Lafayette Jeff wrestling puts it all together in postseason
LAFAYETTE − Durya' Minor put in extra work in the offseason because he had an unachieved goal.
The Lafayette Jeff senior wanted to compete in the IHSAA state wrestling finals before he graduated.
Coming off of a regional championship, he's put himself in prime position and, if he can win two matches at Saturday's East Chicago Semistate, Minor will punch his ticket.
"I definitely came into this season confident in myself," Minor said. "I had a little bit of offseason training. That contributed to how I am wrestling now.
"I am not a big ego type of guy. I just did my job like I am supposed to and wrestled smart."
But Minor also had another goal and that was for his teammates to be there with him in East Chicago on the weekend prior to the state finals.
Last season, there were two Bronchos, Minor and Daeveon Cheeks.
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On Saturday, there will be eight - Minor (160 pounds) and Cheecks (170), along with DeMarion Chioke (113), Alex Lopez (120), Mason Sturgeon (132), Elijah Brown (182), Jordan Scowden (220) and Dacarion Robinson (285), who just picked up wrestling this season as a senior and is wrestling 60-plus pounds under his weight class.
That's more semistate qualifiers than the other area schools who've had an edge on the Bronchos all season.
"Our dual record wasn't what we were hoping it was going to be," Lafayette Jeff coach Tom Miller said. "We had some difficulty there, but our tournament series, we've wrestled well a couple weeks in a row. We didn't wrestle that bad in conference.
"I think some people in the sectional were surprised with how well we did. We competed hard and that is the most important thing. I am pleased with where we're at. Now we just have to finish."
Like Minor, Cheeks cross trained in the offseason with a newfound passion.
After joining Lafayette Jeff's track team, persuaded by friend Andy Melchor, and finding success in the 800 meters last spring, Cheeks planned to run cross country in the fall in addition to playing football. That wasn't going to be possible and Cheeks chose distance running.
After dropping nearly 50 pounds, Cheeks came into wrestling season already well conditioned and his 27-5 record, with three losses coming to the same opponent, are proof of that.
But Cheek's No. 1 passion is to the wrestling room.
That's trickled down throughout the high school program.
In years past, once wrestlers lost in the postseason or weren't a part of the sectional roster, they'd move on to other activities, Cheeks said.
This season, that hasn't been the case.
Even with eight semistate qualifiers, including Sturgeon as an alternate, there's five times that many on the mats still.
"As time goes on, Jeff wrestling is going to get a lot better," Cheeks said. "The freshmen and sophomores came together these last couple of weeks. Over the last years, if you didn't make it to semistate, you left and didn't come back in the room. This year, everybody is still in there."
Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.
East Chicago Semistate
Time: 9 a.m. Saturday
Advancement: The top four individuals in each weight class advance to the state finals.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Lafayette Jeff wrestling puts it all together in postseason
