MISHAWAKA – Warsaw wrestling coach Justin Smith said he would know where Kyle Hatch stood after seeing him compete in the Mishawaka Invitational.

It’s safe to say that Smith has to feel pretty good about where his sophomore standout is at this point in the season.

Sophomore Hatch capped off an impressive performance in the two-day invite on Wednesday by claiming the championship of the 120-pound class.

Hatch, who placed eighth at 106 at State last year as a freshman, went 5-0 in the two-day loaded field at Mishawaka.

Hatch pinned Marcus Mejia of Elkhart Memorial in the title match. Earlier in the day, he defeated Austin Slates of Penn by a fall.

Hatch won four of his five matches at the Al Smith tourney by falls and the other one by a technical fall.

Hatch is now a perfect 22-0 on the season.

Penn won the team championship at the Al Smith Invite with 242 points. Elkhart Memorial finished in fourth place with 154.5. Warsaw scored 62 points.

Hatch returns to action on Jan. 10 as the Tigers will compete in the East Noble Invitational in Kendallville.

37^th ANNUAL AL SMITH WRESTLING INVITATIONAL

At Mishawaka

Team scores: Penn 242, Merrillville 213, Warren Central 194 ½, Elkhart Memorial 154 ½, Lawrence North 154 ½, Bellmont 146, Mishawaka 139, South Bend Riley 128, Chesterton 125, Hobart 124 ½, Center Grove 114, Lowell 105, Prairie Heights 98 ½, Columbus East 87 ½, Goshen 80, Lake Central 78 ½, Garrett 76 ½, Peru 73, NorthWood 64, Warsaw 62, Jimtown 60, Danville 58, Rochester 57, Jasper 55 ½, Calumet 51, South Bend Adams 50 ½, Lawrence Central 50, Munster 48 ½, West Noble 45, Princeton Community 41, LaPorte 34.

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

106: Colton Cummings (Lowell) dec. Graham Rooks (Columbus East), 7-3.

113: Drew Hildebrandt (Penn) dec. Michael DeLaPena (Merrillville), 3-0.

120: Kyle Hatch (Warsaw) pinned Marcus Mejia (Elkhart Memorial), 4:43.

126: Elliott Molloy (Danville) dec. Jason Crary (Munster), 9-2.

132: Matthew McKinney (Warren Central) dec. Clarence Johnson (Merrillville), 2-1.

138: Tommy Cash (Lawrence North) pinned Zack Fattore (Hobart), 2:19.

145: Jacob Covaciu (Merrillville) dec. Trent Pruitt (Warren Central), 2-0.

152: Tommy Forte (Mishawaka) dec. jarod Swank (Penn), 6-0.

160: Drew Hughes (Lowell) pinned Denzyl Prentice (Penn), 1:16.

170: Joey Mammolenti (Penn) pinned Scottie Sopko (Hobart), 2:23.

182: Chase Osborn (Penn) dec. Andrew Davison (Chesterton), 8-5.

195: Nick Fowler (Calumet) dec. Jarius Perry (Merrillville), 3-0.

220: Kobe Woods (Penn) dec. Courvois Morrow (Warren Central), 9-7.

285: Shawn Streck (Merrillville) pinned Jasion Brogan (Warren Central), 1:52.

 

CONSOLATION ROUND

(For 3^rd place)

106: Tylor Triana (Hobart) maj. dec. Kory Cavanaugh (Penn), 9-1. 113: Zach Blevins (Center Grove) dec. Mason Mendez (Bellmont), 3-1. 120: Ryan Hardesty (Mishawaka) dec. Jon Becker (Bellmont), 7-2. 126: Joel McGhee (Warren Central) dec. Daniel Gunsett (Bellmont), 4-2. 132: Austen Laughlin (Riley) maj. dec. Fernando Luevano (West Noble), 16-4. 138: Diego Lemley (Chesterton) dec. Jim Franko (Jimtown), 5-4 OT (criteria). 145: Tony Vaughn (Elkhart Memorial) dec. Doug Levitz (Prairie Hts.), 10-5. 152: Peyton Sturgill (Peru) pinned Ronnie Longbreak (Elkhart Memorial), 1:15. 160: Tristan Goering (Riley) dec. Lucas Davison (Chesterton), 10-6. 170: Cameron Jones (Lawrence No) dec. Chase Deal (Mishawaka), 9-5. 182: Jake Kleimola (Lake Central) dec. Ricky Samuels (Lawrence No), 3-2. 195: Justin Stone (Lawrence Central) pinned John Bigbie (Lowell), 2:23. 220: Kaleb Summers (Elkhart Memorial) pinned Derek Paz (Goshen), 4:10. 285: Cory Christman (Penn) pinned Brian Shaw (Riley), 4:01.

 

CONSOLATION ROUND

(For 5^th place)

106: Tanner DeMien (NorthWood) dec. Zak Siddiqui (Center Grove), 9-5. 113: Erik Owens (Warren Central) dec. Dawson Combest (Columbus East), 3-1. 120: Isaac Castro (Lawrence No) won by forfeit over Austin Slates (Penn). 126: Jim Greathouse (Jimtown) dec. Justin Johnson (Merrillville), 5-2. 132: Nick Smith (Lawrence North) pinned Danny Olsen (Adams), 1:48. 138: Tavris Evans (Adams) dec. Joel Byler (Goshen), 1-0. 145: Tavonte Malone (Adams) dec. Kassius Breathitt (Riley), 1-0. 152: Garrett Griffin (NorthWood) pinned Kodie Christenson (Lake Central), 2:02. 160: Phillip Mathiak (Elkhart Memorial) won by injury default over Bryce Baumgartner (Bellmont). 170: Jack Davison (Chesterton) pinned Brett Baker (Bellmont), 4:28. 182: David Eli (Elkhart Memorial) pinned Kamau Richardson (Merrillville), 4:59. 195: Wes Beck (Rochester) dec. Tanner Bradley (Mishawaka), 5-1. 220: Blake Davis (Garrett) dec. Brandon Streck (Merrillville), 3-0. 285: Sean Galligar (Columbus East) pinned Braxton Amos (Prairie Hts.), 2:45.

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