TERRE HAUTE —
Eight in each weight class. Four of those advance to the semistate. No byes.
It doesn’t take a math major, therefore, to determine the importance of the first-round matches for each of the high school wrestlers in individual regional competition today.
Action begins at 9:30 a.m. at Bloomington South, where the competition features the three Vigo County schools plus Northview, Sullivan and Owen Valley. At North Montgomery, wrestlers from South Vermillion, Rockville, North Vermillion and Turkey Run start at 9.
“If you lose [in the first round], you’re out,” coach Gabe Cook of Terre Haute South — which leads the Wabash Valley contingent with 11 wrestlers in today’s competition — explained earlier this week. “You worry about one match at a time, and you need to make sure you get a good warmup in … and you can’t make any mistakes.”
Although the first-round winners today are assured of wrestling for another week, that doesn’t mean their work for the day is over either.
The four survivors will wrestle twice more to determine first through fourth place, which is important for semistate competition on Feb. 11 — at Evansville, for the wrestlers who advance from Bloomington, and at New Castle, for the competitors from North Montgomery. Fourth-place wrestlers this week will have to face a regional champion in the first round at the semistate.
South has the only Wabash Valley wrestler looking to return to the state finals, 160-pounder Tsali Lough, and he was the Braves’ only sectional champion a week ago. He takes a 37-2 record into his first-round match today.
Other sectional champions at Northview a week ago included Sullivan’s Jed Cox, with a glittering 31-1 record at 145; West Vigo’s Ben Bird, now 26-2 at 195; and Northview’s two biggest wrestlers, 220-pounder Aaron See (36-3) and 285-pounder Justin Sampson (33-6).
Cook expects good things from all those wrestlers today, as well as from a pair of sectional runners-up — 106-pounder Caleb Nicosin of Northview (32-7) and South’s 182-pounder Sam Cook (20-4, not related to his coach). Sullivan also has a pair of runners-up with good records in 113-pound veteran Joseph Gilham (23-5) and 126-pounder Cory Orndorff (28-2).
Two other returning state finalists also compete today at Bloomington, both with undefeated records this season: 152-pounder Quincy Richey of Brown County (33-0) and 220-pounder Iyan Bass of Jennings County (36-0).
South Vermillion’s eight wrestlers are the most among the Wabash Valley competitors today at North Montgomery — although Rockville’s group of five might represent the highest percentage of regional qualifiers among total team members there, or anywhere else.
Coach Ron Stateler of the Wildcats has high hopes for his 145-pounder Alex Thomas, whose 34-3 record so far includes a split against Sullivan’s Cox.
Rockville’s Jared Paxton has lost just once at 182 pounds, and Stateler expects good things from him today as well as North Vermillion’s Wade Harrison and several other members of the Wildcats’ group.
Those wrestlers, who qualified from last week’s Crawfordsville Sectional, will all be facing competitors from the Zionsville Sectional today, which adds another challenge: wrestlers from some of the smaller schools in the state now facing opponents from some of the biggest schools in the state.
“That’s always a factor,” Stateler admitted this week, “which is why during the season we try to have an opportunity to see schools of that caliber.
“Some kids will go out there and see bigger [school] names, and they’re like ‘I can’t beat these people.’ ”
Among the best records at North Montgomery today are the unbeaten marks of Westfield 182-pounder Lukas Schaeffer (43-0) and Fishers 195-pounder Mitch Sliga (38-0).
High School
Regional wrestlers know importance of opening-round matches
- High School
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West Vigo baseball falls in sectional to Owen Valley
West Vigo overcame the odds to win 20 high school baseball games this season with a lineup that often included four freshmen and few seniors.
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South Vermillion softball's late-season surge comes to end
A late-season surge by South Vermillion wasn’t quite enough to halt a high school softball sectional winning streak by the host team Thursday night, as Edgewood got on top early and held on for a 5-2 win in the championship game of the Class 3A Edgewood Sectional.
The loss was just the second in the last 12 games for the Wildcats. The Mustangs, however, haven’t lost a sectional softball game for eight years in a row. -
South takes second, North third at boys track regional
Terre Haute South finished second and Terre Haute North third on Thursday night at the boys track and field regional at Evansville Central, with 11 individuals and three relay teams qualifying for the state finals June 2.
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PREP ROUNDUP: White River Valley baseball holds off Eminence
Three Eminence errors in the top of the sixth inning finally enabled White River Valley to score in high school baseball Thursday night, and the Wolverines went on to a 5-0 win in Class A Shakamak Sectional action.
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Feeling cursed: South bitten in sectional final again
Terre Haute South softball is not even close to being as cursed as a certain northside baseball team in Chicago, but it might just seem like it.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Mundy, Porter, Knight individual regional winners
Chanli Mundy and Keirra Porter of Terre Haute North were among the individual winners in the IHSAA Evansville Central girls track and field regional that ended late Tuesday night.
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Thornton puts away South Vermillion
Cody Thornton’s three-run blast over the left-field fence was the finishing touch to West Vigo’s 10-3 victory over South Vermillion in the opening game of the Class 3A Greencastle Sectional on Wednesday.
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Lakers triumph, go home for regional
Shakamak took Class A Clay City Sectional honors in high school softball for the first time since 2009 Wednesday, defeating White River Valley 9-5 in the title tilt.
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North Vermillion avenges losses
North Vermillion avenged two high school softball losses during the regular season to win the Class A Riverton Parke Sectional championship Wednesday with a 3-2 triumph over the host Panthers.
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Pats, Knights will meet in sectional
Adler Ingalsbe pooh-poohed his lack of velocity Wednesday night, yet the Terre Haute North pitcher was throwing BBs in the first game compared to Mooresville’s Brandon Topie in the nightcap.
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South outbattles Northview to reach sectional final
Even the best of high school softball pitchers can’t keep all the batters in the middle of Terre Haute South’s lineup down.
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Panthers get 20th win in sectional
Riverton Parke will face North Vermillion in the Class A softball sectional championship at Riverton Parke today, with action commencing at 6 p.m.
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Plainfield Sectional all about parity
Considering Terre Haute South has won five consecutive Class 4A sectional titles in high school baseball, naming the Braves as favorites to capture the 2012 Class 4A Plainfield Sectional would not seem far-fetched.
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PREP ROUNDUP: North Vermillion in title game
Casey West had a triple and three runs scored to help North Vermillion softball advance to the championship game of the Class A Riverton Parke Sectional on Tuesday.
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North takes second in track regional
Terre Haute North finished second with 74 points, six behind team champion Evansville Reitz, during the Evansville Central girls track and field regional that ended late Tuesday night.
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Wildcats advance to sectional softball final; West Vigo falls
Patience, patience.
South Vermillion exhibited great patience, being very selective at the plate and it paid off royally in the fourth inning. -
South, Crawfordsville win in regional tennis semis
Terre Haute South outlasted Fountain Central 4-1 in the first round of the girls high school tennis regional Tuesday, advancing the Braves into today’s championship match against Crawfordsville.
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Braves, Knights open with wins
It was an excellent night for starting softball pitchers to help their own cause Monday night in the Class 4A Northview Sectional.
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Lough dreamt about McMillan
A two-time state finalist in wrestling and a two-time all-Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference football player and wrestler, Tsali Lough of Terre Haute South was named the male recipient of the 2012 McMillan Award on Monday night at South’s Senior Awards Night.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Panthers cruise in sectional opener
Sarah Burnham pitched a two-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts in high school softball Monday evening as host Riverton Parke defeated defending champion Rockville 10-0 in opening-round action at the Class A Riverton Parke Sectional.
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Notable tradition bodes well for Riverton Parke
Located practically in the shadow of a high school that sets one state standard in track and field, Riverton Parke has a tendency to be overlooked in that sport.
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Vikings get 18th win over Shakamak
West Vigo began a busy week of high school baseball Monday on a winning note, defeating Shakamak 6-3.
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Greencastle new site for girls tennis regional
The starting times might prove to be a bone of contention, but otherwise coaches Bill Blankenbaker and Emily Goff are thrilled their respective girls high school tennis teams will begin play today at the Greencastle Regional.
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Northview sectional groups 3 20-win teams
Three teams with 20-plus victories will attempt to claim the Class 4A Northview Sectional crown for high school softball this week, and most of the other Wabash Valley sectional fields also appear to be wide open.
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Terre Haute South softball takes Riverton Parke tournament
Terre Haute South is going into the Class 4A Sectional at Northview on Monday with momentum, confidence, a deep bench and a healthier pitching staff than it has had in quite a while.
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North baseball splits doubleheader with Indy North Central
Some of their incentive could have been sapped a couple of nights earlier, when Center Grove achieved an eight-inning victory over Warren Central to clinch the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school baseball championship.
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Robinson takes regional softball crown
Robinson’s Maroons came from behind in the last two innings Saturday to defeat top-seeded Newton 3-2 and win the Illinois Class 2A Lawrenceville Regional.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Terre Haute South baseball sweeps, takes second place in MIC
Terre Haute South rallied for a tie in the bottom of the seventh and won the game in the bottom of the eighth in Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference high school baseball Saturday, coming behind for a 3-2 win over host Lawrence North.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Baseball, sectional game times announced
Pairings and schedules are set for the Indiana High School Athletic Association tournament.
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PREP ROUNDUP: Game times set for baseball sectionals
Pairings and schedules are set for the Indiana High School Athletic Association tournament.
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