Cash is king: Edgewood senior Turner wins 4th regional wrestling title
Cash Turner has a name to uphold.
It's kinda been like that for a while and making it to state as a freshman only spread the word even further. Now a senior, he's easy to spot at any meet with his bucket hat and of course the "money" PJs, which play off his first name. It keeps things fun while he's making life miserable for the wrestlers he faces, having started the season with 100 career wins.
Last week, Turner added to his legacy by becoming the first Mustang to win four sectional titles since Darren Dawley in 1999-2002. Coming into Saturday's Bloomington South Regional, he was already the most decorated Edgewood wrestler with three regional titles. So why not complete that career sweep as well?
From 106 to 126 to 138 and now 145 pounds, he was good as gold at regional again, taking care of Tell City's Brayden Lain with an 8-0 major in the final.
"I think its a long deserved achievement for myself, with all the work that's been put into it," said Turner, whose off-season routine included qualifying for the national high school rodeo meet in Wyoming. "I think that it's also special coming from having one coach for three years (Greg Ratliff) and then a new one (Daniel Coyne). It shows the effort is still there to come out on top.
"Winning it four times is an amazing achievement, but it's not my ultimate goal."
Turner, and everyone else who finished in the top four, are moving on to the Evansville Semistate next Saturday at the Ford Center. Turner will look to earn his third trip to state. And no, no Mustang has ever done that either.
Turner (37-1) was locked in after whipping his first foe in a 27-12 technical fall. He battled by Jase Robinson of Floyd Central, 7-3, and then completely flustered Tell City senior Lain.
"We talked through that match and we think it's probably one of my best matches of the year," Turner said. "Not allowing him any points defensively was big for me. Once I got up four or five, he broke, and that's a big positive for me.
"I was able to keep him frustrated. I switched some things up, knowing what he was going to do."
First timers
In all, 15 area wrestlers, seven from Bloomington South, four from Owen Valley, three from Edgewood and one from Bloomington North, made it out. Of those, several will be semistate first-timers.
It's a nice feat for a freshman and three made the cut, South's Wyatt Cooksey (132) and Hunter Fender (145) and Edgewood's John Orman (113).
"It's huge," South coach Mike Runyon said. "They get that experience and feel the tension and the pressure to perform and they feel that early. So the next year it pays off, like it has for Evan (Roudebush) so far."
Cooksey (22-11) worked his way to the final, only to run into a buzzsaw in Tell City's Coy Hammack (36-1) and an 18-5 major after five catch and releases in the first period set the tone. Fender dropped his third place match 5-2, while Orman was all smiles after a dominating 14-1 major to claim third.
Three juniors, Edgewood's Landon Clement (138), North's Cael Hickok (160) and Owen Valley's Kyvan Bandy (182), booked reservations in their openers with a pin, pin and major, respectively. Bandy and Clement were each fourth in their first regional appearances while Hickok was third.
"The last two years I've been here, both times I've met some good competition," Hickok said. "So getting out for the first time feels pretty good."
Then you have the seniors, last chance on the line, and coming through. South's Brant Turner (138) and Drew Chandler (195) fit that bill. Turner (19-13) was third and Chandler (18-11), who won his first sectional last week, fourth.
"It means the world to me," Turner said. "Because every year, freshman, sophomore, junior there was always somebody who kept me at JV. And my first year being on varsity and doing as well as I'm doing and only starting in middle school, it means the world."
South trio wins titles
South ended up a runner-up in the team standings with 107 points, passing by rival Terre Haute South (100½) but short of Tell City (139½), which won its first regional title.
The Panthers will load up three regional winners next week in sophomores Cam Meier (106) and Evan Roudebush and senior Delaney Ruhlman (170), who were all state qualifiers last year.
Meier (31-3) beat Floyd Central's Isaac Campbell, 5-2, taking a 5-0 lead after two periods and hanging on. He was third at regional last year and hopes the title makes things a bit easier in the first two rounds at semistate.
Roudebush (33-2) saw his 6-1 lead drop to 6-4 early in the third, but he responded with an escape, takedown and nearfall to end up with a 12-4 major and his first regional title after falling to Cash Turner in last year's 138 final.
Ruhlman (33-0), ranked No. 1 in the state, spent all of 68 seconds on his first two matches, then had to go all six minutes, dominating the match against Tell City's Noah Terry (36-3) but never able to roll him over for the pin, settling for a 13-1 major.
OV's Mills finishes on top
Owen Valley's Bryce Mills used up just 10 seconds of his time winning his opener at 285, then flew to the finish with a 14-5 major and finally, a pin of West Vigo's Region Hendricks in 1:17 to earn a return trip to semistate.
"It's just all the hard work in the room and having good drill partners, good coaches," Mills said. "It's all finally clicking."
The Patriots also had a pair of runner-ups in junior Brandon Weaver (138) and senior Eli Hinshaw (220), Mills' drill partner. Hinshaw (34-2), a regional champ last year who surpassed the 100-win mark this year, suffered his second loss of the season, both to Alex Rose of Terre Haute South, this time by an 8-5 decision. But Hinshaw is going to semistate for a third time.
Weaver (32-4) was fourth last year at 126, losing to TC's Kelby Glenn, 10-4 and lost to him in the final again by the same score.
Hickok keeps season alive
Just one Cougar remains and the third time was a charm for Hickok (30-10), who drew Jasper's Jeb Prechtel and Tell City's Tyce DuPont the past two years for his opener and came up short. Grabbing second at sectional, he took advantage this time by winning his first match with a pin in 1:52.
Then he ran into Prechtel (33-0), who dominated the weight class, again, but in the semis. After the loss he came back forcefully in the third place match, scoring the first four points of a 6-2 victory over Northview's Tyler Lee.
"I think the difference for me this year is just wrestling smarter and also being bigger," Hickok said. "Last year, it was a two-weight class jump from freshman to sophomore year, this year I went up and tried to settle back down into this weight class. So I think that helped, being stronger. I haven't had to cut weight.
"Another thing I think was having more coaches with more experience this year. That's definitely made a difference."
BLOOMINGTON SOUTH REGIONAL
Team scores: 1. Tell City 139½; 2. Bloomington South 107; 3. Terre Haute South 100½; 4. Floyd Central 71½; 5. Owen Valley 64; 6. Northview 62; 7. Southridge 55; 8. Jasper 51½; 9. Edgewood 38½; 10. West Vigo 36; 11. Indian Creek 35; 12. Sullivan 22; 13. Bloomington North 11. NTS: Bedford North Lawrence, Mitchell, North Knox, Paoli, Pike Central, Terre Haute North.
Top four advance to Evansville Semistate
106: 1. Cam Meier, BSouth (31-3) d. Isaac Campbell, FC (30-2), 5-2; 3. Jude Heaston IC (23-9) d. Colton Campbell, THS (22-12), 5-4.
113: 1. Jackson Heaston, IC (30-3) p. Walter Hagedorn, TC (33-3), 5:53; 3. John Orman, Edg (25-8) md. William Rader, THS (23-10), 14-1. QF: Hagedorn d. Eli Collier, OV (20-12), 3-1.
120: 1. Lane Gilbert, Sul (33-3) d. Cameron Fogle, Srdg (37-7), 8-4; 3. Hayden Biggs, Jas (22-14) d. Noah Fields, THS (16-9). QF: Biggs d. Wayne Harden, BSouth (12-11), 5-2.
126: Chase Stephens, TC (26-4) d. Seth Cowden, Nvw (25-3), 8-6 (SV-OT); 3. Josiah Dedeaux, THS (24-7) d. Vince Kessinger, FC (25-8), 6-0. QF: Stephens p. Jackson Emery, OV (20-16), :53.
132: 1. Coy Hammack, TC (36-1) md. Wyatt Cooksey, BSouth (22-11), 18-5; 3. Hunter Banet, FC (29-8) p. Landon Clement, Edg (25-11), 2:30.
138: 1. Kelby Glenn, TC (35-2) d. Brandon Weaver, OV (32-4), 10-4; 3. Brant Turner, BSouth (19-13) d. Kasey Stewart, THS (26-10), 3-1.
145: 1. Cash Turner, Edg (37-1) md. Brayden Lain, TC (32-8), 8-0; 3. Jase Robinson, FC (28-8) d. Hunter Fender, BSouth (26-13), 5-2. QF: Lain p. Conner Rogers, OV (22-14), 5:14.
152: 1. Evan Roudebush, BSouth (33-2) md. Tyce DuPont (35-3), 12-4; 3. Luke May, THS (23-8) d. Anthony Laughlin, Srdg (34-11), 9-8. QF: DuPont p. Michael Neidigh, Edg (21-17), 2:24; Laughlin md. Jeremiah Casillas, BNorth (27-12), 11-0.
160: 1. Jeb Prechtel, Jas (33-0) p. Jorge Franco, THS (34-5), :45; 3. Cael Hickok, BNorth (30-10) d. Tyler Lee, Nvw (32-6), 6-2.
170: 1. Delaney Ruhlman, BSouth (33-0) md. Noah Terry, TC (36-3), 13-1; 3. Victor Peter, Jas (26-8) d. Maddox Vernon, Srdg (30-13), 9-2.
182: 1. Bray Emerine, FC (24-2) tf. Richard Alexander, Nvw (30-4), 18-2; 3. Ethan Schraner, TC (18-12) d. Kyvan Bandy, OV (27-11), 7-2.
195: 1. Reid Schroeder, Srdg (36-1) p. Dalton Simmons, Nv (30-6), :56; 3. Brock Higgins, WV (26-6) d. Drew Chandler, BSouth (18-11), 6-4.
220: 1. Alex Rose, THS (34-3) d. Eli Hinshaw, OV (34-2), 8-5; 3. Preston Montgomery, WV (31-6) d. Tyson Ruhe, Jas (27-6), 5-2.
285: 1. Bryce Mills, OV (29-6) p. Region Hendricks, WV (24-12), 1:17; 3. Sean Murphy, THS (32-6) p. Brandon Brewer, Nvw (20-7).
Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com or 812-331-4381 and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Edgewood's Cash Turner good as gold at regional wrestling tournament
