NEW PALESTINE — The Greenfield-Central Cougars jumped out fast with a pair of pins and held strong late to spoil New Palestine’s Senior Night on Wednesday.
In their first match of the season after a two-week COVID-19 quarantine period, the Dragons wrestling team trailed 12-0 initially and cut the deficit to two points with one match left, but the Cougars were able to secure the victory, 38-30.
“We know they haven’t wrestled. This is their first go-around, so they’re probably a little rusty, and I don’t know what they’re lineup is going to look like or if that was it, but they’re dealing with all the same stuff everyone is dealing with and maybe more than us at Greenfield,” Cougars head coach Josh Holden said. “We have a lot of young kids that are stepping up.”
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The Cougars (6-3) were coming off a rough 1-2 finish at the Avon Duals on Saturday, finishing third, but against Hoosier Heritage Conference rival New Palestine, they set the tone from the opening match.
Sophomore Cohen Hager put Greenfield-Central ahead 6-0 with a 1 minute, 32 second pin at 120 pounds against freshman Elijah Alonso, and sophomore Zeke Holden won by fall at 126 in 22 seconds against junior Ethan Sleeth to keep the momentum going.
“He’s a great kid. Works hard and his heart is as big as it can be. (Zeke) loves his teammates. I couldn’t be prouder of him,” Holden said. “He goes out there and he gets after it.”
New Palestine senior Christian White, a two-time state qualifier, posted his first win of the season by fall in 1:53 against junior Tre Thaxton to halt the Cougars’ run, 12-6. White is ranked sixth in the state at 132 by Indiana Mat.
Fellow state-ranked senior Richard Clevenger, a state qualifier last season, scored his first win with a pin in 3:00 against senior Scott Stanley, which narrowed the margin 29-21. Clevenger is ranked seventh at 195.
“Those ranked guys are going to have that experience and they have that mentality of getting those bonus points. And bonus points in a dual are what wins it,” New Palestine head coach Alex Johns said. “Unfortunately, they got more bonus points than us tonight.”
Returning to the mat was a victory in itself for the Dragons, who resumed practicing and conditioning this past Thursday after a 14-day quarantine.
“Taking a loss is not what we wanted but getting back on the mat was something last March and earlier this school year we weren’t sure it was going to happen,” Johns said. “We were excited to compete. A lot of ups and downs and a lot of things we need to improve on.”
Promise for the Dragons came via senior Darin Johnson at 145, who won against senior Matt Torres by fall in 1:03 that chipped at Greenfield-Central’s lead 18-12.
Senior Zachary Hoyt won by decision 8-5 at 152 over freshman Clay Guenin, which made it 18-15 before the Cougars won three straight matches to take a 29-15 lead.
Greenfield-Central won seven matches overall, four by fall and two by major decision.
G-C senior Logan Condrey put the Cougars in front 18-6 with a 46-second fall at 138 against Dragons’ senior Joseph Poetz. Chase Gardner, a junior, won by major decision, 11-2, at 160 over freshman Shaun Glass that increased the Cougars’ lead 22-15.
Cougars’ senior Logan Cicenas won by decision 7-4 against junior Porter Keevers at 170, and G-C junior Dewey Woolsey followed with a 10-1 major decision over junior Jacob Tweedy at 182 before Clevenger ended the streak.
“Anytime you wrestle a team with kids who are ranked, especially if you have a young guy like we had against Christian White. You tell them to go out there and compete, and he did. He fought,” Holden said.
“We lost some matches, but we fought, and we’ve been trying to get that. Last weekend, I felt we didn’t get that and that’s who we are. We are blue-collared Greenfield-Central High School. We need to wear people down and try to win in the third. I think we did that tonight.”
New Palestine senior Tucker Keevers’ win at heavyweight (285) by decision 8-3 over freshman Brayden Flener turned the tide slightly after Cougars’ senior Jacob Blevens won by decision 5-1 over junior Porter May at 220.
Dragons’ sophomore Jack Rossell battled for an 8-3 decision at 106 against freshman Nathan Miller to put New Palestine within striking distance 32-30.
However, Cougars’ junior Dakota Herald wrapped up the dual at 113 with a fall in 4:17 against Dragons’ freshman Sydney DeLois.
DeLois is ranked sixth in the state at 113 in the latest female state poll by Indiana Mat.
“I told him going out, don’t take Sydney DeLois lightly. She’s got stuff. She’s been wrestling for a long time,” Holden said. “I’ve known her for a long time and she can catch you. She can beat people, so he needed to go out and wrestle, and in the second period, he started wrestling faster.”
Up 2-0 in the first period, Herald put the match away with a five-point swing in the second and a quick takedown in the third.
New Palestine had four pins in the season opener, but the start proved too difficult to overcome.
“Those first couple pins were our younger guys, but we keep looking to make improvements and hopefully change the outcome of the next time we face them,” Johns said.
The Cougars head to the Perry Meridian Duals on Saturday, while the Dragons head to the Roncalli Triple Duals this weekend. New Palestine travels to HHC foe Mt. Vernon next week Wednesday.
