DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
Photos by Dane Fuelling, August Fuelling & Kristen Kaehr
FORT WAYNE – It was written in the Stars.
South Adams’ Dakota Sprunger will end his high school wrestling career at the IHSAA State Finals in Indianapolis, where many in Adams County felt he belonged all along.
It wasn’t flashy, but Sprunger isn’t known for his over-the-top style, just working hard and letting his wrestling do the talking.
He will be one of very few athletes in Gainbridge Fieldhouse who will have qualified for two different individual IHSAA State Finals after running at the state meet in Terre Haute as a junior.
Sprunger’s participation at state will cap off an incredible postseason for the Starfires and coach Sawyer Miller. The Stars brought eight to semi-state and held their own in the face of equally impressive postseasons by Adams Central, Bellmont and Delta.
Team Scores: Delta 142.5, North Miami 119, Bellmont 114, Garrett 99, Adams Central 68.5, East Noble 62, Homestead 52.5, Wawasee 50.5, Carroll (FW) 47.5, Leo 45, New Haven 43, Cowan 42, Maconaquah 33.5, Angola 32, Eastside 29.5, Concord 23, South Adams 22, Western 22, Yorktown 22
In this advanced stage of the tournament, we will summarize the Starfire day by individuals.
113-Brock Sprunger
Sprunger’s great postseason run came to an end with a first-round loss to eventual third-place Drew Heisler of Homestead, who came into the tournament as the Carroll Regional champ.
Sprunger finished the year with a record of 27-10 and he will be a key part of the SA lightweight lineup next season.
113-Drew Heisler (Homestead) p. Brock Sprunger, 3:13
120-Max Adams
Adams was all over Mora in the first round as the Stars paired up with Oak Hill in two different bouts. In the ticket round, the sophomore was left frustrated by Wawasee’s Cameron Senter, who was effective on top and did not allow Adams an escape in the match.
Max chose neutral in the third period with a 5-0 deficit, but the Wawasee Senter punched his ticket back to state, making for a good storyline for the Warriors. Senter had qualified as a freshman, but missed out in his sophomore and junior seasons.
Adams finished the year with conference and sectional titles, along with 33 wins. He will begin next year in the state rankings as one of the guys pegged to go to the next level in our area.
120-Max Adams p. Manuel Mora (Oak Hill), :54
120-Cameron Senter (Wawasee) d. Max Adams, 8-1
126-Dakota Sprunger
Sprunger’s day got off to a poor start when he allowed the opening takedown to Mauricio Perez. Each wrestler scored a late reversal in the first two periods and Perez led going into the third, 5-4. Perez chose neutral with the lead in hand, but it was a seven-point move by Sprunger midway through the third that sealed the win and ultimately, the trip to state.
It was nearly an identical story in the ticket round, with Simon Cornewell striking first with a first-period takedown. Sprunger put his opponent on his back with another seven pointer and it was all he needed. A late stalling warning in the third made no difference to Sprunger, who showed more emotion than he had all year at the final whistle.
Sprunger ran into the eventual champion, Rex Moore in the semis, but bounced back with a win in the third-place match. Unlike his first two bouts, Sprunger had an early lead against Qwanell Gabriel, jumping out to an 8-2 lead.
126-Dakota Sprunger m.d. Mauricio Perez (Oak Hill), 13-5
126-Dakota Sprunger d. Simon Cornewell (Bishop Dwenger), 7-3
126-Rex Moore (North Miami) d. Dakota Sprunger, 8-1
126-Dakota Sprunger d. Qwanell Gabriel (Lakeland), 10-8
132-Will Patterson
After a scoreless first period, Will Patterson could not hold East Noble freshman Griffin Kline down in the second. Kline then went on the ride in the third and Patterson had no answers, dropping out of the tournament and ending his junior year with an 18-8 record.
132-Griffin Kline (East Noble) d. Will Patterson, 1-0
144-Wyatt Mann
Mann’s fourth-place finish at regional doomed his hopes of reaching the State Finals. While the other three 144s from the Jay County regional all advanced, Mann was stuck with Malachi Thullner of New Haven in the opening round. Thullner dominated the match, picking up a third four-point nearfall just 30 seconds into the second period.
It ended a fine senior campaign for Mann, who entered the state conversation after upsets over ranked opponents. He was ranked 15th in the state by IndianaMat in the final rankings. His four losses in the postseason came to each of the four state qualifiers in the Fort Wayne bracket. He also had wins over state qualifiers Sam Wolpert and Parker Barnes in the regular season.
144-Malachi Thullner (New Haven) t.f. Wyatt Mann, 15-0
157-Eli Loshe
Loshe’s first appearance in the semi-state ended with a loss to the eventual third-place finisher in Evan Oglesby, who built a 14-2 lead in the opening round before finishing the fall.
157-Evan Oglesby (Maconaquah) p. Eli Loshe, 2:22
165-Nathan Plattner
Saturday was not the day to wrestle Jackson Endsley. Perhaps feeding off the momentum from a strong start for the Railroaders, Endsley whitewashed Nathan Plattner, then knocked off #13 Shaun Caldwell of Marion on his way to a surprising third-place finish.
Plattner’s gutsy career came to an end with a 24-win season.
165-Jackson Endsley (Garrett) t.f. Nathan Plattner, 16-0
190-Wes Summersett
Summersett was hoping that his finish at regional would pit him on opposite sides of his nemeses, Xavior Palacios and Jax Litchfield. That’s exactly what he got and he made it to the ticket round with a wild comeback against Landon Smith of Whitko. Smith dominated the opening two periods, building an 11-0 lead.
Summersett, though, was not about to give up and he stormed back with two takedowns before securing the fall with a minute remaining.
Wes’s luck ran out, however, in the ticket round against eventual runner-up Jordan Simon of North Miami.
Summersett will be a favorite to lead the Starfires to state next year in his senior season.
190-Wes Summersett p. Landon Smith (Whitko), 4:55
190-Jordan Simon (North Miami) p. Wes Summersett, 3:19
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