DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
BROWNSBURG – Saturday’s Team State event featured a handful of 2A teams who felt they had a real shot at the title in Brownsburg.
By the time the mats were rolled up, eleven teams were bowing down to Garrett as the undisputed 2A champions after an outstanding performance and a dominating effort in the final, beating Hanover Central, 55-14.
The Bellmont Braves entered the tournament seeded third and finished in the same place, coincidentally finishing in that spot in the bracket for the very first time in the history of the Team State tournament.
Bellmont took care of business in their quarterfinal, taking nine matches from Owen Valley after jumping out to an early 32-8 lead that created little drama for the hundreds of Braves fans in attendance.
The real drama was set to occur in the semifinals, where the top four seeds were set to clash in a highly-anticipated round. While the top three took care of business, it was an upset in the quarterfinals when #5 Heritage Hills took out #4 New Prairie, who were just beginning to deal with the national media attention swirling around assistant coach Chris Fleeger after his interaction with Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman at the Al Smith seven days prior.
Bellmont and Hanover Central had already seen each other at Mishawaka, but the dual meet brought plenty of intrigue, with both teams hopeful to take their shot at Garrett.
While the Braves got off to a great start with a fall at 285, the match got away from them in the lightweights and the points for a victory simply were not there. The Bellmont little guys stayed off their backs, but lost all five of the lightest weights, scoring just one takedown in the five bouts.
That put Bellmont in a 21-6 hole, but they crawled back into the match with wins by Henry Faurote and Gabe Myers. While Sam Wolpert lost his rematch with Joe Paun (Al Smith runner-up), the Braves won the next two with freshmen Charlie Faurote and Owen Shane. That tied the dual meet at 24 apiece, but that scoreline was deceiving, as Hanover Central was heavily favored in two of the final three bouts.
The unavailability of Austin Manley further hurt Bellmont’s chances and when Hanover won by fall in just 27 seconds at 175, there was little doubt as to what the final outcome would be. Xavior Palacios took out Israel Sinnott, who bumped up to shave a few team points off Bellmont’s total, and that left the final Bellmont hopes of reaching the final in the headlock of senior Doug Hamilton.
To his credit, Hamilton stayed off his back and was not pinned, but there was little hope that the Braves, who have just a handful of wins at 215 all season, would be able to beat the Hanover 215.
The loss dropped the Braves into the third-place match, where they were last year, but the team had no intentions of a fourth-place finish.
The team had an immediate cushion once their matchup with Heritage Hills was confirmed, with the Patriots carrying a forfeit at 106, the weight which was set to be the final bout of the day.
With the six-point cushion in hand, the Braves went to work building a lead before the talented Heritage Hills heavyweights came to the mat.
While the Braves dropped falls to two state-ranked individuals at 113 and 132, they won the rest of the bouts from 120 to 157. That put the team within range of victory at 31-12 (and six points guaranteed to come at the end).
That left the match up to Owen Shane at 165. The freshman scored three takedowns against Landyn Jackson, a junior, and built a 13-2 lead before scoring a fall in the second period. The win pushed the Braves over the 42-point mark and guaranteed their third-place finish.
Shane’s win became even more important as Heritage Hills took the last four bouts wrestled, with the Patriots handing losses to Xavior Palacios and Grady Baker in that span.
The Braves’ 43-33 victory gave them third place for the very first time in the event.
Team Scores
First Round
#8 Griffith 57 Bishop Chatard 18
#5 Heritage Hills 54 Yorktown 27
#6 Owen Valley 45 Jay County 27
#7 Delta 60 Gibson Southern 14
Quarterfinals
#1 Garrett 56 #8 Griffith 20
#5 Heritage Hills 46 #4 New Prairie 31
#3 Bellmont 44 #6 Owen Valley 21
215-Braddock Nickless (OV) p. Blake Christner, 2:40
285-Grady Baker (B) d. William Doty, 4-1, OT
106-Jacob Binegar (B) t.f. Matthew Underhill, 16-0
113-Austin Boltinghouse (OV) t.f. Bradley Baker, 16-0
120-Isaiah White (OV) d. Oliver Faurote, 1-0
126-Ben Mills (B) p. Izik Mobley, :56
132-Luke Ruble (B) m.d. Will Mobley, 14-2
138-Henry Faurote (B) p. William Ranard, 1:38
144-Gabe Myers (B) t.f. Reid Lanman, 5:28
150-Sam Wolpert (B) p. Hunter Sloan, 3:15
157-Riley Martin (OV) m.d. Charlie Faurote, 11-0
165-Owen Shane (B) d. Collin Willen, 6-0
175-Luke Burner (OV) d. Landon Rich, 10-3
190-Xavior Palacios (B) p. Zander Pendley, :35
#2 Hanover Central 51 #7 Delta 10
Semifinals
#1 Garrett 43 #5 Heritage Hills 29
#2 Hanover Central 35 #3 Bellmont 28
285-Grady Baker (B) p. James Tarzon, 2:41
106-Julian DeLuna (HC) m.d. Jacob Binegar, 14-4
113-Carter Gary (HC) t.f. Bradley Baker, 19-3
120-Jack Dietz (HC) d. Oliver Faurote, 6-5
126-Evan Cryderman (HC) m.d. Ben Mills, 10-1
132-Isaiah Buikema (HC) t.f. Luke Ruble, 21-5
138-Henry Faurote (B) t.f. Noah Sinnott, 19-2
144-Gabe Myers (B) d. Carter Hall, 10-7
150-Joe Paun (HC) d. Sam Wolpert, 7-1
157-Charlie Faurote (B) p. Braulio Corral, 4:35
165-Owen Shane (B) m.d. Trent Bintz, 17-6
175-Aiden See (HC) p. Landon Rich, :27
190-Xavior Palacios (B) m.d. Israel Sinnott, 10-1
215-AJ Gill (HC) p. t.f. Douglas Hamilton, 18-1
Consolation Semifinals
#4 New Prairi 54 #8 Griffith 21
#7 Delta 42 #6 Owen Valley 35
Placement Matches
1st: #1 Garrett 55 #2 Hanover Central 14
3rd: #3 Bellmont 43 #5 Heritage Hills 33
113-Broc Lillpop (HH) p. Bradley Baker, 4:53
120-Oliver Faurote (B) t.f. Bronsen Fuchs, 18-2
126-Ben Mills (B) t.f. Clark Schaefer, 17-2
132-J Eisenhauer (HH) p. Luke Ruble, 1:14
138-Henry Faurote (B) m.d. Elijah Hedges, 13-5
144-Gabe Myers (B) p. Aiden Brockman, 1:51
150-Sam Wolpert (B) t.f. Jackson Smith, 20-3
157-Charles Faurote (B) p. Kale Forler, 1:19
165-Owen Shane (B) p. Landyn Jackson, 3:13
175-Jayden Worley (HH) p. Landon Rich, 3:42
190-Dalton Pledger (HH) p. Xavior Palacios, 5:18
215-Kalvin Grose (HH) p. Blake Christner, 2:00
285-Hayden Smith (HH) d. Grady Baker, 10-3
106-Jacob Binegar (B) WBF
5th: #4 New Prairie 57 #7 Delta 18
7th: #8 Griffith 37 #6 Owen Valley 30
9th: Gibson Southern 42 Yorktown 37
11th: Jay County 71 Bishop Chatard 9
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