Lincoln Cooper
After falling to Bloomington South by 15 points in the semifinals of Saturday’s Class 3A state duals, Columbus East was a decided underdog going into Thursday night’s rematch with the Panthers.
To put it in wrestling terms, the Olympians “scored a reversal.”
East took advantage of a couple forfeits from Bloomington South wrestlers who were ill, turned the tables on another and picked up more bonus points and gave away fewer bonus points than it did Saturday in pulling out a 38-35 win Thursday in the Orange Pit.
“We worked on getting extra points in our matches and saving points,” junior Lincoln Cooper said. “I think that really helped our score.”
After Aiden Miller win the first match by forfeit at 165 pounds, Lincoln Cooper — ranked No. 2 in the state at 175, won by pin. Fifth-ranked Colin McMahon won by pin at 190, No. 10 Clayton Miller won by decision at 215 and another No. 10, Hank Redman, won by pin at 285 to give the Olympians an early 27-0 lead.
“I think setting the tone is always good for the team and the environment, just know that we’re going to wrestle,” Lincoln Cooper said “I just went out there and wrestled and did my best.”
The Panthers’ strength is in the lower weights, and they picked up three consecutive pins from ranked wrestlers at 106, 113 and 120. A major decision at 126, and a tech fall at 132 tied the match at 27-27. Bloomington South then got another decision at 138 and a tech fall at 144 to take a 36-27 lead.
With East knowing it was going to get a forfeit win from Caleb Kirkpatrick in the final match at 157, it meant the 150-pound bout between Olympians freshman Caleb Cooper and the Panthers’ Noah Langley would decide the match.
Cam Cooper
Cam Cooper, Lincoln’s cousin and the son of East coach Chris Cooper, left little doubt in rolling to a 16-1 tech fall.
“It was mostly just, ‘If I wrestle how I always wrestle, I win the match,” Cam Cooper said. “I just wrestled my style.”
Caleb Cooper, Cam’s older brother, who is ranked No. 9 at 157, missed the match with an illness. So Chris Cooper bumped Kirkpatrick, ranked No. 14 at 150, up tp 157 and Cam Cooper up from 144 to 150.
“We wrestled a lot better,” Chris Cooper said. “That was the biggest thing. We moved Cam Cooper up a weight and put Jayden Dehart in there (at 144). It was really more about our team wrestling better than we did the other day. We didn’t compete very well (Saturday), and we competed a heck of a lot better today.”
Bloomington South won the lightest seven weight classes, and East won the heaviest seven weight classes.
“Our upper weights, they’re just beasts,” Chris Cooper said. “They’ve had a fantastic season. They’re peaking at the right time. They’re really rolling.”
The Olympians will compete in the Hooiser Hills Conference Tournament Saturday at Jeffersonville.
