By Petar Hood
wcowlnews.com
INDIANAPOLIS – With a third-place finish in team sectionals, the Warren Central wrestling team advanced six individual wrestlers to regionals and sent four of those on to the Feb. 13 semistate.
The Warrior wrestlers who advanced to the Perry Meridian Regional were sophomore David Ramirez at 103 pounds, senior and three-time state finalist Brandon Wright at 125, senior Josh Williams at 135, junior Mitchell McCaskill at 152, senior Michael Johnson-Jones at 189, and sophomore heavyweight Kyle White.
Ramirez was the first Warrior to hit the mat, going up against Ben Davis freshman Levi Moss at 103. Ramirez was pinned late in the first period, ending his season with a 17-17 record.
Next up was Wright, the No. 1 wrestler in the state in the 125-pound weight class, who was matched up with Pike freshman Eric Dobbins. Dobbins was no match for Wright, and the Warren senior defeated him on a pin in the second period. That victory set up Wright to face No. 2 Justin Kieffer of Roncalli in what would be the bout of the day.
Williams was the next Warrior to wrestle in the first round. Williams was dominant against Indianapolis Ritter’s Abner Gomez en route to a 15-0 win at 135.
McCaskill was up next, paired with Indianapolis Attucks junior Robert Hawthorne. McCaskill never got going and was pinned almost one minute into the first period, ending his season with a 13-23 record.
Up next for Warren Central was Johnson-Jones, No. 4 in the state at 189. He defeated Pike’s Peter Carter easily with a pin in the second period.
White then defeated Devon Schafer by fall at heavyweight, advancing him to the second round.
After a short intermission, things once again got under way and Wright was the first Warrior to do battle in the second round. Wright had beaten Kieffer three previous times, but the Roncalli junior would not let it happen again, handing Wright his first on-mat loss of the season, 9-3.
Williams wrestled next for the Warriors, going up against Joal Mogollon of Mt. Vernon (Fortville). Williams defeated Mogollon easily, the 5-1 victory advancing him to the finals at 135.
Johnson-Jones continued to make it look easy with another pin, this time taking out Franklin Central’s Austin Netherton early in the first period to move on to the 189 finals.
White also wrestled against a Franklin Central foe, Michael Cheh. White got a couple of takedowns early and held on for a 6-2 decision.
Heading into the championship round of regionals, Warren had three wrestlers competing in finals matches and one in a consolation match.
Wright was paired up with Shelbyville’s Jake Williams for third place at 125. Wright won easily with a pin in the second period, earning him a third-place finish for the day.
Williams was ready to go up against 16th-ranked Wayne Black from Pike for the 135 title, coming out and competing hard early. But he fell short after Black got a takedown with less than 10 seconds to go to steal away a 6-5 decision for the regional title.
Johnson-Jones looked dominant again as he bulldozed over Perry Meridian sophomore Andre Richards, pinning him only 35 seconds into the match for the 189 title.
Finally, White defeated fellow sophomore Tre Taylor from Ben Davis to earn a regional title at heavyweight.
The Warrior foursome advances to the New Castle Regional for individual wrestlers Feb. 13 and will look to get all four to Conseco Fieldhouse for the individual state finals Feb. 20.
The Perry Meridian Regional individual results:
103
1. Josh Farrell 9 42-3 Greenfield-Central
2. Levi Moss 9 37-2 Ben Davis
3. Josh King 9 21-14 Roncalli
4. Clint Schmith 10 30-8 Beech Grove
5. Andrew Hering 9 10-13 Ritter
112
1. Jared McKinley 10 42-1 Perry Meridian
2. Aaron Handley 10 29-7 Pike
3. Aaron Davis 12 24-11 Roncalli
4. Gordon Wagner 9 12-8 New Palestine
5. Adam Ruff 9 19-19 Greenfield-Central
119
1. Josh Kieffer 11 35-1 Roncalli
2. Seve Duncan 12 18-7 Beech Grove
3. Thien Tran 12 33-9 New Palestine
4. Riley Anspaugh 11 34-8 Shelbyville
5. Drew Morris 12 23-9 Decatur Central
125
1. Justin Kieffer 11 31-3 Roncalli
2. Jason Simmons 12 35-9 Perry Meridian
3. Brandon Wright 12 25-2 Warren Central
4. Jake Williams 12 33-7 Shelbyville
5. Mikhail Randall 9 15-17 Ben Davis
130
1. Jake McCarty 12 33-4 Mount Vernon
2. Chance Miller 11 32-13 Triton Central
3. Jordan East 12 37-7 Southport
4. Chris Kahren 10 19-20 Ben Davis
5. Jarell Fincher 12 20-16 Pike
135
1. Wayne Black 12 35-2 Pike
2. Josh Williams 12 32-8 Warren Central
3. Nick Ulrey 9 29-11 New Palestine
4. Joal Mogollon 12 12-6 Mount Vernon
5. Carl Goss 12 17-21 Roncalli
140
1. Kirk Johnson 10 40-3 Perry Meridian
2. Kameron James 11 28-7 Pike
3. Bailey Kesterman 12 38-5 Triton Central
4. J.R. Corman 12 19-9 New Palestine
5. Max Newkirk 12 21-11 Mount Vernon
145
1. Derek Harz 11 31-10 Perry Meridian
2. Zach Heald 12 28-5 Greenfield-Central
3. Tre Spencer 10 29-8 Pike
4. Kyle Riedling 10 22-9 New Palestine
5. Cameron Hope 12 17-11 Mount Vernon
152
1. Robert Hawthorne 11 33-6 Indianapolis Attucks
2. Brandon Norris 12 26-13 Pike
3. Jaymes Horan 12 19-4 New Palestine
4. Danny Rojas 10 18-17 Roncalli
5. Mitchell McCaskill 11 13-23 Warren Central
160
1. Jeremiah Oliver 12 35-3 Pike
2. Jake Hockenbury 12 20-7 Decatur Central
3. Jake Jennings 12 38-2 New Palestine
4. Josh Pugh 12 24-12 Ben Davis
171
1. Dakota Gruell 12 31-10 Greenfield-Central
2. Mitchell Judkins 11 29-5 Speedway
3. Mike Phelps 12 32-4 New Palestine
4. Jake Bartley 12 21-10 Roncalli
5. Mike Pullens 11 27-10 Washington
189
1. Michael Johnson-Jones 12 36-1 Warren Central
2. Andre Richards 10 31-11 Perry Meridian
3. Jacob Poynter 12 25-9 New Palestine
4. Austin Netherton 11 18-15 Franklin Central
5. Peter Carter 11 10-20 Pike
215
1. Logan Cooper 11 23-4 Perry Meridian
2. Sam Balbach 11 35-4 Mount Vernon
3. Justin Sanders 10 22-8 Pike
4. Jake Tucker 11 15-16 Roncalli
5. Adam Decker 11 25-12 Beech Grove
Hwt
1. Kyle White 10 21-8 Warren Central
2. Tre Taylor 10 14-10 Ben Davis
3. Roddreckis Harris 11 31-3 Northwest
4. Michael Cheh 11 21-10 Franklin Central
5. Devon Schaefer 11 27-17 Perry Meridian
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