Hamilton County had a successful time at last Friday’s Indiana High School Girls Wrestling regional tournament, which took place that day at Warren Central.
Thirteen local wrestlers finished in the top four of their respective weight classes, and that qualified them for the IHSGW state tournament, which is set for this Friday at Mooresville. Wrestling begins at 11 a.m., with the championship matches at 6:30 p.m.
Team scores were kept as well, and Hamilton Southeastern was the highest-finishing county team, placing fifth with 102 points. Host Warren Central edged out Southport for the team championship, 163-161. Franklin Central was third (136) and Centerville finished fourth (115).
The Royals had four wrestlers advance to state, including two regional runners-up. Emily Anderson was the runner-up at 120 pounds, with Jayda Harris placing second at 152. Anderson won four matches by pins in less than a minute, her only tough match was an 11-9 sudden-victory win over Hamilton Heights’ Zoe Pugh in the first-place match of the “B” bracket.
Also qualifying for state were Fanta Sall, who finished third at 195, getting four pins in less than a minute, and Kelli Crawford, who was fourth at 182. Two other Southeastern wrestlers placed sixth – Kiarra Churchill at 106 and Charlie Parsons at 152 – earning points for their team.
Noblesville finished sixth as a team at the regional, scoring 94 points, and also advanced four wrestlers to state. Kyra Tomlinson led the way, winning the 132-pound division. Tomlinson beat Purdue Polytechnic’s Katelynn Hernandez in the final match with a third-period pin.
The Millers’ other state qualifiers were Brooke Butler, the 138-pound runner-up, Kaylee Arriaga, who placed third at 250 and Ayla Howery, who finished fourth at 145.
Hamilton Heights scored 69 points to place 13th as a team, and also had two state qualifiers. Kendall Moe won the 98-pound championship in dominant fashion; winning all four of her matches by fall in less than a minute. Zoe Pugh finished third at 120 pounds.
Carmel scored 65 points to place 15th at the regional. Two Greyhounds wrestlers advanced to state: Chloe De Leon was the 126-pound runner-up, while Zentavia Coatie finished fourth at 120. Josie Bellotti took fifth at 160.
Sheridan was 21st at the regional, scoring 27 points. Claudia Headlee placed fourth at 160 pounds to advance to state, while Adriana Hamersly finished sixth at 126.
Team scores: 5. Hamilton Southeastern 102, 6. Noblesville 94, 13. Hamilton Heights 69, 15. Carmel 65, 21. Sheridan 27.
98: 1. Kendall Moe, Hamilton Heights.
106: 6. Kiarra Churchill, Hamilton Southeastern.
120: 2. Emily Anderson, Hamilton Southeastern; 3. Zoe Pugh, Hamilton Heights; 4. Zentavia Coatie, Carmel.
126: 2. Chloe De Leon, Carmel, 6. Adrianna Hamersly, Sheridan.
132: 1. Kyra Tomlinson, Noblesville.
138: 2. Brooke Butler, Noblesville.
145: 4. Ayla Howery, Noblesville.
152: 2. Jayda Harris, Hamilton Southeastern; 6. Charlie Parsons, Hamilton Southeastern.
160: 4. Claudia Headlee, Sheridan; 5. Josie Bellotti, Carmel.
182: 4. Kelli Crawford, Southeastern.
195: 3. Fanta Sall, Southeastern.
250: 3. Kaylee Arriaga, Noblesville.
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Hamilton Heights turned several heads at the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Team State Duals, which took place Saturday at Jay County.
The Huskies finished third in the Class 2A bracket. Heights began the day by beating Heritage Hills 44-31, then beat Delta 43-33 to advance to the semi-finals. The Huskies faced Western in that round and fell in a close match 36-28. Heights beat Norwell 45-30 in the third-place dual.
Four Huskies wrestlers went 4-0 for the tournament: Jaylyn Pugh at 126, Michael Cain at 160, Evan Tilton at 182/195 (staying unbeaten for the year) and Josh Brown at 220.
Hamilton Heights finished in third place at the IHSWCA team state duals last Friday at Jay County. (Photo provided)
“We really did phenomenal,” said Heights coach Gary Myers. His team is 25-1 for the season.
Carmel competed in the 4A bracket, and endured a frustrating day, finishing in eighth place after dropping three close duals. The Greyhounds lost to Perry Meridian 36-27, Penn 31-28 and Evansville Mater Dei 34-27.
Two Carmel wrestlers were undefeated for the day at 3-0: Michael Major at 138 and Jack Milligan at 285.
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Hamilton Southeastern and Westfield battled it out for the championship at the Paul Loggan Memorial Invitational last Saturday at North Central.
The two teams had beaten all of their other opponents at the tournament, which meant that the winner of their dual would be the team winner. After a tough battle, the Royals emerged as champions over the Shamrocks 42-33.
The match started at 113 pounds, with Westfield’s Porter Temples winning by fall. Southeastern’s Nick Anderson won at 120 by an 8-0 major decision to get the Royals on the board, but pins by Chase Camire at 126 and Jake Saez at 132 put the Rocks up 18-4.
Chris Casler cut into that lead at 138 with a technical fall victory. After that came two close decisions: Westfield’s Ike O’Neill won at 145 by a 4-2 margin, then HSE’s Zach Lang edged out a 6-5 victory in overtime at 152.
Landon Hicks, filling in for the Royals at 160, won his match by pin, then Zack Wagner got a fall at 170, and Southeastern led 24-21. That started a rush of pins, beginning with Eli Frei winning by fall for Westfield at 182.
Evan Lawhead got the Royals in front with a pin at 195, and the Shamrocks responded with Jackson Tanner getting a pin at 220. That put Westfield ahead 33-30. But Southeastern swept the next two matches, as Dom Burgett (unbeaten for the season) won at 285 by forfeit, then Aidan Smalley won at 106 with a pin.
The Royals blasted through their other duals, beating Rushville 67-12, Lebanon 58-12, Ben Davis 57-15 and North Central 66-12. They are now 16-3 for the season in duals.
Westfield got dual wins over Ben Davis 53-15, Rushville 67-12, North Central 54-24 and Lebanon 36-24. Temples, Saez, Frei and Tanner all finished 5-0 for the tournament.
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Fishers and Noblesville competed at the Mike Fendley Hall of Fame Tournament last Saturday at Zionsville.
The Tigers finished as team runner-up. Fishers defeated Lawrence North 44-27 (avenging an earlier-season loss), Western Boone 49-28, Noblesville 40-27 and Richmond 72-9. The Tigers were only beaten by the host Eagles 44-26; Zionsville finished the meet as team champion.
Three Fishers wrestlers were unbeaten in their weight classes: Chayce Yant at 120, Griffin Ingalls at 126 and Quenton Riley at 132. Four more Tigers had 4-1 records at the tournament: Will Hruskoci at 106, Teyon Leonard at 145, Xavier Smith at 160 and Christopher Quarles at 180. Smith’s only loss to Zionsville’s Chase Wagner in an 8-7 decision; Wagner is rated No. 1 in the New Castle semi-state rankings.
Fishers’ Teyon Leonard was one of three Tigers wrestlers to go 4-1 at the Mike Fendley
Hall of Fame Classic last Saturday at Zionsville. (Photo provided)
Noblesville finished in third place; with dual victories over Western Boone 42-30, Lawrence North 52-26 and Richmond 66-9. The Millers fell to Zionsville 64-16 in addition to their loss to Fishers.
Noblesville’s Austin Hastings finished with a 5-0 record at 220 pounds. Carter Richardson was 4-1 at 152 pounds.
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Sheridan placed second at the Tipton Invitational last Saturday.
The Blackhawks beat Indianapolis Lutheran 48-24, Tipton 42-36, Northwestern 60-18 and Pendleton Heights 48-24, losing only to Crawfordsville 45-36. Three Blackhawks were champions at the event, starting with Jacob Jones at 182 and Jace Warren at 195; both were unbeaten at 5-0 for the day.
Peyton Cross was the 285-pound champion; he split time between 220 and 285 and was 4-1 at the event. Alex Cravens also finished 4-1 at 145.
On Tuesday, Sheridan dropped a dual meet to Lebanon 60-18. Jones, Warren and Cross all got match wins by pin.
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Guerin Catholic hosted its own invitational last Saturday.
The Golden Eagles finished as runners-up, with wins over Brebeuf Jesuit, Lafayette Central Catholic, Lapel and Scecina. Guerin Catholic’s only loss was to Shelbyville, the team champion.