By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – The Carmel wrestling team had an almost perfect Senior Night on Wednesday.
The Greyhounds, the 10th-ranked wrestling program in Indiana, defeated Hamilton Southeastern 67-6 in their final dual meet of the year at the Eric Clark Activity Center. It was a nice way to send Carmel into tournament competition, as the ‘Hounds will head to Lawrence Central for the Metropolitan Conference meet on Friday, then to Frankfort for the sectional next weekend.
“This was a really good breather for us to come in and let our seniors wrestle,” said Carmel coach Ed Pendoski. “It’s just a celebration of those guys, to put their singlets on in front of our gym for the last time. It was a nice environment for those guys to get a match, have some fun, take a breather knowing that the MIC is Friday and sectionals next weekend. And we’re really excited.”
The meet started at 106 pounds, and fifth-ranked Suhas Chundi got a 10-5 decision victory. With that, the Greyhounds marched through the next 13 matches with victories, mostly by fall. Winners by pin were Brac Hooper at 113, Joey Langeman at 126, Kyle Holman at 138, Joe Theriot at 145, Garrett Sharp at 160, No. 8 Cameron Bacon at 182, No. 15 Jack Heldt at 195 and No. 14 Haakon Van Beynen at 220. (Holman is ranked eighth at 132 pounds, but wrestled up a weight class on Wednesday.)
Tenth-ranked Logan Hart won by technical fall at 170 pounds, while AJ Gunn (120) and Gabe Davin (152) were decision winners. Carmel led 67-0 going into the final match of the night, but Southeastern’s Crae Kunkleman won the 285-pound match to get the Royals on the board. Kunkleman is ranked 15th in the state.
TJ Barrett won the 132-pound bout by forfeit.
“We’re tapering down,” said Pendoski. “We really like where we’re at. Our bodies are fresh, we’re in shape, we’re very healthy. With this group of seniors and what they’ve done and identity, we look forward to seeing the product that our program puts together at the end of the year.”
Southeastern had several varsity wrestlers out at the meet, as coach Nick Brobst said his team was dealing with both the flu bug and a rash of injuries.
“We had four varsity starters still in the lineup, so we had 10 JV kids and I thought that overall, they fought really well,” said Brobst. The Royals had a young team on the mat, but the coach felt like those wrestlers held their own against the Greyhounds.
“Yeah, the scoreboard looked ugly, but in wrestling, that doesn’t always tell the whole story, and I feel it doesn’t tonight, either,” said Brobst. “We had a couple freshmen that really held their own against state-ranked individuals.”
Southeastern will also compete at a conference meet on Friday, as the Royals will travel to Avon for the Hoosier Crossroads Conference meet.
“We won’t have the whole lineup for sure,” said Brobst. “We got a couple injuries that are going to hold people out until sectionals, but we’ll have a couple more back for sure. Some of it we don’t know, because the flu, it is what it is. We’ll see what we have and what we don’t. Hopefully we have more than what we had tonight.”
Carmel 67, Hamilton Southeastern 6
Meet started at 106 pounds
106: Suhas Chundi (C) def. Sam Crousore (HSE) by dec., 10-5
113: Brac Hooper (C) def. Matios Benson (HSE) by fall, 3:48
120: AJ Gunn (C) def. Jacob Lemieux (HSE) by dec., 10-4
126: Joey Langeman (C) def. Teddy Houseman (HSE) by fall, 4:42
132: TJ Barrett (C) won by forfeit
138: Kyle Holman (C) def. Ben Hanks (HSE) by fall, 4:52
145: Joe Theriot (C) def. Cam Roberts (HSE) by fall, 2:52
152: Gabe Davin (C) def. Jackson Williams (HSE) by dec., 9-4
160: Garrett Sharp (C) def. Jacob Schneider (HSE) by fall, 0:27
170: Logan Hart (C) def. Ryan Cast (HSE) by tech fall, 21-6
182: Cameron Bacon (C) def. Isaac Haneline (HSE) by fall, 1:26
195: Jack Heldt (C) def. Luke Ferren (HSE) by fall, 0:42
220: Haakon Van Beynen (C) def. Devin Dudley (HSE) by fall, 3:08
285: Crae Kunkleman (HSE) def. Collin O’Connor (C) by fall, 1:29
The Carmel wrestling team honored its seniors during its dual meet with Hamilton Southeastern Wednesday night at the Eric Clark Activity Center. (Richie Hall)
Hamilton Southeastern’s Crae Kunkleman won the Royals’ lone match at 285 pounds. (Richie Hall)