Tourney begins: New Castle is heavily favored to win the team championship
Jeremy Hines
Sports Editor
New Castle enters today's wrestling sectional at Shenandoah as a heavy favorite to win the team title. But the individual wrestling throughout the day should provide a lot of drama.
"They will be reporting my death if we don't win," New Castle coach Rex Peckinpaugh said. "Because of the number of seeds we have and that we fill all weight classes, we should certainly win."
There is the potential for several big showdowns featuring local wrestlers.
Brenden Campbell is the most dominant wrestler at 103 pounds, and shouldn't be challenged much during the day. Campbell is ranked No. 1 in the state in that weight class and he currently has a 39-0 record as a freshman. Shenandoah's Jake Dodd has the second best record in that class at 20-9.
If things go according to the seeding, the 112-pound final could pit New Castle freshman Connor Mullins up against Rushville's Cody Stewart. Mullins (39-1) is ranked third in the state and Stewart (25-2) comes in ranked No. 8. Mullins is the No. 1 seed and Stewart is second.
New Castle and Rushville wrestled during the regular season but Mullins and Stewart did not face each other. Instead Campbell wrestled up a weight class and pinned Stewart.
The 119-pound weight class is full of talented area grapplers. Ryan Leeka (32-0) of Tri is the top seed, but Shenandoah's Tyler Sink (17-9) and New Castle's Alex Catron (35-3) both hope to contend for the championship.
Leeka and Catron, the top two seeds, have not faced each other.
"Ryan Leeka is having a great year," Peckinpaugh said. "He certainly wants to win just as bad as we do. That should be great competition."
Tri coach Jerry Ingalls is excited just to watch that potential matchup.
"That could be a real good battle," Ingalls said. "Those are two veteran kids that have been wrestling for a long time. They both have a lot of experience. Whoever brings it will win that match. Who has done the most on their own time, with school being out, and stayed focused will end up winning."
Shenandoah's Zach Williams is the top seed at 125 pounds. Williams is 12-3 this season. New Castle's R.J. Fellers (17-8, No. 2 seed) and Tri's Robbie Parish (24-8) are also serious contenders in the weight class.
New Castle's Cody Fellers is the top wrestler at 130 pounds. Fellers is 39-2. The only wrestler with a record even close to Fellers is Rushville's Joe Hunter (22-5).
All of the local wrestling coaches agree that the most interesting weight class will be the 135-pound class.
Centerville's Keifer Uphaus (32-2) is the top seed but Tri's Tyler Leeka (27-5), Shenandoah's Eric Krathwohl (17-9), New Castle's Levi Rose (29-9), Rushville's Collin Hillen (24-2) and Richmond's Adam Smith (24-7) are all very capable of taking the sectional championship.
"That weight class is the most competitive one in the sectional," Peckinpaugh said.
The top two wrestlers at 140 pounds are Rushville's No. 1-seeded Keith Duncan (24-3) and New Castle's Dustin Slover (31-8).
The 145-pound class could be a revenge match for New Castle's Dusty Bennett. Bennett (25-8), the No. 2 seed, could see top-seeded Kevin Fox (21-6) in the final. Fox defeated Bennett in overtime in the North Central Conference meet last week.
New Castle's Zach Marcum (29-6) is the top seed at 152 pounds. Northeastern's Cody Becker (29-6) is seeded second.
One of the best area showdowns could come in the 160-pound final. New Castle's Von Wasson (38-3) is the top seed with Shenandoah's Luke Hamm (27-2) seeded second.
"Wasson and Hamm could be a great match," Peckinpaugh said. "They are both excellent young men who are very athletic and determined."
Rushville has the top seed at 171-pounds, but Knightstown's No. 2 seed Jordan Howard (25-7), New Castle's Ryan Allee (14-8) and Shenandoah's James Bowling (17-10) are all hoping for the upset.
New Castle's Matt Cole (15-8) is the No. 1 seed at 215 pounds.
There could be another great showdown between New Castle and Shenandoah in the heavyweight final. Shenandoah's Sam Poole is the top seed, entering with a 26-3 record. New Castle's Dimitrios Alafogianis is an NCC champion, the No. 2 seed and has a 32-3 record.
"I haven't watched Dimitrios wrestled this year, but Sam had to wrestle his brother Eli three or four times and Eli always came out on top, but they were always close matches," Shenandoah coach Scott Widner said.
The top four wrestlers in each weight class will advance to regional.