By PAUL BEITLER
PORTLAND — A total of 14 Wells County high school wrestlers entered the IHSAA Wrestling Regional at Jay County High School on Saturday, but only three wrestlers each from Bluffton and Norwell punched a ticket into the semi-state next Saturday at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne.
However, it was a big day for Bluffton sophomore Levi Johns, who defeated Jay County senior Daniel Moore 9-0 in the championship finals. Johns jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period and scored five more points in the second period with a takedown and three near fall points.
Johns, now 36-2, will try to repeat as a state meet qualifier after making it to Indianapolis in 2022. His father, Brady, a Bluffton graduate, was a state qualifier in 1996.
“It was a big win for him because the weekend before he lost to (Moore),” said Bluffton head coach Ben Sprunger. “Just going into semi-state with some confidence again is a big deal. He did what he was supposed to do. He rallied and did everything we asked him to do. He worked on a couple things this week and corrected some mistakes and did exactly what we planned to do. It was a big deal that he came back and got some revenge.”
Bluffton junior Juan “Johnny” Cruz (36-2), who lost in the heavyweight championship finals by a fall in overtime to Muncie Central’s undefeated senior Titus Waters (43-0), also has a shot now of returning to the state finals by placing in the top four at semi-state. Cruz and Waters wrestled to a 1-1 draw in the final match, but Waters scored a takedown in the first one-minute overtime session to win 3-1.
“Johnny did everything we worked on in the practice room,” noted Sprunger. “We stopped shots. We minimized damage. He wrestled great. He just got caught at the end in overtime, but it was a really good match and I’m really proud of him.
“The nice thing is that we know what we need to work on, and I think we catch (Waters) at semi-state,” added Sprunger. “I think (Johnny is) the semi-state champ. He’s the guy to beat. I think Waters escaped with a win, but I don’t think he will get lucky next week.”
Senior teammate Levi Kahn (32-7) placed fourth in the 170-pound weight class.
“It was good for Levi Kahn. He’s a senior, and he gets another week,” said Sprunger. “I would have loved to see him get third, but he’s moving on, and I’ve seen a lot of people win out as a fourth-place and come back and go to state. That’s our goal for him. He’s come out and wrestled really hard as a senior, since last year he didn’t make it out of sectional.”
For the Norwell Knights, freshman Hunter Douglas (30-3) placed third in the 106-pound class. Senior Stuart McCabe (16-10) finished fourth at 182, while senior Tyler Luther (29-12) was fourth at 195.
“You always want to do better than what you do,” said Norwell head coach John Johnson about the fact that three senior wrestlers did not make it out of regional. “We had some shortfalls, but I’ve been with these boys (heavyweight Hudson Kahn, Connor Dreiband (132) and 160-pounder Max Walker) since sixth grade, and I’m proud of their careers and how they ended it. It just comes down to some grind matches, and we were on the short end of the stick. We got three through, and I wanted five, but at the end of the day it is what it is.”
Although the trio of Knights, who advanced, did not place high Saturday, Johnson hopes that his boys will get a good draw for semi-state.
In the semi-state, Johns will face a fourth-place regional finalist in his first match at 8 a.m. Johns must win his first two matches to assure a trip to state at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
At semi-state, wrestlers must win their first two matches to reach the semifinals and one of the top-four places in each weight class, punching their ticket to Indy.
In the first round at regional, Johns eliminated Winchester’s Isaiah Spurlin by a 16-1 technical fall. In the semifinals, Johns defeated Delta’s Kaid Jackson 8-4 to reach the championship match.
Cruz opened his morning workout with a fall over Yorktown’s Isaiah Hopkins in 1:20. In the semifinals, he pinned Delta’s Isaac Moss in 1:03.
Kahn started out his day with a first-round fall in 4:34 over Monroe Central’s Jerimiah Ullom.
Douglas began his morning with a 10-1 victory over Daigan Barbosa of Cowan. In the semifinals, he suffered a hard-fought 2-0 loss to Yorktown senior Joey Cline, who was the regional runner-up.
McCabe was a 9-7 winner against Daleville’s Chris Walters in the first round, while Luther pinned Monroe Central’s Kolten Tinsman in 1:24 to reach the semifinals and advance to semi-state.
In the team scoring, Jay County was regional team champion with 141 points, advancing eight wrestlers, including three champions.
Delta was second with 116, Bellmont third with 91.5, Adams Central fourth with 81, Yorktown fifth with 72, Cowan sixth with 66.
Bluffton was seventh with 46.5, followed by Muncie Central with 35 and South Adams with 33. Norwell was 10th with 24.
Daleville was 11th with 23, Blackford 12th with 13 and Winchester 13th with 12. Union City and Wes-Del each had eight.
Bellmont advanced five wrestlers, including four champs. Adams Central got six out and South Adams two.
Southern Wells’ Peyton Long, a heavyweight contender, lost in the first round and therefore did not advance.
sports@news-banner.com
