INDIANAPOLIS — The Warren Central wrestling sectional tournament lived up to its name.
Hosted by the eighth-ranked Warriors on Saturday, Warren Central proved tough to beat, collecting 11 weight-class championships en route to 315 team points and a 36th sectional title overall.
Franklin Central was a distant second at 214 points, but at third and fourth place, respectively, Hancock County rivals New Palestine (167.5) and Greenfield-Central (166.0) made things interesting.
The Cougars, who captured this year’s Hoosier Heritage Conference team title over New Palestine with depth, had nine wrestlers finish in the top-four to secure individual regional berths, but the Dragons had just a little bit more.
New Palestine advanced 10 wrestlers into next weekend’s Perry Meridian Regional behind a pair of sectional runner-ups in seniors Christian White (25-1) at 132 pounds and Tucker Keevers (22-3) at 285.
The Dragons battled back in the consolation rounds with a trio of third-place finishers in Jacob Tweedy (13-6) at 182, Richard Clevenger (23-4) at 195 and Zack Hoyt (22-4) at 152 to turn the tables.
“We got third and Greenfield got fourth today. It was kind of the exact opposite at conference. They had a ton of thirds, and we had more in the finals, but their thirds came through and got that,” New Palestine head coach Alex Johns said. “We had a really tough last round, but we had enough of a lead to hold them off. This is a tough sectional, so it speaks for itself.”
One of the state’s sectional sites with the least amount of forfeits this year, the county pushed through 21 regional qualifiers, including two from Eastern Hancock.
Royals’ freshman Cameron Volz (31-3) placed third at 113, scoring an 11-1 major decision in the quarterfinals after a first-round bye and rebounded from a 4-2 setback by decision against Franklin Central’s Ayden Harper (25-10).
Volz pinned Indianapolis Lutheran’s Parker Woodruff (20-12) in 2 minutes, 10 seconds to meet Greenfield-Central’s Kannon Zuber (10-3), who he beat by decision 6-0 in the consolation finals.
Royals’ senior Avery Wills (26-8), a semistate qualifier last season, reached the sectional finals for a second straight year, just missing out on his first career title against Warren Central’s top-ranked Jajuan Anderson (25-0) by fall in 2:45.
“This season has been off for me. I’ve lost five more matches then I should have,” said Wills, who went 30-9 in 2019-20. “I lost to the Triton (Central) kid earlier in the season, and I ended up pinning him. He was the No. 2 today. I had to wrestle the No. 3 first, which I pinned him. I was just trying to give it my all.”
Wills avenged his previous loss in the semifinals, pinning Triton Central’s Zach Stewart (28-4) in 2:23.
“He did great. He’s struggled in the last couple of tournaments, but he really performed today, showed some senior leadership that we really needed and moving on,” Royals head coach Nick Holliday said. “That’s what it’s all about.
“The Triton Central (kid) beat him on senior night, so it was a great way to beat him this time. It was really good for him.”
Greenfield-Central, who entered the postseason shorthanded due to COVID-19 contact tracing quarantines, regrouped with six third-place finishers, but the Cougars didn’t have any competitors reach the finals.
Cohen Hager (20-8) placed third at 120, followed by Isaiah Holden (17-11) at 126, Matt Torres (10-11) at 145, Chase Gardner (15-8) at 160, Jacob Blevens (22-11) at 220 and Brayden Flener (15-18) at 285.
Flener rallied back in his third-place match to pin Warren Central’s Perris Green (14-12) after trailing in the third period.
“That’s exactly how we’re supposed to wrestle at Greenfield. We’re not faster than anybody. We’re not bigger and stronger than anybody,” Holden said. “But, that’s how we’re supposed to wrestle. We’re supposed to wear people down. We’re supposed to beat them in the third period. We don’t take chances. We stay in good position, and you win matches. That kid is a freshman, and he never wrestled before. Freshman heavyweight, gets better every week.”
The Cougars had three fourth-place finishers to round out their nine regional qualifiers, including Scott Stanley (20-12) at 182, Matt Wickham (16-8) at 132 and Zuber.
The Dragons played a part in the outcome of one of those consolation matches as Tweedy pinned Stanley for third at 182 in 4:43.
“It’s a tough sectional, and our regional feeds into Southport, and there are more good quality teams there. It’s just really important that you finish in the right position here and how you place because it sets you up for next week,” New Palestine head coach Alex Johns said. “Obviously, you have to take it round by round, but that last round where you finish at is key.”
The Dragons won three of their 10 top-four medal-round matches with Clevenger, Tweedy and Hoyt each coming out victorious.
Clevenger, a state qualifier last season, lost by fall in 1:54 during the semifinals to Indianapolis Lutheran’s eventual sectional champion Hayden Filipovich (33-0), who is ranked second in the state, according to Indianamat.
In the consolations, Clevenger reached the third-place match and scored a 3-1 decision over Warren Central’s Moises Sanchez (17-9).
Dragons’ Jack Rossell (16-5) was fourth at 106, Darin Johnson (19-8) placed fourth at 145, Shawn Glass (17-7) qualified for regional at 160, Porter Keevers (17-10) took fourth at 170 and Porter May (18-9) was fourth at 220.
Tucker Keevers posted back-to-back pins in 10 seconds during the quarterfinals and 1:14 over Warren Central’s Green in the semifinals. He lost by decision 9-4 to Franklin Central’s fourth-ranked Antone Alexander (27-2) in the finals.
“We’re closing the gap from earlier in the season. This is the second time seeing (Franklin Central), so I think it’s key, each week you see them and each time you do see an opponent, that gap gets closer and closer,” Johns said. “It’s harder to beat the same guy over and over again. Hopefully, we can turn the tables on them next week.”
Franklin Central defeated New Palestine 52-17 in a dual meet during the regular season.
White, a two-time state qualifier in his career, ran his season record to 25-0 behind a pair of pins in 26 seconds and 1:30 before scoring a 17-2 tech fall over Greenfield-Central’s Wickham in 4:32 during the semifinals.
Against Warren Central’s ninth-ranked David Pierson (21-3), White, who is ranked fifth in the state, lost in an upset by decision 9-3.
“I knew he wasn’t going to shoot. I knew he was going to counter everything I do, so when I did shoot, I had to score. End of the first, I was in deep with my shot, and he countered and he scored,” White said. “I just have to get the first takedown next week.”
White placed fifth at the IHSAA state finals at 120 pounds in 2019-20.
“We knew it was going to be a tough match. We might see him the next three weekends, so you just have to go back to the drawing board,” Johns said. “I told him, sometimes, it’s good to lose early in the tournament, so that we can keep building. And, he’s the type of kid that’s going to go back to work on Monday. He’s more than capable of turning that result around big time.”
