The 2017-18 wrestling season was a big one in Columbus.
Columbus East finished third in the state after sending eight wrestlers to the state finals. One of those, Nick South, came away with the 160-pound title.
Columbus North, meanwhile, had its first state qualifier in several years in Brigham Kleinhenz, who now has graduated.
Here is a look at those and other area teams:
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Columbus East
The Olympians had the best season in school history last season, winning Hoosier Hills Conference, sectional and regional titles and finishing second in the semistate and third at state.
“I think maybe we have a better team than we had last year, which is saying a lot,” East coach Chris Cooper said. “We had a fantastic group of seniors last year, but we have a great group coming back, a pretty solid, talented group.”
The Olympians have two state champions in Indiana University recruits and seniors South and Cayden Rooks. Rooks, who won the 120-pound title as a sophomore and was state runner-up at 126 last season, will be at 138 this year.
South, who moves from 160 to 170, was the runner-up at 160 in last month’s Super 32 tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina. Rooks made the Round of 16.
“Both of those guys have a goal of winning a second state title, and that’s certainly within reach for those two,” Cooper said.
Senior Jake Schoenegge, who finished third at state at 145, will move to 152. Senior state qualifier and Purdue recruit Jacob Bolte will stay at 220.
Seniors Jeremy Clark, who moves from 113 to 126, and Dalton Anderson, who will remain at 285, lost in the “ticket round” at semistate, falling one win short of a state finals berth. Junior Nate John, who moves from 106 to 120; junior Jeremy Gordon, who moves from 120 to 132; and junior Noah White, who remains at 182, also were semistate qualifiers.
Freshmen Noah Lykins at 106, Kenton Wilson at 113 and Kade Law at 145 will move into the lineup. Sophomore Sam Morrill and junior Jacob Shaver are battling at 160, and sophomore Luis Cruz steps in at 195.
The Olympians have goals of winning the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association state duals in early January and the IHSAA state title in February.
“The kids have put in a lot of work,” Cooper said. “We’ve wrestled with this lineup for about 40 or 50 matches, and we’ve had a lot of success with them, so we hope that will translate into the season.”
Columbus North
The Bull Dogs have a new coach in Matt Joyce. Joyce spent five years as the coach at Greenfield-Central and the past two at Western Boone.
Joyce nearly has doubled the team’s numbers over last season, when North finished sixth in Conference Indiana and sixth in the sectional.
“Our numbers are looking pretty good,” Joyce said. “For the most part, it’s just kind of been evaluating where everybody’s at, who’s going to be committed and come to those offseason things at first.”
The Bull Dogs return three semistate qualifiers. Senior Morgan Smith may move from 106 to 113.
Junior Keandre Watson will move from 126 to 132 or 138. Senior Bradley Gutierrez likely will stay at 220.
“They’ve kind of been the leaders,” Joyce said. “Especially Morgan Smith stepped up and was a big leader for preseason workouts.”
Freshmen Josh Nelson will step in at 106, and freshman Gumaro Guzman steps in at 120. Freshmen Carlos Rodriguez and Bryce Abner, could be at 132, 138 or 145, and freshman Connor Essik or senior Dallin Anderson could be at 145. Essik, Anderson and junior Nick Holt also could be at 152.
Senior newcomer Chuy Palomino and freshman Jared Slocum are battling at 160. Sophomore newcomers Keegan Hill at 170 and Yadiel Reyes at 182 could step into the lineup. Junior newcomer Adam Behling and sophomore Caleb Dooley are battling at 285.
North currently does not have a wrestler at 126 or 195.
“We’re young,” Joyce said. “We have a lot of inexperience at the moment, but they’re all picking things up fast, and we’re cruising right along right now.”
Jennings County
Panthers coach Howard Jones has possibly the smallest team he’s ever had following the graduation of five semistate qualifiers.
“We look pretty rusty,” Jones said. “We’re kind of thin. It’s one of the smallest groups that we have had. We’ll struggle a little bit. We lost a lot of our guns last year, so we’ll see if we can survive.”
Some of Jennings’ success could hinge on the availability of Brooks Wathen. Wathen was a state qualifier as a freshman and sophomore and lost to the eventual state champion in ticket round at 152 last year, but injured his knee early in the football season and will need surgery.
If Wathen can compete, he likely will be at 160.
“He wants to wrestle,” Jones said. “He wants to finish out his senior year. He finished the year in football, but it’s going to be tough on him. There are some decisions that are going to have to be made because he wants to play college football.”
Junior Teagen Johnson a semistate qualifier at 106, moves to 120. Sophomore regional qualifier Joey Moran will stay at 138 and junior regional qualifier Nathaniel McDonald will stay at 285.
Junior Dathan Malone will move from 113 to 126, junior Rusty Vaughn moves from 145 to 152, junior Sam Bennett moves from 182 to 170 and junior Cameron Woodard moves from 160 to 182. Stepping into the lineup will be junior Travis Waltermire at 106, sophomore Nathan Streight at 113, senior Blake Skinner at 132, junior Owen Barr at 145 and junior Logan Askew at 195.
Juniors Gunner Wright and Richard Puckett and senior Luke Mitchell are battling at 220. Junior Blake Mitchell will start the season at 285 for McDonald, who is recovering from having his wisdom teeth removed.
The Panthers finished fourth in the HHC and second in the sectional last season, but did not have anyone qualify for state.
“Last year was an unusual year for us not to have anyone, especially with the talent we had,” Jones said. “We’re looking to get a couple (to state) and finish toward the top of the sectional.”
Brown County
The Eagles will look to improve on a sixth-place finish in the sectional.
Junior David Tucker has been a semistate qualifier the past two years. He will move from 113 to 126.
“David’s big goal is, he’s put a lot of work into getting to state this year,” Brown County coach Josh Sparks said. “I think we should be taking at least five or six guys to regional this year, as opposed to the two or three we have in the past.”
Senior regional qualifier Bryce Denton will stay at 132. Sophomore Reid Davis moves from 138 to 160, senior Josh Parry moves from 145 to 152, senior Jason Stratton moves from 182 to 170 and senior Christian Fouts moves from 170 to 182.
Senior Brandon Leslie, who hasn’t wrestled since his freshman year, will step in at 113. Freshman Chris Luckey will be at 120, and freshman Aiden Vaught will be at 138.
Freshman Brandon Phelps and sophomore newcomer Aiden Burt are battling at 145, and freshman Lane Mullins and sophomore newcomer Dawson Lambert are competing at 195. Senior newcomer Layton Mosier will be at 220.
The Eagles do not have a wrestler at 106 or 285.
“The guys have been pretty upbeat and positive and working really hard,” Sparks said. “We have several new guys out this year, and they’ve been picking wrestling up pretty well. “Most of the starting lineup is still guys that have some experience.”
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The 2018-19 wrestling schedules for Columbus East and Columbus North:
Columbus East
Nov. 29;Seymour;6:30 p.m.
Dec. 1;Super 6 Duals at Jeffersonville;8:30 a.m.
Dec. 6;Franklin;6:30 p.m.
Dec. 8;at Perry Meridian Tournament;9 a.m.
Dec. 13;at Bloomington South;6 p.m.
Dec. 15;Columbus East Invitational;9 a.m.
Dec. 21;Cathedral;6:30 p.m.
Dec. 28;at Mishawaka Tournament;10 a.m.
Dec. 29;at Mishawaka Tournament;9:30 a.m.
Jan. 5;IHSWCA State Duals at Fort Wayne Wayne, 9 a.m.
Jan. 9;Columbus North;6:30 p.m.
Jan. 12;HHC at Madison;9 a.m.
Jan. 18 at Brownsburg;6:30 p.m.
Columbus North
Dec. 1;at Bloomington North Invitational;9 a.m.
Dec. 5;Edgewood;7 p.m.
Dec. 8;Columbus North Tournament;9 a.m.
Dec. 11;Jennings County;7 p.m.
Dec. 15;at East Central Super 8;9 a.m.
Dec. 19;Madison;7 p.m.
Dec. 22;at Avon Invitational;9 a.m.
Dec. 28;at Connersville Spartan Classic;9 a.m.
Dec. 29;at Connersville Spartan Classic;8:30 a.m.
Jan. 3;at Seymour;7 p.m.
Jan. 9;at Columbus East;6:30 p.m.
Jan. 12;Conference Indiana at Bloomington North;9 a.m.
Jan. 17;Bedford North Lawrence;7 p.m.
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