INDIANAPOLIS — It was a change of scenery for Mt. Vernon at this year’s IHSAA wrestling sectional, but that didn’t stop them from finding success.
After competing in the Indianapolis Tech Sectional in recent years, the Marauders were moved to the Southport Sectional beginning this season.
With a deeper and more difficult field standing in the way of a top-four finish and spots in the regional, Mt. Vernon was still able to end the day with one individual sectional champion and seven tickets punched to Saturday’s competition at Perry Meridian.
“I think we wrestled pretty tough at times,” Mt. Vernon head coach Randal Hayes said. “This is a really tough sectional. If you look at the one we’re about to feed into, this one is just so much deeper. Even the fifth and sixth place matches were just really solid opponents.”
The Marauders placed fourth overall as a team with 148 points. They trailed Lawrence North (154), Roncalli (216) and the sectional champions, Perry Meridian (254.5).
Of the seven regional qualifiers, four were repeats from last season, including the Marauders trio of state qualifiers — Eli Broady, Devin Kendrex and Connor Bayliss.
The No. 9 ranked wrestler in the 126-pound division, Broady (33-3), was Mt. Vernon’s lone individual champion. He made it back-to-back years with a sectional title after winning last year at 120 pounds.
In the quarterfinals he defeated Perry Meridian’s Bryce Beckham (11-16) by technical fall 23-8, in the semifinals he won by technical fall again, besting Lawrence Central’s Nathan Toxqui (15-7) 20-5, and in the championship match, he defeated Lawrence North’s Sean Tankersley (30-4) by decision 9-2.
At 215 pounds, No. 9 ranked Kendrex (32-4) was denied a sectional championship by a familiar opponent.
In the final match, he fell by decision 9-3 to Lawrence North’s Brandon Johnson (34-1), who came into the match ranked sixth in the state.
At last season’s state finals, Kendrex defeated Johnson 3-1 in the fifth-place match, and earlier this season, Johnson won the battle between the two state-ranked wrestlers 10-8.
“The kid baited him a little bit and Devin took the bait. He just didn’t wrestle a smart match like we had planned,” Hayes said. “He’s wrestled that kid a lot and he trains with him, and the kid just took advantage of that.”
The last of the Marauders returning state finalists, No. 9 ranked Bayliss (31-4), took home fourth place at 113 pounds.
He fell by tiebreaker 10-5 to Perry Meridian’s Hruai Lian (17-8) in the semifinals before punching his ticket with a win by fall over North Central’s Eythan Smith (3-23).
“I know Connor got fourth, but even with him drawing a champ from the other sectional, we think that’s a match he should win,” Hayes said. “He wasn’t real sharp today, and he needs to recover from today, but we’re not afraid of next weekend.”
Shawn Taylor (11-7) rounded out the Mt. Vernon repeat regional qualifiers with a third-place finish at 165 pounds.
After dropping his semifinal match, Taylor responded with consecutive wins by fall to punch his ticket and secure third place.
Taking home third along with Taylor was Joliba Brogan (22-14) in the 190-pound division. He bounced back from a quarterfinal loss with three straight wins.
In the ticket round, he defeated Lawrence Central’s Mayson Smith (10-10) by fall and in the consolation finals bested Beech Grove’s Julius Florence (29-9) by decision 3-2.
“Those wins make a big difference, especially with the sectional that we’re feeding into because drawing someone that finished second rather than a champ is a big difference,” Hayes said. “We’ve already looked, and we’ve beaten some of the guys that we’re going to draw now.”
Ty Barnhart (25-9) and Robert Dodson (18-17) advanced at 106 pounds and 144 pounds, respectively, with fourth-place finishes.
Nearly advancing with fifth and sixth-place podium finishes were Carson Hill who placed sixth at 132 pounds, Britton Bittner who placed fifth at 138 pounds, Brooks McKeeman who placed fifth at 157 pounds and Elijah Kiner who placed fifth at 175 pounds.
“We lost a lot of close ones,” Hayes said. “I thought we were going to get nine through, but we lost two really, really close matches with one round to go.”
Fifth-place finishers are alternates for the regional and could wrestle on Saturday if someone from their weight class is unable to go.
Mt. Vernon’s seven qualifiers are back in action Saturday in the Perry Meridian Regional, scheduled to start at 9 a.m. The tournament includes qualifiers from the Southport and Shelbyville sectionals.
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2024 Southport Sectional
Team scores: Perry Meridian 254.5, Roncalli 216, Lawrence North 154, Mt. Vernon 148, North Central 129, Southport 110, Beech Grove 95, Lawrence Central 86.5, Christel House 6, Victory College Prep 0.
Championship Round
106: Peyton Schoettle (Roncalli) won by fall over Colin Clark (Perry Meridian) 3:08
113: Blake Getz (Roncalli) won by decision over Hruai Lian (Perry Meridian) 6-2
120: RJ Taylor (Perry Meridian) won by decision over Jack Richardson (Roncalli) 3-0
126: Eli Broady (Mt. Vernon) won by decision over Sean Tankersley (Lawrence North) 9-2
132: Josh Foxworthy (Southport) won by decision over Alex Plahitko (Roncalli) 8-3
138: Blake Jones (Lawrence North) won by major decision over Evan Smith (North Central) 13-2
144: William May (Roncalli) won by fall over Zach Harris (Perry Meridian) 2:00
150: Jessie Franklin (North Central) won by forfeit over Braden Getz (Roncalli)
157: Hunter Boshears (Beech Grove) won by fall over Kiaun Fields (Lawrence Central) 3:54
165: James Dozier (Roncalli) won by decision over Zach Huckaby (Perry Meridian) 3-1
175: Michael White (Lawrence North) won by major decision over Seer Godwise (Perry Meridian) 11-8
190: Jaylon Young (Perry Meridian) won by fall over Brody Heidelberg (Roncalli) :30
215: Brandon Johnson (Lawrence North) won by decision over Devin Kendrex (Mt. Vernon) 9-3
285: Jacob McClure (Perry Meridian) won by fall over Dusty Miller (Beech Grove) 2:59
