Columbus North made some strides during its own wrestling invitational on Saturday.
The Bull Dogs finished 3-2 in the five dual meets to come in third place out of six teams. One of the wins came against Bloomington North, which had beaten them last week.
Whiteland won the tournament went 5-0 with Carmel’s B team finishing runner-up at 4-1. Bloomington North was fourth at 2-3, while Brown County took fifth at 1-4 and New Albany placed sixth at 0-5.
“We wrestled to our potential, and we won some close matches, especially with Bloomington North that we to last weekend,” North coach Matt Joyce said. “It’s really encouraging to see the progress that those kids have made throughout the week, and the adjustments that they made. The overall attitude of the kids is great, so we’re right on track.”
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
The Bull Dogs defeated New Albany 48-36, Brown County 36-33 and Bloomington North 36-30. The Bull Dogs fell to Whiteland 51-18 and Carmel 58-20.
Nick Holt went 5-0 at 182 pounds to lead North. Zeppelin Mouser (106) went 4-1, Eduardo Cordova (126) was 3-1 and Hector De Dios (170), Keegan Hill (195) and Adam Behling (220) each went 3-2.
Brown County lost to Bloomington North 37-21, Whiteland 42-24 and Carmel 59-18. The Eagles defeated New Albany 42-36.
Evan Bradshaw finished 5-0 at 195 for Brown County. David Tucker (145) and Sam Allen (285) both went 4-1, and Aiden Vaught finished 3-2 at 152.
Brown County coach Josh Sparks said that the competition at North should help build his team for the rest of the season.
“We’ll see Columbus North again in the sectional,” Sparks said. “It’s a good opportunity for us to get one sectional team, and also have the experience of wrestling different people.”
Joyce said Saturday was a big improvement for the team after only winning one dual match in the North Invitational a year ago.
“It’s always great to have a good showing at home,” Joyce said. “We only won one dual last year at our own tournament, so winning three this year, that’s a great step forward. It shows progress for the program.”
North travels to Jennings County in a dual meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, then travels to the Super 8 Tournament at East Central on Saturday. The Bull Dogs wrap up 2019 by competing in the Spartan Classic in Connersville Dec. 27-28.
