Join us throughout the day Friday and Saturday as we update this thread with information, results, photos and videos of the #5 Bellmont Braves as they battle their way through ten matches over two days.
Note: For full results, check out our article here.
Day One
Round 1 – Munster
We will be starting at 285 for the first-ever dual between Munster and the Bellmont program.
The Braves jumped out to a 12-6 lead with falls by Grady Baker and Ethan Curtis.
Falls just before the buzzer by Will Franze and Henry Faurote have given the Braves a 24-6 lead through five bouts.
The Braves have secured the dual meet with falls by Keven Loshe and Blake Luginbill and a very quick tech fall by Sam Wolpert. They lead 41-18 with a few bouts left.
Bellmont finished off Munster with a major by Keagan Martin for a 62-18 victory.
Note: For full results, check out our article here.
Round 2 – Hammond Morton
The dual against the Governors will begin with three forfeits for the three lightest Braves.
It was one of the quickest duals in recent memory for the Braves, who received six forfeits in round two. Scoring first period falls for Bellmont were Will Franze, Keven Loshe, Sam Wolpert, Duke Myers, Xavior Palacios and Keagan Martin. Blake Luginbill led 2-0 in the second period before scoring a fall.
Grady Baker had the toughest match of round two for Bellmont, facing a very good and strong senior, Avery Villareal. The match ended with Villareal riding out Baker for the final two minutes for a 1-0 victory, making the final team score 78-3.
Note: For full results, check out our article here.
Round 3 – Eastside
The Braves will gain a big advantage over the Blazers with Eastside having no listed wrestlers at 175, 215 or heavyweight.
Ethan Curtis started out for the Braves at 113 and nearly fought his way back from a first-period spladle, but dropped his bout with Collin Warfield, 5-2.
Henry Faurote scored the biggest win of his young career by defeating Eastside’s Lane Snyder at 120, 4-2.
Will Franze scored a quick fall and Keven Loshe received a forfeit to give the Braves a 15-3 lead.
After dropping the 138 match to state streeter Linkin Carter, the Braves bounced back with their most spirited win of the day so far. Sam Wolpert overcame a physical opponent with a reversal at the buzzer of the second period and rode his man for the full two minutes of the third, winning 2-0 over Ethan Fike to give the Braves an 18-9 lead.
Blake Luginbill needed just 46 seconds to pick up the win at 150.
Bellmont finished off Eastside with falls by Duke Myers, Xavior Palacios, and Cole Mendez to take the dual meet 64-9.
Note: For full results, check out our article here.
Round 4 – Chesterton
The Braves only won one of the first four bouts (a Henry Faurote fall in the second period) and trailed 18-6, but they’ve wrestled well since then.
Sam Wolpert and Blake Luginbill each pinned their opponents in the first period to tie up the score and Duke Myers tied it back up at 24-24.
The Braves then went on a run of three straight falls, with another cradle from Xavior Palacios, and falls from Duke Myers and Keagan Martin. That left three bouts to wrestle with the Braves leading by 18.
Round 5 – Lakeland
We head to the smaller auxiliary gym for the final dual meet of the day, where Bellmont will be wrestling on Mat #6.
The Braves made very quick work of Lakeland, winning 13 of the 14 matches by falls and finishing the day off with a 78-6 victory.
Note: For full results, check out our article here.
Day Two
Round 1 – SB Riley
The Braves have gotten off to a great start on Day Two. Grady Baker was outmatched by about 50 pounds a foot in height against the Riley heavyweight, but he used his strength to score the fall at the beginning of the second period in the first bout of the morning.
The most improbable win of the weekend came from Ethan Curtis at 113. Down 13-7 with 45 seconds remaining, Curtis stormed all the way back with several pinning combinations, then ran a side cradle that would have delivered the winning points. The junior was credited with the 6:00 fall to put Bellmont up 18-0.
After quick pins by Ben Mills and Henry Faurote, Bellmont led 24-0.
Will Franze battled hard and came out ahead in an 11-9 decision at 126.
The Braves then picked up two consecutive pins after yielding the opening takedowns in the bouts, with Keven Loshe at 132 and Chandler Thomas at 138.
Sam Wolpert and Blake Luginbill both added falls at the next two weights.
The Braves dropped their only bout of the dual at 157, then Duke Myers faced a tough opponent at 165 in Marques Young. Myers was taken down, but recovered for an 8-5 win.
Xavior Palacios and Keagan Martin each won by fall, while Cole Mendez fought hard for a 5-3 victory at 190.
The Braves won the dual meet 69-3.
Round 2 – John Glenn
Officials at Goshen are taking a bit of a different approach on the second day, not allowing for breaks between rounds, so the action is continual here, but the Braves are right back at it against John Glenn, a team that challenged the Braves last year. The Falcons are also hopeful to make it into 2A Team State this year.
We start with a forfeit for Ben Mills at 106 and Ethan Curtis scores a fall at 113.
Henry Faurote wrestled the head coach’s son for Glenn, Brody King, and needed everything he had to stay unbeaten on the year with a 6-4 win.
The two teams traded falls at the next two weights, with Will Franze winning at 126 but the team dropped the bout at 132.
Chandler Thomas drew a forfeit at 138 and Sam Wolpert wasted no time with an overmatched Dakota Mills, putting Bellmont firmly in control.
Blake Luginbill scored a win with a cradle at 150 and Landon Rich got a fall to put the match away for the Braves.
Duke Myers won by fall over Donovan Martin and Xavior Palacios fell from the ranks of the unbeaten against a very good Mason Kobelt, who won by major decision to make the score 51-10.
The Braves finished off the meet with two forfeits and a fall by Grady Baker to win 69-10.
Round 3 – LaPorte
The Braves are jumping over to mat 2 for this round, but the Braves fans are enjoying the view and not about to give up their seats. We will begin with a forfeit at 113 for Ethan Curtis.
Henry Faurote looked like he might be in for a dogfight but he turned it around and eventually put the Braves up 12-0 with a fall in the second period.
Bellmont dropped three of the next five and actually trailed in this one at one point, but pins by Sam Wolpert and Blake Luginbill brought the match in a more comfortable position for the undefeated Braves.
LaPorte got a 15-0 tech fall win at 157, but Bellmont answered with falls by each of the next six wrestlers to win the match handily, 60-21.
The most impressive win in that late run for Bellmont was by Cole Mendez, who came from behind for a big fall in the second period.
Round 4 – Angola
This one was a match early on as Angola won several bouts, including a closely-contested match at 150, where Blake Denman handed Blake Luginbill his first loss of the season.
The Braves have battled back with falls by Landon Rich, Duke Myers and Xavior Palacios to take a 40-12 lead. Bellmont was aided by two Angola forfeits at 120 and 126.
Devin Gephart subbed in for Cole Mendez and showed heart in an 11-9 victory at 190, then Bellmont won at 215 with a fall from Keagan Martin and a tech fall from Ben Mills at 106.
Angola won two of the last three bouts by fall and the Braves settled for a 54-24 victory.
Round 5 – Goshen
Things got a little bit heated early on in the match against Goshen as one young man had to be removed from the match, but it only fueled the fire for the Braves, who won the first seven bouts to guarantee the team trophy.
Sam Wolpert had a nice tech fall and Landon Rich added a 19-7 victory at 157 to set up Duke Myers against a very good Jonathon Flores. Myers controlled the match and won 15-7.
The Braves held on for a 64-12 victory and claimed the team title.