Lafayette Jefferson vs. West Lafayette

Jordan Rogers wasn't going to be denied on his senior night.

The Lafayette Jeff heavyweight recognized that West Lafayette had all the momentum and that he would have to secure a pin or tech fall for the Bronchos to be victorious.

Rogers capped the Bronchos' 30th dual meet win of the season with a pin 26 seconds into the third period that gave Jeff a 30-28 victory over the Red Devils in a battle between the two biggest threats to Harrison's run at a fifth straight sectional title.

"It wasn't easy, but the feeling was unbelievable," Rogers said. "You can't go in with a bad mindset. I went in there thinking I need to win this. I am glad I won this for my family. This team is my family."

Rogers' victory gives Lafayette Jeff momentum going into Saturday's North Central Conference meet at Crawley Center.

Wednesday's meet came off the back of West Lafayette's Hoosier Conference championship last weekend and showed the Red Devils are every bit of a threat to win the sectional as Jeff.

Trailing 24-13, West Side recaptured the lead with three straight wins.

Andrew Gary scored a pin at 182 pounds, Chris Kidwell's shoot in the final minute led to a takedown and a 6-5 win at 195 pounds and Dylan Trent's third-period pinfall gave the Red Devils a 28-24 lead going into the final bout.

Aaron Casillas also earned a pinfall win at 126 pounds, Logan Robinson won by decision at 138 and Charlie Randall opened the meet with a major decision victory at 113 pounds.

"They are a great team and well coached with great tradition," WL coach Rick Roseman said. "A couple matches didn't go our way, but again, this gets us ready for the sectional."

Rogers ultimately became the hero, but three straight mid-meet matches set the stage for the thrilling finish.

The Bronchos, who received early victories from Jon Anderson via pin at 120 pounds and Adan Magallanes by decision at 132, trailed 13-9 when Clay Jones took the mat to face Jeffrey Cassell at 145 pounds.

Jones controlled the match and turned that into six points when he put Cassell's shoulders to the mat with one second left in the second period, giving the Bronchos the lead.

"This was good competition and it was a sectional opponent and coming in we wanted to get 30 wins," Jones said. "I think Jordan's last match will definitely carry momentum into working hard this week and preparing for Saturday."

Matt Grammer and Mikey Kidwell followed with an even battle. Kidwell made a mistake attempting a takedown in overtime and Grammer earned a 4-2 win.

At 160 pounds, Nathan Simmons nearly suffered a loss via pin to Brendan Adams before slipping out of a hold and scoring a near fall himself in a 10-3 decision. Garrett Fair followed with an 8-1 victory at 170 that gave the Bronchos the 24-13 advantage.

"We've had a week-and-a-half to train and I think our training has not been probably as good as it should have been." Jeff coach Tom Miller said. "The intensity in the room hadn't necessarily been there, but West Lafayette has eight seniors in their lineup. That's a good team and they are going to be formidable in the sectional. They are going to be one of the favorites. I think they are even more of a favorite than we are at this point."

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