PENDLETON — Nothing was guaranteed for the Mt. Vernon Marauders.
With the Greenfield-Central Cougars posing a legitimate threat to their Hoosier Heritage Conference reign, the defending league champion Marauders needed a spark on Saturday.
Unranked 152-pound senior Aiden Alford provided it.
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Going head-to-head with the Cougars in three HHC weight-class championship matches at Pendleton Heights High School, the Marauders swept each one with Alford (26-7) easing the tension behind a 6-3 decision over fifth-ranked Kenny Thompson (22-7) for the title.
“This one was tight, but once we got into the finals, things just came together,” Mt. Vernon head coach Chad Masters said. “When Greenfield won, we won, but Aiden’s match kind of changed things. The kids seemed kind of nervous beforehand, but after Aiden won, it was like, okay. We felt like we had it now.”
The Marauders held a slim 7.5 point lead over the Cougars, 206-198.5, in the team standings before the finals began, and they claimed 12 placement ribbons in the top-four with four weight-class champions crowned at the HHC Championship Meet.
Three of the four were against Greenfield-Central, who had a trio of champions and 11 wrestlers place in the top-four overall, including four runner-ups.
The Marauders tallied 240.5 points to win the program’s second HHC team title in school history and second straight. Greenfield-Central scored 227.5 points with New Palestine in third with 185.5 points and two individual champions.
“This is huge. We needed it. We’ve just not wrestled well lately. It’s been really spotty. And, we’re at that time of the season where things start to become a grind, so it’s tough and to pull it out was huge,” Masters said.
At 21-2 on the season in dual meets, the Marauders were ranked in the state’s top-20 a majority of the year before falling out in recent weeks. The HHC meet was the final true test before the upcoming postseason, and with nine top-three finishers at conference, the team resharpened its focus.
Sophomore Carson Johnson (24-5) set the Marauders’ title defense in motion at 132 with a 13-1 major decision in the finals over Greenfield-Central’s Matt Wickham (17-13), followed by seventh-ranked 145-pound
Chris Wilkerson’s dominant run at a HHC repeat.
Wilkerson, who won 23 straight matches this season before succumbing to defeat, ran the table to improve to 28-1 with a pair of pins in 2 minutes, 19 seconds and 1:39 in the semifinals over New Castle’s Wyatt Maiden (18-18).
In the finals, Wilkerson secured his second-career HHC championship with a technical fall in 5:31 over New Palestine’s Max Jones (15-7).
“I faced everyone today previously, so I kind of knew who they all were, but I never underestimate someone. It’s always the same game plan going in, trying to get a win, trying to do it how I know how to do it,” said Wilkerson, a state-place winner at 138 last year. “I go out there to be safe, win and wrestle hard.”
The key victory for the Marauders unfolded at 152 as Alford followed up a pin in 2:36 and a 7-1 decision in the semifinals with an upset in the finals.
Thompson entered the tournament with a target on his back that he earned with an upset 4-3 decision over, then fifth-ranked, Tyce Freije of Roncalli on Jan. 8 during Greenfield-Central’s Senior Night.
Thompson moved out of the first round with tech fall in 4:31 and defeated New Palestine’s Zack Hoyt (19-9) in the semifinals by decision 4-0.
Alford and Thompson met earlier in the season with the Marauder winning by fall in 2:59. This time the match went the distance.
“We knew guys like Chris (Wilkerson) were going to win, but then Aiden beating Kenny Thompson. He beat him earlier in the year, but then Kenny beat Freije and I’ve never seen a kid go from unranked to being fifth in the state,” Masters said. “That’s great for him. He’s a great kid, but then Aiden just goes out and takes care of business. A lot of kids would have clammed up.”
While two of Greenfield-Central’s ranked competitors won in the finals, the team standings favored the Marauders after senior Max Hayes (26-3) followed up Alford with a pin in 3:09 against Cougars’ Chase Garner (13-12) at 170.
“Aiden had a huge win today. I hope his confidence spills over because he’s an amazing wrestler. If his consistency stays with him, he will be a stud,” Wilkerson said. “His win inspired everybody heavily. It gave the team a boost. It doesn’t matter what rankings are, you go out and you take it.
“Me and him are partners, so we train in the room every single day, just going at it, so it’s fun for me to watch him and see what he can do when he wrestles at his peak.”
Mt. Vernon sophomore Zach Haughton (22-7) was second at 126, and sophomore Avery Hanson (20-12) was runner-up at 182.
Parker Smitley (21-5), who is ranked 16th in the state, finished third at 220. Parker Bishop (19-6) took third at 160, while senior Charlie Moore (7-2) defeated Greenfield-Central’s Braden Nelson (10-18) for third at 195 to pad the team’s lead.
“Today, our 220 and heavyweight, we thought they would be in the finals, and they both wrestled well, but they got beat. So, I thought, okay, we could be in trouble,” Masters said. “But everybody else just stepped up and pulled it out.”
Greenfield-Central’s fourth-ranked Cooper Noehre (20-1) ran through his bracket with three straight pins to win at 160. The senior’s first pin was in 1:17, backed up by a 1:33 fall in the semifinals before he took down Delta’s Lucas Fox (19-5) in 1:04 during the finals.
Dakata Herald (14-12) won the 106 championship with a 9-4 decision over New Palestine’s Jack Rossell (10-11).
Senior Dylan Dorman, who is ranked 13th in the state by IndianaMat, seized the Cougars third HHC title at 138 with two falls and an 8-6 decision over Delta’s Jakob Schliessman (18-6).
Cougars head coach Josh Holden, who earned HHC Coach of the Year honors, had another runner-up at 113 in freshman Cohen Hager (15-16).
Sophomore Josh VanOsdol (12-15) was third at 126 along with Scott Stanley (18-9) at 182.
New Palestine’s eighth-ranked Christian White improved his season record to 21-1 with a fall in 1:07 and a 6-3 decision over ninth-ranked John Robinson (14-2) of Delta in the 120 semifinals before using an 8-0 major decision over New Castle’s Brevan Thrine (28-1) to win the title.
“Today was a great test for him, too. He can of came in today with at chip on his shoulder as the two seed. The third seed was a state qualifier, so we knew we had to compete because he had to wrestle that kid in the semifinals,” New Palestine head coach Alex Johns said. “He went through that test and in the finals he stepped up to the challenge and won by bonus points.”
White was a state qualifier as a sophomore at 113, and he’s determined to make another run this year.
“The kid I wrestled (in the semifinals) was ranked ninth and I was ranked eighth, so it felt good to get two good matches in,” White said. “I haven’t wrestled six minutes too many times this season, but these two matches showed where I am and where am going into sectional.”
Junior Richard Clevenger (20-5) claimed New Palestine’s second individual HHC title at 195. Clevenger won with three consecutive pins in 1:59, 1:27 and 3:57.
Chase Nelson (10-2) was third at 132. Hoyt took third at 152, and Tucker Keevers (15-10) was third at 285 for the Dragons.
