INDIANAPOLIS — On a day when Greenfield-Central lost one of its top wrestlers to a devastating injury, 13 wrestlers from three schools earned tickets to the regional round with top four finishes in the IHSAA sectional tournament Saturday at Warren Central.
The Cougars and New Palestine both advanced six wrestlers while Eastern Hancock senior Alexander Burton moved on with a third-place finish for the Royals. Host Warren Central dominated by winning 10 of 14 weight classes and finished with a winning score of 322 points. Franklin Central was a distant runner-up at 167. New Palestine placed fourth, followed by Greenfield-Central in fifth and Eastern Hancock in ninth.
It was a difficult day for the Cougars as one of their two runner-up finishers, 132-pound senior Gavin Rose, suffered a serious right leg injury which will likely end his high school career. He was locked into a 3-3, third-period battle with Warren Central’s Aundre Beatty when the injury occurred.
Rose, the No. 12 ranked wrestler in his class, was carefully placed in a wheelchair and taken off the mat.
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“That’s the worst part of this sport probably,” Greenfield-Central coach Josh Holden said. “I’ve been getting text updates from his parents and I’ll just say it will be tough for him to go next week. We’ll wait and see what the doctors say. It doesn’t look good.”
Shortly after watching his teammate and friend go down to an injury, junior Cooper Noehre was called to the mat for a battle of top five wrestlers. In a closely contested match with No. 4 Brice Coleman of Warren Central, No. 3 ranked Noehre fell just short in a 6-5 decision.
Noehre led early (2-0) and came back from a 4-2 deficit in the final period with a takedown, but Coleman secured the win with a late reversal.
“I could have done the little things better,” Noehre said. “I’ll get back to work next week and see him again in regionals — hopefully with a different outcome.”
Holden applauded Noehre’s tenacity and looks forward to the challenge that awaits his team in the next round.
“He’s not going to back down and he’s not going to try and beat you 2-1,” Holden said. “We didn’t want to lose the match but we still have to go to regionals like everyone else. It’s still just one match at a time. We got out and that’s the main thing.
“We’re just young and inexperienced. Our kids have to learn how to win these tournaments. It’s a growth process and it’s frustrating but the thing I like about my guys is that none of them are satisfied.”
Freshman Josh VanOsdol (113 pounds), junior Dylan Dorman (126), senior Branden McKinney (160) and sophomore Scott Stanley (182) all qualified for regionals as well. McKinney posted one of the most exciting finishes for the Cougars as he overcame a late 7-2 deficit with a third-period pin in the third-place match.
White, Wright power New Palestine
Conference champions Noah Wright and Christian White continued their stellar seasons with second-place finishes Saturday at Warren Central to lead the Dragons. Wright, a senior, went the distance in his match against Warren’s No. 5 ranked Antwaun Graves but dropped a 13-3 major decision. A resilient Wright kept fighting to the end but was unable to get the powerful Graves on his back.
“We tell our guys that even if the score isn’t where you want it to be, you keep wrestling for six minutes and see what happens,” New Palestine coach Alex Johns said. “Those small victories of scoring the last point or finishing on top can transition over to the next match.”
White, a sophomore and semistate qualifier from last year, hopes to get deeper into the state tournament this season. The No. 15 ranked White faced a tough challenge Saturday in No. 3 David Pierson of Warren Central.
White said Pierson’s ability to get him in positions he’s not used to wrestling made the difference. The end result was a loss by fall at the 1:54 mark. Despite the defeat, White’s goal of making the state finals is still intact.
“I just want to do my best and hopefully I’ll be downtown,” White said. “I can’t get out of position. I just need to wrestle my match.”
Joining Wright and White at regionals will be sophomore Richard Clevenger (170), freshman Porter May (195), freshman Juan Camacho (220) and junior Jacob Brittsan (285).
“We still have a lot of young guys in the lineup and we have a lot of young guys moving on and that’s exciting,” Johns said. “It’s great they get that experience next week.”
Burton, 3rd, advances for Royals
Burton took the sting out of a disappointing day for Eastern Hancock with a third-place finish at 220 pounds. After recording a pin in his first match, Burton lost to Warren’s Carlos Mitchell in the semifinals by the slimmest of margins, 3-2.
“We got out of position and they got a takedown on us — that was the difference maker,” Royals coach Keith Oliver said. “It’s a kid I know we can beat. I hope we get another opportunity next weekend. (Burton) has been our leader all year. He’s a tremendous kid.”
The senior came back with another win by fall and then cruised to the third-place victory with a 9-1 major decision.
“I feel pretty good overall,” Burton said. “I have to come out strong in the regionals and place well so I can get a good seeding in semistate. Hopefully that paves the way for state.”
Oliver wishes a few other Royals were joining Burton in the next round but hopes the experience will pay off in the future.
“We picked a bad weekend to wrestle bad,” Oliver said. “Top to bottom, we didn’t wrestle very good as a team. We’ll learn from this, get better and come back stronger next year.”
The county wrestlers continue their drive toward the state meet Saturday in the Perry Meridian regional. Competition is slated to begin at 9 a.m.
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Team Scores: Warren Central 322, Franklin Central 167, Scecina 147.50, New Palestine 120, Greenfield-Central 115.5, Triton Central 105, Shelbyville 96, Lutheran 78, Eastern Hancock 61.5.
County Wrestlers in Championship Round
Top four advance to regionals
106 Pounds
Fifth place: John Dowden (NP) def. Dakota Herald (GC) by fall (2:40)
113 Pounds
First place: David Pierson (WC) def. Christian White (NP) by fall (1:54)
Third place: Josh VanOsdol (GC) def. Caden Alfrey (TC), 4-2
120 Pounds
Fifth place: Landen Gaddy (TC) def. Porter Keevers (NP) by fall (2:30)
126 Pounds
Third place: Victor Franco (Scecina) def. Dylan Dorman (GC), 7-4
132 Pounds
First place: Aundre Beatty (WC) def. Gavin Rose (GC) by injury default (5:27)
145 Pounds
First place: Antwaun Graves (WC) def. Noah Wright (NP), MD 13-3
Fifth place: Josh Thacker (TC) def. Kenny Thompson (GC) by fall (1:56)
152 Pounds
First place: Brice Coleman (WC) def. Cooper Noehre (GC), 6-5
Fifth place: Max Jones (NP) def. Avery Willis (EH) by injury default
160 Pounds
Third place: Branden McKinney (GC) def. Seth Ortel (TC) by fall (4:09)
Fifth place: Garrett Friesen (EH) def. Michael Luciano (Shelby) by fall (1:56)
170 Pounds
Third place: Richard Clevenger (NP) def. Taige Mummert (Shelby), 8-4
182 Pounds
Third place: Geno Mosconi (FC) def. Scott Stanley (GC), 3-1
Fifth place: Tyler Vandervilet (EH) def. Matt Guhl (TC) by forfeit
195 Pounds
Third place: Logan Beard (Luth) def. Porter May (NP) by fall (1:27)
Fifth place: Jacob Blevens (GC) def. Keshaun Macklin (Shelby) by fall (:48)
220 Pounds
Third place: Alexander Burton (EH) def. Juan Camacho (NP), MD 9-1
Fifth place: Brett Reid (Luth) def. Chris Guzman (GC) by fall (2:08)
285 Pounds
Third place: Jacob Brittson (NP) def. Brandon Sparks (Scecina) by fall (2:09)
Fifth place: Conner Knudson (EH) def. Dalla Karnes (Shelby) by fall (:55)
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