DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
Three Bellmont Braves reached the championship bouts of the Fort Wayne Semi-State after punching three tickets to the State Finals and the program brought home an individual title on their way to a fourth-place finish as a team Saturday at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
Gavin Davis rightly took his place at the top of the podium at the end of the day, standing above all other 165s in northeast Indiana after dominating the field and moving to 43-1 on the year with career win #130.
Gavin’s four wins on the day moved him past former state champion Billy Baker and former state placers Jason Krider and Ryley Hankenson on the BHS All-Time list. He’ll have an opportunity to tie or surpass Tyler Baker for 13th all-time for the Braves.
Also qualifying for the State Finals were Henry Faurote (for the second time in his first two seasons) and junior Xavior Palacios.
The Braves entered the day with eight wrestlers, but the total of three state qualifiers was no small feat – the competition was fierce and few teams had hopes of qualifying more than that number. Bellmont entered the tournament as the top scoring team in 2A Team State qualifying and will likely retain that spot heading into the final weekend with their strong showing.
The Braves were one of few teams to have as many as eight semi-state qualifiers, but they were quickly down to five after youngsters Jacob Binegar, Ben Mills and Gabe Myers tasted defeat early in the morning in the opening rounds.
Binegar, who won sectional, faced a tough draw, with the Jay County regional champion, Reed Wicker of Delta, eventually winning 106 and Joe Warner, Binegar’s first-round opponent, taking second for the Carroll Chargers.
Myers’ freshman season ended with a loss to Sean Harris of New Haven, who eventually took third and has an outside shot at a state medal next weekend.
The Braves found wins though in the middle weights, with Henry Faurote scoring his 22nd tech fall of the season against Owen Tolle of Eastern, ending the match with his 114th takedown of the year, the most on the team.
Sam Wolpert added his second win of the year over Grant Hilger of Bishop Dwenger at 150 and Gavin Davis took care of business against his first-round opponent, tech falling Cayden Roberts in just 83 seconds.
That brought Bellmont’s record back up to even at 3-3 on the day and Palacios made it four to the ticket round with a 40-second cradle (see above) of Brogan Parks in his opener.
Heartbreak came, however, at 285 when Grady Baker stepped onto the mat with hopes and aspirations of reaching the State Finals. He faced Jacob Reynolds of Garrett, whom he had already defeated earlier in the year, but it was the Railroader who hit a headlock late in the second period with Baker leading 1-0. Baker had nowhere to go and his junior season ended by fall as Reynolds went on to finish fourth. Charles McGrant of New Haven took third over Reynolds in the placement round, giving Baker four wins this season over the third and fourth placers at 285. Baker will be one of the top-ranked heavyweights next season with so many seniors in that division this year.
BELLMONT WRESTLERS TO REACH STATE FINALS AS A FRESHMAN AND A SOPHOMORE
- Paul Gunsett
- Jason Krider
- Tim Myers
- TJ Hays
- Nick Koons
- Randy Baker
- John Sheets
- Tyler Baker
- Bryce Baumgartner
- Isaac Ruble
- Duke Myers
- Henry Faurote
The ticket round was not nearly as stressful on Bellmont fans in years past, with the three qualifiers winning comfortably in the end and no last-second heroics needed. Henry Faurote removed all doubt anyone had about his ability to beat Malachi Thullner with an 11-5 thumping, although Thullner did plenty of thumping on Faurote in the final 15 seconds, slamming his forearm into the back of Faurote’s head with little regard for his safety as he took out his frustration of not joining six other teammates at the State Finals.
Gavin Davis and Xavior Palacios each ended their ticket round matches early with falls and the Braves nearly scored an upset at 150, with Wolpert taking down Dallas Davidson of Angola to start the bout, but it was all Davidson after that as the Hornet wrestler went on to a 16-6 victory and eventually knocked off Brason Schortgen in the third-place match.
The semifinal round was even better for Bellmont, with all three participants advancing to the championship via decision. Henry Faurote beat #1-ranked Ashton Goney for the second straight weekend and Gavin Davis passed probably his toughest test of the state tournament so far with a controlled 4-2 win over Teegan Clouse of West Noble. Xavior Palacios did not allow a point to Austin Parks of Northridge in his 13-0 win.
Faurote was in his match with Dylan Ogg heading into the third period trailing 4-0, but Ogg scored a second takedown in the bout and then put Faurote on his back to wrap up a major decision and a semi-state title. Ogg has now defeated Faurote four times this season and the two friends will hope for one more rematch in the placement round at the State Finals.
Davis had no issues in his championship match as it was a foregone conclusion that he would enter Indianapolis next weekend as a semi-state champ. He won 16-2 against Chance McCollough of Elkhart to give himself an outstanding draw at State.
The highly-anticipated match between Ethan Farnell and Palacios ended up not being a match at all. Palacios was in deep on a great, quick high crotch, only for the tall and lanky Farnell to pick Palacios up by an ankle and pin him in one of the oddest moves seen all day at the Coliseum.
Farnell could be seen afterwards talking to Palacios and teaching Xavior how to pull off the move, showing great sportsmanship between two medal hopefuls.
The three State Streeters will be busy lining up tickets, sweatshirts and state shirts over the coming days, but many Bellmont fans will be confident in the odds of winning multiple medals on Friday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, with the Braves’ faithful likely to be there in full voice for another great weekend of state wrestling.
Top 10 Team Scores: 1st-Delta 115.5, 2nd-New Haven 105.5, 3rd-Homestead 88.5, 4th-Bellmont-64.5, 5th-Adams Central & Garrett-52, 7th-Cowan-50, 8th-Prairie Heights-46.5, 9th-Northridge-44.5, 10th-North Miami-44
First Round
106-Joseph Warner (Carroll) d. Jacob Binegar (Bellmont), 8-3
120-Qwenell Gabriel (Lakeland) m.d. Ben Mills (Bellmont), 13-2
126-Sean Harris (NH) d. Gabriel Myers (Bellmont), 4-0
138-Henry Faurote (Bellmont) t.f. Owen Tolle (Eastern), 17-1
150-Sam Wolpert (Bellmont) d. Grant Hilger (Bishop Dwenger), 11-6
165-Gavin Davis (Bellmont) t.f. Cayden Roberts (Jimtown), 17-2
190-Xavior Palacios (Bellmont) p. Brogan Parks (West Noble), :40
285-Jacob Reynolds (Garrett) p. Grady Baker (Bellmont), 3:25
Quarterfinals
138-Henry Faurote (Bellmont) d. Malachi Thullner (NH), 11-5
150-Dallas Davidson (Angola) m.d. Sam Wolpert (Bellmont), 16-6
165-Gavin Davis (Bellmont) t.f. August Adams (Carroll), 20-4
190-Xavior Palacios (Bellmont) p. John Bair (Homestead), 1:24
Semifinals
138-Henry Faurote (Bellmont) d. Ashton Goney (Cowan), 8-4
165-Gavin Davis (Bellmont) d. Teegan Clouse (West Noble), 4-2
190-Xavior Palacios (Bellmont) m.d. Austin Parks (Northridge), 13-0
Championship Bouts
138-Dylan Ogg (AC) m.d. Henry Faurote (Bellmont), 11-0
165-Gavin Davis (Bellmont) m.d. Chance McCollough (Elkhart), 16-2
190-Ethan Farnell (Maconaquah) p. Xavior Palacios (Bellmont), 1:39
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