DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
PORTLAND – Trophies and letter jacket patches. Wall charts and ribbons. Record upon record.
(And one crowded team poster for next year.)
This year’s Bellmont wrestling team has had very few moments that did not end in victory and that trend continued Saturday as they won their 36th regional title in school history, dominating the field from start to finish, while also setting a new school record for number of semi-state qualifiers with twelve.
The Braves captured individual titles at 138 (Henry Faurote), 190 (Xavior Palacios) and 285 (Grady Baker) on their way to 183 points and a second consecutive regional team trophy. Bellmont has won five of the seven regionals in this decade.
Those twelve will now try to do something that the Braves haven’t done in a while – raise the IHSAA Semi-State trophy above their heads at the Coliseum. By definition, the last time that happened was 1995, but that stat is a bit deceiving, especially considering how good those Bellmont teams were from 1996 to 2008, when the semi-state trophy was given in the Team State tournament and no team score was tabulated at the Coliseum. The Braves have 12 semi-state trophies in the trophy case that they pass on their way from class to practice from that 13-year era.
From 2009 to 2012, no one in Indiana won an IHSAA semi-state trophy, but starting in 2013, with the elimination of the IHSAA Team State tournament, the trophy reverted back to the Coliseum.
IHSAA FORT WAYNE SEMI-STATE TITLES SINCE 2013
Yorktown (6) 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Rochester (2) 2022, 2023
Delta (2) 2024, 2025
Jimtown (1) 2019
Western (1) 2020
Oak Hill (1) 2021
Saturday, those twelve Brave qualifiers will attempt to put Bellmont back on top in Fort Wayne.
Entering Saturday, the BHS squad was one of few across the state to keep the entire team intact heading into the opening regional elimination round. The team’s strong record in elimination rounds so far continued (17-2 across two weekends) as only the two fourth-place finishers from last week were eliminated Saturday morning.
Each of the third-place finishers knocked off their respective #2s from the Delta sectional. Oliver Faurote won by major at 120 over Daleville’s James Gibson, while Owen Shane turned around a first-period fall to Brody Whiteman (Yorktown) in January with a 10-4 masterclass. That put the pressure on Austin Manley to follow suit, and he did just that, seeing out the final 13 seconds to clinch another week of wrestling in a 2-1 victory.
The rest of the Braves (the nine who wrestled in the finals last week) had little trouble advancing against their peers from the Delta sectional. All nine won with bonus points to give the team a big lead after round one.
With just three seniors in the varsity lineup this year, that means nine of the team’s twelve semi-state qualifiers will return next season. Those nine will be featured in the program’s annual schedule poster and billboard campaign.
With the threat of elimination no longer looming, the Braves were free to give each opponent their best shot in the semifinals. Ben Mills reached the finals for the third straight weekend with a 9-0 major over the Delta champ, Brayden Saleem of Muncie Burris. That was followed quickly by Jacob Binegar’s win over Ben Dygard of Yorktown in the ultimate tiebreaker.
Dygard hit a seven-point move in the second and Binegar had to fight his way back to 8-8 to force overtime. After neither scored in the first overtime minute, Binegar caught a break on a locked hands call. The Bellmont sophomore then had a chance to reach the 106 final by riding out his opponent for 30 seconds, and that is exactly what he accomplished in a 9-8 victory.
Henry Faurote had little issue with Jay County’s Jason Landers and Gabe Myers overcame quite a scare against Parker Barnes. Myers was thrown to his back in the final ten seconds, but had enough of a lead to survive.
Palacios and Baker had falls to reach the finals, basically clinching the team title before the placement round began.
Choosing to wrestle the third-place matches prior to the championship bouts, Jay County organizers hoped to spotlight the finalists for the first time as regional hosts.
If the title was not already theirs, it certainly was after the Braves won their first five third-place matches. Oliver Faurote, Bradley Baker and Charlie Faurote gave the ninth graders on the BHS team plenty of representation on the podium with bonus-point wins in the round. Sam Wolpert received a medical forfeit from Ashton Goney, who hurt his knee in the semis and Austin Manley used a six-point move in the middle of the bout to beat Ranen DuBois of Wes-Del for his second win of the day.
The Braves split their finals matches, dropping three and winning three. Henry Faurote tech falled Myles Kaehr to win his third straight title in the last three weeks and Xavior Palacios equaled that feat with another pin of Wes Summersett in the finals.
The icing on the cake for the Braves was a first-period fall from Grady Baker at 285, guaranteeing him a good draw and a good shot at a trip to the State Finals with his classmates.
Fans of the Braves can hear every match for Bellmont at the Fort Wayne semi-state for free Saturday via WZBD. A bulk of the day will be covered on 92.7 FM, but the entire broadcast will also be available live on the station’s YouTube channel.
Team Scores: 1st-Bellmont 183; 2nd-Adams Central 139.5; 3rd-Delta 112.5; 4th-South Adams 110; 5th-Yorktown 53; 6th-Jay County 52; 7th-Cowan 42; 8th-Winchester 39; 9th-Wes-Del 30; 10th-Bluffton 29.5; 11th-Muncie Burris 10; 12th-Norwell 7; 13th-Blackford 6
Quarterfinals
106-Jacob Binegar p. Nolan Younger (RS), :39
113-Bradley Baker p. Chevy Buis (Cowan), :23
120-Oliver Faurote m.d. James Gibson (Daleville), 17-7
126-Ben Mills m.d. Brody Zick (Muncie Central), 13-2
132-Jensen Boyd (Delta) t.f. Luke Ruble, 17-2
138-Henry Faurote p. Darren Ward (Daleville), 2:29
144-Gabe Myers p. Tremaine Bell (Muncie Central), 3:04
150-Sam Wolpert m.d. Cory Brown (Muncie Central), 18-10
157-Charlie Faurote t.f. Garrett Horner (Winchester), 19-3
165-Austin Manley d. Caden Shockney (Monroe Central), 2-1
175-Owen Shane d. Brody Whiteman (Yorktown), 10-4
190-Xavior Palacios p. Luke McCoin (Delta), :49
215-Luke Powers (Wes-Del) p. Blake Christner, 1:36
285-Grady Baker p. Owen Lamb (Wes-Del), :53
Semifinals
106-Jacob Binegar d. Ben Dygard (Yorktown), 9-8 (UTB)
113-Jackson Webb (Yorktown) p. Bradley Baker, :57
120-Max Adams (SA) m.d. Oliver Faurote, 14-1
126-Ben Mills m.d. Brayden Saleem (Burris), 9-0
138-Henry Faurote t.f. Jason Landers (Jay County), 19-3
144-Gabe Myers m.d. Parker Barnes (Bluffton), 19-10
150-Wyatt Hoppes (Yorktown) d. Sam Wolpert, 10-3
157-Jackson Bradley (Cowan) t.f. Charlie Faurote, 17-2
165-Brason Schortgen (AC) p. Austin Manley, 1:24
175-Xander Schwartz (AC) p. Owen Shane, 1:26
190-Xavior Palacios p. Max Nussbaum (AC), :37
285-Grady Baker p. Spencer Smitley (JC), 3:30
Third-Place Matches
113-Bradley Baker m.d. Brock Sprunger (SA), 16-3
120-Oliver Faurote p. Sylas Wenk (JC), 3:47
150-Sam Wolpert won by forfeit over Ashton Goney (Cowan) (injury)
157-Charlie Faurot t.f. Eli Loshe (SA), 22-6
165-Austin Manley d. Ranen DuBois (Wes-Del), 7-5
175-Bryan Fields (JC) p. Owen Shane, 4:27
Championship Matches
106-Karson Kahalekomo (Delta) t.f. Jacob Binegar, 18-2
126-Dakota Sprunger (SA) m.d. Ben Mills, 9-1
138-Henry Faurote t.f. Myles Kaehr (AC), 19-3
144-Sam Mosier (Yorktown) t.f. Gabe Myers, 19-4
190-Xavior Palacios p. Wes Summersett (SA), 1:32
285-Grady Baker p. Matthew Alberson (Winchester), 1:55
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