By RICHIE HALL
NOBLESVILLE – Both coaches from the Westfield and Noblesville wrestling teams admitted that their squads were banged up as they move into the second half of the season.
The two teams met at The Mill on Thursday, and despite the injuries and new faces in the varsity lineup, they produced an exciting dual meet. It was close until the later stages, when the Shamrocks won five bouts in a row to finish the meet with a 48-21 victory.
“We wrestled okay,” said Westfield coach Phil Smith. “We had a few guys banged up, so we didn’t have our full varsity lineup in. But I thought the guys that plugged in wrestled really well.”
The Shamrocks won 10 of the 14 matches, but the Millers took the first match by pin. Sam Wertz put Noblesville up 6-0 right away with a quick, first-period fall at 285 pounds.
Westfield answered by winning four matches in a row. Bryson Collier won at 106 pounds in a 5-2 decision, then Dylan Driver (113) and Carson Eldred (120) both won by fall. Alec McLaren got a 12-9 decision victory at 126 pounds to put the ‘Rocks up 18-6 in the team score.
The Millers’ Dalton Huffman stopped the run with a first-period pin at 132 pounds, then Westfield’s Brady Drlik won at 138 in an 11-3 major decision. That kept Westfield ahead 22-12. Noblesville cut the team score to 22-21 after Joey Kitko won at 145 by fall, then Dewayne Simpson took the 152-pound match in a hard-fought 18-14 victory.
But the Shamrocks took over after that, winning the meet’s final five bouts. Gabe Arvin (160) and Kyle Saez (170) each scored technical falls, Ryan Mahoney won by a 9-1 major decision at 182 pounds, then Sam Medlen (195) and Dakota Arvin (220) were winners by pin.
“Our upper weights have really been cruising,” said Smith. “We had a good weekend last weekend with them, and then today finishing out with pins there, that’s been a strong point for us for the past couple weeks.”
“Just like always, it’s going to be a good, heated battle between Westfield and Noblesville,” said Millers coach Michael Weimer. “Two quality teams, two quality-coached teams. Westfield brought it tonight and we didn’t. We got a lot of work to do, but that’s why we wrestle.”
Weimer was proud of his freshmen, some of whom were getting thrown into the varsity lineup. The coach was proud of “how they fight and how they’re giving everything they got.”
“Those are the victories that I’ll be talking about tomorrow,” said Weimer.
While the high school matches were going on, both Noblesville and Westfield youth programs had a dual meet at The Mill on an adjacent mat. The Millers won that match 75-61.
Westfield 48, Noblesville 21
Meet started at 285 pounds
285: Sam Wertz (N) def. Mike Platonous (W) by fall, 0:46
106: Bryson Collier (W) def. Doug Walkley (N) by dec., 5-2
113: Dylan Driver (W) def. Keaton Sepiol (N) by fall, 2:28
120: Carson Eldred (W) def. Tim Alexander (N) by fall, 2:57
126: Alec McLaren (W) def. Cesar Sierra (N) 12-9
132: Dalton Huffman (N) def. Mitchell Proctor (W) by fall, 1:23
138: Brady Drlik (W) def. Daniel Gallinoto (N) by major dec., 11-3
145: Joey Kitko (N) def. Jackson Anderson (W) by fall, 2:19
152: Dewayne Simpson (N) def. Seth Martin (W) by dec., 18-14
160: Gabe Arvin (W) def. Seth Stone (N) by tech fall, 17-1
170: Kyle Saez (W) def. Josh Evans (N) by tech fall, 18-3
182: Ryan Mahoney (W) def. Zach Knoll (N) by major dec., 9-1
195: Sam Medlen (W) def. Blake Killion (N) by fall, 3:35
Noblesville’s Dewayne Simpson (right) puts a hold on Westfield’s Seth Martin during the 152-pound match at the Millers-Shamrocks dual wrestling meet Thursday at The Mill. (Kent Graham)
Westfield’s Dylan Driver (top) gets control of the 113-pound match against Noblesville’s Keaton Sepiol. (Kent Graham)