By E. Shawn Aylsworth
Managing Editor
Technical difficulties (my freakin’ laptop won’t connect to the Internets!) precluded the posting of this story all day. I apologize!
INDIANAPOLIS – The weather outside may have been frightfully cold Jan. 14, but the dual-meet wrestling action inside the Robert Welch Center was nice and hot as fifth-ranked host Indianapolis Cathedral upset No. 3 Perry Meridian for the second straight season, 34-21.
Cathedral spotted the Falcons a 9-3 lead before taking control when 10th-ranked Fighting Irish freshman Tyler Willis pinned No. 16 Perry senior Cory Hudgins in the second period of their 160-pound throwdown. That momentum-shifter gave Cathedral its first lead at 17-12 and set the tone for the rest of the meet.
Click here to see Willis’ second-period stick as well as the freshman’s jubilant celebration.
This joust between juggernauts featured an incredible 17 ranked wrestlers (a state-high nine for Cathedral, eight for Perry). A fan-pleasing six matches pitted ranked foe against ranked foe – including a spectacular stretch of five straight matches from 135 to 160.
The two teams split those six matches, and there would have been a seventh had Cathedral’s No. 7 130-pounder John Grey not dropped down to 125 to avoid meeting second-ranked Sampson Cook. Of the eight Irish wins overall, two came by tech fall, two were sticks, and four were by decision.
On the other side, five of the Falcons’ six wins were of the minimum three-team-points variety.
Perry Meridian coach Jim Tonte refused to blame the loss on fallout from his team’s trip four days earlier to the Belmont Super Duals, a 3-1 effort that included a split with top-ranked Mishawaka (a 29-25 loss) and No. 6 host Bellmont (a 37-24 win).
Click here for a post-match interview with coach Tonte.
With the meet starting at 125 pounds, that meant Perry Meridian would need a sizeable lead heading into the night’s final match. That’s because top-ranked defending 112 state champion junior Brandon Wright was wearing the green singlet at 119, meaning certain trouble for the visitors.
And the junior delivered, racing out to an 11-2 lead in the first minute before downing Perry junior Jason Simmons by tech fall just into the third period, 19-4. But that impressive effort was merely icing – literally, on this frozen evening – on Cathedral’s cake.
Wright’s prowess was anti-climactic because of the run started by Willis at 160 that kicked into overdrive with junior Wesley Stokes’ second-period pin of Perry sophomore Devin Schaefer at heavyweight. Cathedral’s second stick of the meet pushed the Irish lead to 26-18 with three matches to go, all but forcing the Falcons to win the next two battles by fall.
But No. 5 freshman Jared McKinley could manage only a 7-2 decision over 10th-ranked Irish freshman Brian Harvey at 103, and 12th-ranked senior Blake Roytek clinched the contest for Cathedral with a tight 2-1 win over Perry sophomore Michael Clem at 112.
Cathedral coach Sean McGinley wasn’t expecting a pair of pins from his Irish, and he thought coming in that up to 11 of the 14 individual battles could go either way.
Click here for a post-match interview with coach McGinley.
Here’s a look at the individual results:
#5 Indianapolis Cathedral 34, #3 Perry Meridian 21
103: #5 Jared McKinley (PM) dec. #10 Brian Harvey, 7-2 (Cath, 26-21)
112: #12 Blake Roytek (Cath) dec. Michael Clem, 2-1 (Cath, 29-21)
119: #1 Brandon Wright (Cath) tech fall Jason Simmons, 19-4 (Cath, 34-21)
125: #7 (at 130) John Grey (Cath) dec. Kirk Johnson, 3-0 (Cath, 3-0)
130: #2 Sampson Cook (PM) pin John Stringfield, 1:00 (PM, 6-3)
135: #6 Chris Goodwin (PM) dec. #12 Dominic Corsaro, 9-3 (PM, 9-3)
140: #2 Tony McGinley (Cath) tech fall #11 Jacob Tonte, 19-4 (PM, 9-8)
145: #7 Jacob Tasseff (PM) dec. #4 Gavin McGinley, 3-2 (PM, 12-8)
152: #5 Calvin Sullivan (Cath) dec. #13 Blake Wood, 4-1 (PM, 12-11)
160: #10 Tyler Willis (Cath) pin #16 Cory Hudgins, 3:26 (Cath, 17-12)
171: Jordan Robinson (PM) dec. Vince Hofmeister, 6-4 (Cath 17-15)
189: Spencer Poling (Cath) dec. Andrew Richards, 2-1 (Cath, 20-15)
215: #6 Chris Schaefer (PM) dec. Jake Buchanan, 6-3 (Cath, 20-18)
Hwt: Wesley Stokes (Cath) pin Devin Schaefer, 3:21 (Cath, 26-18)
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