Mike Ester and the Indiana Tech Warriors set the tone early and didn’t let up in the first match in the school’s history. The Warriors defeated the third ranked Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders 29-18 in front of a standing room only crowd at the Warrior Athletic Complex. The night started and ended almost identically, both literally and figuratively with the Lefever twins on the receiving ends of forfeits. In between those forfeits was some great wrestling that had the crowd on their feet the whole time.
South Bend native Kyle Long started the night out on fire defeating #6 ranked Harrison Courtney 12-0. In the only battle of two ranked opponents Long dominated from start to finish. Five point moves in the first and second period set the tone as Long never seemed to be in any trouble throughout the match. At 174lbs Kafuba Donzon, a JUCO transfer from Darton Community College(Georgia), put on a takedown clinic getting seven takedowns en route to a 17-8 major decision victory. The win pushed the Warrior lead to 14-0.
After taking several years off of school and wrestling Fort Wayne’s own Tanner Martin put on a show at 184lbs. The former Snider state qualifier did not look rusty as he defeated James Haywood 19-8 in a wild match that featured many upper body throws and Tanner Martin double legs. The Warriors suffered their first defeat at 197lbs when former Mishawaka Caveman Dustin Boyd lost 7-2 to #7 Jacob Bradford. Boyd made things interesting in the third period when he took Bradford down early, but he could not get the much needed points to overcome the early deficit. The heavyweight match did not go Indiana Tech’s way as Derek Nickel lat dropped Andre Dunn early and picked up the fall 1:01 into the match.
Connor Hughes of Indiana Tech faced #9 Myron Bradbury of Lindsey Wilson at 125lbs. Hughes and Bradbury were knotted at two entering the third period, but an escape and takedown by Bradbury sealed the 5-2 victory for the Blue Raider. The most dominant performance came at 133lbs when former Prairie Heights Panther Travis Barroquillo defeated #9 ranked Keith Klink by a 16-1 tech fall. Barroquillo led 4-0 entering the third period, but put on a show by putting Klink to him back from his feet twice to get the much needed tech fall. With the win, the Warriors were ahead 23-12 with two matches left.
The last two matches were anti-climatic as Indiana Tech freshman Adam Fahs was forced to default his match late into the first period due to a shoulder injury. At 149lbs, former Carroll Charger Reece Lefever rounded out the meet accepting a forfeit.
The night was quite special as it was the first ever college wrestling match in Fort Wayne and the Warriors put on quite a show. The standing room only crowd was loud and boisterous, which surely fueled the already fired up Warrior wrestlers. The Warriors utilized great conditioning to break their opponents in the third period and were very impressive. Look for the Warriors to make quite an impact this year and over the next few years.
125- #9 Myron Bradbury(LW) decision Connor Hughes 5-2
133- Travis Barroquillo(IT) tech fall #9 Kieth Klink 15-0
141- #6 DaMonte Riley(LW) Injury Default Adam Fahs
149- Reece Lefever(IT) Forfeit
157- Conner Lefever(IT) Forfeit
165- #11 Kyle Long(IT) major decision #6 Harrison Courtney 12-0
174- Kafuba Donzon(IT) major decision Aaron Back 17-8
184- Tanner Martin(IT) major decision James Haywood 19-8
197- #7 Jacob Bradford(LW) decision Dustin Boyd 7-2
285- Derek Nickel(LW) pin Andre Dunn 1:01
Final Score 29-18 Indiana Tech
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