<p>MOORESVILLE</p><p>Moving up three weight classes did nothing to stop the wrestling momentum of Center Grove sophomore Hayden Watson.</p><p>A sectional champion a year ago at Mooresville at 113 pounds, Watson displayed similar dominance on Saturday, returning to the same gymnasium and capturing the title in the 132 division with three convincing performances.</p><p>Watson, ranked sixth in the state, improved to 35-1 with a 9-1 victory over Decatur Central’s Conner Alcala in the final. He was one of 11 Johnson County wrestlers to claim titles, an impressive showing led by Franklin’s five individual champions.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>The offseason, Watson said, provided him plenty of time to adjust to a new weight class.</p><p>“During the summer, you just get bigger. You lift all of the time and get more muscle mass,” said Watson, the highest-ranked of the county wrestlers. “Everybody was gunning for me. When you’re the highest-ranked you always have a target on your back.”</p><p>Franklin’s 234 points were good enough for the Grizzly Cubs to secure their second straight sectional team title, the 19th in program history and first under new head coach Jim Tonte.</p><p>The procession of Grizzly Cub wrestlers walking to the top of the awards podium began with 120-pounder Jake Bechert, who takes a 23-10 record into Saturday’s regional, also hosted by Mooresville. He was followed by teammates Jude Barger (138, 24-11), Tyler Fuqua (160, 32-3), Jalen Ward (170, 30-5) and Harris Eason (195, 32-2).</p><p>Bechert, a junior, said sectional success gives him the necessary confidence entering what is an extremely difficult regional.</p><p>“Oh, it’s a big part of it,” said Bechert, who won by fall over Mooresville’s Isaiah Pugh in the 120-pound finale. “I knew that I had to secure this win so that I could go into the regional and do the same thing. It’s all about moving forward.”</p><p>Besides Watson, Center Grove wrestlers Riley Rust (22-5) and Drake Buchanan (31-2) picked up championships at 145 and 182 pounds, respectively. Rust defeated Decatur Central’s Mark Everman in the title match, 5-2; Buchanan pinned all three of his opponents on the day.</p><p>Greenwood junior Anthony Walker (29-4) proved similarly dominant at 152, the toughest of his three matches being in the final against Franklin’s Noah McCann. Walker won by fall in the second round.</p><p>Walker, who won nine of 10 matches at 160 pounds to open the season, has established himself as a force at 152.</p><p>“Today was about just staying persistent and not letting him try to muscle me,” said Walker, one of two Woodmen crowned sectional champion along with 113-pounder Nik Baugh (22-12). “This feels pretty good, but it’s just a small step.”</p><p>The county’s first champion of the day was Whiteland freshman Eli Brooks, who improved to 31-4 at 106 pounds after scoring a tech fall over Cascade’s Logan Bickel in the final. It’s been a big first varsity season for Brooks, who also won his division at the Johnson County meet in December.</p><p>“I’ve just got to put in the work in the (wrestling) room and out of the room. It’s about trying do work your hardest,” Brooks said. “There was a lot of intimidation because I came in as a 2 seed, and I saw the 1 seed in the finals and ended up beating him.”</p>
