the Eagles.

JV falls

COLUMBIA CITY — The Jay County junior varsity boys wrestling team fell to Columbia City in the season opener 29-18.

A trio of freshmen all picked up their first career victories for the Patriots (0-1), while five more wrestlers fell.

Mitchell Byrum put Mason Dean on his back in 46 seconds in the 106-pound weight class to secure JCHS some points.

The other two victories came in the heavy weight classes. Varen Ridgway pinned Haden Watson 25 seconds into the second period of the 215 match. Spencer Smitley won the 235 contest over Joshia Myers in only 19 seconds.

Jay sweeps

MUNCIE — The Jay County Junior High School girls basketball teams took down Muncie Southside on Thursday.

Arabella Link led the eighth graders with 18 points to beat Southside 40-18. Kinze Homan also reached double figures with 10.

Brenna Weitzel also had seven points.

Gretchen Petro’s 13 points fueled a 33-14 victory for the seventh graders. Haley Comer (six points), Adalee Rigby (five) and Brooklyn McGill (four) supported the effort.

The rest of the points came from Remi LeMaster and Remi Saint with two points apiece and Alyssa Schwieterman with one.