Mike Wolanin | The Republic
In the midst of its best wrestling season in several years, Columbus North has beaten a few teams that it has taken its lumps against in the recent past.
The Bull Dogs broke a long drought against another opponent on Tuesday when they rolled to a 51-30 victory against Seymour on senior night.
“We’re doing a lot of that this year,” fourth-year North coach Matt Joyce said. “We’re beating a lot of teams that we haven’t beat in the past, and it’s really fun to see that growth as a program. I’m really excited about it.”
The Bull Dogs are a young team with only two seniors. With senior Bryce Abner receiving a forfeit at 195 pounds against the Owls, Jared Slocum was the only North senior with a chance to wrestle on Tuesday, and he made the most of it.
Slocum pinned Hunter Wick in 1 minute, 24 seconds at 182, effectively clinching the match for the Bull Dogs.
“I think it was definitely a pretty good match, not one of my closest matches, but still a good match nonetheless,” Slocum said. “It’s good, but realistically, it’s just like every other match. We plan to win every match. Senior night doesn’t necessarily make it special, but it’s a little emotional. Obviously, this is kind of the apex of my wrestling career here at North, so I want to do the best I can.”
North had to forfeit three weight classes, but took advantage of four Seymour forfeits. Bull Dogs 106-pounder Liam Curfman is sick, and 113-pounder Bryce Hawkins and 285-pounder Cody Thurnall are injured, but are expected to be back in the lineup for Saturday’s Madison Invitational.
“We’re a little light right now,” Joyce said. “We’ve had some sickness and some injuries, but the kids that were in the lineup battled hard and put up some big points.”
North won five of the seven contested matches, including four by pin. Jason Shuey (132), Liam Phillips (152), Jose Ramirez (170) joined Slocum in picking up pins. Luke Spurgeon (160) won by decision.
“Jose Ramirez stepping in as a freshman and wrestling really hard, I think he did a great job picking up the pin,” Joyce said. “Luke Spurgeon, another freshman, those guys at 160 and 170, those are tough weight classes to be a frreshman at, and they’re wrestling really well this year.”
Picking up forfeit wins for the Bull Dogs were Justice Thornton (126), Jaedin Richards (138) and Abner (195).
North improved to 8-5 in dual meets with six duals left this season. The Bull Dogs goal all season has been to post a winning record.
“We’re taking it one dual at a time, but we’re still pushing toward that goal,” Joyce said. “The work that we put in in the offseason is really showing up, and they continue to get better every week. It’s really fun to see their progress in their wrestling and their mindset and just as people.”
“I think this is the best North has been in a little while,” Slocum said. “We still have a lot of potential here at North, and it’s great to see that we have so much potential still. Since my freshman year here, the team seems better overall.”
