By E. Shawn Aylsworth
Managing Editor
In
a battle of defending state champions Dec. 28-29, Indiana’s
second-ranked host Evansville Mater Dei totaled 219 points to capture
its own 17-team invitational by downing Kentucky’s Union County (172).
Eighth-ranked
Avon took third with 162 points, while Evansville Memorial (151.5)
placed fourth and No. 19 Franklin (140) was fifth. No. 16 Floyd Central
finished a disappointing ninth with 101 points, trailing Kentucky’s
Trinity (136), Harrison (West Lafayette) (128), and New Albany (112.5).
Mater
Dei, which has won 12 Indiana team championships, finished the two-day
event with four champions, four third-place results, and two fourths.
That was enough to surpass Union County, which ended with three champs,
a second, a third, and a fourth.
Taking titles for Mater Dei
were John Sims, a 2-0 upset winner over Avon’s No. 20 Kyle Estrada at
125; Drew Lappe, who pinned Jeremiah Faulkenburg of Floyd Central in
1:48 at 140; No. 2 Jacob Schneider, a 9-3 winner over No. 11 Trygve
Henrikson of Greensburg at 189; and heavyweight Brad Niemeier, a 5-4
upset victor over No. 9 Eric MacDonald of Harrison (West Lafayette).
The
Wildcats’ third-place finishers were Craig Nelson (119), Adam
Weinzapfel (135), Josh Erkman (145), and No. 20 John Kercher (215).
Nolan King took fourth at 152, falling 9-4 to Evansville Memorial’s
Kyle Sandwith, while Quinn Schroeder narrowly missed an upset for third
at 103 in a 2-1 loss to Avon’s 10th-ranked Blaine Hall.
Avon,
meanwhile, had three runners-up, a third, and three fourths. The trio
of Orioles’ second-place finishers was No. 19 Scott Meunier, a 7-3
finals loser to Evansville Memorial’s No. 4 Conner Zuber in perhaps the
day’s best match at 130; Isaiah Alfs, a 15-6 victim of Harrison’s
Cameron Viahos at 152; and Estrada at 125.
Unranked Evansville
Memorial had to be the surprise of the tournament as the Tigers
finished with one champ, a second, two thirds, and two fourths. Zuber
got the win at 130 over Avon’s Meunier, while No. 3 Tanner Wedding fell
2-1 in the 160 finals to defending Kentucky 152-pound state champion
Mitch Ervin of Union County.
Sandwith got one of the thirds in
his 152-pound win over Mater Dei’s King, while 140-pounder Marcel
Garcia garnered the other with a 1-0 decision over North Posey’s Jon
Craig. The fourth-place finishes were registered by Zach DeHaven, a 4-3
conso loser to Mater Dei’s at 135, and heavyweight Dan Borkowski, who
lost 7-5 to Jordan Whiting of Trinity.
Franklin had one champ – No. 11 Jae Vanhorn, a 5-3 overtime upset winner of North Posey’s No. 3 James Price – and two fourths.
Floyd
Central also had one champ – top-ranked 171-pound Cooper Samuels, a
13-4 winner by major decision over New Albany’s No. 3 J.T. Jenkins – as
well as one second and a third. Samuels, the defending state champ at
160, was named the meet’s outstanding wrestler.
There were three
other Indiana champs. New Albany’s fifth-ranked Ivan Rodriguez was a
3-1 winner over Union County’s Isaac Ervin at 145, Greensburg
215-pounder Ethan Herbert beat Harrison’s Joah Thomack 8-3, and Viahos
of Harrison had the major decision over Avon’s Alfs at 152.
Team scores
1. #2 Evansville Mater Dei 219
2. Union County (KY) 172
3. #8 Avon 162
4. Evansville Memorial 151.5
5. #19 Franklin 140
6. Trinity (KY) 136
7. Harrison (West Lafayette) 128
8. New Albany 112.5
9. #16 Floyd Central 101
10. North Posey 91
11. Greensburg 59
11. Tell City 59
13. Fern Creek (KY) 48
14. Sullivan 44.5
15. Providence 42
16. Mount Carmel (IL) 38
17. Vincennes Lincoln
Individual results from the championship round:
103 – Jarvis Elam (Union County) dec. Myron Bradbury (Trinity), 7-5
112 – Dan Smith (Trinity) major dec. Ezra Penn (Harrison), 15-3
119 – Aaron Carr (Union County) major dec. Tim Martin (New Albany), 12-0
125 – John Sims (Mater Dei) dec. #20 Kyle Estrada (Avon), 2-0
130 – #4 Conner Zuber (Memorial) dec. #19 Scott Meunier (Avon), 7-3
135 – #11 Jae Vanhorn (Franklin) dec. #3 James Price (North Posey), 5-3 (OT)
140 – Drew Lappe (Mater Dei) pinned Jeremiah Faulkenburg (Floyd Central), 1:48
145 – #5 Ivan Rodriguez (New Albany) dec. Isaac Ervin (Union County), 3-1
152 – Cameron Viahos (Harrison) major dec. Isaiah Alfs (Avon), 15-6
160 – Mitch Ervin (Union County) dec. #3 Tanner Wedding (Memorial), 2-1
171 – #1 Cooper Samuels (Floyd Central) major dec. #3 J.T. Jenkins (New Albany), 13-4
189 – #2 Jacob Schneider (Mater Dei) dec. #11 Trygve Henrikson (Greensburg), 9-3
215 – Ethan Herbert (Greensburg) dec. Joah Thomack (Harrison), 8-3
Hwt – Brad Niemeier (Mater Dei) dec. #9 Eric MacDonald (Harrison), 5-4
Individual results from the consolation round:
103 – #10 Blaine Hall (Avon) dec. Quinn Schroeder (Mater Dei), 2-1
112 – Daniel Weixler (Fern Creek) dec. #18 Nick Acosta (Avon), 9-3
119 – Craig Nelson (Mater Dei) dec. Cole Vanhorn (Franklin), 5-2
125 – #19 Nick Oxley (New Albany) dec. #10 Omar Saiguero (Providence), 3-2
130 – Caleb Ervin (Union County) dec. Grant Ohlmann (Trinity), 4-0
135 – Adam Weinzapfel (Mater Dei) dec. Zach DeHaven (Memorial), 4-3
140 – Marcel Garcia (Memorial) dec. Jon Craig (North Posey), 1-0
145 – Josh Erkman (Mater Dei) dec. Corbin Richards (Avon), 3-0
152 – Kyle Sandwith (Memorial) dec. Nolan King (Mater Dei), 9-4
160 – #19 Tyler Alvey (Floyd Central) major dec. Cord Dorsey (Franklin), 10-1
171 – Brad Hitchings (Trinity) dec. Andrew Leach (Avon), 10-8 (OT)
189 – #9 Ethan Cook (Providence) dec. Diante Wright (Union County), 4-3
215 – #20 John Kercher (Mater Dei) dec. Dylan Froehlich (Tell City), 3-1
Hwt – Jordan Whiting (Trinity) dec. Dan Borkowski (Memorial), 7-5
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