BROWNSBURG
The state’s bluebloods came out to play on Saturday.
Top-ranked Brownsburg served as host of the annual Class 4A team state duals tournament, which included six programs that have combined to win 23 of Indiana’s last 44 state team championships.
And two more in Center Grove and Avon doing everything in their power to claim a first.
The third-ranked Trojans, last year’s state runner-up, used the duals as the ultimate tuneup for the upcoming state tournament, which begins for them with the 11-team Mooresville Sectional on Jan. 27.
Obviously, the format is different than the one used on Saturday, but great competition is always valued.
Despite his squad placing third to match its seed, Trojans coach Maurice Swain delivered a post-competition speech to his team which was, to say the least, direct.
“We did not wrestle our best,” Swain said. “We have three weeks until the sectional to figure out what we need to do to be better to make a state run. Today was not our best day as a team, but we had some individuals wrestle really well.”
Center Grove gained immediate momentum in the morning, defeating former Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference rival Warren Central 55-21 to advance to a much-anticipated semifinal against defending state champ Crown Point.
The Trojans-Bulldogs match featured six individuals ranked first in their weight classes. Four of those were from Crown Point, which took care of business, 41-19.
Center Grove’s No. 1-ranked wrestlers, seniors Reese Courtney and Wyatt Krejsa, prevailed at 144 and 150 pounds, respectively. Courtney won by fall, and Krejsa scored a 20-9 triumph. Other winners for the Trojans were senior Kaden McConnell at 190 by a 10-4 count, and juniors Eddie Goss (132 pounds, 1-0) and Silas Stits (157, 4-0).
Perhaps the most anticipated match put Trojans senior Charlie LaRocca, Indiana’s second-ranked 120-pounder, opposite Crown Point junior Gavin Andreas, ranked No. 1. Andreas went on to claim a 9-4 victory.
The Trojans’ next order of business was facing Cathedral, with the winner to qualify for the third-place match. Center Grove hammered the Irish, 51-11, winning 11 of 14 matches, to earn the right to battle Evansville Mater Dei. At the same time, No. 1 Brownsburg and Crown Point met on a neighboring mat for the team title (CP prevailed, 26-22).
The Trojans built a fairly comfortable lead on Mater Dei, but lost its final two matches via fall at 165 and 175 pounds, hanging on for a 40-33 win.
“This (tournament) is very important to Center Grove. Something we’ve been wanting for a long time, and we’ve been working hard to do it,” said Krejsa, one of four CG wrestlers to finish the day unbeaten along with Courtney, Goss and McConnell.
“We didn’t get what we wanted, but we’re going to use that as fuel come February, and we’ll be back. Third is definitely a blessing, but it’s not what we came for.”
With less than three weeks remaining before the sectional, Center Grove still has two more dual meets and numerous after-school practices to work out whatever kinks reared their head on Saturday.
Courtney is confident that he and his teammates will.
“Now in my mind, it’s go get Crown Point, and go get Brownsburg. We have to outperform them,” he said. “Bonus points killed us today. Just got to scrap harder. We always wrestle better in February, so we’ll see how that works.”
In the Class 3A duals at Franklin, the host Grizzly Cubs wound up fourth. Franklin opened with a 42-25 victory over Mishawaka before suffering a 48-18 semifinal loss to Terre Haute South and falling to Columbus East, 48-19, in the third-place match.
