NEW PALESTINE — When one of New Palestine’s unbeaten three succeeds, the others instinctively feed.
On Saturday during the New Palestine Open, the Dragons’ ranked wrestling trio feasted, each winning individual weight class titles to remain perfect en route to a team runner-up finish to second-ranked Warren Central.
“We gain momentum from each other all the time,” New Palestine 132-pound senior Chad “C.J.” Red remarked after the invitational. “It can go in practice, but mostly it comes off in the matches. We all watch each other, learn off each other, and our momentum even picks up more when we see our teammates do well.”
Against a field that included Roncalli, Beech Grove, Martinsville and Jennings County, among others, the Dragons’ three-pronged attack was unstoppable.
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Alec White (28-0), Red (25-0) and Jared Timberman (30-0) combined for 12 wins and 10 pins as New Palestine compiled 190 team points behind Warren Central’s 298.
Jennings County (169) was third, followed by Martinsville (153) and Roncalli (101.5).
Overall, Warren Central’s athletes won nine weight classes and were runner-up in five, losing twice to New Palestine in the championship finals.
Red, a three-time state champion, halted the Warriors’ attempt at 10 in the final match of the day with a pin against Tim Wright in 35 seconds.
The nation’s top-ranked wrestler improved to a flawless 164-0 in his high school career with four consecutive pins, spanning a total of two minutes and 24 seconds. His fastest fall was timed at 11 seconds in the semifinals against Roncalli’s Brian Keeney.
In Red’s 25 wins this season, he’s pinned 24 opponents, settling for an 11-4 decision during the Evansville Mater Dei Holiday Classic finals. And he doesn’t believe he’s even hit his stride yet.
“Right now, I feel like I’m 75 percent. I know I’m going to pick it up these next couple of weeks for state time,” said Red, the state’s top-ranked wrestler by Indiana Mat at 132 pounds. “Definitely the week of state, I’m going to turn it up a notch and show Indiana what I got.”
Timberman established the tone for the triad by winning New Palestine’s first title of the day with a dominating 14-7 decision against East Central’s Andrew Negangard in the 145-pound finals.
The senior pinned his three previous opponents, with the fastest fall coming at 33 seconds.
Ranked No. 1 in the state, Timberman has been making a name for himself the past few weeks, defeating former top-ranked Joe Lee of Evansville Mater Dei by decision 5-3 in overtime and third-ranked Jordan Vaughn of Franklin Central with a 4-3 decision.
“I’ve wrestled really well this year compared to last year,” said Timberman, who lost in the ticket round at the New Castle Semistate in 2014-15 to eventual state champion Tommy Cash of Lawrence North. “I got my stamina up, and I’ve got a lot better neutrally. I’m just trying to pick it up and get to state.”
White, a two-time state qualifier and a fourth-place medalist two years ago, upheld his state ranking at 113 pounds in the most-anticipated match of the event.
Pitted against Warren Central’s third-ranked Skylour Turner (27-1) in a battle of unbeatens, the junior scored some revenge in front of an engaged crowd with a 4-3 overtime victory that went to a tiebreaker.
“I heard the crowd today. I haven’t felt that too many times this year,” said White, who is ranked second in the state. “It was one of my first, good tests. It was fun. I was excited.”
The second meeting between White and Turner in their careers, the former lost by fall during last year’s semifinals at semistate. In the offseason, Turner, a two-time state place winner, transferred from Cathedral to Warren Central.
When the Warriors accepted an invitation to the New Palestine Open, White knew he would get another shot at the former member of Red Cobra Wrestling Academy, which is run by Dragons head coach Chad Red.
“They’re new to this tournament, and when I saw them on the schedule, it got me a little fired up,” White said. “All week that was the motivation. This match. Right here.”
White took a 2-0 lead early in the match until Turner scored a pair of escapes and tied it 2-2 in the second period. The match went into overtime deadlocked at two and went scoreless through the additional 1-minute bonus round.
White scored a reversal and Turner received an escape in the first 30-second tiebreaker. White, who started out on top, rode out Turner in the next 30-second period for the win.
“It was a great match. I thought we out-wrestled them. That’s what we’re going to need to do in sectional, regional and semistate and hopefully state finals because we’ll see that kid again,” coach Red remarked on White’s win. “Skylour is a great kid, and you don’t want to take anything away from him, but hopefully we can keep climbing that ladder and build on it.”
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New Palestine Open
Team Scores
1. Warren Central;298.0
2. New Palestine;190.0
3. Jennings County;169.0
4. Martinsville;153.0
5. Roncalli;101.5
6. East Central;96.0
7. Beech Grove;77.5
8. Rushville;36.0
106 Results
1st Place: Keyuan Murphy, Warren Central
2nd Place: Jared Diep, New Palestine
3rd Place: Zek Phillips, Rushville
113 Results
1st Place: Alec White, New Palestine
2nd Place: Skylour Turner, Warren Central
3rd Place: Victor Antunez, Jennings County
4th Place: Jarrod Shanley, Roncalli
5th Place: Garrett Rankin, Martinsville
6th Place: Grace Miller, Rushville
120 Results
1st Place: Dylan Culp, Warren Central
2nd Place: Ethan Smiley, Beech Grove
3rd Place: Keaton Fisher, Martinsville
4th Place: Dalton Craig, Jennings County
5th Place: Adam Negangard, East Central
6th Place: Noah Stephannf, New Palestine
7th Place: Patrick Condi, Roncalli
8th Place: Matthew Grote, Rushville
126 Results
1st Place: Joel McGhee, Warren Central
2nd Place: Nick South, Jennings County
3rd Place: Bailey Moore, Beech Grove
4th Place: Keegan Green, East Central
5th Place: Hunter Miller, Roncalli
6th Place: Noah Wright, New Palestine
7th Place: Beau Weston, Martinsville
8th Place: Grant Colestock, Rushville
132 Results
1st Place: Chad Red, New Palestine
2nd Place: Tim Wright, Warren Central
3rd Place: Brian Keeney, Roncalli
4th Place: Dexter Grubb, Martinsville
5th Place: Adam Perra, Beech Grove
6th Place: Hunter Salsman, Jennings County
7th Place: Dominic Klem, East Central
138 Results
1st Place: Matthew McKinney, Warren Central
2nd Place: Gabe Lane, East Central
3rd Place: Brooks Wathen, Jennings County
4th Place: Jayln Wallace, New Palestine
5th Place: Matt Waugh, Roncalli
6th Place: Terrice Pope, Beech Grove
145 Results
1st Place: Jared Timberman, New Palestine
2nd Place: Andrew Negangard, East Central
3rd Place: Pat Waugh, Roncalli
4th Place: Trajan Pruitt, Warren Central
5th Place: Isaih Ertel, Jennings County
6th Place: Tucker Clossey, Martinsville
152 Results
1st Place: Trent Pruitt, Warren Central
2nd Place: Andrew Herrin, Jennings County
3rd Place: Eugene Starks, New Palestine
4th Place: Connor Dean, Martinsville
5th Place: Walter Ballinger, Beech Grove
6th Place: Sam Hansen, Roncalli
7th Place: Carl Cooper, East Central
8th Place: Jacob Hammons, Rushville
160 Results
1st Place: Cayden Whitaker, Martinsville
2nd Place: Dominic Herrick, Warren Central
3rd Place: Cole Chandler, Jennings County
4th Place: Adam Lunsford, East Central
5th Place: Quinn Johnson, New Palestine
6th Place: Ely Shockley, Beech Grove
7th Place: Michael Armbruster, Roncalli
170 Results
1st Place: Dezmen Goddard, Warren Central
2nd Place: Ethan Runyan, Martinsville
3rd Place: Nick Stuck, Roncalli
4th Place: Grant Saylor, New Palestine
5th Place: Ryan Mitts, East Central
6th Place: Dillon Fowler, Rushville
7th Place: Jacob McCollum, Jennings County
182 Results
1st Place: Devon Blount, Warren Central
2nd Place: Quinn Cecil, Roncalli
3rd Place: Trevor Snipes, East Central
4th Place: James Jump, Jennings County
5th Place: Griffin Stine, Martinsville
6th Place: Logan Robinson, New Palestine
7th Place: Leland Joya, Rushville
195 Results
1st Place: Tristen Tonte, Warren Central
2nd Place: Christian Redmond, Jennings County
3rd Place: Landan Burton, New Palestine
4th Place: Grant Walker, Martinsville
220 Results
1st Place: Clayton Scroggs, Martinsville
2nd Place: Cornelius Knox-Abbott, Warren Central
3rd Place: Isaiah Greene, Beech Grove
4th Place: Hunter Holcombe, New Palestine
5th Place: Dakota Pearson, Jennings County
285 Results
1st Place: Jasion Brogan, Warren Central
2nd Place: Brendan Sutton, Jennings County
3rd Place: Jesse Pelper, Martinsville
4th Place: Demetre Mitchell, New Palestine
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