NORTH VERNON — In winning its sixth consecutive sectional title on Saturday, the Columbus East wrestlers were as dominant as they’ve ever been.
The Olympians won 11 of the 14 weight classes, while finishing second in one and third in the other two in rolling to another Jennings County Sectional crown. The 17th-ranked Olympians racked up 322 1/2 points to 211 for runner-up Madison, 173 for the host Panthers and 116 for an improved Columbus North squad.
“It was an outstanding effort from our guys, only losing three matches all day,” East coach Chris Cooper said. “It’s just tremendous. There were several matches where we picked up wins where we had previously lost during the year. I’m just really proud of our kids’ effort.”
Two of those match reversals for the Olympians came at 195 pounds, where third-seeded Josh Schrader avenged losses from the Hoosier Hills Conference Tournament to Madison’s Dalton Berry in Saturday’s semifinals and Jennings’ Zane Ortlieb in the final, both by pin.
“I feel like I’m finally just starting to wrestle the way I know how to,” Schrader said. “I’ve been able to open up into my leg attacks and just wrestle. At practice, we’ve been working on defending on defending their shots and just the way (opponents) wrestled and then making sure I get in on my attacks, as well.”
East’s Liam Krueger (106), Noah Lykins (113), Kade Law (160), Sam Morrill (170) and Ashton Hartwell (285) defended their sectional titles. First-time champs were Reece Fisher (132), Eli Pollitt (145), Tyler Williams (152), Jaden Durnil (182), Schrader and Tommy Morrill (220).
The Olympians’ Tony Ruiz-Tapia dropped an 8-5 decision to Jennings’ Joey Moran in the 138-pound final. East’s Nate Anderson (120) and Bo Wagner (126) each finished third.
“I think we all did really good, having 12 guys in the finals,” said Lykins, who won both of his matches by first-period pins. “We need to win regional and then go on to semistate and state.”
Besides Moran’s victory and second-place finishes from Gavin Bateman (152) and Ortlieb, the Panthers advanced three other wrestlers to Saturday’s Jeffersonville Regional with top-four finishes. James Hatton (106) placed third, and Jonah Mathews (132) and Chris Hernandez (170) took fourth.
“Overall, it was a good day,” Jennings coach Jeff Morrison said. “I wanted to challenge Madison for that second spot this year, and I thought we would possibly do it, but we were going to have to get more kids into those third- and fourth-place matches. We had one bad round in there where we lost some matches that were pretty close that I thought we had a chance to win. But I think overall, our young team grew pretty well today.”
Meanwhile, North is sending seven wrestlers to regional, its most in several years. Jason Shuey led the Bull Dogs with a runner-up finish at 120 pounds. Liam Phillips (145) and Hector De Dios (160) each placed third and Eddy Lin (106), Bryce Abner (152), Keegan Hill (195) and Cody Thurnall (285) were fourth.
“The kids battled back and battled through adversity,” North coach Matt Joyce said. “I’m proud of the way they competed. We hadn’t competed in the month of January, so for this being really their first outing after the new year, I’m proud of the way that they came together and wrestled tough today.”
Brown County advanced three wrestlers to regional. Lane Mullins (285) finished second, while Hunter Funkhouser (182) took third and Brandon Phelps (160) was fourth.
