New Palestine’s Cole Vandygriff has Triton Central’s Ayden Nufio in a cradle in the 106-pound championship match of the Shelbyville Sectional.
Rob Baker | For The Daily Reporter
By Brady Extin | Daily Reporter
NEW PALESTINE – The first two seasons under head coach Scot Dawson will look very different for the New Palestine boys wrestling team.
In his first season, his well-rounded squad was led by a group of talented seniors. This season, that isn’t the case.
“We are pretty young this year, and we graduated four semi-state qualifiers. Eight out of the 14 wrestlers that I’m entering today (for the Capitol City Classic) are freshmen or sophomores,” Dawson said. “We are excited about our youth, but honestly just looking to rebuild and see where we end up.”
Gone from last year’s team that placed third at both the Hoosier Heritage Conference meet and the Shelbyville Sectional are Porter Keevers, Porter May, Chris Bullock, Juan Camacho and Jacob Tweedy.
Keevers led the way for the 2021-22 Dragons, winning both the sectional and HHC 182-pound titles, while May won sectional at 220 and was runner-up in the HHC.
Tweedy wrestled at 195 pounds for the Dragons and grabbed an HHC title and a runner-up finish at sectional, while Camacho and Bullock took second in the conference.
Four of the five — Keevers, May, Tweedy and Camacho — advanced to last year’s semi-state tournament.
Losing five guys with those accomplishments isn’t easy, but to help soften that blow is the return of sophomores Cole Vandygriff and Bryce Doss.
Both took home tournament championships as freshmen, and joined the seniors at semi-state. Vandygriff won the 106-pound sectional title, while Doss was the HHC champion at 113 pounds.
“They’re doing a great job,” Dawson said. “They both had successful off-seasons.”
While Dawson is optimistic and excited for what their return means to the team, he’ll have to wait a few more weeks to see Doss back in action.
According to Dawson, Doss is currently out with an injury, he is hoping to have him back in mid-to-late December.
Another key returnee for the Dragons will be junior Elijah Alonzo, who also took home a sectional title last season at 132 pounds.
Joining him as upperclassmen will be juniors Shaun Glass, Brandon Brees and Jaedyn Jeffries.
“A handful of the upperclassmen do have some experience,” Dawson said. “Elijah is seeded second (for today’s tournament), so we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do this year, and we think Shaun can make a deep run as well.”
Jeffries and Brees will play key roles for the Dragons, too.
“We’re excited about them,” Dawson said. “They’re both kind of role type guys, but we’re hoping to advance them a little further than last year.”
The Dragons enter the season with the addition of two freshmen that Dawson expects to see big things from — Gunner Butt and Tyler Lavin.
“We are very optimistic about Gunner and Tyler,” Dawson said. “Both have quite a bit of experience, just not in high school yet, so we’re excited to see what both of them can do.”
The Dragons open the season today at 9 a.m. in the Capitol City Classic at Perry Meridian High School.
2022-23 New Palestine boys wrestling schedule
Date;Opponent;Time
Nov. 19;at Capitol City Classic (Perry);9 a.m.
Nov. 22;vs. Eastern Hancock;6 p.m.
Nov. 30;at Center Grove;6 p.m.
Dec. 3;at Jeffersonville;9 a.m.
Dec. 7;vs. Greenfield-Central;6 p.m.
Dec. 10;at Roncalli;9 a.m.
Dec. 14;at Mt. Vernon;6 p.m.
Dec. 17;at Yorktown;9 a.m.
Dec. 21;at Warren Central;6 p.m.
Dec. 22;at Avon Classic;10 a.m.
Dec. 29;at Spartan Classic (Conners.);9 a.m.
Dec. 30;at Spartan Classic (Conners.);8:30 a.m.
Jan. 5;vs. Franklin Central;6 p.m.
Jan. 7;at Paul Loggan Memorial Inv. (N. Central);9 a.m.
Jan. 11;at Lawrence North;6 p.m.
Jan. 14;at HHC (TBD);TBD
Jan. 17;vs. Triton Central;6 p.m.
Jan. 19;at Greenwood;6 p.m.
Jan. 28;Sectional;TBD
Feb. 4;Regional;TBD
Feb. 11;Semi-State;TBD
Feb. 17;State;TBD
Feb. 18;State;TBD
