Article published Jan 7, 2007 James proving his point TIM CREASON Tribune Correspondent KNOX -- For a guy who sat out an entire year, Garrett James hasn't missed a beat. Culver Military Academy's star senior wrestler is rolling along undefeated, ranked No. 3 in the state in the 145-pound weight class. Only a couple of his 27 victories this season have gone the distance; most of the time he pins his opponent in the first period. He dominates matches so thoroughly, in fact, that a casual observer might wonder if James is trying to prove something. "I do feel that way a little bit, yes," says James, who added five more wins to his total at Saturday's Knox Super Dual. "It was tough to sit last year," he said. "I feel I could have been competitive at the state level. But what's done is done and that's all in the past. This year, I feel like I'm wrestling as good or better than I ever have before."James and his younger brother, Branden, are back on the mat after each missed last season due to an IHSAA ruling that they transferred from their native Rochester to Culver Academy for athletic reasons. Both were outstanding wrestlers for the Zebras two years ago. But when they switched schools prior to last season, Rochester fought the move, and the IHSAA ruled they had to sit. Of course, sitting is the last thing they did. They worked out and participated in freestyle tournaments. Each won a championship at a national meet in Georgia. Now, they are back in high school competition. And each is determined to make up for lost time. "I believe winning the state championship is a possibility," says Garrett, who has accepted an athletic scholarship to wrestle at Northern Illinois University next year."Winning state is my goal," he said. "It's like everything else. You have to outwork your opponent. If I get beat, it won't be because the other guy outworked me." Branden James wrestles in the 160 or 171-pound class, depending on what his team needs. This season, CMA also picked up an outstanding transfer from Bloomington South in sophomore Daniel Young, who competes at 130. Despite their star newcomers, the Eagles still struggle for victories. They finished 2-3 on Saturday, losing to Winamac, Glenn and Chesterton, and frequently looked sluggish. "A lot of that is because we just got back from a three-week holiday break," says head coach Russ Schenk. "Everybody else was working out while our kids were on vacation. It pays off for us at the end of the season, though, because our kids are fresh when everybody else is burnt out." Chesterton, by far the largest school in the super dual, rolled through the field with a 5-0 record. Winamac took second at 4-1."Actually, I'm happy," said Winamac coach Steve VanDerAa. "My biggest goal today was to beat CMA, because they got us earlier this season. We've improved a lot since then." Winamac sophomore 140-pounder David Minix improved his season record to 24-0 to lift the Warriors. Glenn had a pair of champs in 135-pounder Asa Ennis and heavyweight Derek Traversa. In one of the day's big showdowns, Glenn's Mitch Strycker beat Branden James in a 171-pound battle royale. James ended up winning that weight class, however, as the effort took so much out of Strycker that he stumbled in the matches that followed. Knox champs included Danny Bradley at 103 and Billy Bogan at 119. Triton's Chad Ulmer won at 189. KNOX SUPER DUAL At Knox TEAM RECORDS: Chesterton 5-0, Winamac 4-1, Culver Academies 2-3, John Glenn 2-3, Knox 2-3, Triton 0-5. ROUND ONE: John Glenn 33, Culver Academies 31; Chesterton 62, Knox 11; Winamac 54, Triton 9 ROUND TWO: Chesterton 43, Culver Academies 28; Knox 58, Triton 18; Winamac 42, John Glenn 21 ROUND THREE: Chesterton 54, John Glenn 20; Winamac 50, Knox 24; Culver Academies 60, Triton 18ROUND FOUR: Winamac 38, Culver Academies 25; Knox 38, John Glenn 30; Chesterton 69, Triton 3 ROUND FIVE: Chesterton 54, Winamac 18; John Glenn 48, Triton 24; Culver Academies 44, Knox 26 INDIVIDUAL CHAMPS 103: Danny Bradley (Knox) 5-0. 112: Ben Williams (Chesterton) 5-0. 119: Billy Bogan (Knox) 5-0. 125: Alex Sanchez (Chesterton) 5-0. 130: Andy St. Germain (Chesterton) 5-0. 135: Asa Ennis (Glenn) 5-0. 140: David Minix (Winamac) 5-0. 145: Garrett James (Culver Academies) 5-0. 152: Brock Reynolds (Culver Academies) 5-0. 160: Zach Garpow (Winamac) 4-1. 171: Branden James (Culver Academies) 4-1. 189: Chad Ulmer (Triton) 5-0. 215: Ryan Sanchez (Chesterton) 5-0. 285: Derek Traversa (Glenn) 5-0. KNOX 38, JOHN GLENN 30103: Danny Bradley (K) won by forfeit. 112: Travis Mowry (JG) dec. Tyler Potthoff, 12-8. 119: Billy Bogan (K) maj. dec. Robert Leda, 9-1. 125: Jimmy Krause (K) won by forfeit. 130: Doug Kraemer (JG) dec. Kyle Hernandez, 6-2. 135: Asa Ennis (JG) pinned Sam Lopez, 3:35. 140: Mike Hernandez (K) pinned Eddie McCallum, 3:50. 145: Henry Lowry (JG) dec. Matt Singleton, 3-2. 152: Coty Majchrzak (K) pinned Clayton Whalen, 3:44. 160: Adam Winebrenner (K) pinned John Dolph, 5:40. 171: Mitch Strycker (JG) dec. Alex Windbigler, 5-4. 189: Blake Bent (JG) won by forfeit. 215: Justin McCay (K) maj. dec. Brandon Boswell, 12-2. 285: Derek Traversa (JG) pinned Jimmy Young, 1:56. WINAMAC 38, CULVER ACADEMIES 25 103: Double forfeit. 112: Devin Vass (CA) pinned Dylan Berkshire, 4:49. 119: Noah Rausch (W) maj. dec. Alex Canacci, 15-3. 125: Jake Chodzinski (W) dec. Roman Clark, 10-4. 130: Daniel Young (CA) dec. Zach Finley, 4-1. 135: Bryan Shank (W) won by forfeit. 140: David Minnix (W) maj. dec. Kevin Dobbyn, 10-1. 145: Garrett James (CA) pinned Tyler Fox, 0:35. 152: Brock Reynolds (CA) tech. fall Andrae Lewis, 17-0. 160: Branden James (CA) tech. fall Zach Garpow, 20-5. 171: Brad Abbott (W) dec. Robert Barbie, 3-2. 189: Matt Wenzler (W) pinned Bryce Newell, 0:31. 215: Matt Reinholt (W) won by forfeit. 285: Don Dubois (W) pinned Gus McClusky, 2:35. CULVER ACADEMIES 44, KNOX 26 103: Danny Bradley (K) maj. dec. Devin Vass, 12-4. 112: Tyler Koenig (CA) pinned Tyler Potthoff, 1:34. 119: Billy Bogan (K) maj. dec. Alex Canacci, 10-0. 125: Roman Clark (CA) pinned Jimmy Krause, 5:21. 130: Daniel Young (CA) maj. dec. Kyle Hernandez, 8-0. 135: Sam Lopez (K) pinned Grant Shepard, 1:20. 140: Kevin Dobbyn (CA) dec. Mike Hernandez, 11-9 in OT. 145: Garrett James (CA) pinned Matt Singleton, 1:10. 152: Brock Reynolds (CA) maj. dec. Josh Bradley, 13-3. 160: Robert Barbie (CA) dec. Adam Winebrenner, 7-5. 171: Branden James (CA) pinned Alex Windbigler, 0:44. 189: James Hardy (CA) won by forfeit. 215: Justin McCay (K) pinned Bryce Newell, 0:43. 285: Jimmy Young (K) pinned Gus McClusky, 1:18.