After six or seven hours of wrestling action at Saturday’s Jay County Sectional, there were just minutes remaining in the day when Bellmont climbed back on top of the team standings with Keagan Martin’s victory in the championship bout at 215 pounds.
The minutes that followed were some of the wildest moments that local mat fans have experienced in a long time.


Martin was cruising to victory over Keegan Bluhm, setting up a scenario where the Braves would carry a lead of the smallest possible margin (half a point) into the heavyweight class. The senior hunkered down and scored a few extra points to wrap up a major decision, adding an extra team point to the Braves’ total.
With Bellmont enjoying a 1.5-point lead, the math was not complicated. Zac Wurm was going to have to finally defeat Juan Cruz of Bluffton if the Jets were going to save the day, a day in which they had led for much of the proceedings.

Few, if any, gave much thought to the third-place match, where sophomore Grady Baker was taking on the highly-touted senior from Southern Wells, Peyton Long.
As Cruz and Wurm danced the heavyweight dance in the middle of the gym, Long took Baker down and most in the crowd continued to monitor the chances of Wurm pulling off the upset by solving the Cruz riddle.
Then things got exciting.

Both Baker and Cruz scored simultaneous takedowns, bringing half the gym to their feet.
Moments later, Long got a reversal to take a 5-2 lead into the third period as Cruz was dominating on top against Wurm.
Grady took a long time to decide what choice to take in third period, but assistant coach Nick Koons agreed to go down against the much bigger Long, while head coach Tim Myers kept his eye on Zac Wurm.

Baker scored a quick escape to start the third period as Wurm and Cruz went into the third as well. The sophomore then hit another snap down and spin around for two, tying the match at 5-5.

Meanwhile, after choosing neutral in the third period against Cruz the previous week at the ACAC, Wurm picked down with a clear plan in mind.
Perhaps in one of the more forgotten moments in the sequence, Baker then fought off a snap down and attempted side cradle by Long at the edge of the mat, showing a ton of heart with the team title on the line.
As the two heavyweights danced on the side mat, Wurm hit the move he’d been waiting to hit all season long, rolling through on Cruz and tossing him to his back.
For ten seconds, Adams Central had the trophy back in their hands.

Then, with coach Koons and Myers seated directly next to coach Thomas and Schultz of AC, Baker hit another snapdown, dropping Long to his knees and Cruz came off his back.
With Wurm taking a 5-3 lead in the third period, the Jets held a slim half-point advantage in real time.
Less than 15 seconds later, Baker fought off a switch by Long, then bulldogged the big SW heavy over to his back and got the quick fall.

The large celebration by Baker was fitting, for even a win by Wurm would not have sufficed for the Jets. At that point in the proceedings, the Jets would have needed Wurm to turn Cruz again and score a fall to re-take the lead.

As Baker shook hands, all eyes turned to Zac Wurm, who had yielded an escape to Cruz but still led 5-4.

A blast double by Cruz gave Wurm no chance to belly out and the fall was quickly called, sending the Braves into a frenzy on the neighboring mat.

The final team results spoiled an outstanding day for the Jets, who advanced all 14 to next week’s regional and wrestled exceptionally well. They came away with two champions (Brason Schortgen and Trevor Currie) and really didn’t drop a match all day that they were truly expected to win, exceeding or equaling their seed at all 14 weights.

The difference, in the end, was the run of five champions in a matter of six weights by the Bellmont middle and upper weights.
It began with senior Blake Luginbill’s tech fall of Max Byerly at 150, continued with a walkover in the finals for Gavin Davis at 157 and kept rolling with a third title when Duke Myers controlled Cody Cox of Norwell for a 4-2 decision at 165.

The bonus points scored by Xavior Palacios and Keagan Martin in their finals matches were key in giving the Braves the lead heading into the heavyweight bouts.

South Adams also had their success, picking up a championship at 144 with Colt Bollenbacher and advancing eight. They certainly could have had a ninth but Will Patterson was injured in a tough 8-5 loss in the opener and could not continue.

All the teams in Z-Land will continue their postseason at next week’s Jay County Regional.
Results & Weight-by-Weight Breakdown
Team Scores
1st-Bellmont 248.5

2nd-Adams Central 243
3rd-Jay County 195.5
4th-South Adams 143
5th-Norwell 142
6th-Bluffton 128.5
7th-Union City 53
8th-Southern Wells 38
9th-Blackford 10
106 pounds

1st-Griffin Byrum-JC, 2nd-Titus Loshe-SA, 3rd-Myles Kaehr-AC, 4th-Ben Mills-Bellmont
Notes: Titus Loshe finally got the better of Myles Kaehr in the semifinal, but it was Byrum who won for the second straight week, pinning Loshe in just 23 seconds in the final. Ben Mills scored crucial bonus points for the Braves in his two victories despite finishing fourth.


113 pounds

1st-Levi Johns, Blf, 2nd-Kale Beer-AC, 3rd-Ethan Curtis-Bellmont, 4th-Daniel Rupp-SA
Johns was once again the class of this field, but Beer and Curtis both wrestled well to slot in behind him. Beer beat Curtis in the bottom half of the bracket in the semifinals 4-0, but Curtis won all three of his other matches by fall on the day. Daniel Rupp won his first match by overtime to position himself perfectly to advance to next week.
120 pounds
1st-Hunter Douglas-N, 2nd-Henry Faurote-Bellmont, 3rd-Dakota Sprunger-SA, 4th-Jackson Bingham-AC
This one went exactly as seeded all the way until the finals, when Hunter Douglas flipped the script on Faurote and avenged last week’s loss at the NE8. These four young wrestlers have all had great seasons and will all be competitive next week at regional.
126 pounds

1st-Bradin Daniels-UC, 2nd-Cody Rowles-JC, 3rd-Jason Prough-Norwell, 4th-Dylan Ogg-AC, 5th-Will Franze-Bellmont
Bradin Daniels scored perhaps the biggest upset of the tournament by defeating Cody Rowles in the finals at 126. Daniels had beaten Ogg 7-0 in the semis and went on to shut out Rowles 4-0 in the championship bout. Jason Prough knocked out Will Franze in the consolation semis, then scored a big win in overtime to beat Ogg for third.
132 pounds

1st-Brason Schortgen-AC, 2nd-AJ Heskett-JC, 3rd-Connor Fojtik-Norwell, 4th-Keven Loshe-Bellmont
Schortgen was all over Heskett in the final and dominating before the Jay County wrestler suddenly found himself stacking Schortgen up. Somehow the AC freshman survived and broke the hold, going on to tech fall Heskett, but a different ref at a different angle may have seen this one differently. Nevertheless, Schortgen’s dominant season continues as he looks more and more likely to be headed to Evansville as the season continues.
138 pounds
1st-Tony Wood-JC, 2nd-Maverick Dubach-AC, 3rd-Jarin Frauhiger-SW, 4th-Wyatt Mann-SA
Tony Wood remained undefeated with a 9-0 major in the championship bout against Dubach. The ACAC swept this weight with Bellmont forced to forfeit 138.
144 pounds


1st-Colt Bollenbacher-SA, 2nd-Sam Wolpert-Bellmont, 3rd-Xander Schwartz-AC, 4th-Jason Landers-JC
Bollenbacher reaffirmed his victory over Wolpert back in December with a 7-0 victory in the finals, scoring the Starfires’ only title. Wolpert beat Schwartz 12-4 in the semis, but the AC freshman pinned Landers for third place.

150 pounds

1st-Blake Luginbill-Bellmont, 2nd-Max Byerly-AC, 3rd-Jacob Robinson-JC, 4th-Austin Roth-UC

Luginbill had no problem with Byerly, but that was probably expected considering the previous meetings between the two. The bigger story at this weight was the victory by Byerly over Robinson in the semis. The Jay County wrestler bumped up from 144 to 150 for sectional but had to settle for third place.
157 pounds

1st-Gavin Davis-Bellmont, 2nd-Isaiah Meyer-SA, 3rd-Brody Lewis-Bluffton, 4th-Jaret Smith-AC
This weight class was one of the more controversial ones on the day as Gavin Davis made the semis with a 23-second fall against Hayden Ison, then was forced to accept forfeits from both Jaret Smith and Isaiah Meyer on the way to the title. Smith came back to advance to regional in the losers’ bracket, but took fourth to Brody Lewis. Meyer was a bit banged up from earlier in the day and chose not to chance an injury against the undefeated Bellmont junior. Regardless, Davis enters the regional with a great spot in the bracket.
165 pounds

1st-Duke Myers-Bellmont, 2nd-Cody Cox-Norwell, 3rd-Matt Heiser-AC, 4th-Wes Summersett-SA

Cox made things close with Myers, but the Bellmont senior became a four-time champion with his 4-2 victory. Matt Heiser scored another win over Summersett to negate Myers’ points, but it was not enough in the end for the Jets.
175 pounds

1st-Xavior Palacios-Bellmont, 2nd-Juaquin Flores-JC, 3rd-Eli Behning-Norwell, 4th-Max Kaehr-AC
A year after not advancing out of sectional, Palacios scored a fall to win the whole weight class, sticking Flores in the third period. Max Kaehr won a dogfight with Chris Castanada in the blood round to advanace.
190 pounds

1st-Trevor Currie-AC, 2nd-Bryce Wenk-JC, 3rd-Cole Mendez-Bellmont, 4th-AJ Thompson-SA

Currie showed a ton of confidence after last week’s victory over Wenk. The AC senior won 5-1 and was in control for much of the six minutes. Mendez was not up to the task of beating Wenk Saturday, but the senior scored bonus points in each of this three victories. His 33-second fall against AJ Thompson was, in essence, one of the last nails in the Jets’ coffin.

215 pounds

1st-Keagan Martin-Bellmont, 2nd-Keegan Bluhm-AC, 3rd-Alan Ortiz-JC, 4th-Ethan Michael-Norwell

Martin beat Bluhm 18-6 to score the extra team point in the finals, but Bluhm had no problem reaching the finals. The two are likely to meet again next week in the championship bout.
285 pounds

1st-Juan Cruz-Bluffton, 2nd-Zac Wurm-AC, 3rd-Grady Baker-Bellmont, 4th-Peyton Long-SW
None of the aforementioned drama at this weight would have happened without Baker beating Conner Specht of Jay County in the opening round 3-0. This class of four heavyweights will have a real shot at going 4-0 Saturday at the regional.