The Columbus North wrestlers were shorthanded when they welcomed five other teams to Memorial Gymnasium Saturday for the Columbus North Wrestling Invitational.
Although they were not as successful as they would have liked, finishing 1-4 on the day, it was a chance for the Bull Dogs to grow and learn more about themselves.
North was missing five varsity wrestlers and had to forfeit the 106-, 120-, 138-, 220- and 285-pound weight classes.
“We were missing some wrestlers because of illness or injury today, and although that is not an excuse, it will be good to have them back,” North coach Matt Joyce said. “Hopefully, but next Saturday when we go to East Central, we will be fully healthy.”
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
The Bull Dog wrestler that had the best day was 113-pounder Morgan Smith. He went 4-1,with his only loss coming to Carmel’s Suhas Chundi, a top-10ranked wrester in the state. Their match was very closely contested late into the third period, when Chundi was able to get the pin with just 15 seconds remaining.
“I thought Morgan Smith wrestled tough, especially against Carmel. He has been wrestling for a while and has been a good leader for us this year,” Joyce said.
North’s lone team victory came against New Albany, 48-24. In that match, Nick Holt, Connor Essick and Dallin Anderson all picked up key victories in their matches for the Bull Dogs.
Columbus North fell to Brown County 39-30, Carmel 82-0, Whiteland 67-12 and Bloomington North 40-30. Anderson (152), Jared Slocum (160), Holt (170) and Yadiel Reyes (195) all went 3-2 for the day.
“We are really young,” Joyce said. “Some of our wrestlers have only been wrestling for one or two years, off and on, so we are going through some growing pains. These kids have great attitudes, put forth great effort, and they have fun. We are on our way to building a culture that kids are going to be happy to be a part of.”
Brown County followed its victory against Columbus North by beating New Albany 60-5 and Bloomington North 42-36 before falling to Whiteland 57-16 and Carmel 60-12 to finish the day 3-2.
“We have a good mix of new guys and experienced guys,” Brown County coach Josh Sparks said. “Some of our younger guys are actually more experienced, but don’t have the physical maturity at this point against certain opponents. As a team I thought we wrestled well. We made a lot of little mistakes, that when added up, make a big difference in the score of the match. But we were competitive.
Two Eagle wrestlers, David Tucker at 126 and Bryce Denton at 132 went 5-0 for the day.
“Those guys had good days today,” Sparks said. “I know that David has yet to give up a takedown all year. The only points scored on him have been on either reversals or when he cuts a guy loose for an escape.”
Sparks also finds value at this type of invitational to prepare for the state tournament.
“I think this is good preparation for us, to go against some bigger schools,” he said. “We went 3-2 today and competed, which will help us come sectional time.”
