As a 285-pound heavyweight, Ashton Hartwell is used to wrestling at the end of matches.
Thanks to the pre-match draw, the Columbus East sophomore had a chance to wrestle first Wednesday night in a dual match at crosstown rival Columbus North. Hartwell pinned the Bull Dogs’ Cody Thurnall in 45 seconds to kick-start 15th-ranked East on its way to a 65-6 victory.
“It makes me happy (to wrestle first),” Hartwell said. “I don’t like waiting around. I actually used to go to school with (Thurnall), and I wasn’t going to let him beat me.”
The Olympians won 12 of the 14 matches on their way to victory on North’s senior night. Eleven of the 14 East kids were wrestling in their first East-North dual.
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“We have a real young team, and there’s always a lot of ups and downs, but anytime you beat Columbus North, that’s an important dual,” East coach Chris Cooper said. “These kids are good friends with a lot of guys from that school and on North’s wrestling team, so it’s always nice to come out and beat them.”
Following Hartwell’s victory, the Olympians’ Liam Krueger scored a first-period pin against Zeppelin Mouser at 106. East’s Noah Lykins (113) and Bo Wagner (120) picked up forfeit wins, giving the Olympians a quick 24-0 lead.
East’s Alijah Tungate against Jaedin Richards at 126, and the Olympians’ Reese Fisher against Liam Phillips at 132 scored major decisions to make it 32-0. The Bull Dogs then got on the board when Keandre Watson, ranked No. 16 at 138, won a 5-2 decision against Jacob Shaver.
East recovered with pins from Tyler Williams against Zerek Greathouse at 145 and sixth-ranked Kade Law against Tristin Dyette at 152 and a 9-3 decision from 12th-ranked Sam Morrill against Jared Slocum at 160 for a 47-3 lead before North’s Nick Holt won a 5-1 decision against Jaden Durnil at 170.
The Olympians won the final three matches by pin. Seventh-ranked Noah White pinned Hector De Dios at 182, James Sawyer pinned Keegan Hill at 195 and Shawn Tyler pinned Adam Behling at 220.
“I tell guys all the time there’s not really a lot of momentum in wrestling,” Cooper said. “No matter where where we start the dual, there’s a lot of things that we’re trying to focus on in those individual matches.”
The Bull Dogs’ two decisions allowed them to double their point total from last year’s loss at East.
“We made a lot of progress across the board,” North coach Matt Joyce said. “Even in the matches we lost, we were hanging in there, and we were wrestling tough and stayed in pretty good position. We’re coming along. It’s going to be bit by bit by bit, and that’s what I keep telling the kids. It’s a little bit at a time. Winning two matches this year vs. one match last year, we doubled our wins.”
Both teams were making their final tuneups before their respective conference tournaments. The Olympians will compete in the Hoosier Hills Conference tourney Saturday at Madison, and the Bull Dogs will wrestle in the Conference Indiana Tournament Saturday at Southport. Both matches start at 9 a.m.
