For his freshman year and most of his sophomore season, Sam Morrill was a junior varsity wrestler trying to crack the varsity lineup at state power Columbus East.
When he did break into the lineup, Morrill’s career took off. He made it to state and placed eighth as a junior, then went all the way to the state championship match before finishing runner-up this season.
“Considering he didn’t wrestle varsity until the end of his sophomore year, to wrestle under the lights (at state), there’s only eight times guys from East ever have done that,” East coach Chris Cooper said. “He had a fantastic career.”
Morrill, who finished 38-2 at 170 pounds this season, is The Republic Wrestler of the Year.
“I think I definitely made lots of improvement every year, from being JV my freshman year to getting in the varsity lineup as a sophomore and making it to semistate to placing at state the next year and then getting runner-up,” Morrill said. “It think it’s definitely attributable to all the hours I’ve put in the room, working with my practice partners — Kade (Law) and Tyler (Williams) — and also my coaches for pushing me really hard.”
This season, Morrill won Hoosier Hills Conference, sectional, regional and semistate titles. He avenged his only regular-season loss against Cathedral’s Ulrik Urasky in the state semifinals.
“I’m happy that we had a season to begin with, and I’m also really happy with all the success that I had,” Morrill said. “I didn’t think I’d get as far as I did. That was the first priority, to definitely make it back to state. As soon as I won my (first-round) match to guarantee the podium, all my worries went away. I just wrestled how I always do.”
Like most wrestlers, Morrill and his teammates had limited competition last offseason because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Olympians didn’t go to Disney Duals or Virginia Beach like they usually do.
“It was definitely harder because of the lack of tournaments,” Morrill said. “But we still found tournaments to go to improve every day and earn our 1 percent.”
“Probably the biggest story with Sam is just his willingness to go out and compete in the offseason,” Cooper added. “We always encourage our guys to go out and compete, and he is at the top of that every single year.”
Shortly after the state meet, Morrill committed to continue his wrestling career at University of Indianapolis. He will join former East teammate Dawson Combest, a redshirt sophomore who was this year’s NCAA Division II runner-up at 157 pounds.
“From the start of my senior season, I knew that if I was going to wrestle in college, that was probably where I was going to go because they showed interest in me so early, and I like the program,” Morrill said. “I went and visited and saw the wrestling room and liked it, and I also saw that Dawson went there.”
Being able to wrestle at the collegiate level isn’t something Morrill took for granted early in his high school career.
“Originally, I thought I wouldn’t be good enough,” Morrill said. “I just wasn’t ready. But I feel like after the years that I’ve had, I’m definitely ready for the next level.”
Morrill plans to major in computer science at UIndy. He still is working out with the East team as much as he can in hopes of staying in shape for the start of his college career.
“I’m so excited,” Morrill said. “It’s definitely going to be a challenge, but it’s nothing I’m not ready for, and I’m super pumped to be a part of it.”
The Republic All-Area Wrestling team:
Sam Morrill, Columbus East: The senior won sectional, regional and semistate titles and finished second at state at 170 pounds.
Kade Law, Columbus East: The junior won sectional and regional titles and finished third at semistate and third at state at 160 pounds.
Liam Krueger, Columbus East: The sophomore won a sectional title and finished second in the regional, fourth at semistate and was a state qualifier at 106 pounds.
Noah Lykins, Columbus East: The junior won sectional and regional titles and was a semistate quarterfinalist at 113 pounds.
Reece Fisher, Columbus East: The junior won sectional and regional titles and was a semistate quarterfinalist at 132 pounds.
Tommy Morrill, Columbus East: The sophomore won sectional and regional titles and was a semistate quarterfinalist at 220 pounds.
Ashton Hartwell, Columbus East: The junior won a sectional title, finished second in the regional and was a semistate quarterfinalist at 285 pounds.
Tony Ruiz-Tapia, Columbus East: The junior finished second in the sectional and third in the regional and was a semistate quarterfinalist at 138 pounds.
Tyler Williams, Columbus East: The senior won a sectional title, finished second in the regional and was a semistate qualifier at 152 pounds.
Jaden Durnil, Columbus East: The junior won a sectional title, finished second in the regional and was a semistate qualifier at 182 pounds.
Josh Schrader, Columbus East: The junior won a sectional title, finished second in the regional and was a semistate qualifier at 195 pounds.
Eli Pollitt, Columbus East: The junior won a sectional title, finished third in the regional and was a semistate qualifier at 145 pounds.
Jason Shuey, Columbus North: The freshman finished second in the sectional and regional and was a semistate qualifier at 120 pounds.
Joey Moran, Jennings County: The senior won a sectional title, finished second in the regional and was a semistate qualifier at 138 pounds.
Honorable mention
Brown County: Hunter Funkhouser, Lane Mullins, Brandon Phelps. Columbus East: Nate Anderson, Bo Wagner. Columbus North: Bryce Abner, Hector De Dios, Keegan Hill, Eddy Lin, Liam Phillips, Cody Thurnall. Jennings County: Gavin Bateman, James Hatton, Chris Hernandez, Jonah Mathews, Zane Ortlieb.
