Tommy Morrill
With three weight classes remaining in Saturday’s Columbus East Inviational, the host Olympians trailed Terre Haute South by 4.5 points.
Fortunately for East, it had three seniors in those three classes, and the Olympians had championship-bout matchups with the Braves in the two heaviest weight classes. East won both of those matches and ended up outscoring Terre Haute South 232 to 220.5 to claim the team title.
“Just talking with those three guys here at the end before they wrestled,” East coach Chris Cooper said. “We have this conversation on a regular basis about, it’s time for them to step up. We have a big advantage in our upper weights. They continue to produce. The continue to come out and not only win, but get bonus points. They’ve had an outstanding season so far.”
Jackson Fox
The Olympians’ Jackson Fox, ranked No. 10 at 195 pounds, scored a first-period pin against Homestead’s Ryan Schoff in the final to put East ahead by 1.5 points.
“Coach Cooper came up to me, Tommy (Morrill) and Pat (McMahon) before I wrestled and told us we needed to win,” Fox said. “We had to do our best and stick it out for everybody else so we could get a nice win.”
Morrill, ranked No. 4 at 220, gutted out a 5-2 decision against Terre Haute South’s Alex Rose in the final. Both Morrill and Rose were state qualifiers last season.
Pat McMahon
Leading by 5.5 points going into the 285-pound final, all Pat McMahon had to do was not get pinned. But McMahon was the one doing the pinning, needing only 39 seconds to pin the Braves’ Sean Murphy.
“I’ve wrestled this kid before, so I had the knowledge of what he likes to do and what his favorite moves are,” McMahon said. “But my coaches did come up and said, ‘We’re ahead by 5 1/2 points.’ Just don’t get pinned.”
Morrill, who won his first two matches by pin, was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler.
“Coach Cooper told us (he and McMahon) we just needed to both bring it there, and we both definitely brought it,” Morrill said. “Me getting the decision and then Pat getting the pin really pushed us above, and that’s what we really needed to win. Really, it’s just awesome to have a tournament at our own school where you can prove that you’re the best.”
Gage Rutan
The Olympians also used victories from Gage Rutan at 120 and Liam Krueger, who is ranked No. 10 at 126. Talon Jessup (106), Caleb Cooper (132), Bo Wagner (138), and Nate Anderson (145) all finished second.
Liam Krueger
Also for East, Hunter Lashley (170) and Tyler Lake (182) placed fourth. Eric Duncan (160) took fifth, and Aiden Miller (113) was sixth.
The Olympians expect to find out today if they will be selected as the wild card entry for the Class 3A state duals, which are Jan. 7 at Franklin. East is the defending 3A state duals champion.
“I hope we get a little bit better because we have a couple more tournaments we have to go to,” Fox said. “We have Al Smith on the 29th and 30th, which is the hardest one of the year, besides state.”
Brown County finished ninth with six points. Aaron Woodrum led the Eagles with a seventh-place finish at 170.
