SHELBYVILLE — Including five individual titles, 23 of a possible 28 Hancock County wrestlers qualified for the next round of the IHSAA Boys Wrestling state tournament series at Saturday’s Shelbyville Sectional.
New Palestine and Greenfield-Central finished second and third, respectively, in the nine-team field. Gunner Butt (126), Cole Vandygriff (132) and Shaun Glass (215) brought home championships for the Dragons. Cole Guenin (190) and Brayden Flener (285) were champions for the Cougars.
It was the second straight year Vandygriff (113) and Glass (195) won individual sectional titles.
The Cougars advanced 12 of their 14 wrestlers to the upcoming Perry Meridian Regional, to be held Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. The Dragons will have 11 wrestlers in the meet.
“Overall I thought the best day possible we’d get 13 through,” New Palestine head coach Andrew Frey said. “Eleven through is pretty good and that number is probably a little more realistic.
“I think that’s the most we’ve done in a while as a team, that proves again we’re growing and moving in the right direction.”
Eight of New Palestine’s 11 qualifiers were in championship matches. Along with titles from Butt, Vandygriff and Glass, Blake Doss (106), Peyton Hornsby (138), Bryce Doss (144), Gabe Flick (165) and Colin Whetsel (190) were runner-up finishers.
Landon Stranger (113, 3rd), Jaedyn Jeffries (157, 4th) and Gavin Wilcher (175, 3rd) will also move on.
“Eight in the finals was real good. That sets us up fantastic for next week,” Frey added.
In the regional round, first-place finishers will wrestler fourth-place finishers from the Southport Sectional. Second-place finishers will have quarterfinal matches with wrestlers that placed third.
Greenfield-Central had five wrestlers in the finals. The majority of its qualifiers made it through the quarterfinals, but were beaten in the semis. They had to come back through the consolation wrestlebacks to earn thirds and fourths.
Along with Guenin and Flener, the Cougars had runner-up finishes from Jett McGuire (120), Silas Frye (175) and Tristen Lanum (215).
McGuire was seeking a second straight championship. He won at 106 last year, over Butt, but was defeated in Saturday’s matchup 4-3 by Franklin Central’s Richard Rogers.
Joining the quintet at Perry on Saturday will be, Braeden Ayres (106, 3rd), Hayden Tomey (113, 4th), Cade Zuber (132, 4th), Dylan Luther (138, 4th), Nate Miller (144, 3rd), Kannon Zuber (150, 3rd) and Mason Thompson (165, 3rd).
“I’m not as concerned with placement and draws (for the regional) and some of that stuff, I just don’t think we wrestled as well as we have been,” Greenfield-Central coach Josh Holden said. “Next week, if you’re not wrestling your best you’re definitely not going (to semi-state) I don’t care what your draw looks like.
“I’m focusing on us. We didn’t wrestle as well as we could have or as well as we have been, but we have a week to fix stuff, get healthier. You regroup, you refocus, you don’t worry about the name of the guy you are wrestling or the name on the front of his jersey. We don’t care who we’re wrestling, what school, we worry about ourselves and wrestle the best match we can possible wrestle and we’ll be all right.”
Two of the championship round matches were New Pal/Greenfield clashes.
Greenfield-Central’s Guenin improved to 29-1 on the season with a fall in 3:39 over New Pal’s Whetsel. Along with a rematch from a dual meet, the two wrestled for the Hoosier Heritage Conference title two weeks ago.
“Clay just did what he does,” Holden said of Guenin, the No. 1 seed at 190. “He goes in, works hard, and is relentless. He got a takedown, turned him and pinned. It was pretty much what we expected out of him.”
That match at 190 was followed with another ‘Cougars vs. Dragons’ battle at 215. Glass won by major decision over Lanum, 13-1.
“I was happy with the major and we were able to score 13 points on a pretty good dude,” Frey said of Glass.
New Palestine’s other two-time champion, Vandygriff, was wrestling for the first time since being injured in a dual meet at Franklin Central on Jan. 4. He was scheduled to wrestle in the final dual of the season, Jan. 18 against Greenwood, but received a forfeit.
He won twice by fall Saturday before defeating Warren Central’s Donald Bowie 7-5 in the final.
“I was a little worried about his timing and there was a little bit of rust to knock off, but overall he figured it out and got the job done,” Frey said. “That was a really proud day for him being able to pull that off.”
Butt was the county’s first sectional champion. He was up 5-1 against Warren Central’s Terry Easley when he was able to record a fall right at the third-period buzzer. The two did not meet in the regular-season dual between the two schools.
“Always like getting the fall, that helps with team points,” Frey said. “That was just a good, smart, calculated match for Gunner. He weathered the storm, trying to feel him out. He’s an experienced wrestler and that always pays off for Gunner.”
At 285, Greenfield-Central’s Flener was able to get a pin over Warren Central’s Perris Green. He trailed early, but was able to turn it around and get a fall at the 5:17 mark.
“He’s improved so much this year,” Holden said of Flener. “His first year (wrestling) was his freshman year. He wrestled that same kid from Warren for third place and won. We thought, ‘That Warren kid is pretty good. Brayden can be pretty good.’
“This year he’s been winning close matches … [In the championship match] he was patient. He was down early and he didn’t worry. His facial expressions were good. His energy was good. He went out and kept doing what we talk about doing. As a heavyweight, you wear people down, stay in good position and don’t do stupid things. … This was a very good heayvweight sectional.”
Warren Central had nine wrestlers in the finals and five champions. The Warriors won with 265 points. New Palestine had 223 and Greenfield-Central scored 216. Franklin Central had a pair of champions and was fourth with 167 points.
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2024 Shelbyville Sectional
Team scores: Warren Central 265, New Palestine 223, Greenfield-Central 216, Franklin Central 167, Shelbyville 109, Purdue Polytechnic 82.5, Triton Central 78, Lutheran 57, Scecina 20.
Championship Round
106: Caleb Morrow (Indianapolis Lutheran) 23-3 over Blake Doss (New Palestine) 20-13 (Fall 3:10)
113: Ayden Nufio (Triton Central) 21-8 over Tripp Garner (Shelbyville) 18-5 (MD 12-4)
120: Richard Rogers (Franklin Central) 28-4 over Jett McGuire (Greenfield Central) 23-4 (Dec 4-3)
126: Gunner Butt (New Palestine) 27-4 over Terry Easley (Warren Central) 20-7 (Fall 6:00)
132: Cole Vandygriff (New Palestine) 22-6 over Donald Bowie (Warren Central) 21-9 (Dec 7-5)
138: Kyrel Leavell (Warren Central) 30-1 over Peyton Hornsby (New Palestine) 28-4 (Inj. 0:00)
144: Christian Arberry (Warren Central) 25-2 over Bryce Doss (New Palestine) 26-8 (Dec 6-4)
150: Moses Stevenson (Franklin Central) 27-4 over Aaron Durham (Warren Central) 21-9 (Fall 3:16)
157: Anthony Cashman (Warren Central) 28-3 over Silas Foster (Purdue Polytechnic) 33-1 (Dec 7-1)
165:Waylon Cressell (Warren Central) 30-1 over Gabe Flick (New Palestine) 19-16 (Fall 0:24)
175: Brenton Russell (Warren Central) 29-1 over Silas Frye (Greenfield Central) 22-8 (Fall 5:16)
190: Clay Guenin (Greenfield Central) 29-1 over Colin Whetsel (New Palestine) 18-5 (Fall 3:39)
215: Shaun Glass (New Palestine) 26-2 over Tristen Lanum (Greenfield Central) 27-7 (MD 13-1)
285: Brayden Flener (Greenfield Central) 28-7 over Perris Green (Warren Central) 14-5 (Fall 5:17)
