The Westfield wrestling team hosted its own 16-team invitational on Saturday. Fishers also competed in the event.
The host Shamrocks finished sixth in their tournament. Westfield beat Mount Vernon 35-32 and Princeton 60-18 in its first two rounds before dropping a close dual at No. 19-ranked Fort Wayne Carroll 39-27. The Shamrocks then defeated Fishers 48-27 and lost to No. 10 Yorktown in a back-and-forth 35-33 dual.
Seven different Westfield wrestlers finished 4-1: Dylan Driver at 106 pounds, Carson Eldred at 113, Luke Brogan at 126, Noah Robinson at 138, Kyle Saez at 152, Ryan Mahoney at 182 and Sam Medlen at 220. Brady Drlik (at 120) and Dayton Webster (at 285) were 3-2 for the tournament.
Meanwhile, Fishers placed eighth. The Tigers started the meet with a tightly contested win over Homestead 43-31; Josh Reardon made a clutch pin to help Fishers to the win.
Next was Roncalli, which beat the Tigers 54-28, but it wasn’t easy.
“We excited the crowd by taking the lead 28-25, but their upper weights wrestled well with their strength and experience,” said Fishers coach Jason Cook. “Coach Wade McClurg lead a poised and skilled team to win our pool.”
The Tigers then beat Northridge 72-12, with Teegan Heiniger getting a crucial win. Fishers then fell to Westfield, then dropped the seventh-place match to Ben Davis. Again, that was a tough dual that went down to the wire, before the Giants got a pin in the heavyweight match to win 37-29.
Heiniger and Alexander Strueder both finished 5-0 for Fishers in the tournament.
“Strueder outsmarted and outworked opponents to win in the third period twice today,” said Cook. “Teegan experimented with some pinning combinations before using the moves his father taught him to secure the fall and much needed team points.
“Every Tiger wrestler impressed me with their toughness, tenacity, and team mentality. I can’t remember a match we lost that we had a lead in during the second or third period. Strueder, JD Farrell, Josh Reardon, and PJ Pritchett all had hard fought come from behind victories that displayed their own and their teammates work ethic.
“Sal Calhoon, Josh Thompson, and Ben Hartley all picked up pins as well as found ways to maximize the team’s ability to compete to win.”
The Westfield wrestling team cheers for 220-pounder Sam Medlen as he wrestles a match at the Westfield Invitational on Saturday. The Shamrocks placed sixth in the event, while fellow Hamilton County team Fishers finished eighth. (Kirk Green)