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Milan
wrestler grapples to runner up spot
GARY FRANKLIN PHOTO
Pictured above in the dark singlet working his way to
the championship round of the Connersville Spartan Wrestling
Classic is Milan Indian senior Ben Jackson as he prepared
to throw #7 ranked Heavyweight Indianapolis North Central
Panther Willie Henson to the mat. Jackson completed
his two days of tournament work earning the runner-up
spot of the 32 team event with pins of competitors from
Centerville, DeKalb, and Evansville Reitz. Jackson won
the match over Henson of Indianapolis North Central
above by a 5-1 count and later fell in the championship
round by a 5-13 count to Indianapolis Cathedral Fighting
Irish wrestler Jake Buchanan in the last match of the
day.
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Milan
Indian wrestlers compete in the 32 team
37th Connersville Spartan Classic Wrestling
Invitational
Gary Franklin, Sports Writer
Milan Indian Head Wrestling Coach Roy Adams, accompanied by
Assistant Coach Bob Riley, led their 2009-2010 varsity squad
into competition against the 32 team venue of the 37th Annual
Connersville Spartan Wrestling Classic Invitational.
The two day wrestling event matches got underway on Tuesday,
December 29, at around 9 a.m., following weigh-ins, a coaches'
meeting and the playing of The National Anthem. The last match
of opening days bouts concluded approximately 12 hours later,
and continued to completion on Wednesday, December 30, from
approximately 8:30 a.m. for an approximate additional 10 hours
of competition.
The last man standing in the Milan Indian effort was during
the last match of the tournament as a 285# class champion
contender in senior wrestler Ben Jackson.
Jackson’s only loss during the two days of competition
came during his weight class championship round, where Indianapolis
Cathedral Fighting Irish wrestler Jake Buchanan won the match
by a 13-5 count.
Jackson represented himself and team proudly, earning himself
the runner-up spot of the tournament in the Heavyweight class.
Ben Jackson’s route to the championship match was paved
with four wins which included a pair of pins during his Tuesday
bouts.
First was a pin at the 2:36 mark over Christian Schaekel of
the Centerville Bulldogs, leading to his second match win
by a pin on opening day of the DeKalb Baron’s Austin
Shoemaker at the 2:21 mark in the bout.
Those two pins advanced him to Wednesday, December 30, competition
as an undefeated competitor, from which he progressed by defeating
#7 ranked Willie Henson of the North Central Indy Panthers
by a 5-1 count.
Jackson later added another win by pin at the 3:14 mark over
Zach Wimpleberg of Evansville Reitz to guarantee himself a
spot in the tournament heaveyweight championship match.
Three other Milan Indian wrestlers grappled their way to the
Wednesday round of competition. They included Jared Huff as
a 125# contender, Nick Huff as a 130# contender and Zeth O’Neal
as a 145# contender.
All three battled their way to podium recognition placement
as eighth place finishers among the Spartan Classic Invitational’s
competitors.
Jared Huff as the 125# Indian wrestling representative won
by forfeit, defeated Union Counties Blake Frasur at :43 seconds,
won 5-0 over Justin Eshelman of the Pendleton Heights Arabians,
lost to Ethan Raley of Indian Creek, (Raley ranked #3 in polls
and is the defending '08 state champion @ 125#).
Huff earned a 9-3 win over Greg Sexton of the DeKalb Barons
but was then denied by a 4-2 count after an overtime period
as he wrestled against Collin Campbell of the Lebanon Tigers,
(which would have put him wrestling for the third/fourth spot
rather than the seventh/eighth spot of the tournament).
Jared Huff accepted the eighth place spot, foregoing wrestling
in his last match, with an injury default.
Nick Huff, wrestling as the tribe's 130# representative, found
his way to an eighth place finish for the tournament.
At the 1:30 mark of his first match, Milan Indian Nick Huff
pinned his Centerville Bulldog opponent Eric Campbell. The
win was followed by a loss by pin at the 5:29 mark at the
hands of Chance Miller of the Triton Central Trojans.
Huff proceeded to claim a win by a 5-2 count over Lebanon
Tiger Kyle Lafaber and won by a pin over Connersville Spartan
Bob Frasur at the 3:23 mark.
Huff won by a pin over Batesville Bulldog competitor Brad
Doehrman, but was later pinned by Derek Dowdy of the Evansville
Reitz Panthers.
In his last match, Huff wrestled to an eighth place finish
after a 5-6 losing effort against Mickey Sartain of the Hagerstown
Tigers.
Zeth O’Neal represented the Indian Spartan Classic Tournament
effort in the 145# class. O’Neal’s tournament path
included an opening win by forfeit, a win by pinning Triton
Central Tiger John Lastingi at the 4:33 mark, a loss to Western
Panther Logun Taylor, (state ranked @ 11th), a win over Connersville
Spartan Jordan Maple, and a tech fall loss to Union County
Patriot Mason Gessel at the 4:28 mark, which led to his final
match resulting in a 6-7 count loss to Evansville Reitz’
Shane Steele.
Wrestlers representing the Milan Indians in other weight classes
did not survive first day competition rounds to advance to
the second day's venue. They included Mitchell Meyer at 103#,
Tyler Money at 112#, Austin Garland at 135#, Matt Yatsko at
140#, Cody Marsee at 152#, Adam Ison at 160#, Cory Jewett
at 189#, and Nate Haugh at 215#. The Indians had no representation
at the 119# weight class.
All entrants were guaranteed a minimum of two matches. Indian
wrestlers Austin Garland, Matt Yatsko and Cody Marsee each
went down in those first two matches.
Indian wrestlers falling in three matches included Adam Ison,
following his pin win in match one over Stone of the Franklin
County Wildcats and Cory Jewett who won his first round via
a forfeit before falling in his next two bouts. Senior Indian
Nate Haugh lost his first match to Evansville Reitz wrestler
Kemp by a count of 2-8, won by an injury default from Harrell
of Indian Creek, won by a pin over Widmer of the Franklin
County Wildcats at the 1:49 mark and was then eliminated by
a 2-6 count by Hamilton Heights Arabian McCance.
Mitchell Meyer received a forfeit to begin his day, lost by
a pin to Indianapolis Cathedral's Veniore, won by a forfeit
and fell after being pinned by Fort Wayne Snider Panther Hubbard.
Indian Tyler Money was pinned in his first bout by Rochester
Community Zebra Simpson, won by forfeit, won 10-5 over Peterson
of the Triton Central Tigers, then fell after being pinned
by Hunter of the Hamilton Heights Huskies.
Final standing for the 32 team field:
1. Evansville Reitz
Panthers 261.5
2. Indianapolis Roncalli
236.5
3. Indianapolis Cathedral
Fighting Irish 227.5
4. Indy North Central . Panthers 173.5
4. South Dearborn
Knights 173.5
6. Fort Wayne Carroll . Chargers 149.5
7. Pendleton Heights
. Arabians 139.0
8. Connersville
Spartans 119.5
9. Union County
Patriots 118.0
10. Lebanon
Tigers 116.0
11. Greenfield-Central . Cougars 113.5
12. Dekalb
Barons 99.5
13. Mount Vernon (Posey) . Wildcats 94.5
14. Triton Central
Tigers 93.5
15. Indian Creek
Braves 92.0
16. Evansville North
. Huskies 85.0
17. Milan
Indians 80.0
18. Hamilton Heights . Huskies 78.0
19. Rochester Community
. Zebras 77.0
20. Centerville
Bulldogs 71.5
21. Fort Wayne Northside . Redskins 70.0
22. Western
Panthers 57.5
23. Bedford No. Lawrence . Stars 52.0
23.Northeastern
Knights 52.0
25. Richmond
Red Devils 50.0
26. Fort Wayne Snider
Panthers 45.0
26. Talawanda OH . 45.0
28.Franklin County . Wildcats 38.0
29. Hagerstown
Tigers 34.0
30. Indy Broad Ripple . Rockets 27.0
31. Lawrenceburg
Tigers 25.0
32. Batesville
Bulldogs 22.5
Local
area wrestlers earning a top eight or higher spot included:
At 119#, South Dearborn Knight wrestler Jacob McCord finished
at 5th
Tyler Clark of the South Dearborn Knights captured the 130#
champion title.
Nick Manning of the South Dearborn Knights won the 152# championship
and is ranked 15th.
Michael Dukworth of the Union County Patriots won the 189#
SCI championship title and is currently ranked #1 in the 171#
class. He is the defending 171# state champ and was an’08
160# runner up.
Kevin Wigler of the South Dearborn Knights took 4th spot in
the 189# weight class at Connersville Spartan Classic.
Ranked #10 in polls, Ron Forman @ 215# of the South Dearborn
Knights was runner up in his class.
Schools in tournament
Class A schools include 350-690 student count. They were Batesville,
Indianapolis Broad Ripple, Centerville, Hagerstown, Hamilton
Heights, Indian Creek, Lawrenceburg, Milan, Northeastern,
Rochester, Triton Central, and Union County.
Class AA schools with a student count of 807-1373 included:Connersville,
DeKalb, Franklin County, Greenfield-Central, Lebanon, Mt.
Vernon (Posey), South Dearborn, Talawanda OH, Western, Indianapolis
Roncalli, Indianapolis Cathedral, and Pendleton Heights.
Class AAA schools with 1477 & up in student count included:
Bedford North Lawrence, Fort Wayne Carroll, Evansville North,
Evansville Reitz, Fort Wayne Northside, Fort Wayne Snider,
North Central and Richmond.
