By RICHIE HALL
FISHERS – An all-county dual meet at the Tiger Den went Carmel’s way on Wednesday.
The Greyhounds wrestled at Fishers, and used a six-match win streak in the middle of the meet to claim a 49-21 victory over the Tigers. It was an exciting meet all the way through, with Carmel getting pins in seven of its nine match wins to take the dual meet.
The contest also was a homecoming from the most decorated wrestler in Hamilton County history. Mitch Sliga, a 2013 Fishers graduate, joined the Carmel wrestling coaching staff earlier in the year, and was there as an assistant coach during the meet. Sliga said it was “cool” to be back, and to see some familiar faces in the Tiger Den.
Ed Pendoski is still the Greyhounds head coach, but he deferred to Sliga for the post-meet interview. Pendoski coached Sliga during his younger days; Sliga went on to win two state titles for Fishers High School and had a successful college career at Northwestern University.
“It’s just great to be back in the sport,” said Sliga. “After college I was away from it for about five years, so just getting back into it.” Sliga was happy to get to coach again with his father and his old coach Pendoski.
“Just a great experience to be back,” said Sliga.
The meet started at 113 pounds, and Jackson Elliott got Carmel on the board right away with a second-period pin. Fishers took the next two matches, with Chayce Yant winning at 120 by decision, then Griffin Ingalls, who is state-ranked No. 6 at 126 pounds, won a 14-2 major decision.
Fishers’ Griffin Ingalls picked up a major-decision victory at 126 pounds. Ingalls is ranked sixth in that weight class. (Richie Hall)
The Greyhounds then ran off the next six matches, including four falls. Two state-ranked wrestlers got pins for Carmel: Isaac Ward, ranked 10th at 138 and Nayl Sbay, who is rated seventh at 152, although he wrestled at 145 in this match. Trevor Gallagher wrestled at 152 on Wednesday and scored a pin, as did Matthew Green at 170. Meanwhile, Embry Horal took the 132-pound match by major decision, while Nate Powell, ranked 15th at 160, won that class by decision.
“The big thing that we want to do it just keep scoring points, pushing the pace in matches,” said Sliga. “A lot of times pins will come from that.” Sliga said the best thing the team can do now is just get wrestlers time on the mat, and hope they improve with experience.
Fishers broke the streak at the 182-pound bout, when Chris Quarles won a second-period fall. Quarles is a sophomore, one of several young wrestlers on the Tigers team. Fishers coach Frank Ingalls called him a “big surprise.”
“He came out last year, but he was injured and just was never able to get into the groove of things,” said Ingalls. “He decided to give it another shot. He worked hard over the summer and got better and got ready. He’s a great surprise for our team this year.”
Carmel’s Seth Richardson got the quickest pin of the night, winning at 195 pounds in 40 seconds. Jacob Carroll toughed out a decision for Fishers at 220 pounds, then Jack Milligan, the No. 16-ranked wrestler at 285, got a pin for Carmel. The Tigers’ Will Hruskoci finished the meet with a pin at 106 pounds.
“I think we’re definitely improving,” said Ingalls. “We’re catching up to Carmel. We’ve still got a long ways to go, but we’re getting there. We’re working on it. This is definitely our best performance against Carmel since I’ve been here.”
Both teams will be back in action at tournaments on Saturday. The Greyhounds’ boys team will wrestle at the Perry Meridian Falcon Duals, while the girls will compete in the Lebanon Invitational. Fishers will travel to Calumet for the Chris Traicoff Memorial Invitational.
CARMEL 49, FISHERS 21
Meet started at 113 pounds
113: Jackson Elliott (C) def. Garrett Thompson (F) by fall, 3:01
120: Chayce Yant (F) def. Jake Gardner (C) by decision, 4-0
126: Griffin Ingalls (F) def. Lito Ledezma (C) by major decision, 14-2
132: Embry Horal (C) def. Quenton Riley (F) by major decision, 11-3
138: Isaac Ward (C) def. Anthony Riley (F) by fall, 4:30
145: Nayl Sbay (C) def. Teyon Leonard (F) by fall, 2:36
152: Trevor Gallagher (C) def. Stephen Breck (F) by fall, 3:31
160: Nate Powell (C) def. Xavier Smith (F) by decision, 9-4
170: Matthew Green (C) def. Zachary Pence (F) by fall, 3:24
182: Chris Quarles (F) def. Joseph Del Busto (C) by fall, 2:35
195: Seth Richardson (C) def. Tyler Maynard (F) by fall, 0:40
220: Jacob Carroll (F) def. CJ Meyer (C) by decision, 7-5
285: Jack Milligan (C) def. Walid Oumammar (F) by fall, 1:56
106: Will Hruskoci (F) def. Elliott Leonard (C) by fall, 1:09