Warrior Wrestlers Rule At Regional
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
HUNTERTOWN - Jacen Hendricks clutched the piece of white cardboard in his hand, not letting it go for anything, like a kid with a new toy. He didn't care about the cardboard itself. He cared about what was written in black letters on that cardboard.
The words written on this cardboard said that Hendricks, a Wawasee wrestler, was a regional champion in the 130-pound weight class.
He stared at the bracket printed on the cardboard and gently shook his head, searching for the words to explain it all.
"I had some doubts," Hendricks said, "but this was my goal: To win it. It's hard to believe. I just went out and wrestled like I should.
"I haven't really wrestled that good this year. I've wrestled some good matches, but this is probably the most memorable day for me. I just prayed to God and asked him to help me wrestle. He came through for me."
Hendricks was one of six Warrior wrestlers crowned champion at Saturday's Carroll Regional. Wawasee's Chet Wortinger (112), Ryan Johnson (135), Kevin Carr (145), Jason Carr (160) and Jamie Salazar (heavyweight) were also champions.
The difference was how Hendricks got there.
Of the eight wrestlers in his bracket, four had fewer losses than Hendricks. But when the day ended, the 25-11 Hendricks was the regional champion.
And no, it wasn't the luck of the draw. He went head-to-head with Carroll's Tim Sloffer. This was 30-1 Tim Sloffer. This was the Tim Sloffer who is ranked third in the state in his weight class. This was the Tim Sloffer who had beaten Hendricks twice this season, including 8-3 only three days ago.
Hendricks got him this time. He won 5-3 to pull off one of the biggest upsets.
"(Sloffer) has that good high-crotch (move)," Hendricks said. "I kind of blocked it. I didn't tie up with him and took some shots. He can't defend shots that well. He can, but if you get in deep enough, it's hard for anybody to fend off a shot."
If Hendricks showed up, DeHart suspected this could happen.
"He controlled Sloffer," DeHart said. "Sloffer beat him 12 to something earlier this year.
"He's a quality kid. Sometimes he decides to turn it on and turn it off. He turned it on today."
If Hendricks was Wawasee's feel-good story of the day, Johnson owned the rights to Wawasee's storybook ending of the day. Like Hendricks, the 30-4 Johnson got no breathers either. On his way to the championship, he beat Clint Sites, a 26-6 wrestler from Eastside. He defeated Rod Rahebi, a 24-2 wrestler from Homestead ranked 14th in the state, 6-5 in double overtime in the championship match.
So exhausted was Johnson when his match ended that he did not walk but instead staggered over to his fellow Wawasee wrestlers in their corner of the gym.
The records on paper suggested Wawasee's other four champions had a good shot of getting that far. Jason Carr stayed undefeated, improving to 36-0. Kevin Carr upped his record to 37-1, Wortinger to 36-3 and Salazar to 33-5. Salazar knocked off James Parke, a 29-1 wrestler from Elmhurst, 7-5 in the semifinals.
Regional champions advance to next Saturday's semistate at Fort Wayne's Memorial Coliseum. But they aren't the only wrestlers to advance. Those who placed second and third at the regional also move on to semistate.
For Wawasee, this includes Travis Coy (119), Tyler Cline (140) and J.J. Davis (152). Coy placed second, while Cline and Davis took third.
"I thought our kids wrestled well," DeHart said. "Obviously you like to get first at the regional, because you get a first-round bye at the semistate. You have to win one match to make it to the state finals."
It's safe to say Wawasee dominated the regional. Twenty schools sent wrestlers to the regional. Out of 14 weight classes, one school had six champions, one runner-up and two third places - Wawasee. Wawasee sent 13 wrestlers from sectional to regional - the most by one school in this regional - and nine of them are going from regional to semistate.
The number of regional champions from other schools? Bishop Dwenger and Bishop Luers tied for second with two each.
"Not a bad day, right?" DeHart joked.
Wawasee had two champions at the Carroll Regional last season - brothers Kevin Carr and Darrell Carr.
Asked what nine semistate wrestlers says about Wawasee's wrestling program, Hendricks said: "We have a tough program. We condition a lot. There's a lot of behind-the-scenes work that we do. It's tough. Our coaches push us. I have to thank them."
Wawasee's Tom Bryan (215) finished fourth, while teammates Josh DeGood (103), Ken McIntosh (125) and Jesse Leonard (189) lost opening-round matches and did not place.
Before next Saturday's individual semistate competition, Wawasee switches back to team competition. High school wrestling has two postseasons: As a team, as an individual.
Wawasee is alive in the team competition as well. The Warriors, 17-1, are at undefeated Bellmont on Wednesday. This is for the team semistate title. Wawasee is ranked ninth, while Bellmont is tied for second. Wawasee beat 20-0 Bellmont 31-30 in last year's semistate.
CARROLL REGIONAL
Individual competition
Weight, result and records
Top three advance to semistate
103 championship -ÊTravis Rood (Bishop Luers/39-2) def. Kyle Hayden (Wayne/26-7) 5-3
103 consolation - Kevin Rouch (East Noble/20-5) pinned Reuben Shenefield (Columbia City/24-8), :33
112 championship -ÊChet Wortinger (Wawasee/36-3) pinned Travis Sibery (DeKalb/17-13), 5:01
112 consolation -ÊJoel Peters (Bishop Luers/22-18) def. Justen Paris (Carroll/15-17) 9-2
119 championship -ÊCourtney Hurse (FW North Side/25-7) def. Travis Coy (Wawasee/31-9) 10-1
119 consolation -ÊJosh Lovejoy (Bishop Luers/28-14) def. Jarald Ridley (FW Northrop/23-12) 5-4
125 championship -ÊKevin Eubanks (Carroll/14-5) pinned Ryan Pepple (FW North Side/28-4), 2:38
125 consolation -ÊJason McClain (Churubusco/25-4) def. Ben Kirk (Bishop Dwenger/13-9) 8-1
130 championship -ÊJacen Hendricks (Wawasee/25-11) def. Kris Krouse (Bishop Luers/24-11) 13-1
130 consolation -ÊTim Sloffer (Carroll/31-2) def. Chris Wolpert (FW Northrop/21-10) 8-4
135 championship -ÊRyan Johnson (Wawasee/30-4) def. Rod Rahebi (Homestead/26-3) 6-5 (2 OT)
135 consolation -ÊClint Sites (Eastside/28-7) def. Trey Begin (Carroll/22-12) 11-5
140 championship - Josh Ross (Columbia City/24-8) def. Aaron Schinbeckler (Carroll/27-6) 6-4 (OT)
140 consolation -ÊTyler Cline (Wawasee/24-9) def. Nick Eckert (FW Northrop/30-5) 5-4
145 championship -ÊKevin Carr (Wawasee/37-1) def. Ryan Peters (Bishop Luers/34-5) 8-5
145 consolation -ÊDusty Runkle (Carroll/24-8) def. Steve DeWitt (DeKalb/21-8) 3-1
152 championship -ÊErik LeBeau (Concordia/37-0) def. Jesse Brenner (FW North Side/21-9) 13-3
152 consolation -ÊJ.J. Davis (Wawasee/27-9) def. Tim Freeman (Wayne/18-13) 10-6
160 championship -ÊJason Carr (Wawasee/36-0) def. Ryan Schott (Homestead/23-6) 11-2
160 consolation - Toby Geyer (Elmhurst/29-3) def. Miguel Chacon (FW Northrop/27-8) 6-3
171 championship -ÊThomas Hammock (Bishop Luers/37-2) def. Ming Ling (DeKalb/26-3) 11-7
171 consolation - Marcus Cowherd (Harding/23-5) def. Troy Lovett (Eastside/21-15) 12-2
189 championship - Anton Talamantes (Bishop Dwenger/30-0) pinned Sam Green (Wayne/24-7), 1:19
189 consolation -ÊManley Glick (Homestead/22-7) def. Justin Shearer (Churubusco/17-5) 9-4
215 championship - Alex Tone (Bishop Dwenger/22-0) pinned Matt Gualddoni (FW Northrop/28-6), 2:44
215 consolation -ÊJesse Kimmel (Churubusco/26-6) def. Tom Bryan (Wawasee/18-18) 5-3
275 championship -ÊJamie Salazar (Wawasee/33-5) pinned Mike Johnson (Homestead/20-8), :47
275 consolation - James Parke (Elmhurst/30-2) pinned Paul Fahlsing (East Noble/12-12), 2:03
Other Wawasee results
103 (first round) - Reuben Shenefield (Columbia City/24-8) def. Josh DeGood (Wawasee/23-11) 10-1; DeGood did not place
125 (first round) -ÊJason McClain (Churubusco/25-4) pinned Ken McIntosh (Wawasee/18-9), 4:55; McIntosh did not place
189 (first round) -ÊSam Green (Wayne/24-7) def. Jesse Leonard (Wawasee/20-15) 9-7 (OT); Leonard did not place
112 (first round) - Chet Wortinger (Wawasee) pinned Rick Trevino (Homestead/6-10), 3:02
112 (second round) -ÊChet Wortinger (Wawasee) pinned Justen Paris (Carroll/16-15), 1:01
119 (second round) -ÊTravis Coy (Wawasee) def. Jarald Ridley (FW Northrop/23-11) 6-4
119 (first round) - Travis Coy (Wawasee) pinned Brett Bushroe (Homestead/14-13), 1:51
130 (first round) -ÊJacen Hendricks (Wawasee) def. Zack Ziembo (Bishop Dwenger/10-12) 4-2
130 (second round) - Jacen Hendricks (Wawasee) def. Tim Sloffer (Carroll/30-2) 5-3
135 (first round) - Ryan Johnson (Wawasee) def. Jonathon Norton (Bishop Luers/20-18) 13-1
135 (second round) - Ryan Johnson (Wawasee) def. Clint Sites (Eastside/27-7) 5-2
140 (first round) -ÊTyler Cline (Wawasee) def. John Grote (Concord/27-8) 5-1
140 (second round) - Aaron Schinbeckler (Carroll/27-5) def. Tyler Cline (Wawasee) 11-10
145 (first round) - Kevin Carr (Wawasee) def. James Hilger (Bishop Dwenger/8-24) tech. fall (25-9)
145 (second round) -ÊKevin Carr (Wawasee) def. Dusty Runkle (Carroll/23-8) 16-6
152 (first round) -ÊJ.J. Davis (Wawasee) def. Jorel Longardner (Churubusco/15-11) 21-10
152 (second round) - Jesse Brenner (FW North Side/21-8) def. J.J. Davis (Wawasee) 11-9 (OT)
160 (first round) - Jason Carr (Wawasee) pinned Matt Kruse (Concord/13-7), 5:48
160 (second round) -ÊJason Carr (Wawasee) def. Toby Geyer (Elmhurst/28-3) 11-4
215 (first round) - Tom Bryan (Wawasee) pinned Chris Smith (Garrett/19-15), 1:26
215 (second round) -ÊAlex Tone (Bishop Dwenger/21-0) def. Tom Bryan (Wawasee) 23-10
275 (first round) -ÊJamie Salazar (Wawasee) pinned Jason Warner (Eastside/13-7), 1:49
275 (second round) - Jamie Salazar (Wawasee) def. James Parke (Elmhurst/29-2) 7-5 [[In-content Ad]]
HUNTERTOWN - Jacen Hendricks clutched the piece of white cardboard in his hand, not letting it go for anything, like a kid with a new toy. He didn't care about the cardboard itself. He cared about what was written in black letters on that cardboard.
The words written on this cardboard said that Hendricks, a Wawasee wrestler, was a regional champion in the 130-pound weight class.
He stared at the bracket printed on the cardboard and gently shook his head, searching for the words to explain it all.
"I had some doubts," Hendricks said, "but this was my goal: To win it. It's hard to believe. I just went out and wrestled like I should.
"I haven't really wrestled that good this year. I've wrestled some good matches, but this is probably the most memorable day for me. I just prayed to God and asked him to help me wrestle. He came through for me."
Hendricks was one of six Warrior wrestlers crowned champion at Saturday's Carroll Regional. Wawasee's Chet Wortinger (112), Ryan Johnson (135), Kevin Carr (145), Jason Carr (160) and Jamie Salazar (heavyweight) were also champions.
The difference was how Hendricks got there.
Of the eight wrestlers in his bracket, four had fewer losses than Hendricks. But when the day ended, the 25-11 Hendricks was the regional champion.
And no, it wasn't the luck of the draw. He went head-to-head with Carroll's Tim Sloffer. This was 30-1 Tim Sloffer. This was the Tim Sloffer who is ranked third in the state in his weight class. This was the Tim Sloffer who had beaten Hendricks twice this season, including 8-3 only three days ago.
Hendricks got him this time. He won 5-3 to pull off one of the biggest upsets.
"(Sloffer) has that good high-crotch (move)," Hendricks said. "I kind of blocked it. I didn't tie up with him and took some shots. He can't defend shots that well. He can, but if you get in deep enough, it's hard for anybody to fend off a shot."
If Hendricks showed up, DeHart suspected this could happen.
"He controlled Sloffer," DeHart said. "Sloffer beat him 12 to something earlier this year.
"He's a quality kid. Sometimes he decides to turn it on and turn it off. He turned it on today."
If Hendricks was Wawasee's feel-good story of the day, Johnson owned the rights to Wawasee's storybook ending of the day. Like Hendricks, the 30-4 Johnson got no breathers either. On his way to the championship, he beat Clint Sites, a 26-6 wrestler from Eastside. He defeated Rod Rahebi, a 24-2 wrestler from Homestead ranked 14th in the state, 6-5 in double overtime in the championship match.
So exhausted was Johnson when his match ended that he did not walk but instead staggered over to his fellow Wawasee wrestlers in their corner of the gym.
The records on paper suggested Wawasee's other four champions had a good shot of getting that far. Jason Carr stayed undefeated, improving to 36-0. Kevin Carr upped his record to 37-1, Wortinger to 36-3 and Salazar to 33-5. Salazar knocked off James Parke, a 29-1 wrestler from Elmhurst, 7-5 in the semifinals.
Regional champions advance to next Saturday's semistate at Fort Wayne's Memorial Coliseum. But they aren't the only wrestlers to advance. Those who placed second and third at the regional also move on to semistate.
For Wawasee, this includes Travis Coy (119), Tyler Cline (140) and J.J. Davis (152). Coy placed second, while Cline and Davis took third.
"I thought our kids wrestled well," DeHart said. "Obviously you like to get first at the regional, because you get a first-round bye at the semistate. You have to win one match to make it to the state finals."
It's safe to say Wawasee dominated the regional. Twenty schools sent wrestlers to the regional. Out of 14 weight classes, one school had six champions, one runner-up and two third places - Wawasee. Wawasee sent 13 wrestlers from sectional to regional - the most by one school in this regional - and nine of them are going from regional to semistate.
The number of regional champions from other schools? Bishop Dwenger and Bishop Luers tied for second with two each.
"Not a bad day, right?" DeHart joked.
Wawasee had two champions at the Carroll Regional last season - brothers Kevin Carr and Darrell Carr.
Asked what nine semistate wrestlers says about Wawasee's wrestling program, Hendricks said: "We have a tough program. We condition a lot. There's a lot of behind-the-scenes work that we do. It's tough. Our coaches push us. I have to thank them."
Wawasee's Tom Bryan (215) finished fourth, while teammates Josh DeGood (103), Ken McIntosh (125) and Jesse Leonard (189) lost opening-round matches and did not place.
Before next Saturday's individual semistate competition, Wawasee switches back to team competition. High school wrestling has two postseasons: As a team, as an individual.
Wawasee is alive in the team competition as well. The Warriors, 17-1, are at undefeated Bellmont on Wednesday. This is for the team semistate title. Wawasee is ranked ninth, while Bellmont is tied for second. Wawasee beat 20-0 Bellmont 31-30 in last year's semistate.
CARROLL REGIONAL
Individual competition
Weight, result and records
Top three advance to semistate
103 championship -ÊTravis Rood (Bishop Luers/39-2) def. Kyle Hayden (Wayne/26-7) 5-3
103 consolation - Kevin Rouch (East Noble/20-5) pinned Reuben Shenefield (Columbia City/24-8), :33
112 championship -ÊChet Wortinger (Wawasee/36-3) pinned Travis Sibery (DeKalb/17-13), 5:01
112 consolation -ÊJoel Peters (Bishop Luers/22-18) def. Justen Paris (Carroll/15-17) 9-2
119 championship -ÊCourtney Hurse (FW North Side/25-7) def. Travis Coy (Wawasee/31-9) 10-1
119 consolation -ÊJosh Lovejoy (Bishop Luers/28-14) def. Jarald Ridley (FW Northrop/23-12) 5-4
125 championship -ÊKevin Eubanks (Carroll/14-5) pinned Ryan Pepple (FW North Side/28-4), 2:38
125 consolation -ÊJason McClain (Churubusco/25-4) def. Ben Kirk (Bishop Dwenger/13-9) 8-1
130 championship -ÊJacen Hendricks (Wawasee/25-11) def. Kris Krouse (Bishop Luers/24-11) 13-1
130 consolation -ÊTim Sloffer (Carroll/31-2) def. Chris Wolpert (FW Northrop/21-10) 8-4
135 championship -ÊRyan Johnson (Wawasee/30-4) def. Rod Rahebi (Homestead/26-3) 6-5 (2 OT)
135 consolation -ÊClint Sites (Eastside/28-7) def. Trey Begin (Carroll/22-12) 11-5
140 championship - Josh Ross (Columbia City/24-8) def. Aaron Schinbeckler (Carroll/27-6) 6-4 (OT)
140 consolation -ÊTyler Cline (Wawasee/24-9) def. Nick Eckert (FW Northrop/30-5) 5-4
145 championship -ÊKevin Carr (Wawasee/37-1) def. Ryan Peters (Bishop Luers/34-5) 8-5
145 consolation -ÊDusty Runkle (Carroll/24-8) def. Steve DeWitt (DeKalb/21-8) 3-1
152 championship -ÊErik LeBeau (Concordia/37-0) def. Jesse Brenner (FW North Side/21-9) 13-3
152 consolation -ÊJ.J. Davis (Wawasee/27-9) def. Tim Freeman (Wayne/18-13) 10-6
160 championship -ÊJason Carr (Wawasee/36-0) def. Ryan Schott (Homestead/23-6) 11-2
160 consolation - Toby Geyer (Elmhurst/29-3) def. Miguel Chacon (FW Northrop/27-8) 6-3
171 championship -ÊThomas Hammock (Bishop Luers/37-2) def. Ming Ling (DeKalb/26-3) 11-7
171 consolation - Marcus Cowherd (Harding/23-5) def. Troy Lovett (Eastside/21-15) 12-2
189 championship - Anton Talamantes (Bishop Dwenger/30-0) pinned Sam Green (Wayne/24-7), 1:19
189 consolation -ÊManley Glick (Homestead/22-7) def. Justin Shearer (Churubusco/17-5) 9-4
215 championship - Alex Tone (Bishop Dwenger/22-0) pinned Matt Gualddoni (FW Northrop/28-6), 2:44
215 consolation -ÊJesse Kimmel (Churubusco/26-6) def. Tom Bryan (Wawasee/18-18) 5-3
275 championship -ÊJamie Salazar (Wawasee/33-5) pinned Mike Johnson (Homestead/20-8), :47
275 consolation - James Parke (Elmhurst/30-2) pinned Paul Fahlsing (East Noble/12-12), 2:03
Other Wawasee results
103 (first round) - Reuben Shenefield (Columbia City/24-8) def. Josh DeGood (Wawasee/23-11) 10-1; DeGood did not place
125 (first round) -ÊJason McClain (Churubusco/25-4) pinned Ken McIntosh (Wawasee/18-9), 4:55; McIntosh did not place
189 (first round) -ÊSam Green (Wayne/24-7) def. Jesse Leonard (Wawasee/20-15) 9-7 (OT); Leonard did not place
112 (first round) - Chet Wortinger (Wawasee) pinned Rick Trevino (Homestead/6-10), 3:02
112 (second round) -ÊChet Wortinger (Wawasee) pinned Justen Paris (Carroll/16-15), 1:01
119 (second round) -ÊTravis Coy (Wawasee) def. Jarald Ridley (FW Northrop/23-11) 6-4
119 (first round) - Travis Coy (Wawasee) pinned Brett Bushroe (Homestead/14-13), 1:51
130 (first round) -ÊJacen Hendricks (Wawasee) def. Zack Ziembo (Bishop Dwenger/10-12) 4-2
130 (second round) - Jacen Hendricks (Wawasee) def. Tim Sloffer (Carroll/30-2) 5-3
135 (first round) - Ryan Johnson (Wawasee) def. Jonathon Norton (Bishop Luers/20-18) 13-1
135 (second round) - Ryan Johnson (Wawasee) def. Clint Sites (Eastside/27-7) 5-2
140 (first round) -ÊTyler Cline (Wawasee) def. John Grote (Concord/27-8) 5-1
140 (second round) - Aaron Schinbeckler (Carroll/27-5) def. Tyler Cline (Wawasee) 11-10
145 (first round) - Kevin Carr (Wawasee) def. James Hilger (Bishop Dwenger/8-24) tech. fall (25-9)
145 (second round) -ÊKevin Carr (Wawasee) def. Dusty Runkle (Carroll/23-8) 16-6
152 (first round) -ÊJ.J. Davis (Wawasee) def. Jorel Longardner (Churubusco/15-11) 21-10
152 (second round) - Jesse Brenner (FW North Side/21-8) def. J.J. Davis (Wawasee) 11-9 (OT)
160 (first round) - Jason Carr (Wawasee) pinned Matt Kruse (Concord/13-7), 5:48
160 (second round) -ÊJason Carr (Wawasee) def. Toby Geyer (Elmhurst/28-3) 11-4
215 (first round) - Tom Bryan (Wawasee) pinned Chris Smith (Garrett/19-15), 1:26
215 (second round) -ÊAlex Tone (Bishop Dwenger/21-0) def. Tom Bryan (Wawasee) 23-10
275 (first round) -ÊJamie Salazar (Wawasee) pinned Jason Warner (Eastside/13-7), 1:49
275 (second round) - Jamie Salazar (Wawasee) def. James Parke (Elmhurst/29-2) 7-5 [[In-content Ad]]