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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
The Rochester wrestling team went 2-1 and finished in second place out of 12 teams at the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Class 1A team state duals at Martinsville High School Saturday.
After receiving a first-round bye, the No. 4 Zebras beat Cascade 41-24 in the quarterfinals and No. 1 Prairie Heights 50-24 in the semifinals before falling 36-33 to No. 2 Tell City in the title match.
“I wouldn’t say it was devastating,” Rochester coach Clint Gard said. “You know, our kids were disappointed. Coaches were disappointed. Sure. But as I told people that have asked me throughout the past couple days, our kids, they did a great job. They wrestled well. They wrestled hard. They represented us well. They were great sportsmen and great teammates to each other. We had a ton of energy, and kids were really fired up and into the duals. … I think there was disappointment that we didn’t get what we thought we could, But I told the kids that I was nothing but proud of them.”
Championship: Tell City 36, Rochester 33
Tell City trailed 33-6 but won the last seven matches – three falls and four decisions – to win the dual.
With the match tied 33-33, Landon Terry beat Eli Swango 11-4 at 170 for the clinching points.
Gard said he hopes this will be a lesson in wrestling under pressure for all the wrestlers on the team. He said the target is now on the Zebras’ backs.
“I’d much rather put ourselves out there and set big goals and fall short of our big goals than set little goals and accomplish them but not really extend ourselves and maybe not get the most out of yourself because you set the bar too low,” Gard said. “We had a couple guys in that final match there … that’s big pressure. … It was tough. … It’s our job to teach them how to handle that. But how do you teach them? You’ve got to be put in that situation. My hope is that we get there again next year, and it comes down to Gavin and Eli, and they get to show how much they’ve grown.”
Wyatt Davis (113), Ethan Holloway (120), Alex Deming (195) and Brady Beck (220) won by fall against Tell City. Colin Weiand (182) won by decision. Marshall Fishback (HWT) won by forfeit.
Holloway pinned Brayden Lain, a semistate qualifier last year at 126, in 58 seconds.
Semifinals: Rochester 50, Prairie Heights 24
Prairie Heights came in ranked No. 1, but they were in a 26-0 hole to the Zebras after five matches. When Aaron Swango beat Lane Wagler 6-1, Rochester had clinched the match with a 41-6 lead.
In addition to Aaron Swango’s decision, Davis (113), Holloway (120), Gavin McKee (160), Kaleb Shaffer (182), Deming (195) and Fishback (HWT) won by fall. Eli Swango (170) and Beck (220) won by major decision, and Greyson Gard (152) also won by decision.
Quarterfinals: Rochester 41, Cascade 24
The Zebras watched Cascade beat Daleville 56-23 in the opening dual of the day and then went about knocking off the Cadets.
Gard (152), Beck and Fishback won by fall. Deming won by technical fall. Davis, Holloway and Aaron Swango (126) won by major decision.
With the Zebras hanging on to a 32-24 lead with two matches left, Mitchell Shafer (145) earned the clinching points with a 5-4 decision over Duncan White.
Weiand also won by decision.
Davis (113), Holloway (120), Deming (195) and Beck (220) all went 3-0 on the day. Weiand and Kaleb Shaffer combined to go 3-0 at 182. Fishback was 2-0. Aaron Swango (126), Greyson Gard (152) also won two matches each.
Per the indianamat.com rankings, both Beck and Fishback are ranked in the top four of their respective weight classes among teams that feed into the Fort Wayne semistate, which might indicate that they are favored to make the state finals. Davis, Holloway, Deming and Gard are ranked in the top eight in their weight classes among teams that feed into Fort Wayne.
“I feel pretty good about those guys,” coach Gard said. “In my opinion, we’ve got seven or eight guys that can compete with anybody. It’ll take a big effort. We’re going to see some good individual stuff as we move forward here too. It will be fun. There’s a lot of things we can still accomplish as a team and on the individual side of it as well.”
Championship: Tell City 36, Rochester 33
(match started at 182)
106 – Walter Hagedown (TC) def. Cooper Winn (RHS), fall, 1:34
113 – Wyatt Davis (RHS) def. Max Fortwendel (TC), fall, 0:39
120 – Ethan Holloway (RHS) def. Brayden Lain (TC), fall, 0:58
126 – Kelby Glenn (TC) def. Aaron Swango (RHS), fall, 0:51
132 – Coy Hammack (TC) def. Joey Spencer (RHS), fall, 0:37
138 – Chase Stephens (TC) def. D.J. Basham (RHS), 6-1
145 – Gage Meunier (TC) def. Mitchell Shafer (RHS), fall, 1:08
152 – Tyce DuPont (TC) def. Greyson Gard (RHS), 3-1
160 – Noah Terry (TC) def. Gavin McKee (RHS), 10-4
170 – Landon Terry (TC) def. Eli Swango (RHS), 11-4
182 – Colin Weiand (RHS) def. Ethan Schraner (TC), 7-4
195 – Alex Deming (RHS) def. J.C. Buckendahl (TC), fall, 2:36
220 – Brady Beck (RHS) def. Nathan Hoskinson (TC), fall, 0:19
HWT – Marshall Fishback (RHS) wins by forfeit.
Semifinals: Rochester 50, Prairie Heights 24
(match started at 170)
106 – James Kresse (PH) def. Cooper Winn (RHS), fall, 0:43
113 – Wyatt Davis (RHS) def. Boston Baas (PH), fall, 0:28
120 – Ethan Holloway (RHS) def. Brody Hagewood (PH), fall, 3:12
126 – Aaron Swango (RHS) def. Lane Wagler (PH), 6-1
132 – Brock Hagewood (PH) def. Joey Spencer (RHS), fall, 0:16
138 – Matt Levitz (PH) def. D.J. Basham (RHS), fall, 2:24
145 – Sam Levitz (PH) def. Braydn Furnivall (RHS), fall, 1:01
152 – Greyson Gard (RHS) def. Kaleb Lounsbury (PH), 7-6
160 – Gavin McKee (RHS) def. Luke Severe (PH), fall, 0:56
170 – Eli Swango (RHS) def. Phillip Sheets (PH), 9-1
182 – Kaleb Shaffer (RHS) def. Tavvin Kyle (PH), fall, 2:48
195 – Alex Deming (RHS) def. Jericho Jackson (PH), fall, 1:37
220 – Brady Beck (RHS) def. Hunter Allen (PH), 11-1
HWT – Marshall Fishback (RHS), def. Bailey Robison (PH), fall, 0:59
Quarterfinals: Rochester 41, Cascade 24
(match started at 160)
106 – Logan Schnarr (CASC) def. Cooper Winn (RHS), fall, 1:44
113 – Wyatt Davis (RHS) def. Logan Bickel (CASC), 16-4
120 – Ethan Holloway (RHS) def. Dominic McFeeley (CASC), 10-2
126 – Aaron Swango (RHS) def. Brayden Burelison (CASC), 11-0
132 – Carter Hutchison (CASC) def. Joey Spencer (RHS), fall, 3:00
138 – Garrett Hicks (CASC) def. D.J. Basham (RHS), fall, 5:59
145 – Mitchell Shafer (RHS) def. Duncan White (CASC), 5-4
152 – Greyson Gard (RHS) def. Anthony Passwater (CASC), fall, 2:00
160 – Michael Hutchison (CASC) def. Gavin McKee (RHS), 11-5
170 – Liam Farmer (CASC) def. Eli Swango (RHS), 8-4
182 – Colin Weiand (RHS) def. Deagan Shirar (CASC), 7-2
195 – Alex Deming (RHS) def. Walker VanNess (CASC), tech fall, 18-3
220 – Brady Beck (RHS) def. Joel Semski (CASC), fall, 0:22
HWT – Marshall Fishback (RHS) def. Cyle Sullivan (CASC), fall, 1:23
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