Bulldog Breakdown: Rout vs. Avon Rolls Brownsburg Into Ironman

By Anna Kayser

As the rumble of the crowd simmered following a palm to the mat in favor of acting 126-pounder Jake Hockaday on Tuesday night, the usual boom of speakers announcing 132-pound No. 4 Brady Ison took the tone of another.

With nine points already on the board in favor of those joining him in the purple and white singlets, the smoke cleared to reveal freshman Tommy Gibbs – winner of Brownsburg’s coveted “pin chain” following last week’s dual vs. Westfield as he boasted the second of three consecutive falls by the Bulldog lineup.

“It was a big confidence booster,” Gibbs said of his season-opening win by fall. “I thought I was going to win, but I didn’t think I was going to win that fast and make a statement.”

Facing Avon’s No. 11 Seth Syra, Gibbs’ confidence rolled him to a 6-1 win via decision.

“Tommy’s a coach’s dream, he just does everything right – in the hallways, in the classroom, and then in his approach,” head coach Darrick Snyder said. “He doesn’t care about rankings… or anything like that. He’s just trained so hard that he can wrestle the entire match and he feels even better in the third period than he does in the first.”

Behind Gibbs’ standout win, a gritty 3-1 decision by No. 2 Revin Dickman over No. 4 Nathan Rioux and five pins, the Bulldogs clinched their seventh consecutive victory over the Orioles, 62-3, continuing the tone they have set and elevated to a now 7-0 record through the first week of official competition.

Dickman’s 3-1 decision put an exclamation point on a strong dual performance in which Brownsburg took 13 of 14 bouts for their second-largest victory over Avon since Snyder’s coaching career with the Bulldogs began, second only to last season’s 65-3 win. Since losing to Avon, 28-26, in Snyder’s first year as a coach, the Bulldogs have outscored the Orioles in regular-season duals, 326-91.

“They’ve wrestled 100 times and they’re both really talented,” Snyder said. “Revin’s always been able to kind of gain the advantage – he did get away from Revin, and not many people can get away from him so I know that bothered him.

“Fortunately or unfortunately, I think we’re going to see that match several more times throughout the year.”

Brownsburg’s lone loss on the evening came from the weightiest battle of the dual at 138 pounds, featuring No. 4 Parker Reynolds against No. 3 Cheany Schoeff, freshman against a senior.

Reynolds kept his pace with Schoeff, dropping the match by a 5-2 decision.

“We told him, he’s going to come out and bully you,” Snyder said. “Parker gave up that early takedown and then did a nice job battling for positions. I liked how he responded – that kid’s going to get some more mat time in high school varsity matches so we’re going to try to correct some things, but I liked his energy and effort.”

Rolling through the dual with falls were Hockaday, 145-pound Mason Day, 170-pound Tyler Jones, 182-pound Caden Brewer and 113-pound Kye Callahan. The Bulldogs put up bonus points in nine total matches, including a forfeit at heavyweight against Leighton Jones.

This weekend, eight representatives from Brownsburg’s lineup will take on arguably their biggest competition this season at the nationally recognized Ironman Invitational in Ohio. With representatives joining the gauntlet from across state lines, the highly-ranked Bulldogs are set to battle some of the best high school wrestlers in the nation.