EVANSVILLE — Redemption. It’s been something that been on the mind of Southmont’s Wyatt Woodall since his first round loss at the State Finals a year ago. Now Woodall can put the past behind him. Friday at the IHSAA Wrestling State Finals he took on McCutcheon senior Cole Chicione who came in with a 38-1 record and ranked as the No. 2 ranked wrestler at 215. Woodall secured a 5-3 decision over Chicione and punched his ticket to the quarter-finals which will take place on Saturday. Woodall was up 2-1 after the first period and was tied 2-2 heading into the final period. After tying the match at 3-3, Woodall secured a take down with under a minute to go to secure the win.
“It’s sweet,” Woodall put it simply. “The goal coming in was to get past that Friday hump. I knew that I had it in me all week long. It came down to enforcing my style out there and that was the emphasis this week with the coaches. Wrestling a guy like that I knew I couldn’t just go out there and try for take down after take down, I had to be really patient and take good quality shots and that’s what I did.”
Southmont coach Jamie Welliever put it plain and simple on Woodall’s performance.
“That’s the Wyatt Woodall that we’re all accustomed to seeing,” he said. “Just being here last year and getting to feel what this is like helped him so much in preparing for this week. We saw him go out there and be the great athlete that he is. He dictated the entire match from the start.”
With the win Woodall advances to Saturday’s quarter-finals and pushes his record to 31-1. He’ll wrestle Brownsburg’s Caden Brewer (32-5) who defeated Manchester’s Preston Duffy in a 2-0 decision. Brewer comes in ranked 11th with Woodall being 13th. A win against Brewer puts Woodall in the semi-finals tomorrow. Wrestling gets underway back 9 am central (10 EST) with the 106 weight classes. Woodall will be the first Mountie to finish on the podium since his older brother Riley Woodall did so back in 2021 with a 7th place finish.
“At this point I will celebrate the win but know it’s back to business tomorrow,” Woodall said. “I have to come in with the same energy and mindset and now it’s just focusing on the being at the top of that podium.”
After taking down the No. 2 ranked wrestler, Welliever knows that Woodall can go out there and compete against anyone.
“If he wrestles like that and how we know he can, he’ll go out there and compete against anyone,” Welliever said. “That win will validate that mindset of his because he came out and wrestled one heck of a match.”
