Center Grove dominates county wrestling tournament

No one can possibly forecast the number of wrestling competitions that will take place beneath the ceiling of Indian Creek’s new fieldhouse in the years ahead.

Just know that Saturday’s was the first.

The school’s 68,000-square-foot facility was in full flex mode. So was third-ranked Center Grove, which defeated all four opponents by sizable margins to dominate the Johnson County tournament.

Along with shutouts of both Whiteland and Greenwood, the Trojans downed the host Braves 67-6 and closed the proceedings by handling Franklin, 59-12.

Center Grove sophomore 126-pounder Dominic Brown, a move-in after representing Lowell at state last February, couldn’t help but to be impressed with the new facility.

Even more, the competition.

“Coming down here, it’s a lot different style of wrestling than what I was used to up north,” said Brown, one of 10 Trojans to win his weight class at county. “Up north is just slower-paced, you could call it. Guys still go in there and go beat you up. Not like down here. When I got into that Center Grove room, it was tough. It was hard for me. It just made me a better wrestler. Every day, everyone is out there to go for a state championship, or be the next state placer.”

Franklin finished with a 3-1 record in dual competition; Indian Creek went 2-2, while Whiteland was 1-3 and Greenwood 0-4. Center Grove senior Noah Clouser took home the Wrestler of the Meet award after winning all four matches at 190 pounds.

Teammates of Clouser winning their weight classes were Joseph Hamilton (106), Charlie LaRocca (120), Brown (126), Eddie Goss (132), William Vander Luitgaren (138), Reese Courtney (144), Wyatt Krejsa (150), Silas Stits (157) and Kaden McConnell (215).

Center Grove’s dominance didn’t come as a surprise.

LaRocca, Courtney and Krejsa are all ranked first in the state in their respective divisions; Goss, Clouser and McConnell all sit at No. 3, while Stits is fourth and Brown 10th.

“It’s a really, really good room,” Brown said. “Very senior heavy, but those guys, they push all of us. On our down days, guys like Charlie, Clouser … they’ll pick us up, and we’ll get right back into it.”

Franklin notched a pair of first-place performers in the heavier divisions, those being 175-pound senior Brayden Isley and senior heavyweight Brody Stephens. Indian Creek rode the home-mat advantage to a pair of champions with junior Jude Heaston taking first at 113 and soph Oliver Hallett taking care of business in the 165-pound weight class.

Heaston is ranked sixth in Indiana at 106 pounds.

Gone are the days the county tournament took place inside the Indian Creek gymnasium, ones LaRocca remembers well.

“It’s kind of just, like, tradition at this point,” said LaRocca, the 2023 state champion at 113 pounds. “We’ve been doing this so long along with the same group of guys, and we’ve wrestled a lot of these other guys from Johnson County teams.”

Like all county meets regardless of the sport, team point differentials vary one year to the next depending on the pool of talent going through at that high school at the time.

Center Grove currently has what might be the best core of wrestling seniors in its history. Franklin, Indian Creek, Whiteland and Greenwood have good talent in the middle and elementary school ranks who look forward to one day taking part in this event.

“It’s because we see these people all around. Some of them are close neighbors, and it’s great to know that you’re on top,” McConnell said. “I do hope this continues, because it’s great to wrestle opponents you might see at sectional, and to get a feel for how they wrestle.”