Unbeaten Jets, Braves to clash in front of monster holiday crowd

DANE FUELLING

WZBD.com

It will be an early Christmas present for a thousand high school wrestling fans Tuesday night as the Adams Central and Bellmont wrestling teams meet for the 55th time in a match that will feature two of the few remaining undefeated teams left in the state of Indiana.

The Braves, who will be looking for their 50th victory against the Jets in the series, will hope that the home crowd will give them an additional edge and lead them to a 14th straight victory over their long-time rivals.

Last year’s dual was a phenomenal display of the passion that exists in the county for the sport and it was the Braves who scored a 40-33 victory.

One of the storylines that came out of last year’s dual was the victory by Dylan Ogg over Henry Faurote. Much talked about by both fan bases, the rematch happened three more times – in the sectional, regional and then the semi-state championship bouts. All four meetings were won by Ogg, who will face a different Faurote this year in Henry’s younger brother Charlie.

Will there be a new rivalry born out of this year’s dual meet?

Henry Faurote will likely meet Myles Kaehr at 138.

Another storyline to consider is at 106. The Jets have only been wrestling for two weeks and have already gone from thinking they had a pretty good freshman six-pounder, thinking they had no six-pounder, getting another one back on the team (in Ezra Liechty, a regional qualifier last year), and now they may have that freshman back from injury early if Cruz Bowers is back on the mat Tuesday night.

The Braves have nearly had the same story. They went from expecting a returning semi-state qualifier in Jacob Binegar to be there, to replacing him with an unproven freshman due to injury, to realizing the freshman could hold his own, to maybe welcoming Binegar back.

One thing is for sure – there is plenty of competition at 106 in both rooms. Will it be Camron Barger vs. Ezra Liechty, Jacob Binegar against Cruz Bowers, or another combination of the two?

Oh, did we forget to ask who will win the bout?

There are certainly bouts that will feature heavy favorites on both sides.

In the lower weights, the Braves will be expected to win at 113, 120 and 126.

Adams Central will hope that Kale Beer’s solid start to the season will land him bonus points at 132.

State-ranked Henry Faurote and Gabe Myers will be counted on to win for the Braves at 138 and 144, but that will be followed by heart of the Jet lineup – Dubach, Ogg and Schortgen. Xander Schwartz will be favored at 175 with his 11-2 start to the season.

If you’re keeping track, that is five matches for the Braves, five for the Jets if you’re not ready to declare a winner at 106.

While Xavior Palacios expects to cradle every opponent he faces, much of the team score drama will likely come down to where Bellmont places him (either at 190 or 215) and how the Jets will set their lineup with Ethan Funk and Ryan Beer (215 and 285).

Bellmont will hope that a win will secure them an advantageous seed in the upcoming 2A Team State tournament, with a loss potentially costing them a first-round bye for January 10th at Brownsburg.

For the Jets, a win over Bellmont would mean and accomplish many things, breaking the long losing streak, but also helping them skip past some teams in the 1A seeding.

The dual meet will undoubtedly be the most consequential dual meet of the season in terms of seeding at the Jay County Sectional.

Fans of the Bellmont program will enjoy pre-match festivities that will see every single third-place finisher in school history (except for one or two absences) honored before the varsity match.

Those unable to attend the match can listen to an extended broadcast on WZBD’s YouTube channel (and watch on webcam) or on 92.7 FM.

Projected Lineups for both teams:

About the Author

Dane Fuelling

Administrator

Dane Fuelling has been passionate about high school sports since childhood. Coming to WZBD via his previous position as sports editor at the Decatur Daily Democrat, Dane is highly involved in high school wrestling with the IHSWCA and is a past winner of the organization's Distinguished Media Award.

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