DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
PORTLAND – The regional trophy is back where it belongs.
After two years of watching other teams claim the team trophy at the Jay County Regional (Jay County in 2023, Delta in 2024), the Bellmont Braves lifted the trophy for the fifth time by wrapping up three individual titles in the upper weights, wrestling the title back with three wins to end the day from the Delta Eagles, winning by eight points.
The Bellmont trophy case will now contain a 35th regional trophy, more than any other school in Indiana besides Evansville Mater Dei.
The Braves’ biggest obstacle to beating the top-heavy Eagles was winning more quarterfinal bouts than Delta would, and they did just that, winning eight to Delta’s six, and giving themselves a 15.5-point lead after the opening round.
Delta barely bit into that lead in the semifinal round because the Braves answered each of the Eagles’ five wins with victories of their own, matching their biggest threat with five finalists.
That gave the Braves a 12.5-point lead going into the final round over Delta. With eight opportunities to score to the Eagles’ six, the Braves had plenty of chances to answer the wins for the Eagles.
Delta, however, was only able to pick up wins in five of those matches and Jacob Binegar negated one of them with his win in the third-place match at 106, leaving the Braves to only need three more wins the rest of the day to secure the title.
They got one of them from Gabe Myers at 126 with the freshman’s gutsy win for third place making a big difference in the final round.
Despite losses to Adams Central foes for the second straight week by Henry Faurote and Sam Wolpert in the finals, the Braves were still in the driver’s seat when 165 came up. With three bouts left, all of them championship bouts, the Braves needed just two wins from Gavin Davis (165), Xavior Palacios (190) and Grady Baker (285) to take the team title.
Davis and Palacios each won their bout by bonus points, leaving Baker to wrestle pressure-free in the heavyweight final, which he won 2-0.
The opening round was the key for the Braves. Winning eight of the twelve matches allowed the Braves to have the numerical advantage over Delta in the ensuing rounds. Jacob Binegar and Xavior Palacios both had pins within 15 seconds, while Ben Mills and Gabe Myers each punched their first tickets to the semi-state.
Three seniors fell, though, in the opening round, drawing their careers to a close. Ethan Curtis will be the alternate this week after being pinned by champ Sam Mosier at 132. Will Franze came agonizingly close to what would have been a really good one, but was defeated 4-2. He was hugged and congratulated for a solid career by teammates and coaches as he walked off the mat. Ryne Fawbush will also be the alternate after losing to Luke Powers of Wes-Del.
All but one of the Braves’ victories in the first round brought with it bonus points.
One of the most anticipated matches of the day was never a match at all. Henry Faurote tossed Ashton Goney to his back and took a 7-0 lead, eventually beating the #1-ranked wrestler in the semi-state, 10-1.
Faurote’s win sparked a run of three more semifinal victories, all by big numbers. Grady Baker capped off the round with a hard-fought victory over Carson Powell of Norwell.
The Braves will now set their sights on a very elusive title – an IHSAA Semi-State trophy at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. The program has not won the trophy at the Coliseum since 1995. Of course from 1996 through 2012, the trophy was not awarded at the Coliseum and the Braves had many years where they would have won such a trophy under the old (and now, the current) format.
WZBD will be Adams County’s source for coverage of this weekend’s semi-state as 92.7 FM will be the only media outlet covering the event.
Team Scores: Bellmont 129.5, Delta 121.5, Adams Central 97.5, Yorktown 73.5, Jay County 70, South Adams 64.5
Quarterfinal Results
106-Jacob Binegar (B) p. Corbin Taylor (Monroe Central), :10
120-Ben Mills (B) p. Lane Whitehead (Monroe Central), 5:13
126-Gabe Myers (B) d. Brayden Saleem (Delta), 7-1
132-Sam Mosier (Delta) p. Ethan Curtis (B), 2:53
138-Henry Faurote (B) t.f. Darren Ward (Daleville), 16-0
144-Jacob Unger (Cowan) d. Will Franze (B), 4-2
150-Sam Wolpert (B) t.f. Ranen DuBois (Wes-Del), 17-2
165-Gavin Davis (B) p. Ayden Ramirez (Daleville), 1:30
175-Wesley Hendrickson (Winchester) p. Landon Rich (B), 3:03
190-Xavior Palacios (B) p. Brett Johnson (Muncie Central), :17
215-Luke Powers (Wes-Del) p. Ryne Fawbush (B), 5:38
285-Grady Baker (B) p. Owen Lamb (Wes-Del), 1:15
Semifinals
106-Jackson Webb (Yorktown) m.d. Jacob Binegar (B), 10-0
120-Ayden Bollinger (Delta) p. Ben Mills (B), 1:40
126-Dakota Sprunger (SA) m.d. Gabe Myers (B), 10-2
138-Henry Faurote (B) m.d. Ashton Goney (Cowan), 10-1
150-Sam Wolpert (B) t.f. Zeke Witter (Delta), 19-3
165-Gavin Davis (B) p. Nathan Plattner (SA), :36
190-Xavior Palacios (B) p. Clayton Holder (Win), 3:15
285-Grady Baker (B) d. Carson Powell (Nor), 3-0
Championship Bouts
138-Dylan Ogg (AC) d. Henry Faurote (B), 8-3
150-Brason Schortgen (AC) p. Sam Wolpert (B), 3:04
165-Gavin Davis (B) m.d. Jerimiah Ullom (Monroe Central), 14-6
190-Xavior Palacios (B) p. AJ Myers (Jay County), 2:32
285-Grady Baker (B) d. Cortez White (Muncie Central), 2-0
Third-Place Matches
106-Jacob Binegar (B) m.d. Corbin Lothridge (JC), 12-0
120-Ben Bush (Yorktown) d. Ben Mills (B), 5-4
126-Gabe Myers (B) d. Isaiah Spurlin (Winchester), 11-8
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