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    2009 Laporte Sectional Recap

    by Keyser Soze

     

    The 2009 edition of the Laporte sectional may have been the most physical, hard-nosed tournament that this venue has witnessed in many a year.  The event ran much longer than anticipated due to the numerous injury and blood time taken in the final round, as the Laporte high school training staff had its work cut out for itself on this day.

     

    Portage ran the field on this day, ending Chesterton's two-year sectional title streak with seven weight-class champions.  The Indians easily outdistanced the competition, scoring 266 points.  Chesterton followed with 211, then Knox (173.5), New Prairie (160), Michigan City (143), Laporte (134.5), John Glenn (72.5), and North Judson (36).

     

    On to the action. . .

     

    103-This weight class held pretty much true to its seeding.  #1 seed Jesse Duque won easily in the finals over Tyler Dankert of Laporte 11-2.  The consolations featured freshman Cole Stephens of Michigan City pinning senior George Choucalas of Chesterton in 4:29.  The 5th/6th place contest had #4 seed Reese Armstrong of New Prairie defeating Mike Poetz of Knox 5-0 in their second matchup of the day as they wrestled each other in the first round.

     

    112-With the exception of the #3 seed Joe Kelly (son of former East Chicago Coach Bill Kelly) taking out the #2 seed Travis Mowery of John Glenn in the semis, the seeds pretty much held true to form.  Brandon Coppinger of Portage edged Kelly in the finals 7-6, while Travis Mowery of Glenn pinned Frank Mancuso of Laporte in 3:17.  The 5th place match went to Nathan King of New Prairie 8-4 over Ed Babinec of Michigan City.

     

    119-To no one's surprise, Danny Bradley of Knox pinned his way through the tournament, taking out #3 seed Damien Torres of Portage in the finals with a fall in 3:43.  The white ribbon went to unseeded Justin Zosso of Chesterton, who defeated Cody Dubich of New Prairie 12-9.  Fifth place was won by Kenny Smith of Michigan City, who majored Tyler Woodrick of Laporte 10-1.

     

    125-This weight class went pretty much as seeded as Luis Acuna of Portage beat Kyle Hernandez of Knox 6-3 in the finals.  The consolations saw Bill Petrocelli of Chesterton winning a wild match 18-10 over Kye Stachowski of Laporte.  Myles White of Glenn won a back and forth match for fifth place, taking out Dalton Yeransian of Michigan City 13-11 with a late reversal and riding out the clock.

     

    130- The finals of this weight class was an offensive clinic, as top-seeded Zack Thornton of Chesterton took #2 seed Joe Zigler behind the woodshed for a 12-3 major decision victory.  #4 seed Devann Biddle won a tight contest to take the third place ribbon, edging unseeded Robert Blackwell of Portage 2-1 in a nailbiter.  Robert Davis of North Judson wasted no time in winning fifth place, pinning Dakota Rudynski of Glenn in :40.

     

    135-Our first upset of the tournament, if you want to call it that, came in the finals, where #3 seed Chris Santos of Portage beat #1 seed Thomas Lusco of Michigan City 7-4.  Aaron Jeske of New Prairie took third, topping unseeded Richie Clark of North Judson by tech fall 16-0.  Joel Gillespie of Chesterton pinned Travis Wintczak of Knox for fifth place in 4:44.

     

    140-This weight class title was decided by a single point, as Garrett "Gator" Payne edged the upset-minded Brandon Garvey of Chesteron by the score of 6-5.  The consolations were less compelling, as Nick Santana of Laporte pinned Dillan Escobedo of New Prairie in 2:54.  Chris Saylor of Portage pinned Cody Strange of Glenn in 3:51 to take fifth place.

     

    145-Top-seeded Spencer Stockwell was injured in the semi-finals match against #4 seeded Niles Goodman of New Prairie on an illegal move, so Tony Nuzzo of Portage won the finals by injury default.  Stockwell immediately sought outside medical attention, and his status for next week's regional is uncertain.  Goodman fought his way back to the consolations, losing the 3rd place match to Daniel Peronis of Michigan City 13-6.  Tyler Potthoff of Knox squeaked by Clint Nelson of Laporte to claim fifth place.

     

    152-Top-seeded and 2008 state champion Sean McMurray of Portage defeated Duneland conference foe and freshman phenom Anthony Quiroz of Chesterton 7-1.  In the consolations, perhaps one of the most toughest competitors of the day, Jordan Martin of New Prairie took third after suffering what looked like a season ending injury in the semi-finals against Quiroz.  This senior toughed it out, displaying a gutty performance in pinning NSC foe Mike Hernandez in :28.  Fifth place went to Michigan City's Justin Barnes, who topped Josh Dunbar of Glenn 11-5.

     

    160-#3 seed Justin Rhein of Portage showed that he's for real, upending #1 seed Jimmy Krause of Knox by the score of 8-3.  Cody Miranda of Michigan City survived to take third, defeating Zack Smith of Laporte in a wild one, 19-12, despite wrestling with injury.  Senior Ryan Balanow of New Prairie closed out his season and high school career with a win, pinning Tanner Harmon of Glenn in :40.

     

    171-Top-seeded Adam Winebrenner of Knox didn't leave teammate Danny Bradley as the only Redskin on the top tier of the awards stand.  Winebrenner defeated #2 seed Aaron King of Portage 4-1 in a tightly contested battle.  #4 seed Tony Sanchez of Chesteron pinned New Prairie's Jeff Jurczak in 3:15 to claim third.  Freshman Andrew Schuelke of Laporte ended his season with a fall in 1:02 over Thierry Lyles of Michigan City to take fifth place.

     

    189-#3 seed Bryce Holland made a statement Saturday, taking his second sectional title, this time at 189, downing #1 seed Alex Windbigler of Knox decisively 15-5.  Kyle Keith of Portage, after suffering an upset loss to Holland 6-2 in the semis, came back with a vengeance, pinning Sevante Yates of Chesterton in :36 to place third.  Eric Singleton of New Prairie topped Connor Pahs of Michigan City 20-6 to win fifth.

     

    215-The much bally-hooed matchup between #1 seed and third-ranked Kannon Keigley of New Prairie  and #2 seed and 16th ranked  Nathaniel Coleman of Portage was close for one period.  Keigley took advantage of a Coleman miscue and registered the fall in 3:13.  Nathan Chambers of Knox kept his senior season alive, pinning Gus Hultman of Chesterton in 5:15.  Fifth place went to Anthony Williams of Michigan City, as he pinned Jon Schwartz of North Judson in 3:09.

     

    285-John Glenn's Craig Fitzgerald made a big statement Saturday, wrestling three matches for a total time of 2:24.  His last victim, Alex Boatright of Chesterton, fared the best, lasting until 1:08 was expired in the first period.  Greg Wedow of Laporte pinned Logan Fischer of Portage in the consolations in 5:33.  Freshman Dustin Fanson of Michigan City took fifth, pinned Quentin Barnhart of North Judson in 1:57

     

    So, here's a list of placers and regional qualifiers from the Laporte sectional.

     

    Portage:  (qualified 13) 7 champions, 3 runners-up, 1 third, 2 fourths.

     

    Chesterton:  (qualified 12)  1 champion, 5 runners-up, 3 thirds, 3 fourths.

     

    Knox:  (qualified 8)  2 champions, 3 runners-up, two thirds, 1 fourth.

     

    New Prairie (qualified 9)  1 champion, one runner-up, 2 thirds, 5 fourths.

     

    Michigan City (qualified 5)  1 champion, one runner-up, 3 thirds

     

    Laporte (qualified 6)  1 champion, one runner-up, 2 thirds, 2 fourths

     

    Glenn (qualified 2)  1 champion, 1 fourth

     

    North Judson (qualified 1)  1 fourth

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