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    #WrestlingWednesday: East Central captures 3A title

    By JEREMY HINES

    Thehines7@gmail.com

     

    East Central wrestling entered the Class 3A team state tournament as a bit of an unknown. The Trojans certainly didn’t leave that way.

     

    East Central was the No. 5 seed entering the tournament, but thanks to a must-have pin by junior Ryan Bovard, the Trojans defeated Floyds Central 33-32 to capture the state title.

     

    “That was amazing,” East Central coach Adam Wolf said. “We’ve been working hard for a long time to get to this level. It was neat just getting invited to team state, but then to win, that was great.”

     

    The Trojans battled three formidable opponents en route to the state title. They took on Northridge in the first round, winning 40-27. In the next round East Central squeaked past Franklin 37-31 setting up the showdown in the final.

     

    “We knew going into the last round that it could come down to the final match,” Wolf said. “By the last match the whole place was going crazy and we had a junior, first-year varsity wrestler up. Ryan Bovard knew we had to have a pin in order to win. He had all the pressure on him in the world and he came through. He will never forget that moment. He’s a great kid and I’m so glad he got that moment.”

     

    The Trojans feel they are a bit unknown because a big portion of their schedule comes against Ohio and Kentucky teams. East Central is located just 30 minutes from Cincinnati.

     

    “We are from an area in Indiana that isn’t though about much,” Wolf said. “We’re not in the Indy area. We’re not up north. We’re really not known around most parts of the state so us winning was probably a surprise to many.”

     

    The Trojans have three state-ranked wrestlers. Bryer Hall is the No. 1-ranked wrestler at 170 pounds. Hall, a senior, formerly wrestled for South Dearborn, but is now with the Trojans.

     

    “Bryer transferred to us two years ago and his dad is our assistant coach,” Wolf said. “He and his family have been a huge asset to our team. Bryer is a funky wrestler. It’s hard to coach him on technique because a lot of what he does is just natural, and not normal.”

     

    Coach Wolf’s young son, Blake, is ranked No. 12 in the state at 126 pounds. Blake is a sophomore. Last year Blake went undefeated until the ticket round at semistate where he ran into Alex Cottey, the eventual state champion.

     

    “That was Blake’s only loss all season last year,” coach Wolf said. “I know a lot of our kids get slept on a little bit because of our schedule being teams in Ohio and Kentucky. Blake is one of those kids that works really hard and has beaten several kids that went on to place in other states.”

     

    Senior Kole Viel is ranked No. 7 at 220 pounds.

     

    “Kole is our football player,” coach Wolf said. “He signed to play at the University of Indianapolis. He’s wrestled since he was young though, and he’s a really solid wrestler – but he’s a stud on the football field. He’s one of our captains and he has been a big tool for us to tap into those football players and show them what wrestling brings to the table. He’s got us a lot of good athletes on the team. They look up to Kole and really respect him.”

     

    Ben Wolf, coach Wolf’s older son, is a senior this season and is ranked No. 3 at 152 pounds in the New Castle semistate. He’s a team captain as well.

     

    “Ben is a hard, hard worker,” coach Wolf said. “He’s quiet, but he leads with his actions. He’s the hardest worker in our room and he’s a really good wrestler, but he hasn’t had the best showing at semistate yet. We’re hoping this is the year he performs the way we know he can.”

     

    Dylan Lengerich and Rider Searcy are also ranked in the New Castle semistate. Both are sophomores. Lengerich is No. 5 at 120 and Searcy is No. 6 at 138 pounds.

     

    The Trojans have never had a state champion in the individual tournament, which is something the team is hoping to change this year.

     

    “The future is to go up,” Wolf said. “We want to be relevant every year. We want to be known for good wrestling. That’s our goal this year with Bryer and Blake and some of the other kids coming up.

     

    “I think, now that we’ve won the team state, our kids feel they can wrestle with anyone. It’s definitely something that gave us confidence and we are hoping to build on it.”

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