The Hamilton Southeastern wrestling team came out on top of a hard-fought dual meet with Avon Wednesday at the Royals gym.
Southeastern won the Hoosier Crossroads Conference battle 40-36, in a meet that saw both teams go back and forth with the lead. The Orioles started the meet with three straight pins at 126, 132 and 138 pounds, giving them an 18-0 lead.
After that, the Royals took over. Adam Gerstner won the 145-pound match by major decision, then Zach Lang got a fall at 152 pounds. Landon Hicks, stepping in at 160 pounds, set the HSE crowd wild by getting a pin in his match. The Royals were now only down by 18-16.
Southeastern’s 170-pounder, Said Soufiyane, put his team in the lead for the first time with a first-period pin at 170. The Royals kept rolling, with Zack Wagner getting a fall at 182 and Evan Lawhead winning by decision at 195 to push Southeastern ahead 31-18.
The most dramatic match of the night came at 220 pounds, as HSE’s Jackson Goodyear battled Avon’s Enoch Shodeinde. The match was tied at 3-3 after all three periods, sending it to overtime. Neither wrestler scored in the first extra period. In the second OT, Shodeinde chose “down” and scored a point with an escape. Goodyear then chose “down” and made a reversal, giving the Royals the match 5-4.
Southeastern clinched the match when Dom Burgett, the No. 3-ranked wrestler at 285 pounds, won his match with a second-period pin to stay unbeaten for the win. That gave the Royals an insurmountable lead at 40-18; the Orioles won by fall at 106 and 113 and by forfeit at 120 to bring the score to its final margin.
Southeastern is 10-3 for the year and will compete at the Mooresville Classic next week.
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Carmel joined Hamilton Southeastern to compete at the Kyle Osborn Memorial Invitational last Saturday at McCutcheon.
Western won the meet by scoring 236 team points, with Harrison the runner-up at 203 points. The Greyhounds placed third with 194.5, just ahead of the Royals’ 193.
Carmel got first-place finishes from Caleb Mattingly at 126, Isaac Ward at 132 and Nayl Sbay at 145. Runners-up were Jackson Elliott at 113 and Jack Milligan at 285, while fourth more Greyhounds wrestlers placed third: Trevor Gallagher at 152, Jackson Schmidt at 160, Matthew Green at 170 and Seth Richardson at 195.
Southeastern was led by Dom Burgett, who finished first at 285 pounds. The Royals then had five runners-up: Nick Anderson (120), Chris Casler (138), Zach Lang (152), Nick Jakubs (160) and Zack Wagner (182). Tyler Jackson (113) and Adam Gerstner (145) both placed third.
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Westfield and Fishers competed in the Henry Wilk Classic at Penn last Saturday.
The Shamrocks finished fourth as a team with 261 points. Ike O’Neill gave Westfield a championship by winning the 145-pound division. Shamrocks runners-up were Porter Temples at 113, Jake Saez at 132 and Jonathan Tanner at 195. Jason Rooney placed third at 160.
The Tigers totaled 245 points. Griffin Ingalls cruised to a victory at 126 pounds, winning four of his five matches by pin. Zachary Pence placed second at 170 pounds.
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Noblesville, Carmel and Sheridan all had wrestlers compete at the Lafayette Jefferson High School Women’s Classic last Saturday.
The Millers finished 15th as a team by scoring 75 points and had two champions. Kyra Tomlinson won the 132B division, while Ayla Howery was first in one of the 145-pound divisions; she went on to finish second in the overall weight class.
Sheridan’s Adriana Hamersly placed seventh at 126, she scored 14 team points to give the Blackhawks a tied for 43rd -place finish. Carmel had two eighth-place finishers: Jessica Xie at 113 and Grace Marshall at 182. The Greyhounds scored 13 points to tie for 45th.
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Looking ahead, most of Hamilton County’s wrestling teams will be competing in tournaments next week during the holiday break.
Carmel, Guerin Catholic and Hamilton Southeastern are all set to appear in the Mooresville Holiday Classic, which takes place Dec. 28 and 29. Four more tournaments involving county teams are set for Dec. 29 and 30.
Fishers will take part in the Connersville Spartan Classic, while Noblesville goes to the North Montgomery Holiday Duals. Sheridan will wrestle Eastern Classic, and Westfield will participate in a tournament in Mishawaka.
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Hamilton Heights is presently competing in the Joe Burvan Holiday Duals at Rensselaer Central. Results from Wednesday’s first round were not available at press time and will appear in the Reporter later this week.