W: Week 5 roundup

By E. Shawn Aylsworth
Managing Editor

Despite some crummy Week 5 weather around the state, nearly every big tournament and meet was able to take place. Here’s a rundown of all the big wrestling events that occurred Dec. 10-15 …

Marion County Tournament: #3 Perry Meridian wins third straight crown
Perry Meridian won half the weight classes Dec. 15 at Franklin Central as the third-ranked Falcons totaled 310.5 points to wrap up their third straight Marion County Tournament championship.

Ninth-ranked Lawrence North had three champs and scored 228.5 points to place second, while No. 11 Warren Central (155) took third and Roncalli (144.5) finished fourth.

All but two of the 14 weights featured a state-ranked champion, and there were a pair of upsets in the finals. At 119, Franklin Central’s No. 6 D.J. Rackley pinned No. 4 Cashé Quiroga of Lawrence North in an eye-popping 56 seconds, while sixth-ranked D’Marcus Spencer of Pike posted a 5-2 decision over Perry Meridian’s No. 2 Brian Vest at 130.

Here’s the lowdown from indystar.com …

Even though two rounds of wrestling remained Saturday, Perry Meridian’s third straight Marion County championship was essentially won during the morning’s semifinal round.

The third-ranked Falcons captured 10 of 12 semifinal matches to extend a 22.5-point lead over No. 9 Lawrence North to 84.5 points with only one round of wrestlebacks and the finals remaining.

Perry Meridian wound up winning seven individual championships, rolling up 310.5 points to dominate the second-place Wildcats (228.5 points).

“After the quarterfinals (on Friday) we kind of felt like we were in trouble,” Perry Meridian coach Jim Tonte said. “We didn’t look very good Friday night, but we came back and looked a lot better Saturday morning. I was really pleased with how we did in the semifinals.”

Two Falcons had dominant days. At 135 pounds, fifth-ranked Jacob Tasseff (14-0) won all four matches by fall, including a pin of Franklin Central’s Kyle Ettner with 1:25 to go. John Leonard (14-0) also was dominant, pinning all four foes. He stopped North Central’s Joe Grahn 58 seconds into the second period in the 140-pound finals.

“Tasseff is on a pin parade,” Tonte said. “And right now, Johnny Leonard is on fire. He’s in a zone to where he’s totally focused.”

Defending state champ Chico Adams had to go to overtime to stop Southport’s Bart Bugay in the 285-pound finals. Adams (14-0) got around on Bugay for a takedown with just two seconds left in overtime to pull out a 3-1 win. Both of Bugay’s losses this season are to Adams.

Perry Meridian’s Jimmy Schoettle (13-0), ranked second in the state at 112 pounds, moved to 13-0 with a 10-4 win against Roncalli’s Justin Kieffer. Falcon Chris Goodwin downed Franklin Central’s Korey Dubois 4-2 at 125 pounds, while Goodwin’s teammate, Chris Stepp, built up an 8-0 lead before pinning Lawrence North’s Ethan Wilson with eight seconds left in the 152-pound finals. Falcon Chris Schaefer (13-0) stayed undefeated with a 3-2, double-overtime win against North Central’s Zach Hahn at 215 pounds.

Lawrence North had three individual champs. Brandon Nelsen got a takedown with 33 seconds left to edge Roncalli’s Josh Kieffer 7-6 at 103 pounds. Qwion Booker, seeded just fourth, knocked off both the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds on his way to the 145-pound crown. His first-period takedown keyed a 3-1 win against Perry Meridian’s Blake Wood in the finals. Bryce Grimes got a takedown against Perry Meridian’s Cory Hudgins with two seconds left to clinch a 5-2 win at 160 pounds.

“We kind of figured it could be decided in the semifinals, and we lost all four matches (against the Falcons) in that round,” Lawrence North coach Jared Williams said. “Even if we’d won those matches, I’m not sure it would have mattered. They had all 14 kids (place), and we only had 11. That’s a lot of ground to make up.”

In a high-profile match, Pike’s sixth-ranked D’Marcus Spencer (17-0) built a 5-1 lead through two periods and held on for a 5-2 win against No. 2 Brian Vest of Perry Meridian at 130 pounds. It was Vest’s first loss in 13 matches.

Franklin Central’s sixth-ranked D.J. Rackley (18-0) knocked off No. 4 Cashé Quiroga of Lawrence North in the 119-pound finals, putting Quiroga on his back and pinning him just 56 seconds into their match. Rackley was named the meet’s outstanding wrestler.

Roncalli’s Jacob Blackwell improved to 13-0 after dominating Warren Central’s Kyle Willis 17-1 in the 171-pound finals. The Roncalli senior pinned his previous three opponents before his championship match was stopped with 1:31 remaining.

Beech Grove’s Thomas Logan eased past Franklin Central’s Kevin Slemensek 12-1 in the 189-pound finals.

Team scores
1. #3 Perry Meridian 310.5
2. #9 Lawrence North 228.5
3. #11 Warren Central 155
4. Roncalli 144.5
5. Franklin Central 133
6. North Central (Indianapolis) 83
7. Beech Grove 82
8. Pike 81.5
9. Ben Davis 79
10. Southport 61
11. Lawrence Central 47.5
12. Decatur Central 30
13. Speedway 28
14. Brebeuf 11

The championship matches:

103 – #1 Brandon Nelsen (LN) dec. #9 Josh Kieffer (Roncalli), 7-6
112 – #2 Jimmy Schoettle (PM) dec. #18 Justin Kieffer (Roncalli), 10-4
119 – #6 D.J. Rackley (FC) pin #4 Cashé Quiroga (LN), 0:56
125 – #16 Chris Goodwin (PM) dec. Korey Dubois (FC), 4-2
130 – #6 D’Marcus Spencer (Pike) dec. #2 Brian Vest (PM), 5-2
135 – #5 Jacob Tasseff (PM) pin Kyle Ettner (FC), 4:35
140 – #17 John Leonard (PM) pin Joe Grahn (NC), 2:58
145 – #8 Qwion Booker (LN) dec. Blake Wood (PM), 3-1
152 – #14 Chris Stepp (PM) pin Ethan Wilson (LN), 5:52
160 – Bryce Grimes (LN) dec. Cory Hudgins (PM), 5-2
171 – #11 Jacob Blackwell (Roncalli) tech fall Kyle Willis (WC), 17-1
189 – Thomas Logan (BG) major dec. Kevin Slemensek (FC), 12-1
215 – #13 Chris Schaefer (PM) dec. Zach Hahn (NC), 3-2 (2OT)
Hwt – #1 Chico Adams (PM) dec. #18 Bart Bugay (Southport), 3-1 (OT)

The Carnahan: #5 host Crown Point rolls to victory
Fifth-rankled Crown Point crowned nine champions Dec. 15 as the host Bulldogs rolled up 308.5 points en route to the title at the seven-team Carnahan. Hanover Central (195.5) took second, with Knox (181) third.

The day’s lone large upset came at 152 pounds, where fifth-ranked Matt Sands of Hanover Central finished second behind South Bend Washington’s No. 10 Kyle Long.
 
Here’s the lowdown from nwi.com …

Times No. 1 Crown Point took nine first-place finishes en route to a sweeping victory in the annual Carl W. Carnahan tournament. It was the sixth consecutive season that the host ‘Dogs took home the champion plaque.

Crown Point finished with 308.5 points, followed by Hanover Central (195.5), Knox (181), Lake Station (145) and South Bend Washington (138).

“As a team, we had a great day,” C.P. coach Scott Vlink said. “Winning this tournament again was a great way to finish the first half of our season, and puts us in a good position for the second half.”

The Bulldogs placed 11 wrestlers in the championship match of their weight class, coming out with nine winners, seven of them on pins.

Repeat champions for the ‘Dogs included Anthony Hawkins (103), Tony Conway (145) and Andrew Szymborski (171). Szymborski wrestled Saturday for the first time this season, finally recovering from a broken wrist he suffered in C.P.’s second-round football sectional game against Merrillville.

“Man, that was the longest six weeks,” Szymborski said. “I tried to do my best to stay in shape, but it felt really good to finally get back on the mat. This is my third straight year winning this tournament in my weight class. I wanted to come back and have a shot at defending my crown.”

Hanover Central, which finished second as a team, was led by two-time state champ Andrew Howe.

The senior Wisconsin recruit wrestled at 160 in the tournament, winning all three matches to take first in his class.

“I have also wrestled at 171 and even 189 this year,” Howe said. “The class doesn’t mean much of a difference to me. I wanted to get some good work in as preparation for the postseason, and this is a good place to do that. You see a lot of quality competition here.”

Morton coach Scott Garrison, whose team is still recovering from the fire that displaced them earlier this season, was happy with the way his Governors battled in the tourney, taking sixth place with 103 points.

“A tournament against top flight competition like this one is really good for our program,” Garrison said. “Our boys need to see what has to be done in order to take themselves to the next level.”

Morton’s Dan Camp (171) and Rob Johnston (189) were runners-up in their class.

Other winners included Hanover’s Drew Faber (heavyweight), Crown Point’s Jim Bakalik (215) and Marcus Shrewsbury (189), South Bend Washington’s Kyle Long (152), and Knox’s Danny Bradley (112).

Team scores
1. #5 Crown Point 308.5
2. Hanover Central 195.5
3. Knox 181
4. Lake Station 145
5. South Bend Washington 138
6. Hammond Morton 103
7. Hammond 70

The top six individuals per weight class:

103 pounds
1st – #3 Anthony Hawkins (CP)
2nd – Sean Lynch (K)
3rd – Josh Harris (LS)

112 pounds
1st – Dan Bradley (K)
2nd – #13 John Petrov (HC)
3rd – Dallas Schurg (CP)
4th – Tevin Hinton (SBW)
5th – Derek Butler (H)
6th – Steve Whittinghill (LS)

119 pounds
1st – #14 Anthony Fennell (CP)
2nd – Jarrad Edwards (SBW)
3rd – Devann Biddle (K)
4th – Luis Madrigal (LS)
5th – Jeremy Olsen (HC)

125 pounds
1st – Jake Rosenbaum (CP)
2nd – Kyle Hernandez (K)
3rd – Nolan Dodge (LS)
4th – Ron Olsen (HC)
5th – DaVaughn Ellis (SBW)
6th – Jorge Morales (HM)

130 pounds
1st – Eric Roach (CP)
2nd – Andy Owen (LS)
3rd – John Colgrove (HM)
4th – Delvante Cunningham (H)
5th – Josh Heineman (K)

135 pounds
1st – Josh Flamme (CP)
2nd – Jordan Hennington (H)
3rd – Tyler Polthoff (K)
4th – Rene DeSantiago (HC)
5th – Matt VanDiver (LS)

140 pounds
1st – #11 Brandon Ward (HC)
2nd – Nick Mohamed (CP)
3rd – Jack Hammons (LS)
4th – Jimmie Krause (K)
5th – Vince Hill (SBW)
6th – Hector Serrano (H)

145 pounds
1st – #11 Tony Conway (CP)
2nd – Adam Warn (HC)
3rd – David Figuero (SBW)
4th – Chris Hammons (LS)
5th – David Fisher (SBW)
6th – Zach Dennis (K)

152 pounds
1st – #10 Kyle Long (SBW)
2nd – #5 Matt Sands (HC)
3rd – Jeremy Pogorzelski (CP)
4th – Aaron Hammons (LS)
5th – Coty Majchrzak (K)
6th – Brandon Machura (HM)

160 pounds
1st – #1 Andrew Howe (HC)
2nd – Malcome White (SBW)
3rd – Adam Winebrenner (K)
4th – Jeremy Kooi (CP)
5th – Brandon Mihalic (HM)
6th – Jacob Hoover (LS)

171 pounds
1st – #15 Andrew Szymborski (CP)
2nd – Dan Camp (HM)
3rd – Mike Hernandez (K)
4th – Jared Stevens (HC)
5th – Carlos Miranda (H)
6th – Jamie Bueno (SBW)

189 pounds
1st – #4 Marcus Shrewsbury (CP)
2nd – Rob Johnson (HM)
3rd – Eric McDaniel (SBW)
4th – Jon Lynch (K)
5th – Evan Watson (HC)

215 pounds
1st – Jim Bakalik (CP)
2nd – Nathan Chambers (K)
3rd – John Anderson (HM)
4th – Brandon Kenton (HC)
5th – Juan Mendez (SBW)

Heavyweight
1st – #20 Drew Faber (HC)
2nd – Matt Childress (CP)
3rd – Justin Fenes (HM)
4th – Andrew Hicks (LS)
5th – David Conley (SBW)
6th – Josh McCline (H)

Jeffersonville Classic: #19 Carmel, Southwestern finish 1-2
Jeffersonville, Muncie South, New Albany, and Carmel all earned three individual champions Dec. 15 at the 30th Annual Jeffersonville Classic. But it was Carmel’s depth that earned the No. 19 Greyhounds 245.5 points and the team title.

Southwestern (Hanover) finished second with 189.5 points, while South Dearborn (186.5) placed third and No. 20 host Red Devils (180.5) ended up fourth in the 14-team field.

The only big upset came at 215 pounds, where Muncie South’s E. King defeated Southwestern’s eighth-ranked J. Smith. There also was a slight surprise at 112, where Madison’s 19th-ranked Gibson finished fourth and No. 20 (at 103) Smith of Jeffersonville took second behind Carmel’s unranked Ackermann.

Fifth-ranked 145-pounder Ivan Rodriguez, one of the trio of New Albany champs, was named the meet’s outstanding wrestler.

Here’s the lowdown from news-tribune.net …

JEFFERSONVILLE — If you look at the team standings from the 30th Annual Jeffersonville Classic, it would appear that everything went according to plan Dec. 15.

As expected, 19th-ranked Carmel and Southwestern took first and second place, respectively, while South Dearborn was third in the 14-team field. The host Red Devils clipped New Albany for fourth place.

But there was still plenty of room for surprises in the individual brackets.

From his position as a No. 7 seed, Jeff sophomore Caleb Browner took the title in the 160-pound weight class, pinning Carmel’s Nolan Pachciarz in the final and surprising everyone but himself.

“I was just talking to him the other day,” said Jeff coach Danny Struck. “And he said, ‘why am I so low? I should be a bit higher.’ He’s really the motor of our team and he prides himself on wearing everyone down in practice.”

While Browner pulled off the day’s biggest surprise, his teammates were busy crashing finals and winning titles of their own, as the Devils made five tourney finals and won two championships.

Junior Tyler Tatgenhorst claimed Jeff’s second victory, beating state-ranked Alan Peterson of South Dearborn. The Devils’ John Clark also made the heavyweight finals, while teammate Dominique Smith entered the third period tied with Muncie Southside’s Bryant Whitaker in the final 135 bout before falling, 5-2. Curtis Smith was second at 112 for Jeff.

“We only have three seniors in the lineup, so I’m pretty pleased,” said Struck, who saw his team even its record with New Albany at 1-1. “All the kids that won or went to the finals, this was their first time (in the tournament).”

The Bulldogs advanced three wrestlers to finals and got three resounding victories.

Nick Oxley picked up the first trophy for his team — and his second Jeff Classic crown — by pinning Charlestown’s Jeff Stotridge in the first period of their 125 match. Three classes later, Ivan Rodriguez continued to look like a solid state tournament contender, capping off his run through the bracket with a tough overtime win over Carmel’s Bob Corpus. The win improved Rodriguez to 21-0.
“Ivan had a good match,” said New Albany coach Eric Burres, who also got to present Rodriguez with his trophy, as the tournament honored its past winners. “He stayed active and kept at it. It paid off for him.”

J.T. Jenkins led the whole way in capturing the 171 title for the Bulldogs, padding a 4-3 lead with a late takedown to beat Carmel’s Andrew Molin. Overall, New Albany also had three third-place finishers in a day that went about like Burres expected.

“We did pretty well,” Burres said. “You always have a couple of matches that you wish you had won. We’re just going to go back to the drawing board and work out some of the kinks.

“We’re almost halfway through the season, and that’s when we want to really turn it on. In about a week, we’ll really start to get after it.”

It was tougher going for Charlestown, which entered the Classic after going unbeaten at the Mid-Southern Conference Duals and also holding a victory over New Albany.

But the injury-plagued Pirates ended up in eight place overall, claiming a second-, a third- and a fifth-place finish. Charlestown was without the services of two grapplers seeded third in their weight classes.

“We were sky-high for duals, but for whatever reason we were flat today,” said Charlestown coach Tom Kendrick. “We didn’t have a good week of practice.”

Sophomore Mark Daughterty was third at 152, while Craig Brown finished fifth at 189. Kevin Gonzalez (sixth at 112) drew some of the biggest applause of the day when he was given an award for the highest grade-point average in his weight class. Still, the Pirates improved from last season’s visit to the Classic, where they did not place a finisher higher than fifth.

“Each individual weight class has good competition,” Kendrick said. “At the top, this tournament is as good as ever.”

The Pirates will try to regroup for the South Putnam Invitational on Friday, Dec. 28.

“We’ve really pushed this group hard,” Kendrick said. “We’ll get in shape, get healthier and we’ll be fine.”

New Washington finished 14th on the day with 22 points, getting a third-place finish in the 145 bracket from Josh Sampson.

A winter storm early Saturday didn’t keep any of the teams from attending the event, which got off to a later-than-usual start and stretched into evening. Other than the fact that the field was minus two teams, it was another Jeff Classic full of the predictable and the unforeseen.
And those other two spots should be filled next year, when the Classic turns 31.

“We’re planning on adding two teams,” Struck said. “We’re looking at Bloomington South and Franklin Central next year, so it’s only going to get tougher. We’re not adding to the bottom. We’re adding teams that can win it.”

Team scores
1. #19 Carmel 245.5
2. Southwestern (Hanover) 189.5
3. South Dearborn 186.5
4. #20 Jeffersonville 180.5
5. New Albany 174.5
6. Muncie South 150.5
7. Madison 130
8. Charlestown 122
9. Jennings County 97.5
10. Scottsburg 80
11. Salem 41
12. Paoli 39.5
13. Batesville 35
14. New Washington 22

The top four individuals per weight class:

103 pounds
1. #6 J. Armantrout (MS)
2. #10 Taylor (Mad)
3. Scroeder (SW)
4. Ballard (SD)

112 pounds
1. Ackermann (Car)
2. #20 (at 103) Smith (Jeff)
3. McCord (SD)
4. #19 Gibson (Mad)

119 pounds
1. #5 Bartlett (SW)
2. Clark (SD)
3. Martin (NA)
4. Douthit (MS)

125 pounds
1. #19 Oxley (NA)
2. Stotridge (Charles)
3. T. Armantrout (MS)
4. Coleman (Car)

130 pounds
1. #4 Harmon (SW)
2. Mascero (Car)
3. Martin (NA)
4. Roberts (Mad)

135 pounds
1. Whitaker (MS)
2. Smith (Jeff)
3. Frascella (Car)
4. Armand (JC)

140 pounds
1. #8 Mascero (Car)
2. Witte (SD)
3. Forbis (NA)
4. O’Neil (SW)

145 pounds
1. #5 Rodriguez (NA)
2. Corpus (Car)
3. Sampson (NW)
4. Schroeder (SW)

152 pounds
1. Reed (Car)
2. Rodgers (Scott)
3. Daugherty (Charles)
4. Young (Mad)

160 pounds
1. Browner (Jeff)
2. Pachciarz (Car)
3. Chasteen (Scott)
4. Bruther (SW)

171 pounds
1. #3 Jenkins (NA)
2. #16 Molin (Car)
3. Biggs (JC)
4. Henderson (Scott)

189 pounds
1. #11 Tatgenhorst (Jeff)
2. #17 Peterson (SD)
3. Sailor (SW)
4. Benales (Paoli)

215 pounds
1. E. King (MS)
2. #8 J. Smith (SW)
3. Hayes (Jeff)
4. Forman (Jeff)

Heavyweight
1. #17 Johnson (Mad)
2. Smith (Jeff)
3. Spurgeon (Salem)
4. Pierce (Car)

Dual meet: #5 Crown Point 33, #8 Merrillville 30
There was one big dual meet in Week 4 involving schools ranked in the state’s Top 10. Although each team won seven matches Dec. 12, it was fifth-ranked visiting Crown Point that escaped No. 8 Merrillville with a 33-30 victory.

The difference in the meet that featured either three- or six-point outcomes? While the home-standing Pirates, who dominated the heavier weight classes, registered two falls and a win by forfeit for 18 team points, Crown Point was able to pick up four pins.

In bouts involving two ranked opponents, the Bulldogs won both decisions – No. 3 Hawkins over No. 18 Stevens by a 7-4 count at 103, and 119-pound No. 14 Fennell over No. 18 Napules, 10-5. But the match very well turned on Crown Point’s decision to bump fourth-ranked 189-pound junior Marcus Shrewsbury up to 215 to avoid a monster battle with No. 3 senior Jake Salas.

Salas ended up with a forfeit victory at 189, while Shrewsbury scored a pin of Merrillville’s unranked Day just six seconds ahead of the final buzzer.

The individual results:

103 – #3 Hawkins (CP) dec. #18 Stevens (M), 14-7
112 – Martinez (M) dec. Schurg (CP), 4-2
119 – #14 Fennell (CP) dec. #18 Napules (M), 10-5
125 – Valdivia (M) dec. Rosenbaum (CP), 6-4
130 – Roach (CP) pin Deluna (M), 2:20
135 – #6 (at 125) Kepchar (M) pin Renn (CP), 3:31
140 – Bruno (CP) pin Richmond (M), 4:56
145 – Mohamed (CP) dec. Jones (M), 7-4
152 – #11 (at 145) Conway (CP) pin Barcennes (M), 5:53
160 – Smithers (M) dec. Pogorzelski (CP), 5-1
171 – #14 Neely (M) pin Cotrell (CP), 3:46
189 – #3 Salas (M) won by forfeit
215 – #4 (at 189) Shrewsbury (CP) pin Day (M), 5:54
Hwt – Travis (M) dec. Childress (CP), 8-2

New Pal Super Duals: Cancelled
The six-team New Palestine Super Duals held Dec. 15 was cancelled after the second round.

Green
or red? Share your thoughts on our Wrestling message board.

Ivan Rodriguez of New Albany upends Jacob Felser of South Dearborn in a 145-pound match Dec. 15 at the Jeffersonville Classic. Rodriguez, who won this match 8-2 and finished first at 145, was named the meet’s outstanding wrestler. Photo by C.E. Branham.