Caleb Kirkpatrick
It was another dominating performance for the Columbus East boys wrestling team.
The Olympians won several matches by fall Thursday to rout Lawrence North 50-24 on East’s senior night at the Orange Pit.
“With senior night, we had to settle down and calm your nerves a little. Those guys knew it was their last match in this building,” East coach Chris Cooper said. “It was pretty emotional, but if you get too emotional, you get tired really quick. I thought all of those guys did a great job of dealing with that.”
The two closest matches that weren’t decided by a fall or a tech fall were at 144 pounds and at 157. Olympians freshman Cam Cooper lost a 9-5 decision at 144, and senior Caleb Cooper won a 7-2 decision at 157.
“My coaches wanted me to start focusing more on my defense and relying on my hand-fight rather than push attacks that maybe doesn’t go so well and I get tackled,” Caleb Cooper said. “That was what happened to me earlier this season. So I’ve been just trying to stay stubborn with my hand fight and remain neutral. I have to wait on it and capitalize on the opportunities and score.”
Caleb Cooper was one of the five seniors honored alongside Caleb Kirkpatrick, Aiden Miller, Talon Jessup and Kyler Schadenfroh.
Aiden Miller
The other matches weren’t as close. East’s Kohl Dorrough won his match by forfeit at 113. The Olympians also got wins by fall from Kade Stephens at 120, Ethan Poling at 132, Kirkpatrick at 150, Aiden Miller at 165, Lincoln Cooper at 175 and Hank Redman at 285. They picked up a technical fall from Clayton Miller at 215.
Joel Smith lost by tech fall at 106 for East. Miles Harvey lost by tech fall at 126, Wyatt Behnke lost by fall at 138 and Colin McMahon lost by tech fall against the top-ranked 190-pound wrestler in nation Michael White.
“Aiden wrestled fantastic. Kade moving up a weight class wrestled really well,” Chris Cooper said. “I’m really proud of my team. I think we won every JV match, as well, so it shows the depth we have in the room. These kids work incredibly hard, and they’re fun to coach.”
Thursday night concluded the regular season for the Olympians, who now have more than a week to prepare for the Jennings County Sectional, which is Jan. 31.
