INDIANAPOLIS — The only thing Crown Point senior Jesse Mendez wasn’t ready for this season was the end.
“Man, it’s over?” he said. “I’m just trying to soak it all in because it’s the last time I’m going to be here. It’s weird to think that this is the last time I’m going to be competing here.”
There was plenty for Mendez to digest, too, as the Bulldogs’ 138-pounder and Ohio State commit completed his high school career on a history-making night for both him and Crown Point at the state meet at Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday.
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With a pin of Kankakee Valley junior Cole Solomey, Mendez clinched his fourth state title — and became just the 10th Indiana wrestler to complete the four-peat.
With history at his fingertips, Mendez traveled to the same place in his mind where he went for his other 156 high school victories, a place captured by the television broadcasts that zeroed in on the face of a wrestler who was determined, driven and — by Mendez’s words — a little crazy.
“When it comes down to competition, you get in that zone where you’re just seeing red,” Mendez said. “You’re not even thinking because you’re about to go out there and see who’s the strongest, who can put someone else on their back. You have to be a little crazy for that.”
For Mendez, though, Saturday’s events were about more than the end of his individual journey. There also was the pursuit of a team title that had eluded Crown Point in the past two seasons after finishing fourth in 2021 and second in 2020.
“We were hungry,” Mendez said. “When you get deep in those periods and you hear your teammates cheering you on, you know that those guys are going to ride with you. So I knew I had to ride for them.”
Crown Point romped to the team title, setting a state meet record with 178 points. Brownsburg was a distant second with 105.
Juniors Logan Frazier at 126 and Sam Goin at 152 also won state titles. With Mendez, they were three of the six Bulldogs to reach the championship round — the most by one team at a state meet since 1954.
Frazier, who was a state runner-up at 120 last season, pointed to Mendez’s leadership as a key reason why the Bulldogs got over the hurdle in 2022.
“He’s been telling us that we were going to win state since October,” Frazier said. “Whenever Jesse told us to do something, we’d do it over and over because we knew it’d work.”
Goin said the experiences of the past two state meets helped fuel a competitive spirit within the Crown Point wrestling room that was as intense as any Saturday meet.
“It gets really scrappy in our room,” Goin said. “We’re fighting for everything in there. We’re a tighter group now, all older and more experienced. We’ve been to this tournament before. Everyone showed out, and that’s what made the difference.”
That fighting mentality was personified by freshman Gavin Jendreas, who was one of Crown Point’s three runners-up. Juniors Anthony Bahl at 132 and Orlando Cruz at 182 were the others.
As the meet progressed and the Bulldogs’ victory became apparent, Jendreas said he was still struggling with the disappointment of being one win away from an individual title.
“I’m happy for my teammates that won, and I’m happy that we’re going to win a state title,” Jendreas said. “But this is probably one of the worst feelings in the world.”
Mendez said that’s indicative of the fire that carried him and his teammates to victory.
“We came here expecting to win,” Mendez said. “It’s not what (Jendreas) wanted, and that’s our mindset. We want first or nothing.”
Just a few hours after wrapping up his Crown Point career, Mendez was thinking about next season.
“I don’t think I could’ve ended my high school career in a better way, alongside these guys,” Mendez said. “It really shows how special our team was. And we’ve still got a young team, so we’ll be back next year.”
Mendez caught himself at the use of “we,” though.
“Without me, unfortunately,” he said. “It’s weird to think about that. But it’s been special. It was awesome to reach this milestone. But now it’s on to the next one.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
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