A number of area wrestlers will compete on Saturday at the North Montgomery Wrestling Regional.
Another opportunity to wrestle, but the season can end in the flash.
The competition stiffens, and a first round loss will send you home.
For 11 Southmont wrestlers, they’ve seen this level of competition all season and are ready for the next step.
“None of our guys are undefeated,” Southmont coach Jamie Welliever said. “All of our guys have seen tough competition throughout the year, so our approach really isn’t going to change much. None of our guys are undefeated.”
Dillan Lauy (126) and Riley Woodall (182) both enter Saturday as No. 1 seeds after winning the sectional last week. Lauy (30-3) will wrestle Fisher’s Zachary Strueder (20-11), while Woodall (28-5) wrestles Lebanon’s John Stillwell (24-14).
At 106, Southmont’s Kion Cornelius (18-6) will wrestle Hamilton Southeastern’s Mat Benson (26-10).
At 113 Southmont’s Clayton Downey (25-8) will wrestle Frankfort’s Elijah Anthony (33-1).
Despite the win or go home mentality, Welliever says the focus doesn’t change for the Mounties.
“In one aspect the win or go home reality at the first round Saturday is new,” he said. “But when you wrestle the entire season trying to win every match — it really doesn’t change anything.”
Noah Benge (28-5) will wrestle Fisher’s PJ Pritchett (26-8) at 120, while Gerald Hutson (25-9) will wrestle Hamilton Southeastern’s Gaige Lloyd (20-12) at 132. At 145 Takeshi Greiner (21-9) will wrestle Carmel’s Jake Shafer (26-6), while Evan Francis (15-20) will wrestle Westfield’s Alec McLaren (23-15).
Ty Welliever (23-5) will wrestle Frankfort’s Christian Matias (27-8) at 170. Ethan Himes (22-12) will wrestle Westfield’s Dakota Arvin (26-10) at 220, while Zayden Dunn (17-18) will face Hamilton Southeastern’s Andrew Irick (27-1) at 285.
Crawfordsville will have nine wrestlers competing on Saturday, led by No. 2 seed Kalob Brown (27-7) at 285, who will face Clinton Central’s Kolt Keller (14-5).
Longtime coach Chris Ervin makes sure to remind his team that it’s just another match, regardless of the opponent.
“I just tell them to remember that the big schools like Carmel, HSE, Westfield, don’t get extra points for the name on their chest, so we shouldn’t give them any extra points by being intimidated or timid,” he said. “We have to be capable of beating those guys, and stay aggressive.”
At 106 Eric Demoret (7-10) will wrestle Carmel’s Suhas Chundi (30-2), while Ethan Conkright (24-12) will face Westfield’s Carson Eldred (33-1) at 120, and Alex Brown (25-13) will wrestle Carmel’s Joey Langeman (29-5) at 126.
At 132 Isaac Rogers (22-9) will wrestle Carmel’s TJ Barrett (25-9), while Clayton Owens (27-11) faces Hamilton Southeastern’s Reece Luhmann (32-5) at 145. Crawfordsville’s Edwin Gil Hererra (17-21) wrestles Lebanon’s Eli Fox (19-13) at 152, while Ethan Patton (17-17) faces Carmel’s Garrett Sharp (22-7) at 182, and Moises Mora wrestles Fisher’s JD Farrell (32-1) at 195.
“This time of season, practices get shorter and more intense for us,” Ervin added. “More live wrestling and short bursts to be explosive.”
For North Montgomery, only the elite remain. Sectional champs Baydin Hall (120) and Drew Webster (220) and runner-up Dawson McCloud (182) have all had success at the regional before, and hope to repeat on Saturday, but they’ll have to win their first match to be guaranteed a spot at the semi-state.
“I just keep reminding them that nothing is guaranteed, and they still have to go out their and wrestle their best each match,” North Montgomery coach Bryce McCoy said. “Records and seeds don’t matter from here on out and anyone can be beaten at anytime.”
Hall (29-4) will wrestle Carmel’s Luke Farling (11-8), while McCloud (31-3) will face Westfield’s Seth Martin (23-13). Webster (34-0) will look to repeat as a regional champion, and will face Hamilton Southeastern’s Devin Dudley (19-16) in the first round.
“All three of our guys still wrestling are seniors,” McCoy added. “So I expect them to wrestle their best each match from here on out and wrestle like it could be their last time on the mat.”
Fountain Central’s Eli Oiler (29-6) will wrestle Carmel’s Brac Hooper (21-3) at 113, while Jason Matthews (17-11) will face Lebanon’s Camren Toole (33-1) at 126, and Austin Pickett (30-4) will wrestle Lebanon’s Makai Smith (26-11) at 138. Willie Frazee (22-11) will wrestle Carmel’s Paul Ginella (17-13) at 152, while Matthew Alexander (24-9) will face Westfield’s Gabe Arvin (25-10) at 195.
Wrestling begins Saturday morning at 9 a.m. at North Montgomery.
