PLYMOUTH — After a long, long day at the 2016 IHSAA Plymouth Wrestling Sectional the host Rockies were finally crowned champions of the 10-team field. Some local flavor was definitely in the mix as well as Triton, Warsaw and Wawasee all claimed at least one champion in addition to sending multiple wrestlers to next week’s regional at Rochester.

WAWASEE

The Warriors impressed in their sectional debut under Frank Bumgardner. Wawasee advanced six wrestlers to the regional level, boasted two champions and finished fourth overall. It was a great way to end the season as a team as the Warriors finally started to show their ability to win matches as opposed to simply competing.

“We did, we found ways to win matches today,” Bumgardner stated. “The six guys we got through to regional did not surprise us, we thought each of them would be able to make it. We definitely had some tough matchups in the finals but we wrestled well, we’re competing hard right now. We’ve got to clean up for next week but, with that being said, I thought our guys really stepped up today and were gutsy.”

Wawasee’s two champions were Tristin Ponsler and Braxton Alexander.

Ponsler repeated a sectional champion with a 7-2 decision over Rochester’s Aaron Orr in the 132-pound title match. Ponsler struggled briefly with his final competitor but was able to hold on for the win and celebrated in style. The senior gestured to Wawasee’s crowd after the final buzzer sounded then jumped into the arms of assistant coach Nick Rozow.

Just a few matches before, it was Alexander that officially made his mark on Wawasee’s program. The freshman, who entered with a 29-5 record, pinned Robert White of Culver Academies to clinch a sectional title at 113. Alexander has done nothing but impress throughout his entire rookie campaign and that came as no surprise to Bumgardner.

“It says a lot to what he’s done in the past,” Bumgardner said of Alexander’s title. “This kid has been wrestling for a long time and has been in big tournaments for a long time. It’s not surprising to me that he’s successful and it’s not surprising that he would win this tournament.

“This speaks a lot to what he’s capable of and he looked good. He could do some special things but he still has a lot of work to put in.”

Zac McKee had a fantastic tournament at 160 before falling to Triton’s Gage Waddle in the championship match by way of a 5-0 decision. McKee upset No. 2 seed Micah Whitfield in the semi-finals with a 7-2 decision to reach the title tilt. Jeremiah Dilley also pulled an impressive upset in the semi-finals at 195.

The junior used a 7-3 decision to best Tippecanoe Valley’s Josh Back for a spot in the championship. Plymouth’s Nate LaFree got the better of Dilley in the final despite a very entertaining contest. LaFree would win by fall in the third period.

Sophomore Ricardo Romo made it a step further than he did in his freshman campaign as he clinched third with a pin of Rochester’s Justin Risten in the first period of the consolation match at 106. Alejandro Castro won his third place match as well. The freshman used a 3-1 decision to win his final match of the day to defeat Triton’s John Salinas at 182.

TRITON

It was lucky number seven for the Trojans Saturday afternoon. Triton advanced seven grapplers to Rochester and fielded one champion on the day as the team took fifth place in the field.

Gage Waddle was the lone Trojan to walk away unscathed on the day as he took home the top prize in the 160-pound bracket. Waddle started his run with a win over Caston’s Zach Slocum. Waddle made quick work of the Comet junior, pinning him in just 44 seconds. The senior moved on to the semis where he would again win by fall in the first period, this time over Bremen’s Matthew Moore.

Waddle faced Wawasee’s Zac McKee in the championship round and would win by way of a 5-0 decision.

The only other Trojans to make it to a final was Malachi Greene, who entered as the top seed at 120. Greene was a winner by fall over both Victor Mejia of Warsaw and Trent Jones of Culver but finally suffered defeat in the championship round. Greene was bested by Adam Davis of Culver Academies in the final after a 5-0 decision.

At 113 the Trojans pushed through Bryce Swihart, who would finished fourth in his bracket. Adonic Salinas placed fourth at 126 after getting pinned by Bremen’s Eric Starke in the consolation bracket. Triton picked yet another fourth place qualifier in Nick Harker at 145. James Snyder wrestled his way to a fourth place finish as well to punch a ticket to Rochester at 152 while John Salinas was upset in the semi-finals and would settle for fourth at 182.

WARSAW

It was a mixed bag of results for the Tigers after a sixth place team finish. In total the Orange and Black advanced five to Rochester, all five of those wrestlers competed in championship matches.

Kyle Hatch highlighted that field as the only champion. Hatch moved to 39-0 on the season after running rampant through the bracket at 138. Hatch was winner by fall in all three of his contests downing Gavin Yoder of Bremen (1:15), Thomas Rensberger of Rochester (1:09) and eventually taking out Steven Muthart in the second period of the title match.

The biggest surprise of the day for Warsaw came in the smallest package with Gustavo Cartajena. The freshman made it to the finals at 106 before dropping a 7-3 decision to Spencer Penrose of Culver Academies.

“I was really happy with Gustavo Cartajena today,” remarked Tiger head coach Justin Smith. “He’s unseeded at 106, he comes in and gets second. I think that’s great for him. I think he has a lot of the tools to become a great wrestler.”

Luis Jaurez made a splash at 182 as well. The senior punched his regional ticket with wins over Braden Martin of Bremen and John Salinas of Triton to advance to the championship. Plymouth’s Jeremy Splix proved to be the Kryptonite to Jaurez’s run as the top-seeded Rockie was a winner by fall in the first period.

“Hats off to Luis Jaurez,” Smith said of his senior. “He was also unseeded and knocks off the two seed as a senior to to regional for the first time. I’m very happy for him.”

Things got a little interesting in the final two matches of the day, both which featured Tigers. Andrew Brock battled for a title at 220 while Alec Haines fought for his own immortality at 285. Both would come up empty handed, but not for a lack of effort. Both matches proved to be two of the closest of the entire tournament.

Brock, who upset No. 2 seed Simon Griffith of CMA in the semi-finals, lost a 4-2 decision in OT to Tyler Moser in the championship. Haines upset top-seeded Alecksander McBee to advance to the 285 title where he would fall to Rochester’s Dan Clark 2-1. Clark scored his winning point in the final 30 seconds. Both matches left Warsaw fans scratching their heads and looking for answers.

“You can’t be too mad about five in the finals, but I wish some of those finals matches would’ve went another way,” Smith stated. “At 220 and in the heavyweight match I guess, I don’t know. You call stalling on a kid that’s pushed the other kid out of bounds five times and he loses the match because of it, I just don’t know if I agree with that. It is what it is, we should’ve scored more points.”

TIPPECANOE VALLEY

The Vikings had one of those days that are better off left buried in the back of your mind and used for motivation during the offseason. Valley finished last in the tournament and advanced no wrestlers to the regional.

Valley’s top finisher was Josh Back at 195. The senior defeated Mike Castor of Warsaw to start his day but then dropped his next two matches. Back ended his day with a win over Cam Scarberry of Triton in the fifth place match. Back will be an alternate for the regional.

Tyler Manuszak and Jameson Baker each finished sixth at 182 and 220, respectively.

“It’s disappointing, definitely a low point for us right now,” said Valley coach Kyler Kearby.

Kearby was asked about the program moving forward to which he cited growth as a key concern.

“We’ve got to get the club going and our middle school team as well,” Kearby added. “I expect a heck of a middle school season, I’ll be down there coaching them. It’s just going from the ground up right now. There’s better days ahead, I’ll guarantee that.”