By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
In a close dual meet, how a wrestler wins can make a big difference.
Hamilton Southeastern beat Noblesville 35-24 in an exciting Tuesday meet at the Royals gym. The Millers were making a run of five consecutive match wins and were within 29-24 going into the last bout. But a pin by HSE 160-pounder Ronan Hiner sealed the team victory.
Royals coach Kyle Poyer said that falls were the difference in the meet. Southeastern had three pins during the meet, while Noblesville had two. The Royals won eight total matches, including a streak of six straight bout victories to go ahead 29-6 before the Millers made their run.
The meet started with Southeastern 170-pounder winning by decision. Noblesville’s Anthony Georgiou then took the 182-pound match by fall, then the Royals took off after that. Andrew Irick (at 195) and Crae Kunkelman (at 220) both got pins, while Nathan Shuey (at 285), Sam Crousore (at 113) and Jake Lemieux (at 120) all won by decision; in between, Jake Simone took the 106-pound bout on a 20-5 technical fall.
“We’re riding some momentum off of a nice win at North Montgomery,” said Poyer. He appreciated the effort from his young team, saying that “anytime they can come away and find a way to win, it helps them grow with their confidence that they can pull a match out.”
The Millers got themselves into contention when Dalton Huffman (at 126) and Justin Johnson-Sparks (at 132) picked up decision victories. Gary Kitko won the 138-pound match by fall, then Sebastian Dillon (at 145) and Zack Perkins (at 152) each won by decision.
Noblesville coach Michael Weimer credited his team with fighting hard, and said his team is “starting to understand” how to compete in a dual meet as a team.
“We gave a little too many of the bonus points away, and we didn’t get enough, and that’s the deciding factor,” said Weimer. “They understand it, now we got to execute it out in a match.”
Next up for both teams is the Hamilton County meet, which takes place Saturday at Guerin Catholic.
Noblesville’s Gary Kitko (black) won the 138-pound match, part of a five-match win streak by the Millers during their dual meet at Hamilton Southeastern on Tuesday. Noblesville made a run before the Royals won the team dual 35-24. Also pictured is HSE’s Eddy Perez. (Richie Hall)