IHSAA state wrestling: OV's Weaver makes history; South's Evan Roudebush rolls on

Bloomington South junior Evan Roudebush and Owen Valley senior Branson Weaver each stormed into the elite eight with dominating wins on Friday in the opening round of the IHSAA state wrestling tournament at the Ford Center in Evansville.

Roudebush needed just 1:26 to get a pin in his match at 165 while Weaver, in one of the last matches of the day, made it worth the wait, hammering out a historical 11-4 win.

At 157, Bloomington North's Cael Hickok suffered a tough ending to his day and career, taking No. 2 Adrian Pellot to the limit before succumbing to a pin with just 35 seconds left in a tied match.

Owen Valley's Branson Weaver will wrestle later this evening at 144 as one of the last bouts on the mats.

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Evan Roudebush rolls on

Roncalli's James Dozier (29-11) played right into Roudebush's hands, leading to a pin in just 1:26.

"He tried a headlock and as he was backing up, Evan caught him and slipped behind him and went to work right away," South coach Mike Runyon said.

Runyon saw the same wrestler he'd seen all year, who entered the postseason ranked third in the state. It'll be the eighth year in a row and 14th in the last 15 that a Panther has medaled at state.

"He's been down there before, so he knows what to expect," Runyon said. "Evan is very focused right now and you can tell that on the mat."

Roudebush (41-2) will face No. 6 Brant Beck of Rochester (44-1), a 5-1 winner over No. 10 Levi Abbott of Cowan on Saturday morning. The first session starts at 10 a.m. EST.

"He looks like a fairly strong kid," Runyon said. "He's a grinder. But Evan's focused on whoever gets in front of him."

The other quarterfinal in the lower bracket pits No. 2 Waylon Cressell of Warren Central (38-1), the only wrestler from Indiana to beat Roudebush this year, and No. 3 Kaleb Stebbins of Delta (38-2). The upper bracket has No. 5 Duke Meyers of Bellmont vs. No. 16 Jesse Derringer of Brownsburg and No. 1 Anthony Rinehart of Crown Point vs. Coy Bender of Terre Haute South.

Weaver makes history

Weaver's coaches were not even born the last time a Patriot made the podium at state. That would be 1988 when Matt Morin won the 145-pound title.

Weaver ended that drought by taking care of Prairie Heights' Brody Hagewood (37-6) with a strong third period. It could have been a tricky day to deal with as Weaver's was one of the last matches.

After the Parade of Champions, Weaver and the coaches left the building and went back to their rental to keep Weaver calm and ready to go before heading back. It worked.

Weaver jumped up 6-2 in the first and it stayed that way through the second.

In the third, Weaver kept on the attack, opening with a nearfall, giving up a reversal and then a three-point nearfall with 48 seconds left.

"After last weekend, we re-evaluated," OV coach Steven Spicer said. "He was a little flat on his feet , so all week, we did drills to get his feet moving and attack at all levels and all sides. He did that.

"Low singles, up top work. He looked great on his feet."

It was a huge moment for all of them at the final buzzer.

"You talk about it and put the work in, but we're not done," Spicer said. "We've got three more matches. I think it's more so a kind of relief for the program to see that it can happen here.

"I hope it motivates the other kids."

Interestingly, each of the top-eight ranked wrestlers made it to the quarterfinals. Up next for the eighth-ranked Weaver is No. 4 Christian Arberry of Warren Central (33-2), who won his opener 5-3. He was eighth at 138 last year.

The other match in the top bracket pits No. 6 Zar Walker of Mishawaka (44-1) against No. 2 Parker Reynolds of Brownsburg (29-6). No. 1 Reese Courtney of Center Grove meets No. 3 Jeffrey Huyvaert of New Prairie and No. 5 East Doster of New Haven meets No. 7 Dillon Graham of Cathedral in the bottom half.

Tough finish for Cael Hickok

Hickok trailed 4-2 before nearly finishing off the match late in the second period, getting a takedown and two-point near fall right before the horn. He was oh-so-close to the win.

"We had been working all week on taking chances in the match," North coach Roy Bruce said. "He's ranked No. 2 for a reason. He's pretty good. I figured we'd get three chances and he had that other kid flat on his back.

"If we had another two seconds, he was pinned. He hit the over-under and he was thrown dead-center in the mat. His shoulders were going flat on the mat as the guy came over to tap the referee."

Hickok started on bottom in the third and was let go for a quick escape point. But Pellot came up with a takedown with 1:11 to go, letting Hickok right back up and then took him down again for good with 56 seconds left.

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"I think nerves got to Cael a little bit," Bruce said. "He had the lead and wasn't expected to. He stopped moving his feet and he started taking us down a couple times. And that last takedown, he ended up on his back. It was a heck of a match by both guys."

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: South's Roudebush, Owen Valley's Weaver stay alive at state wrestling