When the wrestling postseason kicks off Saturday at Jennings County, the host squad will be favored to defend their sectional title.
The 19th-ranked Panthers are seeded in the top five in all 14 weight classes and are in the top four in 13 of them. The top four in each weight class qualify for the Feb. 7 Jeffersonville Regional.
Jennings’ Anthony Engelking (138 pounds), Andrew Herrin (145), Cole Chandler (152), Wes Furgason (160), Peyton Shepherd (182) and Brady Shepherd (220) are No. 1 seeds. Dalton Craig (106), Peyton Gerkin (170) and Christian Redmond (195) are No. 2 seeds; while Logan Applegate (120) and Brendan Sutton (285) are No. 3 seeds and Kyle Lewis (113) and Jake Hammond (126) are No. 4 seeds.
Columbus East has three No. 1 seeds in Graham Rooks (106), Dawson Combest (113) and Quade Greiwe (195). Coy Park (182) is a No. 2 seed; and Stuart Bryan (132), Ben Wilkerson (138), Austin Wilson (152) and Sean Galligar (285) are No. 4 seeds.
“If we come out and wrestle well, there’s no reason we can’t be in the top two,” East coach Chris Cooper said of the team race. “We’re going to have to really wrestle outstanding to be able to win it, but it’s not impossible. We kind of look at each weight class individually — ‘Let’s do the things we need to do’ — and if we do that, the team thing takes care of itself.”
Columbus North’s Isaiah Peetz (106), Curtis Collins (113), Braden Hinckley (138) and Andrew Chapman (160) are No. 3 seeds. Patrick Shehan (120), Brett Bosserman (145), Jake Larson (170) and Brandon Woods (220) are No. 4 seeds.
For Brown County, Evan Bullock (120) and Jacob Strickland (132) are No. 1 seeds. Colten Harper (113) is a No. 2 seed, Bristen Dial (182) is a No. 3 seed and Job Lawson (106) is a No. 4 seed.
Conference meets Saturday
The Columbus North and Columbus East boys swimming and diving teams will compete in their respective conference meets Saturday.
The Hoosier Hills Conference meet gets under way tonight with diving prelims at Floyd Central, with the finals scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday. North will host the Conference Indiana meet Saturday, with diving beginning at 9 a.m. and swimming at 1 p.m.
Co-No. 24 Jeffersonville and No. 26 Floyd Central are the favorites in the HHC meet. North coach Jim Sheridan sees the Conference Indiana meet as a three-team battle between No. 16 Bloomington South, co-No. 22 Bloomington North and the co-No. 27 Bull Frogs.
“Depth-wise, Bloomington South is the favorite right now,” Sheridan said. “They have some big guns and three pretty good relays. On paper, it appears they have more depth, but we’ve juggled our lineup to fill in some areas that at sectional, we’ll switch back to get to state. We’re gambling in a few spots, but I’m gambling with some pretty good guys.”
Crusader commits to CCU
Columbus Christian senior Macy Wingham has decided to continue her basketball career at Cincinnati Christian University.
The 5-foot point guard leads the 19-3 Crusaders with about 22 points, 4.5 assists and seven steals a game. She is in her second year at Columbus Christian after playing two years at Columbus North.
Wingham is headed to the school where Crusaders coach Ron Bridgewater played when it was called Cincinnati Bible College.
“When I went there and visited, I could feel God’s light, and I really want to grow my faith, and to play basketball is an even better blessing,” Wingham said. “Since they’re interested in me to play basketball, I thought that was really neat, and I feel like that’s where I belong.”
ICST draws announced
The Indiana Christian School Tournament draw has been released and the defending champion Columbus Christian boys will open regional play at 5 p.m. Feb. 21 against Northpointe Christian. The winner will play for the regional title at 7 p.m. Feb. 24.
The Columbus Christian girls will play for the regional title at 8 p.m. Feb. 21 against the winner of the Feb. 20 Bloomington Lighthouse-Dugger Union game.
The ICST state semifinals and finals will be Feb. 28 at Faith Christian Fitness Center in Anderson.
Meanwhile, the draw for the IHSAA girls basketball tournament will be at 4 p.m. Sunday.
Ribeye steak dinner planned
The Hauser Booster Club will host a ribeye steak dinner before Saturday’s boys basketball game against Batesville.
The dinner will include a ribeye steak, baked potato, green beans, salad, roll, dessert and drinks and will be served from 5 to 7 p.m. in the auditorium. Cost is $8.
North-EC tickets on sale
Tickets for Columbus North’s boys basketball game against East Central Feb. 7 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse are on sale from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays at the North athletics office.
Tickets are $12 for grades 7 and older and $8 for age 3 through sixth-graders. Children 2 and under are free.
