TAKING THE CHALLENGE

Crown Point’s Bettich edges Wheeler’s Diaz at 120 final of Carnahan invite

Wheeler junior Giovanni Diaz was ready for the challenge.

“You don’t always get those tough matches,” Diaz said. “When you see an opportunity, you have to take it.”

Diaz has been wrestling at 113 pounds this season. He said he plans on ending up at 106 by the postseason, where he’s ranked No. 3 in the state by IndianaMat and placed eighth at state last season.

But during Saturday’s Carnahan Invitational at Crown Po i n t , D i a z bumped up to 120 to face Crown Point’s Riley Bettich, also ranked No. 3 and a state champion last season in Michigan.

Bettich stifled Diaz in a 3-1 victory, with Diaz’s only point coming from an escape in the second period. But Diaz had no regrets about the decision to move up.

“I’m going to be ready for those bigger matches now,” Diaz said. “I’ll be working on my movement more, to stay on my toes. I can’t lock up with someone bigger than me. That puts me at a disadvantage.”

Bettich also embraced the matchup of state-ranked wrestlers in the championship round, moving his record to 15-0 with the win over Diaz.

“I was excited,” Bettich said. “He’s a good wrestler and has a good reputation around here.”

Even t h o u g h h e ’s wrestling in a new state, Bettich said his daily practice sessions with freshman Jesse Mendez — ranked No. 3 at 126 — have him ready for any opponent.

“There’s no one in the state tougher than him,” Bettich said of Mendez. “He’s going to win a state title at 126. And I know that, if I wrestle in my matches like I wrestle against Jesse, I’ll be good.”

Mendez added a title at 126, winning by technical fall in the final round. He was one of eight champions for Crown Point, which took the team title with 290.5 points.

Senior Jake Burford took first at 145, one week after Floyd Central’s Jonathan Kervin — ranked No. 9 at 145 — gave Burford (14-1) his first loss of the season at last Saturday’s Traicoff Invitational.

“I wanted to improve on getting in my attacks and how I move my hands and f e e t ,” Bu r f o rd said. “Wrestling is all about getting your attacks in, and I wrestled like I wanted to.”

Burford’s entire mission this season is about redemption after losing in the “ticket round” — which guarantees a “ticket” to the state meet — at last season’s semistate.

“That result really motivated me,” Burford said. “Because I didn’t end up where I wanted. It motivated me during the whole offseason, and my confidence was never higher than it was going into this season.”

Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.