Mt. Vernon’s Zach Haughton wrestles Lawrence North’s Blake Jones at 132 pounds during sectional at Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. (Richard Sitler | For The Daily Reporter)
INDIANAPOLIS — No titles. Disappointing, but no problem.
Mt. Vernon had eight wrestlers finish in the top four spots in their respective weight classes at Saturday’s Indianapolis Arsenal Tech Sectional. All will move on to this week’s regional to be held at Pendleton Heights.
Some dissatisfaction in placing, but many of the Marauders have their main post season goals still in sight.
Three Mt. Vernon wrestlers reached the championship round at Tech and were runners-up. Two came close to taking the top prize home, losing by just one point.
“Every week it resets,” Mt. Vernon head coach Randal Hayes said. “We lost a close one. We get ready, work a little harder. Next week maybe some fortune goes in our way and we win that match.
“Some of the matches we lost (were very close). Hopefully they take that and work a little harder this week and make up for that deficit and get those guys again. Ultimately for these guys, the goal is the state tournament. It’s not a sectional title. We’d love to have that, but that’s not their goal. They want to get on that podium at the state tournament. This is just a stepping stone.”
At 138, senior Carson Johnson, who came into the sectional unbeaten on the season, lost 6-5 to Cathedral’s Luke Gonzalez.
“Overall, I thought that championship match went pretty well,” Johnson, who will take a 30-1 record into the regional, said. “There were a few things I missed on that I am going to work on this week. It’s the little things I have to do.
“The undefeated thing was never something I was super focused on. I was focused on working my hardest and giving my all and the undefeated came along with that. Win or lose, I am just out here trying to do my best.”
It’s the third time Johnson has finished as a sectional runner-up.
At 220, frosh Devin Kendrex lost a controversial final to Cathedral sophomore Jackson Weingart. In overtime, Kendrex was called for fleeing the mat, giving Weingart a penalty point and a 2-1 sudden-victory decision.
“That’s a tough one. I thought we were the more offensive the whole match,” Hayes said. “There was nowhere else for the kid to go (when Kendrex left the circle). He had to rotate out to turn in. It’s a championship match and the official takes it out of the kids’ hands. To me, that just makes no sense.
“Devin’s a freshman. To battle into overtime like that in a sectional final, kudos to Devin. That’s a great match for him. We’ll come back next week and hopefully we get him again and can finish some of those attacks we were deep and didn’t finish.”
Kendrex will take a 26-4 mark into this week’s tournament.
“I’ll learn from it,” Kendrex added. “I was pretty happy (with the overall day). Obviously, I didn’t want it to end like that. It was a great match. I just need to work on my shots and my takedowns.”
Along with Johnson and Kendrex, Zach Haughton picked up a runner-up finish at 132. Up against the state’s No. 1-ranked Zeke Seltzer, of Cathedral, the Marauder senior lost by technical fall in 5:28 (25-8).
Haughton is going to the regional round for the third straight year. He’s improved one spot each sectional tournament. He placed fourth as a sophomore and was third last year.
“A lot of wrestling has been done between last year and now,” Haughton said. “I wrestled all summer and was always looking for ways to get better, competing in a lot of tournaments, always trying to improve. I think a lot of that culminated here today. Still, I’m not happy with the final result, but it’s nice to see the work paying off a little bit.
“It was a rough finish. It was hard taking that loss at the end. “I’ll get right back after it this week and get ready and try to get to the regional final and have another match with him.”
Five other wrestlers qualified for the regional through the consolation round.
After suffering losses in the semifinals, four of the five other qualifiers ended their day with a victory, taking home third-place finishes.
At 145, Aiden Kiner won by fall in 1:30 over Lawrence North’s Nick Johnson. Shawn Taylor picked up a No. 3 seed for this week’s regional with a victory by forfeit against Tech’s Kevin Wickliffe. Hunter Austel won in the 182-class consolation final with a fall in 3:52 over Brebeuf’s Dorian Lee. Riley Anderson, at 285, defeated Chatard’s Andrew Troy in 36 seconds.
Connor Bayliss will move on to the regional as a No. 4 seed after dropping an 8-6 decision in the 106-class consolation final against Lawrence North’s Sean Tankersley.
Aiding to the team score, Mt. Vernon went 4-0 in fifth-place matches. Fifth-place wrestlers do not advance unless one of the top 4 in their weight class cannot compete in Saturday’s regional.
Xaiden Jenson (113), Gavin Muhlenkamp (126), Kellen Kerr (152) and Russel Weaver (195) all picked up victories by fall.
Team-wise, Mt. Vernon placed third out of nine with 178 points. Cathedral won the team competition. The Irish had all 14 of their wrestlers in the finals and scored 323 points. North Central was second with 184.5. Bishop Chatard was fourth with 173.
The regional round for the remaining Marauder wrestlers takes place Saturday at Pendleton Heights. Like the sectional, the top four wrestlers will move on to the semi-state to be held at New Castle the following Saturday, Feb. 12.
“The team fought hard. I knew coming in we had some draws that we could struggle with and it turned out we did,” Hayes said. “Getting eight through is down a little bit from the last couple years. Even though we have less numbers I think we’re probably stronger.”
2022 Indianapolis Arsenal Tech Sectional
Team scores: Cathedral 323, North Central 184.5, Mt. Vernon 178, Bishop Chatard 173, Lawrence North 151, Tech 78, Brebeuf 55, Indiana School for the Deaf 50.5, Lawrence Central 42
Championship Match Results
106: Gavin Bragg, CATH def. Oliver Wilson, NC by dec. 6-4
113: Evan Dickey, CATH def. Brandon Easler, LN by fall 0:53
120: Adam Reyes, CATH def. Sam Bustamante, BC by maj. dec. 14-5
126: Josh Johnson, CATH def. Jaysiah Simms, LN by fall 0:56
132: Zeke Seltzer, CATH def. Zach Haughton, MV by tech. fall, 5:29 (25-8)
138: Luke Gonzalez, CATH def. Carson Johnson, MV by dec. 6-5
145: Dillon Graham, CATH def. Romeo White, LN by fall, 1:35
152: Eli Bustamante, BC def. Jackson Edwards, CATH by maj. dec. 14-1
160: John Rushenberg, BC def. Gabe Bragg, CATH by dec. 7-3
170: JJ Braun, CATH def. Clifton Johnson, NC by dec. 6-4
182: Tommy Hannon, BC def. Jake Hasbrook, CATH by dec. 5-0
195: Grayson Harvey, CATH def. Greg Johnson, TECH by dec. 4-2
220: Jackson Weingart, CATH def. Devin Kendrex, MV by dec. 2-1 (SV)
285: Makhi Watts, NC def. Hosia Smith, CATH by dec. 3-2
Third-Place Match Results
106: Sean Tankersley, LN def. Connor Bayliss, MV by dec. 8-6
113: Gabriel McNamee, BC def. Kasidy Schenk, NC by fall 3:27
120: Jevante Wilson, LN def. Chris Arnold, NC by fall 0:33
126: Dedric Robinson, TECH def. Evan Smith, NC by fall 1:30
132: Blake Jones, LN def. David Bunting, NC by dec. 12-7
138: Jacobi Taylor, TECH def. Brayden Harris, NC by fall 1:44
145: Aiden Kiner, MV def. Nick Johnson, LN by fall 1:30
152: Colin Lemaster, NC def. Xavier Phillips, LN by fall 4:12
160: Shawn Taylor, MV def. Kevin Wickliffe, TECH by forfeit
170: Nolan Buckman, BJ def. Juan Puello, LN by fall 1:31
182: Hunter Austel, MV def. Dorian Lee, BJ by fall 3:52
195: Jeff Waugh, BC def. Jonathan Battle, LC by dec. 6-1
220: Cole Branigan, NC def. Brandon Johnson, LN by dec. 3-1
285: Riley Anderson, MV def. Andrew Troy, BC by fall 0:36
