The Columbus East and Columbus North wrestlers have had plenty of practice time since their most recent competition while preparing for Saturday’s Jennings County Sectional.
The Bull Dogs haven’t seen action since the Dec. 29 Evansville Mater Dei Classic. The Olympians haven’t competed since winning the Hoosier Hills Conference Tournament on Jan. 9.
“A good portion of the team was quarantined, so we did a lot of home workouts and had some structured rest,” North coach Matt Joyce said. “Then once we kind of got everybody back, we’ve had a couple of mock intramural meets to kind of hone on in on the competitive portion we missed in January. We’re gearing up and preparing ourselves for this weekend.”
East coach Chris Cooper also put his team through some fun intrasquad three-man and four-man matches last week.
“Going out of conference, we had 17 days of practice before sectional, and that’s quite a bit, so we looked at some different things and we had that “Freaky Match Friday,” Cooper said. “It kind of revitalized everybody and got them ready to go again. We just kind of looked at that competition as a way to split up that three-week period in time.”
The Olympians will be seeking their sixth consecutive sectional title. They are led by eight No. 1 seeds in Liam Krueger (106 pounds), Noah Lykins (113), Tyler Williams (152), Kade Law (160), Sam Morrill (170), Jaden Durnil (182), Tommy Morrill (220) and Ashton Hartwell (285)
East’s Reece Fisher (132) and Eli Pollitt (145) are No. 2 seeds. Tony Ruiz-Tapia (138) and Josh Schrader (195) are No. 3 seeds, while Nate Anderson (120) is a No. 4 seed and Bo Wagner (126) is a No. 5 seed.
The top four finishers in each weight class qualify for the Feb. 6 Jeffersonville Regional. One of East’s goals is to get all 14 wrestlers through to regional.
“I definitely think that’s attainable,” Cooper said. “It’s something we talk about. It’s just a matter of getting those kids prepared to do it. The top end kids, there’s no issue there. We know they’re going to make it. It’s those other kids that we’re hoping to get through, as well.
“Our goal is to win the team title,” he added. “You take care of the individual results, and the team result will take care of itself.”
The Bull Dogs have four wrestlers in position to qualify for regional. Eddy Lin (106) and Jason Shuey (120) are No. 3 seeds, while Bryce Abner (152) and Keegan Hill (195) are No. 4 seeds.
North’s Cody Thurnall (285) is a No. 5 seed. Hector De Dios (170), who has the best record among Bull Dog wrestlers this season at 10-4, did not have the required six qualified weigh-ins to be considered for a top-six seed.
“Hector was part of the group that had to quarantine and missed some competitions, so he would have been seeded higher,” Joyce said.
While East and North haven’t competed recently, Jennings’ break came at the beginning of the season. The Panthers missed the first two weeks because of COVID-19 issues.
Jennings has 10 wrestlers in position to qualify for regional, led by top seeds Joey Moran (138) and Zane Ortlieb (195). Gavin Bateman (152) is a No. 2 seed, RJ Barberis (145) is a No. 3 seed and James Hatton (106), Evan Sochacki (126), Jonah Matthews (132), Teagan Trotter (160), Max Brown (220) and Gage Gasper (285) are No. 4 seeds.
Also for the Panthers, Braden Isbell (113) is a No. 5 seed, and Trea Short (182) is a No. 6 seed.
“I feel really good about the way our guys have improved,” Jennings coach Jeff Morrison said. “We started two weeks late because of the coronavirus, and that put us behind a little bit. But our guys have come on strong the last couple weeks.”
Brown County has one wrestler in position to qualify for regional. Lane Mullins (285) is a No. 3 seed.
Also for the Eagles, Hunter Funkhouser (182) is a No. 5 seed. Chris Luckey (138), Brandon Phelps (160) and Samuel Davis (195) are No. 6 seeds.
