Center Grove senior Drake Buchanan celebrates his win against Crown Point’s Orlando Cruz in the 182-pound state championship match on Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Chris Williams | For the Daily Journal
INDIANAPOLIS
Finally, the sixth and seventh state wrestling champions in Center Grove history can smile.
Seniors Hayden Watson and Drake Buchanan, unwilling to be denied supremacy in their respective weight classes, smiled often late Saturday night inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Watson placed a red bow on his Trojans career by pinning East Central’s Rider Searcy at 2:31 in the 145-pound final. In doing so, he is now co-owner of the school’s career victories mark with 154.
A little later, Buchanan scored a 4-1 victory over Crown Point’s Orlando Cruz in the 182-pound title match. Buchanan later capped his evening by exiting the building with the Ward E. Brown Mental Attitude Award.
Center Grove placed fourth in the team standings with 65 points, exceeding the previous program standard of eighth at the 1994 finals.
Buchanan, ranked in the top 20 of his class academically with a 4.595 grade-point average, will attend the United States Air Force Academy and wrestle for the Falcons. He is the third Johnson County wrestler to win the Mental Attitude Award, joining Franklin alums Thomas Doyle (1981) and Skyler Lykins (2014).
“Drake checks off every box,” Trojans coach Maurice Swain said. “I’ve always said he’s just the definition of a great student-athlete. He’s a great athlete, obviously, but he’s a phenomenal student. He works at his academics with the same intensity as he works at his wrestling.
“I’m extremely proud of him for that award. Winning the Mental Attitude is big for the program, and again, it shows how focused he in on academics.”
Watson and Buchanan, state runners-up last season, finished their final prep season with identical 43-1 records.
Whiteland junior Joey Buttler advanced to the championship match at 126 pounds but lost, 5-3, to Logan Frazier of Crown Point.
Also earning medals were Franklin senior Jacob Johnson (fourth at 285 pounds) and Center Grove sophomore Wyatt Krejsa (fifth at 132). Indian Creek junior Jackson Heaston and Center Grove freshman Eddie Goss got on the podium by placing seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 113-pound class.
