This year’s Hamilton Southeastern wrestling team is young, but it is also a team that has two things working in its favor.
First, the Royals are a bunch of hard workers. That made Southeastern coach Nick Brobst happy that he was able to see his team compete in its first meet of the season Thursday. The Royals hosted Jay County in a dual meet and won 42-30.
“I was very happy to be able to get on the mat, even if it’s one time this year, because I feel like these kids, especially our three seniors, deserve it,” said Brobst. “They work so hard. We have the hardest-working group I’ve had since I’ve been here and I really wanted to make sure we’re getting the payoff with a good first win for us. It’s awesome just to be able to get out there.”
The second favorable thing about this year’s HSE squad is that Brobst calls the freshman class “our third great class to come up from our middle schools in a row.”
“It’s a testament to our middle school coaches and our club coaches bringing up good wrestlers,” said Brobst.
There were two freshmen in the varsity lineup when the Royals took to the mat on Thursday. In fact, the very first bout of the year featured a ninth-grader, Zach Lang at 138 pounds. He won his match, in a first-period pin.
“I feel like we have seven freshmen that are probably varsity ready right now,” said Brobst. “We just are lucky enough to have some upperclassmen that are ahead of them that are even better.”
Southeastern’s three seniors were all winners on Thursday. Jake Lemieux was up first, at 145 pounds, and he cruised to victory in a 14-2 major decision.
The next match featured the second senior, Travon Ternoir, and he took care of business with a first-period pin. Senior Devin Dudley also had an easy night, as he won the 220-pound bout with a first-period pin.
All three seniors were regional qualifiers for the Royals last season, with Lemieux also advancing to the semi-state. Three more regional qualifiers are back for Southeastern. Junior Max Broom (at 195) and sophomore Ryan Cast (at 170) were both major decision winners. Junior Matios Benson is also back after making it to regionals last year.
The other two winners for the Royals were junior Jacob Schneider, who got a forfeit at 182 pounds. Sophomore Dom Burgett had the fastest pin of the night in the 285-pound match, getting the fall in just 30 seconds. Burgett wrestled on varsity as a freshman last season, behind state runner-up Andrew Irick. But when Burgett did get in, he made the most of his opportunities.
“Dom was 5-1 last year as a freshman,” said Brobst. “He’s only a sophomore. I expect big things from him for the next three years, for sure.”
Southeastern is next in action on Dec. 1, when it hosts Avon.
HAMILTON SOUTHEASTERN 42, JAY COUNTY 30
Meet started at 138 pounds
138: Zach Lang def. Manor by fall, 1:22
145: Jake Lemieux def. Heskett by major decision, 14-2
152: Travon Ternior def. Paxson by fall, 1:56
160: DeShawn Ternior lost to Gage by fall, 1:45
170: Ryan Cast def. Pruett by major decision, 14-5
182: Jacob Schneider won by forfeit
195: Max Broom def. Wenk by major decision, 16-3
220: Devin Dudley def. Specht by fall, 1:20
285: Dom Burgett def. Bennett by fall, 0:30
106: Southeastern forfeited
113: Ethan Behrens lost to Curtis by major decision, 15-4
120: Blake Alvarado lost to Reiley by technical fall, 19-4
126: Kyler Sapp lost to Wood by fall, 1:00
132: Riley Fredrickson lost to Clark by decision, 13-8