17 grapplers heading to wrestling regional
PHOTO COURTESY OF BATESVILLE AND MILAN SCHOOLS
Milan and Batesville were two of 10 teams on the mat this past Saturday at the IHSAA Wrestling Sectional and the two squads are sending a combined 17 wrestlers to the regional round after outstanding efforts at South Dearborn.
The top four wrestlers in each weight class earned automatic bids to the regional. Of the 17 wrestlers going in the coverage area, four earned individual sectional titles.
East Central would not only win the team sectional championship, but also narrowly put an end to Milan’s undefeated season. The Trojans scored 222 points to grab top honors, besting the Indians by only seven points. Milan and Franklin County tied for second place with 215 points and Rushville scored 123.5 points for fourth place. Batesville rounded out the top five and totaled 119.5 points.
South Dearborn, Lawrenceburg, Union County, Greensburg and Connersville completed the team standings and did so in that order.
Milan is sending 12 of its 14 wrestlers to the regional despite the second place spot in the standings and that includes two sectional champions. Sophomore Matthew Baylor, a state finalist from a year ago, repeated as sectional champion in the 113-pound division and Kaleb Wilburn took home a title in the 157-pound division. Tommy Poole at 126 pounds and Kane Budd at 144 pounds both earned runner-up finishes to earn their regional bids.
Third place finishers for the Indians were Kayden McClellen (165 pounds), Carson Betz (190 pounds), Zane Richardson (215 pounds) and Kyle Gotts (285 pounds). Rounding out regional qualifiers for Milan were fourth place finishers Kolton Harris, Lucas Richards, Jayden Disbro and Cameron Gilb.
Joining the Indians in the regional are five wrestlers from Batesville. Damien Dance won the sectional championship as part of the 165-pound division and also bringing home a title was Max Amberger in the 285-pound class. Andrew Jones finished second at 215 pounds and third place finishers for the Bulldogs were David Maher (157 pounds) and Adam Brewer (120 pounds).
Qualifiers from sectionals at South Dearborn and Shenandoah will compete on Saturday morning at the IHSAA Wrestling Regional in Richmond. Regional matches begin at 9 a.m. with the top four in each weight class advancing to the semi-state.
