By E. Shawn Aylsworth
Managing Editor
Second-ranked Perry Meridian continued its wrestling mastery of the annual Marion County Tournament Dec. 18-19, capturing top-three finishes in half the 14 events and winning four of them en route to a 94.5-point victory over unranked runner-up North Central (Indianapolis).
(CLICK HERE FOR ACTION PHOTOS FROM MARK GRICIUS, WITH EQUIPMENT PROVIDED BY ROBERTS IMAGING!!)
Coach Jim Tonte’s Falcons added two runner-up finishes and a third place in totaling 246 points to outdistance North Central (158.5, two champs, two seconds), with No. 13 Lawrence North (147.5, one champ, three seconds) taking third ahead of No. 23 Warren Central (142, two champs) and 11th-ranked Roncalli (137.5, one champ two seconds).
No. 12 Pike (100 points with just one champion and one second-place result) endured the roughest outcome of the weekend in finishing eighth of 14 teams behind Ben Davis (114) and Lawrence Central (103).
A total of 20 wrestlers ranked by IndianaMat.com in the state’s Top 16 of their respective weights competed in the two-day tourney held at Decatur Central, and six of the 14 weights featured multiple ranked wrestlers.
At 103 pounds, undefeated No. 6 freshman Levi Moss of Ben Davis (10-0) scored a 13-1 major decision over Beech Grove sophomore Clint Schmith (16-3) to win the title. Schmith had handed No. 13 Perry Meridian freshman Nick Bova his first loss in the 103 semifinals with an 8-4 decision.
At 119, No. 3 Lawrence North senior Brandon Nelson (14-1) gave Roncalli No. 2 junior Josh Kieffer his first loss with an 11-6 decision in the championship match.
At 125, No. 4 Roncalli junior Justin Kieffer (12-1) was the beneficiary of an injury default by top-ranked Warren Central senior Brandon Wright in a 12-4 title match major decision over junior Jordan Johnson of Lawrence North. Wright won his first two matches before succumbing to the injury against Johnson in the semifinals. Unable to go on, the three-time state finalist ended up sixth.
At 140, No. 9 Perry Meridian sophomore Kirk Johnson (18-1) took advantage of a better draw before downing No. 7 junior Matt Rattay of Lawrence North with a 6-1 finals decision.
At 189, unbeaten No. 3 Warren Central senior Michael Johnson-Jones stayed that way with a 6-1 championship decision over No. 10 Perry Meridian sophomore Andre Richards (17-2) to improve to 16-0 on the season.
Heavyweight brought the biggest surprise of the day as neither No. 8 Beech Grove junior Adam Decker nor No. 11 Perry Meridian junior Devin Schaefer reached the finals. That honor instead went to North Central junior Willie Henson and Lawrence Central junior Eric Thigpen, with Henson (11-1) taking an 8-1 decision.
Schaefer pinned Decker in just 64 seconds in the quarterfinals, but he got stuck himself by Henson in a 61-second semifinal and then again in 2:34 by Warren Central junior Kyle White to finish fourth. Decker, meanwhile, won his wrestleback match before dropping a 3-1 decision to Southport senior Viny Parmer in the fifth-place match.
There were a couple other surprises, too.
At 130, Beech Grove junior Nick Roberts (16-2) shocked second-ranked Roncalli sophomore Joe Kieffer with a 55-second stick in the semifinals before posting a narrow 7-6 decision over Lawrence North senior Greg Bell in the title match.
At 135, Perry Meridian senior Ken Harris (16-3) pulled a similar trick in upsetting No. 15 Warren Central senior Josh Williams in overtime, 4-2, before pinning top-seeded Pike senior Wayne Black in 66 seconds for the crown.
The complete results, courtesy of trackwrestling.com:
Team scores
1. #2 Perry Meridian 246
2. North Central (Indianapolis) 158.5
3. #13 Lawrence North 147.5
4. #23 Warren Central 142
5. #11 Roncalli 137.5
6. Ben Davis 114
7. Lawrence Central 103
8. #12 Pike 100
9. Beech Grove 95
10. Franklin Central 50
11. Southport 46
12. Speedway 30
13. Decatur Central 17
14. Park Tudor 4
Top 6 finishers (athlete is followed by school and record, with result of match at end):
103
1st: #6 Levi Moss (Ben Davis) 10-0 major dec. Clint Schmith (Beech Grove) 16-3 (13-1)
3rd: #13 Nick Bova (Perry Meridian) 19-1 dec. Alex Sparks (Lawrence North) 8-3 (5-0)
5th: Riley Newkirk (Lawrence Central) 15-4 dec. Josh King (Roncalli) 6-5 (4-3)
112
1st: #6 Jared McKinley (Perry Meridian) 19-0 major dec. Aaron Davis (Roncalli) 5-5 (13-5)
3rd: Jake Pedigo (Ben Davis) 3-1 dec. Kieno Scott (North Central) 7-2 (7-3)
5th: Aarron Handley (Pike) 11-4 major dec. Aaron Campbell (Speedway) 12-5 (19-5)
119
1st: #3 Brandon Nelson (Lawrence North) 14-1 dec. #2 Josh Kieffer (Roncalli) 12-1 (11-6)
3rd: Nate Reeves (Warren Central) 10-8 dec. Michael Clem (Perry Meridian) 15-2 (5-0)
5th: Andre Butts (Lawrence Central) 14-5 forfeit #8 Seve Duncan (Beech Grove) 7-4
125
1st: #4 Justin Kieffer (Roncalli) 12-1 major dec. Jordan Johnson (Lawrence North) 9-6 (12-4)
3rd: Riley McClurg (Beech Grove) 14-6 dec. Jason Simmons (Perry Meridian) 16-4 (2-0)
5th: Cole Fazekus (Lawrence Central) 11-9 injury default #1 Brandon Wright (Warren Central) 10-3
130
1st: Nick Roberts (Beech Grove) 16-2 dec. Greg Bell (Lawrence North) 8-5 (7-6)
3rd: #2 Joe Kieffer (Roncalli) 12-2 dec. Jordan East (Southport) 19-3 (6-2)
5th: Donnie Thomas (Warren Central) 12-5 dec. Joe Klinesmith (Perry Meridian) 12-8 (9-3)
135
1st: Ken Harris (Perry Meridian) 16-3 pin Wayne Black (Pike) 14-1 (1:06)
3rd: #15 Josh Williams (Warren Central) 15-3 pin Carl Goss (Roncalli) 6-9 (2:54)
5th: Sam Shaffer (Ben Davis) 7-2 dec. Sammy Katz (North Central) 8-9 (9-4)
140
1st: #9 Kirk Johnson (Perry Meridian) 18-1 dec. #7 Matt Rattay (Lawrence North) 11-4 (6-1)
3rd: Kameron James (Pike) 11-2 dec. Drake Duncan (Ben Davis) 7-2 (15-13)
5th: Tiandre Edwards (North Central) 14-4 pin Greg Jonas (Decatur Central) 9-9 (2:43)
145
1st: #6 John Decker (Warren Central) 16-0 dec. Derek Harz (Perry Meridian) 16-3 (3-2)
3rd: Charlie Smith (North Central) 13-3 dec. Tre Spencer (Pike) 9-4 (5-2)
5th: Cody Pinkiston (Beech Grove) 15-5 dec. Clay LaBarr (Lawrence Central) 9-10 (14-10)
152
1st: #7 Jacob Tonte (Perry Meridian) 19-0 pin Mike Taylor (Lawrence Central) 16-2 (1:01)
3rd: Kenny O`Brien (Franklin Central) 6-3 dec. Charlie Orzeske (North Central) 13-2 (5-2)
5th: Brandon Norris (Pike) 10-6 major dec. Alex Rowe (Ben Davis) 6-4 (8-0)
160
1st: Jeremiah Oliver (Pike) 14-1 dec. Cole Kelly (North Central) 15-2 (11-5)
3rd: Joe Ardizzone (Roncalli) 10-5 dec. Nick Witten (Perry Meridian) 12-4 (5-1)
5th: Josh Pugh (Ben Davis) 4-3 major dec. Marcus Cleary (Southport) 6-11 (11-0)
171
1st: #6 Mike Smith (North Central) 11-0 dec. Mitchell Judkins (Speedway) 15-2 (6-4, OT)
3rd: Quinten Brooks (Lawrence North) 13-3 dec. Jake Hockenbury (Decatur Central) 8-2 (6-3)
5th: Kyle English (Ben Davis) 8-4 pin Kyle Massengale (Perry Meridian) 12-7 (4:21)
189
1st: #3 Michael Johnson-Jones (Warren Central) 16-0 dec. #10 Andre Richards (Perry Meridian) 17-2 (6-1)
3rd: Austin Enghauser (Lawrence Central) 16-3 dec. Jeremy Hasket (Lawrence North) 12-3 (3-2)
5th: Ronnie Jones (Southport) 14-8 major dec. Caleb Cornett (Ben Davis) 8-4 (12-1)
215
1st: #13 Clayton Eckert (Franklin Central) 16-2 major dec. Kevin Gaughan (North Central) 15-2 (11-3)
3rd: Richard Tharpe (Warren Central) 11-5 dec. Jon Cleary (Southport) 18-4 (4-2)
5th: Jordan Naughton (Perry Meridian) 14-6 dec. Xzavier Kinsey-Lowe (Ben Davis) 3-3 (4-3)
Heavyweight
1st: Willie Henson (North Central) 11-1 dec. Eric Thigpen (Lawrence Central) 15-3 (8-1)
3rd: Kyle White (Warren Central) 7-3 pin #11 Devin Schaefer (Perry Meridian) 15-5 (2:34)
5th: Viny Parmer (Southport) 17-4 dec. #8 Adam Decker (Beech Grove) 14-5 (3-1)
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