Columbus East got its first taste of an individual title in last year’s state finals, when Cayden Rooks earned the 120-pound crown as a sophomore.
Now, the Olympians are looking for even more hardware with five of their eight qualifiers ranked in the top six of their respective weight classes. Four are either ranked No. 1 or have beaten No. 1-ranked wrestlers this season.
Rooks is the No. 2-ranked wrestler at 126 pounds, while his brother Graham is the top-ranked wrestler at 132 as a senior. Senior Dawson Combest (138) is ranked No. 3, junior Nick South (160) is ranked No. 5 and junior Jake Schoenegge (145) is No. 6. Other East wrestlers traveling to Indianapolis to compete in this year’s state finals at Bankers Life Fieldhouse are senior Corban Pollitt at 152, senior Andy Davidson at 170 and junior Jacob Bolte at 220.
First-round matches start at 6 p.m. today. Quarterfinals will resume at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by semifinals. Third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches begin at 5 p.m. Saturday, followed by championship bouts at 7:30 p.m.
Graham Rooks is one of only two undefeated wrestlers in his weight class. Cayden Rooks avenged his only loss against No. 1-ranked Asa Garcia of Avon to win the semistate title, and South did the same when he beat top-ranked Gleason Mappes from Center Grove in the semistate final. Combest defeated Brownsburg’s Blake Mulkey earlier this season when Mulkey was the state’s top wrestler at 138.
Mulkey, who is now ranked No. 2, got his revenge on Combest in the semistate final, but that isn’t discouraging Combest from chasing a title. East coach Chris Cooper believes all five wrestlers have legitimate shots at winning a state championship.
“I definitely think both (Cayden and Graham Rooks) and South — maybe even all three of those guys are favored to win — and Combest has his eyes set on a title,” Cooper said. “(Combest) came up short at semistate, but that’s a kid we’ve beat before. I think Jake Schoenegge has a really good draw, and if he’s on, he’s almost impossible to beat, so hopefully, we’ll get him having a good day.”
Graham Rooks and Combest are no strangers to the state meet. Combest placed eighth at 126 as a sophomore and finished third at 132 as a junior. Graham Rooks is a back-to-back fourth-place finisher and after placing third in the state at 106 as a freshman.
Graham Rooks is ready to win it all in his final season.
“It’s my last chance to go and win it,” he said. “I’ve done the things right up to now. I’ve worked hard in practice, I’ve put in the time after practice going to the gym, working on my conditioning, going to all the extra tournaments outside of the season leading up to now to set myself up to win.”
Schoenegge made his state meet debut last season and was eliminated in the first round, along with Pollitt. Schoenegge is not as nervous this time around because he knows what it feels like to be underneath the lights and see everybody in the stands, he said.
South advanced to semistate as a freshman at Jennings County and had to sit out of varsity competition last year after transferring to East, so this is his first time wrestling in the state finals. He said he was going to make this week leading up to today his hardest week of practice in preparation for state. South is confident in the fact that he has put himself in a position to go all the way.
“I wasn’t sure at the start of the season if I was going to be able to win it,” South said. “I was hopeful, but just after wrestling and competing with the top guys and beating them, I realized that I could win it all, and it just feels great.”
The fourth-ranked Olympians were just six points shy of beating top-ranked Brownsburg for their first-ever semistate team title. They are confident that they have a good shot at earning a team state title if all eight of their wrestlers perform well. Only No. 2 Portage and No. 3 Cathedral have more qualifiers than East.
“I thought we were going to close the deal and be the first semisate champions in school history this last week, but we couldn’t quite close the deal,” Combest said. “We have a two-person advantage on Brownsburg heading into the week, so if we can pick up some early wins (today), I think we’ll be in good shape.”
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Wrestling State Finals
When; 6 p.m. today (first round); 9:30 a.m. Saturday (quarterfinals and semifinals); 5 p.m. Saturday (third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches); 7:30 p.m. Saturday (championship matches)
Where: Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
Admission: $8 per session or $20 for both days
Local qualifiers
126: Cayden Rooks, Columbus East
132: Graham Rooks, Columbus East
138: Dawson Combest, Columbus East
145: Jake Schoenegge, Columbus East
152: Corban Pollitt, Columbus East
160: Nick South, Columbus East
170: Andy Davidson, Columbus East; and Brigham Kleinhenz, Columbus North
220: Jacob Bolte, Columbus East
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