Val T.
- Feb 6, 2021
- 3 min read

McBrier, Hammer win sectional titles, lead Valley to 3rd-place finish

Falk is lone Cavalier to advance to regional

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Led by sectional champions Branson McBrier and Brandon Hammer, the Tippecanoe Valley wrestling team scored 200 points and finished in third place out of nine teams at the Plymouth sectional Saturday.

Valley also had a school-record 11 regional qualifiers.

Meanwhile, Culver placed eighth with 34 points and had one regional qualifier.

Wawasee won the sectional with 241.5 points.

Tippecanoe Valley

McBrier (152) and Hammer (182) both won their weight classes despite not being No. 1 seeds.. Other Vikings advancing to this Saturday’s Penn regional included Galvin Shambaugh, who was second at 106; Barrett Heller, who was third at 113; Drake Montelongo, who was second at 120; Jacob Manns, who was fourth at 138; Darren Crump, who was fourth at 145; Jadyn Virgil, who was fourth at 160; Bazle Owens, who was second at 195; Dalton Alber, who was fourth at 220; and Ian Becker, who was fourth at 285.

McBrier began his day with a 9-1 win over Plymouth’s Mason Keller and followed with a fall in 2:46 over Bremen’s Bailey Moser. In the final, he beat Wawasee’s Landen Dilley by fall in 3:29. Dilley had upset top seeded Elijah Cox of Triton in the semifinals.

Hammer was the No. 3 seed in his class but knocked off second-seeded Brandon Estepp of Warsaw 14-8 in the semifinals and top-seeded Paul DeWitt of LaVille 10-1 in the final. The loss was DeWitt’s first of the season.

Shambaugh lost to Wawasee’s Kaleb Salazar 9-2 in the final at 106. Montelongo was the No. 1 seed but lost to Wawasee’s Dylan Tom 4-3 in the final at 120. Owens lost by second-period fall to Culver Academy’s Eli Pack, the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the state at 195.

Valley has never won a wrestling sectional title in school history. They were also third last year.

Culver

Owen Falk, a 120-pound sophomore, was the lone Culver wrestler to advance to the regional after taking fourth.

Falk topped LaVille’s Jonah Skiles 8-3 to reach the semifinals before losing by fall in 1:16 to Valley’s Montelongo in the semifinals.

In the wrestleback round, Falk won his ticket match when Warsaw’s Cameron McNees was forced to default due to injury. Falk then lost by fall to Plymouth’s Wesley Smith by fall in 1:49.

PLYMOUTH WRESTLING SECTIONAL TEAM RESULTS: Wawasee 241.5, Plymouth 213, Valley 200, Warsaw 186, LaVille 137, Triton 76, Culver Academy 47, Culver 34, Bremen 5

VALLEY INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

106 – Galvin Shambaugh – second, 113 – Barrett Heller – third, 120 – Drake Montelongo – second, 126 – forfeit, 132 – forfeit, 138 – Jacob Manns – fourth, 145 – Darren Crump – fourth, 152 – Branson McBrier – champion, 160 – Jadyn Virgil – fourth, 170 – Cameron Mason – fifth, 182 – Brandon Hammer – champion, 195 – Bazle Owens – second, 220 – Dalton Alber – fourth, HWT – Ian Becker – fourth

CULVER INDIVIDUAL RESULTS

106 – forfeit, 113 – forfeit, 120 – Owen Falk – fourth, 126 – forfeit, 132 – forfeit, 138 – Jason Cadle – fifth, 145 – Ian Brown – DNP, 152 – forfeit, 160 – forfeit, 170 – forfeit, 182 – Kevin Bailey – sixth, 195 – Ethan Fritz – DNP, 220 – Hunter Evans – sixth, HWT – forfeit

PLYMOUTH SECTIONAL INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS

106 – Kaleb Salazar (Wawasee), 113 – Hunter Miller (Wawasee), 120 – Dylan Tom (Wawasee), 126 – Dominic Smith (Plymouth), 132 – Logan Stuckman (Wawasee), 138 – Jace Alexander (Wawasee), 145 – Gavin Malone (Wawasee), 152 – Branson McBrier (Valley), 160 – Bradey Pittman (Plymouth), 170 – Jacob Linky (Warsaw), 182 – Brandon Hammer (Valley), 195 – Eli Pack (Culver Academy), 220 – Anthony Schuh (Triton), HWT – Caleb Lemler (Triton)