Wrestlers Finish Second at Hamilton Heights Sectional
The PH Wrestling Team finished second in Saturday’s Hamilton Heights Sectional. Missed opportunities spelled the difference for the Arabians in the title chase. Pendleton Heights earned points in 12 of 14 weight classes compared to only 11 placers for the champion Noblesville Millers. But Noblesville’s 11 wrestlers all placed in the top four compared to 8 for PH. Several close losses during the day proved too much for the Arabians to overcome. With only two seniors on the roster, the Arabians look to be championship contenders again next year, but the road will not be easy as Noblesville has no seniors on its team. Any hopes of a title will rest on working on improvement during the coming offseason.
Sixth place finishers for PH were Alex Ray at 135 lbs and Joe Gipson at 189. Placing fifth for the Arabians, and serving as Regional alternates were junior Cody Stephenson and sophomore Jake Stilwell. Placing fourth for the Arabians, and advancing to the Pendleton Heights Regional, was senior Jasper Moffitt at 160. Zach Wise at 103 and Brian Philbert at 119 each grabbed third place finishes on the day. Sophomore Clint Nicholson advanced to his first sectional final where he finished second at 145 lbs. He will take his 21-11 record up against a third place finisher from the Lawrence Central (LC) Sectional. Junior Hunter Prol, who assembled a 19-7 record in his first year of varsity competition, finished second at 285. Nicholson and Prol will wrestle third place finishers from the LC Sectional in the first round of the PH Regional on Saturday.
Sophomore Mason Todd pinned Alexandria’s Luke Blanton in only 2:37 the 112 lb championship match to grab his second career Sectional championship. Todd, who now sports an outstanding 37-1 season record, will open his tournament Saturday with a fourth place finisher from the Lawrence Central Sectional. Senior Justin Eshelman completely controlled Alexandria’s Josh Blanton in the 125 lb championship finals for his first career sectional title. Eshelman, who improved his season record to 34-4, will also open his tournament run Saturday with a fourth place finisher from the LC Sectional. Junior Kyle Smitherman pinned his longtime nemesis, J.R. Smart of Lapel in just :54 of the finals to claim his first career title at 215 lbs and an opening round match with LC’s fourth place wrestler.
Former Arabian assistant coach Jack Grimaldi lead the much-improved Alexandria Tigers to a fourth place team finish, after capturing their first conference title in decades last week.
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