After the latest update to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard on Wednesday, Columbus East’s wrestling invitational underwent a little bit of a facelift.
Brown County, Homestead, Shelbyville and South Dearborn had to drop out of what originally was a nine-team event after their counties were designated in the red level. So East replaced them with Bloomington South, Fishers and Greensburg.
The changes didn’t slow down the 16th-ranked host Olympians. East won with 234 points to 209.5 for No. 13 Bloomington South, 192 for Terre Haute South and 156 for Fishers.
“I thought it was really solid,” East coach Chris Cooper said. “Terre Haute South has a great team, and they got votes for state duals. Bloomington South is going to be at state duals, and they were ranked ahead of us, so it was nice to come out and beat them.”
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
Six Olympians won their respective weight classes — Noah Lykins (113 pounds), Tyler Williams (152), Kade Law (160), Sam Morrill (170), Jaden Durnil (182) and Ashton Hartwell (285).
Law (12-1) is ranked No. 10 at 160, Morrill (13-0) is No. 2 at 170 and Hartwell (12-1) is No. 11 at 285. Williams also improved to 13-0.
“Noah Lykins wrestled fantastic,” Cooper said. “He beat the ninth-ranked kid in the final and just did really well. Kade and Sam just keep on rolling. Tyler Williams, I don’t think has had a close match all year.”
Lykins, ranked No. 13 at 113, won a 10-0 major decision against Fishers’ Griffin Ingalls in the finals to improve to 11-1 this season.
“It was really awesome,” Lykins said. “The kid was really good, and he got me in an arm bar the third period, and I was able to ride it out. I was able to grind out that last period and get the win.”
Jacob White, normally a JV wrestler for East, was able to fill one of the spots in the 182-pound bracket and made it to the finals before falling to Durnil 11-2 in the final.
Reese Fisher (132) and Josh Schrader (195) each finished third for the Olympians. Nate Anderson (120), Tony Ruiz-Tapia (138), Jackson Fox (160) and Sean Kissinger (170) all placed fourth.
East traditionally has competed in Mishawaka’s Al Smith Invitational between Christmas and New Years, but that meet was canceled this year. The Olympians have added a meet for Wednesday at Perry Meridian, where they will wrestle Brownsburg and Crown Point, along with the host school. On Dec. 30, East will compete against Zionsville, Cathedral and Center Grove at the Zionsville Quad.
The Olympians once again qualified for the Indiana High School Wrestling Association State Duals, which expanded from three classes to four this season. East will be in Class 3A, which will be contested at Franklin on Jan. 2.
