Columbus North senior Justice Thornton is The Republic Boys Wrestler of the Year. He is pictured at Columbus North High School in Columbus, Ind., Wednesday, March 5, 2025.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
Justice Thornton has been Columbus North’s top wrestler the past few years.
The Bull Dog senior finished his career with a seventh-place finish at the state tournament at 138 pounds and was a state finalist three times in his four years.
Thornton’s path wasn’t the easiest this year. He finished second in the sectional and regional and third in the semistate. He also was selected All-Conference Indiana. For a second consecutive year, he is The Republic Boys Wrestler of the Year.
Thornton said one of the biggest things he worked on in the offseason to maintain his success this year was his mentality.
“The biggest thing was just getting me mentally prepared for the hard times and all the things you’ve got to overcome as a wrestler,” Thornton said. “That’s a huge factor in wrestling.”
Thornton comes from a family of wrestlers, and it’s no secret his love of wrestling at a young age. He says his father John helped coach him when he was young. Justice recalls time he got to spend together with his dad growing up.
“The main thing that made me fall in love with the sport is, my family’s done it, and it’s been passed down through my family,” Justice said. “Me and my dad spend a lot of time together going places to practice. He’s been coaching me ever since I was 4 years old. That means a lot to me to be able to spend time with my dad. I couldn’t thank him enough. He got me to be the person I am today, and the wrestler I am today. It means a lot, and I want to do the same for my kids when I’m older.”
Thornton missed a few matches early in the season due to not being on weight. He wanted to wrestle at 144, but then got down to 138. Following that, Thornton went on to have a dual record of 30-7, which culminated in a seventh-place finish at state.
“It was pretty good. I started out a little rough,” Thornton said. “I missed a few matches, then I was able to overcome that, get back into the actual duals and tournaments and being able to overcome everything that has happened was huge.”
Thornton definitely has been one of the best wrestlers to come through the North program. He finishes his four-year career at 142-17. The 142 wins places him second on the school’s all-time wins list. He does hold the school record for career winning percentage at 89.3% over four years.
“He’s a tremendous wrestler and a tremendous part of our program and Columbus North wrestling history. His impact on the program has been enormous,” North coach Matt Joyce said. “He’s one of those guys that’ll wrestle with anyone in the room. Sometimes when guys are really good, they will struggle wrestling with less skilled guys, but he’s willing to work with everybody and that’s a phenomenal trait that he has. He’s got a knack for teaching I think whether he knows it or not. He frequently is helping guys before practice, after practice, and so he’s really left his mark.”
Thornton hasn’t decided yet where he wants to wrestle in college. He has decided that he wants to major in finance with hopes of becoming a financial advisor.
“I was planning on taking construction management, and I took personal finance earlier this year, and after I took that I was like, ‘I love this,’” he said.
Regardless of how his season ended, Thornton is thankful for the past four years wrestling as a Bull Dog.
“Being on the team as a family, I had a lot of fun with the guys on the team. Being able to just talk to them about anything and helping them out with wrestling and basically being an overall family on the team. We’re just one big family,” he said. “It’s been fun. I would say that being able to represent and come out and do the sport that I love for a great school is super nice, and I’m glad that I was able to do that.”
The 2024-25 Republic All-Area Boys Wrestling team:
Justice Thornton, Columbus North: The senior finished second in the sectional and regional, third in the semistate and seventh at state at 138 pounds.
Cohen Long, Columbus North: The sophomore finished second in the sectional, won the regional and placed third in the semistate and eighth at state at 144 pounds.
Asher Ratliff, Columbus North: The junior won sectional and regional titles, finished fourth in the semistate and was a state qualifier at 157 pounds.
Luke Spurgeon, Columbus North: The senior finished second in the sectional and regional and was a semistate quarterfinalist at 150 pounds.
Evan Saevre, Columbus North: The senior finished second in the sectional and regional and was a semistate quarterfinalist at 190 pounds.
Colin McMahon, Columbus East: The sophomore won sectional and regional titles, finished fourth in the semistate and was a state qualifier at 190 pounds.
Gage Rutan, Columbus East: The senior won sectional and regional titles and was a semistate quarterfinalist at 132 pounds.
Lincoln Cooper, Columbus East: The sophomore won sectional and regional titles and was a semistate quarterfinalist at 150 pounds.
Hank Redman, Columbus East: The junior finished second in the sectional and regional and was a semistate quarterfinalist at 175 pounds.
Luke Kirchner, Jennings County: The sophomore finished second in the sectional and regional and was a semistate quarterfinalist at 132 pounds.
Honorable mention
Columbus East: Caleb Cooper, Caleb Kirkpatrick, Aiden Miller, Clayton Miller, James Moss, Dominic Piper. Columbus North: Liam Curfman, Servando Lozano. Jennings County: Xavior Gindhart, Gomie Gomez, Lane Kirchner.
