All four area schools will begin the IHSAA wrestling state series on Saturday at the Crawfordsville Sectional.
North Montgomery will look to defend its sectional title won last year, while Southmont and Zionsville look to be prime contenders to unseat the Chargers.
Southmont last won a title in 2016, and have 11 of 14 wrestlers seeded in the top-4.
Led by Kion Cornelius (106), Dillan Lauy (126), and Ty Welliever (170) as No. 1 seeds, the Mounties have eight wrestlers expected to make the finals based on seed, but coach Welliever knows the matches aren’t won or lost on paper.
“Seeds are nice and probably gives some confidence to some guys, but we also know that seeds don’t really mean anything,” he said. “Matches are not wrestled on paper, but mats, and it’s going to take everybody’s best effort to accomplish what we want.”
Noah Benge (120), Gerald Hutson (132), Evan Francis (152) Riley Woodall (182) and Ethan Himes (220) are all seeded second.
If the Mounties are to chase down the Chargers and Eagles for the team title, it will take a complete team effort, just like South used to win the Sagamore Conference title two weeks ago.
“I am very proud of this team approach these guys have taken all season, and I fully expect each guy to do that again,” Welliever said. “They will have to understand that every single match is important to the team.”
In 2019, Clayton Downey, who is seeded No. 3 at 113 was the runner-up at 106, while Benge was the runner-up at 120. Southmont had no champions last season, but finished second as a team.
North Montgomery has an uphill battle to defend its title. The Chargers have just five wrestlers seeded in the top-4, and will have only nine wrestlers competing on Saturday.
Coach Bryce McCoy hopes to see continued improvement out of each and every wrestler, regardless of their seed.
“Just like the kids that are seeded, our unseeded kids have to wrestle the best they have all year if they want to move on to next week,” he said.
“Our goal as a team is to get everyone through to regional and place as high as we can. We’ve been wrestling really well recently and I expect them to continue to wrestle better and better each week of the postseason.”
Baydin Hall and Drew Webster return as the lone Chargers to win an individual title in 2019. Hall is 21-4 on the season and the No. 1 seed at 120, after winning the title at 113 last season. Webster is the No. 1 seed at 220 with a perfect 24-0 record. Dawson McCloud is also seeded No. 1 at 182. The senior was the runner-up last season. Wil Campbell is seeded No. 2 at 126, while Jacob Braun is No. 3 at 195.
“The best thing our seeded guys can do is come out aggressive and wrestle the best they’ve wrestled all year,” McCoy added. “We’re to the point in the year where our kids should be nearing their peak as wrestlers for the season.”
Crawfordsville hopes to improve its fourth-place finish from last season with six wrestlers seeded in the top-4.
Kalob Brown is 25-6 on the season and seeded No. 2 at 285, while Isaac Rogers is the No. 3 seed at 132. Eric Demoret (106), Ethan Conkright (120), Alex Brown (126), and Edwin Gil Herrera (152) are all seeded fourth.
For the Athenians, it’s about wrestling above their seed, and chasing a top-3 finish.
“What I tell the team is that their individual goal is to beat their seed, and if seeded below four or unseeded, to get into the top-4 and advance to the regional,” Crawfordsville coach Chris Ervin said. “Our team goal is a top-3 finish.”
Ervin says he has seen a lot of improvement from his team throughout the season, and feels like they are peaking at the right time.
“Overall, I’ve seen a lot of growth from this team,” he said. “Up through December, I would have said that we got better every time we stepped on the mat.”
Injuries and illnesses then set in during early January, but Ervin felt like the Athenians have bounced back.
“I thought we wrestled well at conference, and at our senior night vs. South Vermillion last week,” he added. “I am starting to see that improvement again, so this is the right time of the year to keep getting better.”
Conkright was the runner-up last season at 113, while Brown was fourth at 220.
Fountain Central has four top-4 seeds entering Saturday.
Eli Oiler is the No. 1 seed with a 27-4 record at 113. The sophomore was fourth at 106 in 2019. Matthew Alexander is the No. 2 seed at 195, while Austin Pickett (138) and Willie Frazee (152) are the No. 3 seed. Pickett was fourth at 132 last season.
