NEW PALESTINE — Heated. Intense. Fiery.
All those adjectives work for the boys wrestling dual meet between Class 3A No. 6 New Palestine and Class 4A No. 6 Warren Central at New Palestine High School Wednesday.
It was a bit of a carryover from the 2023 postseason that saw some hotly-contested head-to-head battles between Dragons and Warriors.
Both teams won seven matches Wednesday, but Warren Central got the last one to defeat New Palestine 37-36.
“Area competition, area rivals. You could tell which (matches) the energy was elevated when those talented kids hit the mat,” Warren Central coach Jake O’Neill said. “New Pal has some very talented wrestlers and, of course, we do too. We had a few of those matchups head-to-head tonight and we were skilled enough to come out on top.”
“You never want to lose and sometimes losing by one — it’s so close — that can be frustrating, but it was definitely not disappointing,” New Palestine head coach Andrew Frey said. “They’re ranked sixth in the state (overall). We’re, I think, 16th. We proved we can be right there with anybody. Hopefully the guys see that and realize that for our upcoming competitions.
“(Warren Central) bring a lot of energy and we’re starting to get some of our own energy too. Our guys hadn’t seen intensity like that yet this year. I thought we handled it well. (Warren is) used to that intensity and that’s something probably a little new to us. Overall, it was a pretty good night.”
The Dragons won the first five matches. The Warriors grabbed the next six.
After New Pal rallied with a pair of crowd-pleasing pins at 190 and 215, it all came down to the last match.
It was the Warriors that had the final celebration of the night. Heavyweight Perris Green won by fall in 1:20 over William Glesing.
Both teams won seven matches. The Warriors had five victories by fall to go with a decision and major decision. New Pal had three falls, a forfeit, technical fall, a decision and major decision.
“The sport is emotional enough, you add the environment into it, I’m really proud of our kids for keeping their composure and staying focused and going out there doing their job,” O’Neill said.
New Palestine led 24-0.
Blake Doss, at 106, opened with a 11-2 win over Darian Douthit. Landon Stranger (113), by fall in 1:44, beat Tyree Merritt and Trenton Place (120) won by forfeit.
Gunner Butt had a quick 16-1 technical fall victory over Cameron Morgan at 126.
The first of the pivotal head-to-head battles went New Palestine’s way at 132. Cole Vandygriff defeated Donald Bowie 8-5.
“That was a pretty big match,” Frey said. “That kid has a number next to his name so he’s ranked. We knew Cole is a stud and has the potential. That’s a good win for him. That was a big match.”
“I thought that was one we could have won and thought we should have won to be able to win the dual,” O’Neill said. “We knew when we didn’t get it we were going to have to get pins where we were able to. We had to get pins at 157, 165 and 175. It was helpful to get a pin at 138. Our kid’s a returning state champion and three-time place winner, but the (Peyton) Hornsby kid is no joke. For us to get a pin against him was really big for us.”
The win at 132 was New Palestine’s last until it got to the 190-class match.
At 138, 2022 state champion and four-time Marion County champion Kyrel Leavell beat New Pal frosh standout Hornsby by fall in :58, starting a six-match run for the Warriors.
“They have Kyrel, who has proven himself to be a pretty successful wrestler and we have our up-and-coming Peyton Hornsby,” Frey said. “I think maybe age just came out on that one. (Leavell) has a really good cradle (move) and he found it again.”
The match was followed by one of the more heated and anticipated battles of the night between a pair of state placers from last season. Warren Central’s Christian Arberry defeated New Palestine’s Bryce Doss 9-0. Arberry finished eighth in the state at 138 last season. Doss was eighth at 120.
Warren’s Aaron Durham won 11-4 over New Pal’s Jaedyn Jeffries at 150, cutting the Dragons lead to 24-13.
The final six matches were all won by fall.
The Warriors wins at 157 [AJ Cashman over Kelson Napier in 1:56], 165 [Waylon Cressel over Gabe Flick in 2:18] and 175 [Brenton Russell over Gavin Wilcher in 2:39] gave Warren a 31-24 lead.
The Dragons weren’t done yet.
Getting the team and home crowd excited, Colin Whetsel, leading 9-0, pinned Warren Central’s David Shelton in the third period at the 4:31 mark. It got the Dragons within one point, 31-30.
At 215, Brandon Brees, leading 6-3, pinned Warren’s Kyreem Weems at the 3:47 mark.
“Whetsel just being coachable was huge.” Frey said. “He listens, put himself in position to get a fall and he got it. I can’t speak enough about Brees. He’s filling in for (senior starter) Shaun Glass right now and had to step up.
“We saw the writing on the wall at 215. That was a big match and he went out and did his thing. He is really good at not letting the pressure get to him. He just does what Brees does and finds a way. Him finding a fall was huge and that set us up for our final match. It didn’t go our way, but I can’t be more proud of our attitude, effort.”
Warren improved to 6-2 in dual meets. The Dragons are 12-4.
“It was a good sectional, regional preview, more exciting matches to come,” O’Neill said.
“Was it winnable? It was winnable, but not tonight,” Frey added. “I’m pretty happy with it though, it was exciting.”
The schools wrestled a girls varsity match simultaneously. Warren Central won 51-30.
