The Jay County Regional will once again be highlighted by two teams: Yorktown and Bellmont. With two first round matches and six possible finals matches looming, this regional could very well have the feeling of a dual meet. These two teams will battle it out Wednesday, and I am sure that the intensity from Wednesday will carry over to Saturday for both of these teams. Even though Yorktown and Bellmont will dominate this Saturday, there will be other schools that will have a say so in some of the weight classes. There will be 16 ranked wrestlers competing in this regional with all weight classes but 152 having at least one ranked wrestler. Heavyweight leads the way with three ranked wrestlers: #3 Ross Janney (Yorktown) #4 Jim West (South Adams) and    #7 Daniel Meyer (Bellmont).
103: Favorite – Cody Walburn of Adams Central
This weight class is led by two wrestlers: Cody Walburn (Adams Central) and Brock Bevans (Yorktown). Ben Fiechter (Southern Wells) is not to be overlooked either, because if Bevans is focusing on Walburn then he might have to wait until next week to get a chance to wrestle him.
Top four in alphabetical order: Bevans, Cox, Fiechter, Walburn
112: Favorite – Stevie Gonzales of Delta
There will be little, if any drama, in this weight class when deciding the champion. However, this weight class has the possibility of having three great first round matches that could all possible be classified as pick’em matches. It will not be out of the question for the Delta Sectional to have a clean sweep at this weight class, but at the same time Jay County could take three of the top four spots as well. Do not miss the first round of this weight class, because it may be some of the most competitive matches of the day in the weight class,
Top four in alphabetical order: Bryant, Gonzales, Phillips, Roe
119: Favorite – Phillip Gerber of Bluffton
This weight class is full of talented underclassmen. Leading the way is sophomore Phillip Gerber (Bluffton) and freshman Isaiah Bradley (Muncie Southside). Gerber, due to owning a win over Bradley, has to be considered the favorite in this weight class. This weight class has four wrestlers with the talent and ability to win this weight: Bradley, Gerber, Batt (South Adams), and Anderson (Yorktown). Anderson and Batt have the toughest road to winning the title because they face each other the first round, and then will most likely face Gerber in the semifinals. Waiting on that winner will probably be Bradley. We may get to see a rematch from the ECIC finals between Bradley and Gerber or we may get to see a rematch of the sectional finals between Bradley and Anderson. I am sure though that Batt and the other wrestlers in the weight class will have something different to say about that.
Top four in alphabetical order: Anderson, Bradley, Gerber, Keuneke
125: Favorite – Derek Bevans of Yorktown
The top four in this weight class have distinguished themselves over the other half. Bevans, ranked third in the latest poll, leads the way in this weight class with a perfect 42-0 record. He will await the winner of the Perry (Bluffton) v. Armantrout (Muncie Southside) semifinal. Perry and Armantrout met last year in regional and this year at the ECIC, with Perry pulling out close wins both times. This looks to be another exciting match for these two wrestlers.
Top four in alphabetical order: Armantrout, Bevans, Perry, Striker
130: Favorite – Devon Jackson of Yorktown
Devon Jackson is the second of three consecutive STUDS that Yorktown will place in the finals. Jackson, who is also ranked third, brings an unblemished record of 41-0 into the regional. This weight class will give us a rematch of last weeks upset when Hormann (Bellmont) looks to prove it was not an upset as he will face Fiechter (Southern Wells).
Top four in alphabetical order: Fiechter, Hormann, Jackson, Meska
135: Favorite – Andrew Hiestand of Yorktown
The third consecutive third ranked wrestler for Yorktown, Andrew Hiestand, will lead a talented group of wrestlers. Faurote (Bellmont) is the only wrestler here that will give Hiestand a challenge this week. Placements for this weight are crucial because next weeks semistate is a meat grinder at 135!
Top four in alphabetical order: Faurote, Harry, Hiestand, Schultz
140: Favorite – Josh Martin of Randolph Southern
This weight will be highlighted by two really good first round matchups: Busse (Bellmont) vs. Rench (Yorktown) and Burnfield (South Adams) vs. Quinn (Wes-Del).A finals match up of Schwartz and Martin looks to provide a lot of excitement.
Top four in alphabetical order: Burnfield, Martin, Rench, Schwartz
145: Favorite – Josh Ehr of South Adams
Josh Ehr is the top dog in this weight class. Harper (Yorktown) is no slouch and will be up for the challenge. Ehr must first be able to get passed Heuchan (Muncie Central) who has been known to put many talented wrestlers on their back.
Top four in alphabetical order: Boyd, Ehr, Harper, Heuchan
152: Favorite – John Mahlan of Bellmont
This weight class is arguably the most wide open with no clear cut favorite. Mahlan, Jones (Southern Wells) and Smith (Yorktown) will all have their eyes on the title. Reed (Muncie Southside) and Simmons (Winchester0 have a great shot at pulling a first round upset. This will be a fun weight class to watch because anything can and will happen.
Top four in alphabetical order: Jones, Mahlan, Simmons, Smith
160: Favorite – Ryley Hankenson of Bellmont
This weight class is down a bit at this year’s regional. Hankenson is the clear cut favorite with the other three spots up in the air. If you sit through the excitement of the 152 weight class, don’t leave because the first round at 160 will be just as exciting with no obvious favorites in any match other than Hankenson’s.
Top four in alphabetical order: Fuller, Hankenson, Higgins, Holcomb
171: Favorite – Trent Castner of Yorktown
Castner is a slight favorite at this weight class over Stebing (Bellmont). Hopefully these two will battle it out Wednesday and give us a preview of what to expect on Saturday. The Taylor (South Adams) and Mock (Winchester) will be a very competitive match.
Top four in alphabetical order: Castner, Pointer, Taylor, Stebing
189: Favorite – Travis Thatcher of Bellmont
This will be another finals match up between Bellmont and Yorktown as Thatcher and Brown (Yorktown) are the top two wrestlers in this weight class. Two first round matches worth watching will be that of Miller (Southern Wells) vs. Crabtree (Muncie Southside) and Garringer (Jay County) vs. Folkner (Wes-Del).
Top four in alphabetical order: Brown, Crabtree, Folkner, Thatcher
215: Favorite – Seth Biberstine of Southern Wells
This weight class has four wrestlers with a legit shot at winning the regional. The semifinal match ups will be great and the winner of this weight class will have to have a very solid day of wrestling. Chalfant (Winchester) Bultemeir (Bellmont) and James (Jay County) all are capable o winning this Saturday, and we can not sleep on Neff from Yorktown either.
Top four in alphabetical order: Biberstine, Bultemeir, Chalfant, James
HW: Favorite – Ross Janney of Yorktown
Ross Janney leads a very talented and highly ranked HW class at the Jay County Regional. Three wrestlers in this weight class are ranked in the top seven of the latest indianamat rankings. Throw in the Justice (Blackford) win over West (South Adams) last week and this weight class becomes very interesting. The semifinals will be fun to watch and will both be on the same level as the wrestling that will happen in the finals match. Meyer (Bellmont) and Janney may give us a preview On Wednesday, but they both got a lot of work to do before they get to the finals.
Top four in alphabetical order: Janney, Justice, Meyer, West
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