Published: January 08, 2008 11:25 pm            

WRESTLING WEDNESDAY: Jeff seniors reach unprecedented milestone against Salem

The Jeffersonville wrestling team has produced several successful classes throughout its history.

But no Red Devil class has ever accomplished what this year’s seniors did last Thursday at Johnson Arena.

The Red Devils’ 48-31 victory over Salem marked the seniors’ 100th dual-meet win in their career. No other Jeff class has ever hit the century mark for dual-meet wins.

“It’s a real big accomplishment,” said 171-pound wrestler Marc Fridley, one of seven seniors on this year’s squad. “We all just came in and worked real hard every single day.”

Fellow senior Dominique Smith, who competes at 135, said the 100-victory mark was a goal of the seniors when they entered head coach Danny Struck’s program as freshmen.

“It’s something we envisioned our freshman year, and Coach Struck pushed us to that goal,” Smith said.

Struck is impressed by the time his seniors sacrificed in reaching the milestone.

“That’s a lot of matches and a lot of weekends that you could be out doing something else,” Struck said. “It’s not like a basketball game where it’s just a Friday night. (On a typical Saturday) It’s 6 in the morning to 8 at night. That’s just a big commitment they made for four years.”

Struck credits his seniors’ participation in offseason tournaments to be a critical factor in their success. Those tournaments have included trips overseas like to Turkey and Japan and to the Junior Cadet Nationals in Fargo, N.D.

“They are a very well-traveled group, and that’s one of the things they will remember forever,” said Struck, whose senior class also includes Austin Copeland (160), Chris Matlock (160), Richard Hayes (215), K.C. Taylor (285) and Trisha Cissell (112).

With the 100-victory mark out of the way, the Red Devils are now focused on accomplishing something the program has never done — win back-to-back sectional championships. Jeff will go for the sectional repeat on Jan. 26 at home.

Fridley thinks if the Red Devils can overcome some recent injuries, they have a great shot at another sectional crown. Smith is currently battling a lower back injury, while Copeland is out of the lineup with a broken collarbone.

“We have to get everybody healthy first and make sure everybody stays healthy,” Fridley said. “We’re all going to work real hard. We’re going to have two mandatory morning practices every week from now on. The practices will get harder and they will push the varsity guys more.”

Smith thinks his team’s desire will determine if the Red Devils repeat.

“It just comes down to who wants it more,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of good guys coming from Southern Indiana now. It’s going to be close.”



AREA TEAMS AMONG FAVORITES AT HHC

Based on the seedings, Jeff is the favorite to win the Hoosier Hills Conference meet on Saturday at Floyd Central. The seeds have the host Highlanders and New Albany finishing second and third, respectively. The meet will start at 10 a.m. with the finals beginning at approximately 3:30 p.m.

The Red Devils have four No. 1 seeds in Smith, Hayes, Curtis Smith and Jon Clark.

“I think the last couple of years it’s been more competitive,” said Struck, whose squad has not won the HHC since the late 1980s. “There are more top-20 ranked kids in the state than there has been for many years.”

Floyd will have three wrestlers trying to collect more HHC hardware. Senior Cooper Samuels will be vying for his fourth straight HHC crown, this time at 171. Teammates Jeremiah Faulkenburg (140) and Tyler Alvey (160) each will be going for their second consecutive conference crown.

“I think that we have a very good chance at winning it. However, several other

schools have just as good a chance as we do,” Highlander head coach Rob Willman said. “Jeff has wrestled well this year and beat us in our very first meet of the year in a dual. New Albany has come on and wrestled very well at (the) Mater Dei (Holiday Classic). We look for everyone to meet or exceed their seed expectation. Our kids look forward to the conference and the state meet every year.”

New Albany enters the HHC meet with five No. 1 seeds, the most of any school. The Bulldogs have four returning conference champions in Nick Oxley (125), Kirk Moore (130), Ivan Rodriguez (145) and J.T. Jenkins (171).

“I think we should finish in the top four somewhere,” New Albany head coach Eric Burres said. “We have a lot of kids that should do well. There are a couple of teams that will have a chance to win it this year. I think it is going to be a fun and exciting tournament.”

Also on Saturday, Charlestown, New Washington and Providence will compete in the Southern Indiana Wrestling Conference meet at Southwestern.



PIRATES HAVE SOLID DAY AT FOREST PARK

Four Charlestown wrestlers walked away with titles at last Saturday’s Forest Park Duals.

Brandon Balmer (130) and Logan McCutcheon (215) both went 5-0 to capture their respective crowns, each making three pins. Teammates David and Jeff Stotridge each were 5-0 with two pins.

Going 4-1 for the Pirates were Eddie Duran (119), Aaron May (135), Iram Polito (140), Steve Martin (160) and Craig Brown (189).

Charlestown won four of its five dual meets, defeating Tecumseh (72-6), North Knox (63-14), Pike Central (75-6) and Forest Park (45-30). The Pirates’ lone loss came against North Posey (42-29).

“We had four champions, which is right there with our better years (at Forest Park), and we could have added two or three more,” Charlestown head coach Tom Kendrick said. “(Saturday) was the first time we had a full lineup since the (Mid-Southern Conference) Duals. We wrestled good against North Posey, but they were a little more physical. We beat everybody else pretty handily.”



JEFF 3-2 AT FRANKLIN INVITE

The Red Devils improved their dual-meet record to 28-6 by going 3-2 at last Saturday’s Franklin Community Invitational.

Jeff’s biggest win was against No. 19 Franklin, 30-29. The Devils also defeated Jennings County and Edgewood, while falling to No. 13 Evansville Reitz and Michigan powerhouse Holt.

Four Jeff grapplers earned four wins in Hayes, Caleb Browner, Tyler Tatgenhorst and Coty Hendricks.



FLOYD THIRD AT OLD CAPITOL CLASSIC

The Highlanders placed third in last Saturday’s Old Capitol Classic at Corydon, scoring 324 points.

Samuels was the Highlanders’ lone champion at 171, while Faulkenburg (140) and teammate Josh Happel (130) each finished second. Also for Floyd, Elijah Hagler (112) placed third and Eric Luckett (125) was fourth.



FLOYD DOWNS C-TOWN IN DUAL MEET

Floyd Central beat Charlestown in a dual meet last Friday at Bill Dunn Sports Arena, 50-13.

Highlander winners were Luckett, Faulkenburg, Samuels, Logan Kelly (103 by forfeit), Tom Denny (119), Garrett Blackman (152), Zach Shallers (160), John McAndrew (189), Morton Scott (215) and Clinton Kochert (285).

Charlestown victors were Balmer, May, David Stotridge and Tyler Newcomb (140).

“They got a very good program,” Kendrick said. “I thought we wrestled well. I have a lot of respect for Floyd Central.”



UPCOMING SCHEDULE

• TONIGHT: New Albany at Scottsburg, 6; Providence at Charlestown, 7.

• SATURDAY: Floyd Central, Jeffersonville, New Albany in Hoosier Hills Conference meet at Floyd Central, 10 a.m.; Charlestown, New Washington, Providence in Southern Indiana Wrestling Conference meet at Southwestern, 8 a.m.

• NEXT WEDNESDAY: Floyd Central at St. Xavier, 5 p.m.; Charlestown at Jeffersonville, 5:30 p.m.



LAST WEEK’S RESULTS

FOREST PARK DUALS

Dual-meet scores — North Posey 42, Charlestown 29; Charlestown 72, Tecumseh 6; Charlestown 63, North Knox 14; Charlestown 75, Pike Central 6; Charlestown 45, Forest Park 30.

Charlestown individuals — 103: Garza, 3-2; 112: D. Stotridge, 5-0, two pins; 119: Duran, 4-1, two pins; 125: J. Stotridge, 5-0, two pins; 130: Balmer, 5-0, three pins; 135: May, 4-1, two pins; 140: Polito, 4-1, one pin; 145: Ty. Newcomb, 3-2, one pin; 152: Daugherty, 2-3; 160: Martin, 4-1, two pins; 171: T. Brown, 3-2, one pin; 189: C. Brown, 4-1, one pin; 215: McCutcheon, 5-0, three pins; 285: Zipp, 3-2.



OLD CAPITOL CLASSIC

Team scores — Castle 459, Columbus North 439, Floyd Central 324, Zionsville 245, Whiteland 225, Heritage Hills 219, Princeton 178, Corydon 135, Indianapolis Tech 124, Mitchell 92.

Floyd individuals — 112: Hagler, third; 125: Luckett, fourth; 130: Happel, second; 140: Faulkenburg, second; 171: Samuels, first.



FRANKLIN INVITATIONAL

Dual-meet results — Jeffersonville 30, Franklin 29; Jeff d. Jennings County; Jeff d. Edgewood; Evansville Reitz d. Jeff; Holt, Mich. d. Jeff.

Jeff individuals — Browner, four wins; T. Tatgenhorst, four wins; Hayes, four wins; Hendricks, four wins.



DUAL MEETS

Floyd Central 50, Charlestown 13

103: Kelly (F), forfeit

112: D. Stotridge (C) d. Hagler, 5-2

119: Denny (F) pin Morales, 1:17

125: Luckett (F) d. J. Stotridge, 17-3

130: Balmer (C) d. Happel, 12-4

135: May (C) d. Murphy, 4-0

140: Ty. Newcomb (C) d. Moutoux, 16-14, OT

145: Faulkenburg (F) pin Ta. Newcomb, 4:40

152: Blackman (F) d. Daugherty, 11-2

160: Shallers (F) d. Martin, 3-1

171: Samuels (F) pin T. Brown, :42

189: McAndrew (F) d. C. Brown, 4-1

215: Scott (F) pin McCutcheon, 2:52

285: Kochert (F) pin Aguirre, 3:58



Jeffersonville 48, Salem 31

Jeff individuals:

103: Zinser won by forfeit.

112: Harbin lost by decision, 16-2.

119: Cissel lost by technical fall.

125: R. Weekly won by pin.

130: Simpson won by forfeit.

135: Davis lost by pin.

140: Bailey won by pin.

145: Klingsmith lost by pin.

152: C. Weekly won by forfeit.

160: Matlock won by forfeit.

171: Aquiar won by forfeit.

189: Bowen won by pin.

215: Warfield lost by pin.

285: Taylor lost by decision, 13-5.

        

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