IHSAA regional wrestling: Bloomington area title winners forced to go the distance

By now, familiarity starts breeding tight wrestling matches at regional.

The third time around for a couple of area champs was still a charm, but just barely.

Start with Owen Valley's Branson Weaver, whose unblemished season at 144 pounds was on the line early in the championship match against Bloomington South's Wyatt Cooksey. Weaver (38-0) was down 4-0 in the first period and had to work up from there.

He'd beaten Cooksey 2-0 and again 4-0 last week, but Cooksey was feeling good about this rematch. He had a plan and it almost worked, but Weaver overcame a lot of obstacles to claim an 8-6 victory at Saturday's South Regional.

"I feel very fortunate," Weaver said. "I give a lot of thanks to my support system. I've been feeling sick all week and they helped me push through that."

Weaver got the score in his favor (8-4) going to the third and hung on from there, even as Cooksey made a last ditch effort.

"I knew coming into those periods when I was starting out down, I knew I had to score points fast," Weaver said. "He's a tough competitor. I give props to him. He's kept me working hard all year since I knew this matchup was coming since the beginning of the season."

Cooksey was a sectional champion himself last year who made it to semistate, so the sophomore is no slouch.

"I've been training to go against his style the last two weeks," Cooksey said. "As you saw in the match, he got on his knees so I couldn't attack his legs and I wanted to match that. That's where I got that shot from in the beginning."

By the numbers

The team points title went to Floyd Central (182½) which topped Terre Haute South (156). Bloomington South was fourth (72), Owen Valley sixth (48), Bloomington North eighth (36), Edgewood ninth (33½) and Bedford North Lawrence 12th (20).

In all 15 wrestlers from South (five), North (three), Owen Valley (three), Edgewood (two) and BNL (two) made it out to the Evansville Semistate next Saturday at the Ford Center.

Close calls for Collier, Hickok, Roudebush

Close calls capped the day for all four area champions as OV's Eli Collier needed overtime to win the 113 title, North senior Cael Hickok trailed until coming up with a pin with 33 seconds left to win the 157 title and South's Evan Roudebush found himself in a final at165 where just one point was scored.

Roudebush (36-2), ranked third statewide, had no issues with Terre Haute South's Coy Bender (31-6) neither at conference (a pin in 1:46) nor last week (9-1 major). But Bender was having none of it, all but bringing a stalemate to the mats.

If not for Roudebush starting down in the second period, which allowed for an escape in 15 seconds, they might still be out there.

"When you wrestle someone that many times, they always learn something new," South coach Mike Runyon said. "Each time you wrestle it's harder and harder to beat somebody each time. But I thought he showed a lot of heart and a lot of grit there at the end of the match."

Collier's fitness was tested in his semi and final. He looked a bit gassed in the third period of the semi against Leblanc Phan of Floyd Central, but turned a 5-3 lead into a 9-4 win.

"Collier's had a knee issue going on and then warming up, he injured his neck," OV coach Steven Spicer said. "It got worse after his first match so we talked about medically forfeiting the finals because next weekend's more important.

"But Shelby Wilson (Olympic champ, mentor to hundreds of area wrestlers), worked his magic on his neck, because he wrestled fantastic in the finals."

In the final, New Albany's Tom Nguyen (35-9), ranked sixth in the semistate, led 9-5 late in the second before Collier got a key reversal. In the third, he still trailed before and escape and a takedown with 48 seconds left tied it at 11.

He needed just nine seconds on his feet to get the winning points in overtime.

"It was rough, I'll say that," Collier said. "I tweaked my neck a little bit, so it was hurting pretty bad. But that championship match, Nguyen's a really good wrestler, kept it close and eventually I pulled it out.

"He took me down first and I was working back from there. Get out, reversal, get our reversal. Just had to keep working those points. Whenever I get into overtime matches, it's just being smart."

Hickok was also in tough straits most of his match against Floyd Central's Noah Benet (30-6), down 6-1 after one period, then 10-4 with just 1:36 remaining. Hickok sensed Benet was running out of steam, got him down on the mat, then made the decision to work for the pin instead of letting him up to go for another two points.

"I could tell he was defeated," Hickok said. "He was backing up on me, trying to stall. So I hooked that up. He started resisting, but once I got it far enough. He gave me a grunt and I ran it a little further and got it."

With 33 seconds to spare to bag his first regional title. And some baked goods.

"It was a bit of a rough spot," Hickok said. "I don't remember what I did. But, I made deal with one of my coaches for donuts from Magic Morning (Bakery). I said double or nothing for first. And I had to get there I guess.

"It's one incentive. I also just wanted to win, because it's about time."

Jean, Orman, Neidigh claim runner-up finishes

Besides Cooksey, South freshman Jaxsen Jean was second at 106, getting pinned in 2:39 in his final.

Edgewood had a pair of runner-up finishes.

At 120, John Orman (26-6), ranked seventh in the Evansville was knocked off by fifth-ranked Walter Hagedorn of Tell City (34-1), 6-2. Orman trailed 4-0 after one period and couldn't find an opening to score outside a couple escapes.

At 150, Michael Neidigh (29-5) had no trouble making the final with a pin of 1:31 and a 15-0 tech fall, but trouble found him quickly in the title match as Floyd Central's Hunter May (20-0), ranked second in the Evansville bracket, pinned him in just 39 seconds.

More on the bus to Evansville

Other qualifiers include a pair of freshmen who fought for third at 132 as South's Amrin Pratt (20-14) beat North's Trae Hopkins (22-13), 4-0.

"Trae Hopkins, what can you say about him?" North coach Roy Bruce said. "He's literally been wrestling for just the last 13 months of his life. He's totally bought into wrestling.

"He wasn't just satisfied making it. He was upset with his losses and we had to calm him down a little bit. And that's a fire you can't teach kids."

At 165, BNL's Ethan Stancombe (30-8) still had the number of North senior Jeremiah Casillas with a 9-7 victory. But Casillas had already recorded the biggest win of his career, knocking off sectional champ Maddox Vernon of Southridge, 8-7, with the match tied 6-6 early in the third.

"Jeremiah, being a senior, he got here last year, got nervous and lost that match," Bruce said. "To get a big win, a 4 beating a 1, a semistate qualifier in a heavier weight class that came down. That's a huge win."

BNL also had another third-place winner as Jorj Filler (30-7) won 6-4 at 126.

South's Tristian Hicks (18-19) made his first semistate with an 8-6 upset in his opener, and settled for fourth with a 7-0 loss in the finals.

"It's just his second year wrestling so that's a nice booster for him," Runyon said.

Owen Valley sophomore Dylan Hale (33-8) ended up fourth at 285, dropping a 6-3 decision to Northview's Brandon Brewer in the final round.

BLOOMINGTON SOUTH REGIONAL

Top 10 teams: 1. Floyd Central 182½; 2. Terre Haute South 156; 3. Tell City 93; 4. Bloomington South 72; 5. Jasper 52; 6. Owen Valley 48; 7. Southridge 40; 8. Bloomington North 36; 9. Edgewood 33½; 10. New Albany 23½. 12. Bedford North Lawrence 20.

Top four in each weight class advance to regional

106: 1. Owen Blessinger, Srg (32-6) p. Jaxsen Jean, BS (29-8), 2:39; 3. Brayden Thomas, TC (17-16) p. Nolan Mullins, J (35-8), :29. [Mullins p. Austin Boltinghouse, OV (24-13), :56]. 113: 1. Eli Collier, OV (31-8) d. Tom Nguyen, NA (35-6), 13-11 (SV-OT); 3. Leblanc Phan, FC (15-12) p. Caleb Patterson, J (26-15), 2:06. [Phan p. Wyatt Philpott, BNL (22-11), 3:45].

120: 1. Walter Hagedorn, TC (34-1) d. John Orman, Edg (26-6), 6-2; 3. Tony Kessinger, FC (28-7) p. William Rader, THS (23-13), 1:40. [Kessinger p. Kanye Roberts-Gray, BN (18-10), :49]. 126: 1. Fynn Douglas, FC (24-5) tf. Nathan Bryan, THS (30-3), 18-2; 3. Jorj Filler, BNL (30-7) d. Cameron Fogle, Srg (29-11), 6-4. [Fogle p. Cayleb Sides, Edg (17-13), 1:28; Douglas p. Brian Conley, BS (11-23), 2:39].

132: 1. Josiah Dedeaux, THS (32-2) md. Hunter Banet, FC (27-8), 11-2; 3. Amrin Pratt, BS (20-14) d. Trae Hopkins, BN (22-13), 4-0. [Banet p. Peyton Arthur, Edg (15-16), 3:51]. 138: 1. Chase Stephens, TC (36-1) d. Noah Fields, THS (28-7), 7-0; 3. Vince Kessinger, FC (17-6) p. Ayden Muncie, THN (27-12), 1:34. [Kessinger tf. Wayne Harden, BS (9-4), 15-0].

144: 1. Branson Weaver, OV (38-0) d. Wyatt Cooksey, BS (31-8), 8-6; 3. Kaden Houser, FC (17-11) d. Antwane Webster, NA (30-7), 7-6. [Webster d. Joel Silvernail, Edg (14-9), 10-5]. 150: 1. Hunter May, FC (20-0) p. Michael Neidigh, Edg (29-5), :39; 3. Luke Forsythe, THS (23-9) md. Kris Fuhrman, 13-2. [Furhrman d. Lucas McBee, OV (14-6), 6-3; May p. Carson Bohall, BS (21-15), :49].

157: 1. Cael Hickok, BN (23-3) p. Noah Banet, FC (30-6), 5:27; 3. Jesus Lopez, THS (27-7) md. Mason Lubbers, FP (26-6), 18-5. [Lubbers p. Cayleb Stephens, Edg (20-11), 1:30; Lopez p. Jonny Schellenberger, Paoli, 3:12]. 165: 1. Evan Roudebush, BS (36-2) d. Coy Bender, THS (31-6), 1-0; 3. Ethan Stancombe, BNL (30-8) d. Jeremiah Casillas, BN (24-10), 9-7.

175: 1. Bray Emerine, FC (33-1) p. Cooper McCloy, THS (32-4), :13; 3. James Hastings, THN (33-6) d. Tristian Hicks, BS (18-19), 7-0. 190: 1. Noah Terry, TC (39-2) p. Collin Casad, THS (35-2), 1:19; 3. Jaylon VanSlyke, J (29-8) p. Spencer Fain, FC (24-11), 1:49. [Fain tf. Mason Grubb, BS (18-18), 18-2].

215: 1. Landon Terry, TC (36-3) md. Tyson Ruhe, J (34-5), 15-4; 3. Devyn Orman, Nv (22-5) d. Noah Owens, Srg (27-14), 11-4. 285: 1. Justin Brown, FC (31-3) p. Sean Murphy, THS (32-3), 5:59; 3. Brandon Brewer, Nv (24-7) d. Dylan Hale, OV (33-8), 6-3. [Brown p. Junior Arellano, BNL (16-5), 2:58].

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on X @JimGordillo.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington area regional wrestling winners forced to go the distance