The wrestling seasons for Columbus East, Jennings County and Brown County won’t start until December, but Columbus North will get things going on Wednesday when it competes in Jeffersonville’s Turkey Tussle.
Here is the outlook for those teams heading into the 2020-21 season.
Columbus East
The Olympians took a little bit of a dip last season. After back-to-back top-five state team finishes in 2018 and 2019, they had only two state qualifiers.
Still, East won Hoosier Hills Conference, sectional and regional titles in what some saw as a rebuilding year. With most of that team returning, the Olympians have high hopes for this season.
“I’m very excited about our team, especially dual-meet wise,” East coach Chris Cooper said. “We’re especially balanced, I think. Top to bottom, we’re solid at every weight.”
As was the case with most teams, the Olympians didn’t get a chance to go to many offseason tournaments because of COVID-19.
“It was difficult,” Cooper said. “It was nothing like what anybody had done before. Our offseason is usually filled with lots of wrestling, but this year, not as much. Some of our kids kind of put a club together and wrestled in a garage, but as far as competition goes, we didn’t get much in until September.”
East returns one state qualifier in senior Sam Morrill. Morrill moves up from 160 pounds to 170, where he is ranked No. 2 in the state.
Junior Kade Law, who moves from 152 to 160, was a state qualifier as a freshman and a semistate qualifier last season and is ranked No. 9 at 160. Junior Ashton Hartwell, a semistate qualifier, is ranked No. 7 at 285.
Sophomore Liam Krueger (106), junior Noah Lykins (113) and senior Tyler Williams, who moves from 145 to 152, also were semistate qualifiers. Junior Reece Fisher (132); junior Jaden Durnil, who moves from 170 to 182 and sophomore James Sawyer (195) were regional qualifiers.
Freshman Nate Anderson likely will step in at 120, and sophomore Bo Wagner, the HHC runner-up at 120, will be at 126. Looking to fill the other spots will be junior Tony Ruiz Tapia at 138, junior Eli Pollitt at 145, junior Josh Schrader at 195 and sophomore Tommy Morrill at 220.
East opens its season Dec. 3 at home against Seymour. The Olympians again will compete in the state duals on Jan. 2. This year’s state duals will feature four divisions, and East will be in 3A, which could be contested at Franklin.
“I think we’re good enough to compete with the best teams there,” Cooper said. “Mostly, I’m just excited about getting some wrestling in, we missed so much this summer.”
Columbus North
The Bull Dogs will be able to fill all of the weight classes this season after being a little short on numbers last year.
“Last year, we were giving up three or four weight classes every time we went out,” North coach Matt Joyce said. “We still had some close duals, giving up 18 or 24 points each round, but this year, with solid kids up and down the lineup, we have the ability to have a better dual-meet record.”
Junior Hector De Dios is the lone returning regional qualifier. He likely will stay at 160 to begin the season, but would like to get down to 152.
Junior Jared Slocum, a regional qualifier as a freshman, could move from 152 to 160, but won’t be back until midseason. Junior Carlos Rodriguez moves from 132 to 138, sophomore Liam Phillips moves from 138 to 145, senior Keegan Hill returns at 195 and sophomore Cody Thurnall is back at 285.
Freshman Brysen Hutt an accomplished youth wrestler, steps in at 106, and freshmen Joey Ross and Jason Shuey will be at 113 and 120. Sophomore Jerry Newland will take over at 126, and junior James Thompson, a transfer from East, steps in at 132.
Junior Tristen Dyette will begin the season at 152, and junior Bryce Abner, who was injured last year, will be at 170. Sophomores Ryan Staley and Oscar Rubio take over at 182 and 220.
“We have a lot of strong young kids coming in,” Joyce said. “We have a good crew and a lot of kids that are young and really buying into the process.”
The Bull Dogs, who finished sixth both the in Conference Indiana and sectional meets last season, have goals of finishing in the top three each this year.
“We’ve had good practices,” Joyce said. “I think everybody’s had some struggles with kids being out with COVID, but we’re taking all the precautions we can so we can have a safe environment for our kids.”
Jennings County
After more than three decades with Howard Jones at the helm, the Panthers have a new coach. Jeff Morrison, a 1991 Jennings graduate who started coaching as a volunteer in 1993, ran the elementary program for 10 years, was head middle school coach for 11 years and has been varsity assistant for several years, takes over the program.
“Everything I know, I’ve learned from coach Jones,” Morrison said. “We have a strong youth program from Kindergarten all the way up through our middle school program. We just look to reload and go on.”
The Panthers return three regional qualifiers. Sophomore Evan Sochaki made it at 113, senior Joey Moran qualified at 138 and senior Zane Ortlieb made it at 220. Sochaki could move to 130, Moran to 145 and Ortlieb to 195.
Looking to fill the other spots are freshman James Hatton or sophomore Braden Isbell at 106, sophomore Carson Sorrells at 113, freshman Jonah Mathews at 120, senior Kevin Lynch at 125, freshman RJ Barberis or junior Alexis Giltner at 138, senior Gavin Bateman at 152, sophomore Teagan Trotter at 160.
Freshman Frankie Otero, senior Owen Bonesteel or senior Chris Kiste could be at 170. Junior Trea Short likely will be at 182, with senior Max Brown or junior Gage Gasper at 220 and freshman Derrik Hawkins, sophomore Ashton Newcomb or sophomore Will Rowlett at 285.
“We have some really tough sophomores,” Morrison said. “I’m really looking forward to how they develop. Mixed in with some experienced seniors, we’re really looking forward to a good year this year.”
Brown County
The Eagles will be a little shorthanded with only 11 wrestlers to begin the season.
“It’s looking like it’s going to be a rough year for us numbers-wise,” Brown County coach Josh Sparks said. “We have a good mix of guys with some experience and then a lot of guys with very little.”
Junior Chris Luckey moves from 126 to 138. Junior Brandon Phelps was the Western Indiana Conference runner-up at 152, but did not compete in postseason because of injury.
Junior Landon Mullis was at 145 last season, sophomore Andy Weddle was at 160, senior Reid Davis was at 170 and senior Hunter Funkhouser was at 182. Junior Lane Mullins moves from 220 to 285.
The newcomers include freshman Cadence Flynn at 113, freshman Clay Austin could be at 120 or 126, freshman Josh Bowling at 145 andd junior David Parry at 152
“I do expect quite a bit out of Chris Luckey, Brandon Phelps, Lane Mullins, Hunter Funkhouser and Reid Davis,” Sparks said. “Clay Austin has some experience, and he definitely be a guy to watch on our team.”
