dstruck Posted January 7, 2009 Share Posted January 7, 2009 HS WRESTLING: Floyd rolling, not reeling in rebound season New coach, cast keep things rolling at FC By MATT CRESS Matthew.Cress@newsandtribune.com A new coach and the loss of the perhaps the most decorated wrestler in school history perhaps left many mat observers thinking this would be a down year for Floyd Central. They thought wrong. Heading into a crucial weekend where the Highlanders will meet Charlestown in a dual meet and travel to the highly-competitive Old Capital Classic in Corydon, Floyd has proven it is still among the elite in local wrestling. The Highlanders are 18-5 on the year after going unbeten at the Valley Super Duals in Louisville last Saturday. Though the departure of coach Rob Willman and promotion of assistant coach Brandon Sisson to the top spot and the graduation of state champion Cooper Samuels stung the program, the Highlanders have proven that their system still works. ?We all grew up in this program,? said Sisson. ?Rob didn?t change a whole lot when he took over and I haven?t changed a whole lot. It?s a proven product and it?s done its job.? One staple of the program that hasn?t changed is the always-tough schedule. Floyd suffered its first losses of the season ? to Lawrence North, Portage, Franklin and Westview ? at the Calumet Duals in mid-December. That was followed by a second-place finish at the Highlanders? own invitation on Dec. 20, a tournament that included wins over Corydon, Oldham County, South Oldham and Tipton, with the loss coming to champion St. Xavier. ?Cooper managed to go undefeated, but it?s very, very difficult for a kid to go unbeaten against our schedule,? Sisson said. ?We know that we?re going to take some losses, but we also know that we?re going to learn a lot.? Still, it?s not like Sisson?s cupboard was completely bare. Johnny McAndrew has had a solid season wrestling at 171 pounds, finishing third at the brutal Mater Dei tournament and drawing plenty of praise of his coach. He was also 7-0 during the Highlanders? clean sweep of Hoosier Hills Conference foes at the HHC Duals early in December. ?He?s been in some great matching with a lot of state-caliber kids and he has done very well,? Sisson said. Floyd has also seen the emergence of juniors Aaron Witt and Ben Moberly (145) and senior Garrett Blackman (135), who have become among the most dangerous have area grapplers. Both Witt and Moberly were unbeaten at the HHC Duals, while Blackman went 6-1. Sophomore Reed Emerson and Logan Kelly have also been essential to the Highlanders? success thus far, as the Floyd system continues to churn out enough talent to make the rebuilding year a forgotten concept ? no matter what people thought before the year began. ?Our team goals are to win conference, win sectional and regional and get our team to state,? Sisson said. ?Those are our goals every year regardless of where we?re at. It?s always unchanging.? The Highlanders will host Charlestown on Friday and the Old Capital Classic ? with a host of big-name schools like Heritage HIlls, Princeton, Columbus North, Castle and Zionsville ? will be held on Saturday. JEFFERSONVILLE This year?s Red Devils keep on accomplishing things that the school has never done before ? and this weekend was no exception. Jeff won the two-day, 12-team Warrior Classic at Scottsburg by beating Danville (50-6), Greencastle (46-6), Bishop Chatard (55-9), Southwestern (40-6) and Jennings County (38-18) on the opening day for a 5-0 start. On the final afternoon of the tourney, the Devils took down Fort Wayne Concordia, Edgewood, Washington and Scottsburg to set up a meeting with Columbus North in the finals. Devon Miller, Alex Baley, Coty Hendricks and Caleb Visser helped the cause with narrow one-point victories and Jeff overcame the Bull Dogs 38-24 to take the crown. ?This was a really good tourney for us,? said Jeff coach Danny Struck. ?We have been wrestling a grueling schedule and have taken second at three tourneys now. It was great for the kids to see their work pay off.? Tyler Tatgenhorst had another big meet for Jeff, going 9-0 at 189 to claim his third straight Warrior Classic title, and he even moved up to 215 to beat Greencastle?s Jacob Wright, the eventual champion in the weight class. Sophomore Renaldo Weekly was more of a surprise, as he went 10-0 to capture Jeff?s second individual title of the meet. It was Jeff?s first ever team title at the Warrior Classic, and also the school?s first win over Columbus North, a team state finalist last season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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