The post-season for all four area wrestling teams got underway Saturday morning at Crawfordsville and when all was said and done 26 total wrestlers punched their tickets to next weeks’ Regional at North Montgomery.
Zionsville claimed the overall team title with a dominant showing of 284.5 points. Southmont took second with 175 while Crawfordsville finished third with 168.5. Fountain Central placed sixth with 91.5 points while North Montgomery took ninth with 59.5. Crawfordsville will send 10 total wrestlers to the Regional which is one off tying a school record for the Athenian who continue their tremendous season. CHS produced two sectional champions in Taiga Koyanagi at 106 and Braeden Hites at 165. Along with Koyanagi and Hites, Camron Teeple placed third at 113, freshman Armando Munoz fourth at 120, freshman Blayze Robbins third at 126, Landon Vaught was the runner up at 138 as was Jaziel Gil-Herrera at 150 and Ashton Wilson at 175. Both Keegan Cokel at 215 and Isaiah McNorton at 285 took fourth.
“Today was a very special day,” Crawfordsville coach Aaron Keller said. “We were one away from tying the school record for the most we’ve ever gotten out of a sectional. I’m just continue to be proud of all of these guys that put in the hard work in the room . It takes a lot of time to get to where we’ve gotten and also going to take even more hard work to get through next week. Theres still work to be done and we’ll make sure we’re good to go for next Saturday.”
Koyanagi and Hites continue to their great season and after capturing Sagamore Conference titles a few weeks ago, the duo took a step further and will now be a top seed at next week’s Regional. Koyanagi pushes his record to 26-4 on the season with Hites remaining a perfect 30-0. Keller noted how his two sectional champions continue to set the tone for the rest of the team.
“Taiga usually has a pretty good day when he gets off to a good start,” Keller said. “He stayed on the attack in all of his matches and that’s what we were preaching all week. Braeden continues to be that leader for us and really sets the tone in practice and that shows when he gets out here on the mat. He’s always there when we need someone to pick us up or get us going.”
Southmont sends nine wrestlers to the regional and the Mounties had a trio of sectional champions. Wyatt Woodall (215) and Maddox Cade (138) with their sectional titles became four-time champions as this senior group of Mounties continues to make more and more history. Marlin Williams also brought home the title at 144.
Along with that trio, Brier Riggle (120) took third, Camden Laney (126) fourth, Jeffrey Pine (132) third, Hunter Alesi (157) was the runner up as was Tyler Davis at 190 and Ayden Dickerson at 285. The Mounties have turned the corner as a team this season and are now wrestling their best after securing a SAC title two weeks ago, the team was able to have another strong showing and will once again be well-represented at next week’s Regional.
“All of our kids wrestled hard today and the best thing is we have six seniors who are moving on,” Southmont coach Jamie Welliever said. “Those guys are the ones who set that tone and have for a long time here these last four years. I was really proud of Tyler Davis and the day he had. He had a great match in the semis to get the finals and he’s a kid that’s improved all season long and his hard work is paying off right now.”
As he did at the conference meet a few weeks ago when Williams and Woodall became the first four-time SAC champions in school history, Welliever did the same on Saturday for Cade and Woodall when they added four-time sectional champions to their already loaded wrestling careers.
“Maddox and Wyatt along with Marlin continue to raise the bar for this team and we need them to,” he said. “They know what it takes and what it’s going to take to get out next week too. We’re going to fine tune some things with those nine guys and look to get back to New Castle.”
The Chargers have a pair of wrestlers in Nolan Yarger at 132 and Jayden Thompson at 157 who will advance to the Regional. Yarger was the runner-up with Thompson taking third. Thompson is rounding back into form after dealing with a back injury the last few weeks. Charger coach Lincoln Kyle said how proud he is of both of his juniors.
“Both Jayden and Nolan had a good day today,” he said. “ It was nice to see Jayden back and able to compete to his full potential today. It’s always nice to have an athlete in the finals and I was super pumped for Nolan. He has worked hard and he definitely earned the runner up finish today.”
Fountain Central rounded out the day for our area teams and the Mustangs will send five to next week’s Regional. Dallas Simmons was the runner-up at 120, Dakoda Willoughby took fourth at 138, Brandon Pigg was third at 150, Caylum WIlls fourth at 165, and Andrew Mendoza was third at 285.
All 26 wrestlers will now take the week to get ready for the Regional at North Montgomery where the competition only gets tougher with the likes Carmel, Hamilton Southeastern, Fishers, and ail l the big Indy schools converging onto North Montgomery next Saturday. The top four finishers in each weight class will advance to the New Castle semi-state.
