Columbus East’s Colin Kirkpatrick, in orange, wrestles against Columbus North’s Cohen Long in the 144-pound weight class at Columbus East High School in Columbus, Ind., Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2024.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
The first official dual match between the Columbus East and Columbus North girls wrestlers went much like the match between their boys counterparts did Wednesday night.
The fourth-ranked Olympian girls and the Class 3A No. 1 East boys both put together convincing victories. The Olympians took advantage of 10 Bull Dog forfeits in a 65-6 win in the girls match and won a few close matches on their way to a 52-5 victory in the boys match to improve to 13-0.
“I think our grind in the room is really paying off,” East junior Talon Jessup said. “We’re ranked No. 1 for a reason. We put the work in every single day. Every minute of practice is a grind as hard as we can go, and it’s starting to show.”
Jessup, ranked No. 7 at 120 pounds, was the last of four Olympian boys to win by pin. They won one by forfeit and two by tech fall, while their other four wins came by decision. Three of those decisions came by one point, and one of the pins came in overtime.
“The dual score doesn’t reflect how close the dual meet was,” East boys coach Chris Cooper said. “We pulled out several tight matches there. They have some dudes. They have a pretty decent team, and we knew that coming in. We knew we would have to be on our ‘A’ game.”
Starting at 126, the Bull Dogs struck first with Ty Brueche’s 16-9 decision against Wyatt Behnke. But then the Olympians got a forfeit win from Brian Findley at 132, a pin from ninth-ranked Gage Rutan at 138, a 1-0 decision from 18th-ranked Caleb Kirkpatrick against Cohen Long at 144 and a 4-0 decision from 13th-ranked Caleb Cooper against Luke Spurgeon at 150 to take an 18-3 lead.
North’s Asher Ratliff pulled out a 1-0 decision against 11th-ranked Lincoln Cooper at 157 before East’s Clayton Miller edged Jackson Haston 14-13 at 165. The Olympians then got tech falls from Hank Redman at 175 and 16th-ranked Colin McMahon at 190, followed by an overtime pin from James Moss against Jon Morales at 215 and a 1-0 overtime decision from Dom Piper against Servando Lozano at 285.
“I was battling sickness all week and wasn’t feeling my best,” Moss said. “But I went out there and grinded the match until the end and got the pin for the team and put the six points on the board for us.”
After a double-forfeit at 106, East finished the match with pins from Ethan Poling at 113 and Jessup at 120.
“Our guys are just tremendous,” Chris Cooper said. “They work as hard as any team I’ve ever had. They’re all great friends. They do all the things we ask. I’m really excited to get into our team state with this team.”
The Bull Dogs final team total was the result of a point deduction for unsportsmanlike conduct.
“We had a lot of close matches,” North boys coach Matt Joyce said. “We have to wrestle those close matches a little smarter. All those are winnable matches. There were two or three that could have gone either way, but we made a mistake late.”
Meanwhile, in the girls match that preceded the boys battle, only four weight classes were contested. There were two double-forfeits, and the Olympians got forfeit wins from 12th-ranked Tienica Dits (100), Sydney Morrow (105), fifth-ranked Taylor Engelking (115), 12th-ranked Madison Mount (130), Maddie Swartzentruber (135) Issabel Wakefield (140), fourth-ranked Grace McMahon (190) and 14th-ranked Maddie Schrader (190).
“They’re a little shorthanded right now, so hopefully, this rivalry will pick up over the next few years and bring in more people, more girls, and it will be a good match later on,” East girls coach Ty Olds said.
The Olympians got a tech fall from 12th-ranked Eden Knight at 145 and pins from Lucy Destin at 155 and Monica McMahon at 235. Monica McMahon is ranked No. 1 at 190.
“I kind of wish I had gotten the pin, but a tech fall is still fun,” Knight said. “I was doing exactly what my coach was telling me to do and listening to him, so I’m happy with it.”
“I was very happy,” Destin added. “Coach was telling me to control my breathing and not get tired too fast. I’m glad that I won.”
The Bull Dogs win came via pin from Vika Konovalenko at 125, where East’s ninth-ranked Saige Plummer was sick and did not compete.
“We did a good job,” Olds said. “We came out and did what we were supposed to do. Everything went as planned. We knew who Vika was. Saige is still sick, and we think Saige probably makes that a match. Vika was in our (wrestling room) all offseason. She was a Valkyrie (club wrestler) all spring and summer, so we knew what she was about.”
“I definitely knew it was going to be a tough match for our 235 (Fatima Aguilar) with Monica being top of the state,” North girls coach Lindsey Prozanski said. “But I definitely think our other two, Mia (Melendres at 155) and Reggie (Holguin at 145), could have won their matches, but they were wrestling in the next weight class up. The girls are getting used to the crowds and wrestling in the spotlights, but I think we’ll peak when it matters.”
