South's Chandler keeps on swimming, wins first sectional wrestling title
Drew Chandler was just 6-15 last year when his season ended in the first round of the consolation bracket at sectional.
The Bloomington South senior is still at 195 pounds and so was the fellow who knocked him out last year, Brock Higgins of West Vigo. Instead of both struggling just to make regional this year, both were facing off in the championship bout Saturday at Bloomington North.
Little did Higgins know how much time Chandler had put in in the pool to be ready for this moment. They had pushed and shoved and fought for six minutes. Chandler spent the first two periods down 2-0 before getting a reverse after starting out on bottom in the third, to take the lead, 3-2.
Higgins did manage an escape point with 40 seconds left but when the whistle ended the third, Higgins was exhausted. Chandler was not and came up with a quick takedown to claim his first career sectional title with a 5-3 victory.
"It means everything," Chandler said. "Last year, that kid put me out and it was pretty tough for me. So I internalized that. Went back to the weight room, back to the mat room."
Chandler, a nose guard during football season, started taking every extra step he could to go out strong in his final season as a wrestler.
"I would swim after practices with my buddy Delaney (Ruhlman)," Chandler said. "We'd go out there and swim, to get some extra cardio in and pushing in the weight room with all of my buddies coach Cook, our weightlifting coach. Just that mentality of wanting to win, getting yelled at in the mat room."
So Higgins was in trouble the longer the match went on.
"I was a little concerned at first," Chandler said. "But when I heard how hard he was breathing, I knew I'd just keep wearing him out and I'd finally get him."
Terre Haute South won the team title with 258 points to 188½ for Bloomington South. Owen Valley was fourth at 142, Edgewood fifth at 96 and Bloomington North 10th at 64.
In all, 21 area wrestlers made it to the Bloomington South Regional next Saturday, eight from South, seven from Owen Valley, four from Edgewood and two from Bloomington North.
"We came up little short team wise," South coach Mike Runyon said. "But with the young team that we have now ... although, our young guys performed awesome today."
Great 8 for South
Chandler was just one of five champs on the day for the Panthers.
While there was no surprise in seeing sophomore Cam Meier (28-3) at 106, Evan Roudebush (30-2) at 152 and Delaney Ruhlman (30-0) at 170 dominate their brackets, South also saw Wyatt Cooksey (20-10) continue his good run of late after switching to 132, end as the only freshman with a sectional crown.
Cooksey took down top seed and senior Seth Brown of Terre Haute South with a pin in just 59 seconds.
"He is definitely focused," Runyon said.
And while senior Brant Turner (17-12) didn't win his final at 138, starting his day with a huge upset of top seed Brandon Weaver of Owen Valley, pinning him in 1:50 was a nice springboard to the final and into regional. Kasey Stewart of THS was just a bit too much again in a 5-1 win for the title.
"The guys came to wrestle today," Runyon said. "Especially Brant Turner comes in and knocks off the No. 1 seed. He really wrestled well. Got caught there in the finals, but hey, a good showing for him."
Another big moment for South came in the semifinals at 145, where sophomore Hunter Fender managed to pull out a 4-2 overtime win over No. 2 seed Coy Bender of THS. That set up a final against Edgewood's Cash Turner, who wasted little time in picking up his 34th win and fourth sectional title of his career.
"(Fender) wrestled good all day and also beat a kid who was seeded above him," Runyon said. "It says a lot for our program and the character of our guys."
Also advancing was Wayne Harden (12-10), third at 120.
Seven to regional for OV
Owen Valley had one champ and pair of runner-ups who had expectations of also walking out with the top prize. For now, it'll have to be fuel for regional when they are each likely to run into their nemesis again.
Bryce Mills, who had to hang on for a 6-5 win in his semifinal at 285, turned around and outmuscled Brandon Brewer of Northview for a pin in 4:52. Mills was up 3-0 before putting Brewer to rest. Mills also beat him by pin at the WIC tourney.
"Bryce is peaking at the perfect time," OV coach Steven Spicer said. "He's really figuring out heavyweight. He's wrestled 220 the last couple years. As far as technique and his style, it's just a lot different than your typical heavyweight. He's tough on top. He's got really good hands, so it's tough to take him down."
At 138, top seed Branson Weaver got tripped up in the quarterfinals and responded by going pin, pin, pin, in 35 seconds, 2:26 and 2:31 to take third.
"He responded greatly," Spicer said. "It happens. Get thrown in a side headlock and get caught. He was a leader still, cheered on his teammates and took care of business."
Then at 220, top seed Eli Hinshaw was 32-0 but Terre Haute South's Alex Rose, an Indiana State football signee, caught him early and stunned him with a pin in 51 seconds in their final. In the 182 final, Kyvan Bandy ran into Northview's Richard Alexander, the top seed who controlled the match from the start and ended it with a pin with just seven seconds left.
The rest of the Patriots' regional crew includes Eli Collier (20-11) at 113, Jackson Emery (20-15) at 126 and Conner Rogers (22-13) at 145, who were all fourth and will face a sectional champ to open regional action.
"Seven is close to the number I thought we would have moving on," Spicer said. "Just not in the placements that I thought they would finish in. Weird day but next week's what really sets you up to qualify for state. I don't think it changes much. I think everyone will still wrestle the same people that we thought they'd wrestle in the regional finals.
"It sucks for a senior (Hinshaw) to not win a sectional title, but he's a tough kid. He'll bounce back."
Edgewood quartet moves on
The Mustangs got five to regional led by four-time sectional champ Cash Turner (34-1). The senior continues to be in attack mode, carding three pins, the last took just 34 seconds against South's Fender.
At 113, freshman John Orman battled past OV's Collier in the semifinals, 6-4 but ran into a buzzsaw in Indian Creek senior Jackson Heaston, who secured a third straight title with a pin in 5:35.
Junior Landon Clement (24-9) had to come up with a strong finish to save his day at 132. He was pinned in his semifinal but bounced back with a pin in 1:15 in the consolation bracket to secure a spot in the third place match, where he came up with a reversal in the last 10 seconds to post a 4-3 win over Lloyd Hauger of Sullivan.
Michael Neidigh had to settle for fourth at 152, advancing to regional after a 40-second pin of OV's Lucas McBee in the consolation rounds.
2nd and 3rd for North
The Cougars are down to just two competitors, both juniors, in Roy Bruce's first year in charge of rebuilding the program.
Cael Hickok (28-9) had to settle for runner-up at 160, running into a familiar foe in Terre Haute South's Jorge Franco, who overpowered him in an 11-2 major in their third meeting since late December.
"They changed their game plan a little bit and we stuck with ours," Bruce said. "I didn't work, so we'll recoup. We haven't changed what we do all year. We just wrestle the way we do and they'll come back to us. I think we'll probably see him again next week."
Jeremiah Casillas (27-11) had to work a bit harder to earn his spot at 152 after getting pinned in the semifinals by South's Roudebush. He had to beat Sullivan's Rowdy Adams to make the third-place match and did with a pin in 2:51. He earned another bout against Edgewood's Neidigh, their third of the season, and came out with a pin in 2:18.
"Jeremiah had a great day," Bruce said. "Big win and then come back and wrestle Neidigh again. I thought all the kids wrestled well today."
At 132, freshman Yanni Nunez came in 2-13 and picked up two pins and ended up taking fifth.
BLOOMINGTON NORTH SECTIONAL
Team scores: 1. Terre Haute South 258; 2. Bloomington South 188½; 3. Northview 147; 4. Owen Valley 142; 5. Edgewood 96; 6. West Vigo 83; 7. Indian Creek 78; 8. Terre Haute North 75; 9. Sullivan 65; 10. Bloomington North 64; 11. Paoli 22.
Top 4 in each weight class advance to regional. Fifth place finishers are alternates.
106: 1. Cam Meier, BS (28-3), p. Jude Heaston, IC (21-8), 3:20; 3. Colton Campbell, THS, d. Cain Godsey, THN, 2-0; 5. Trayton Reuter, OV (19-16), p. Zane Siddons, BN (9-25), 2:38.
113: 1. Jackson Heaston, IC (27-3) p. John Orman, Edg (23-7), 5:35; 3. William Radar, THS, p. Eli Collier, OV (20-11), 3:39.
120: 1. Lane Gilbert, Sul (34-3) d. Noah Fields, THS (15-7), 9-2; 3. Wayne Harden, BS (12-10), p. Elias Strauss, IC, :31; 5. Sophia Buechner, THN, d. Cas Crevello, BN (18-18), 12-9.
126: 1. Seth Cowden, Nv (23-2) d. Josiah Dedeaux, THS (22-6), 5-3; 3. Caleb Sparks, WV, d. Jackson Emery, OV (20-15), 7-0; 5. Phoebe Dowty, IC, p. Brian Conley, BS (3-11), 2:33.
132: 1. Wyatt Cooksey, BS (20-10), p. Seth Brown, THS (17-5), 1:00; 3. Landon Clement, Edg (24-9), d. Lloyd Hauger, Sul, 4-3; 5. Yanni Nunez, BN (4-13), inj. default over Ayden Muncie, THN.
138: 1. Kasey Stewart, THS (25-8), d. Brant Turner, BS (17-12), 5-1; 3. Brandon Weaver, OV (30-3) p. Preston Heiliger, Nv, 2:31; 5. Joel Silvernail, Edg (15-18) p. Paden Schwartz, BN (11-18), 3:51.
145: 1. Cash Turner, Edg (34-1), p. Hunter Fender, BS (25-11), :34; 3. Coy Bender, THS, d. Conner Rogers, OV (22-13).
152: 1. Evan Roudebush, BS (30-2) p. Luke May, THS, 2:22; 3. Jeremiah Casillas, BN (27-11) p. Michael Neidigh, Edg (21-16), 2:18; 5. Rowdy Adams, Sul, d. Lucas McBee, OV (13-20), 3-2.
160: 1. Jorge Franco, THS (32-4), md. Cael Hickock, BN (28-9), 11-2; 3. Tyler Lee, Nv, d. Austin Benales, P, 10-7; 5. Quaid Hinshaw, OV (23-12), inj. default over Eli Ybarra, THN.
170: 1. Delaney Ruhlman, BS (30-0), p. Collin Casad, THS (21-12), 1:46; 3. Tommy Gilliam, Nv, p. James Hastings, THN, 3:46.
182: 1. Richard Alexander, Nv (28-3), p. Kyvan Bandy, OV (26-9), 5:53; 3. Logan Wenzel, THN, d. Kyle Kennedy, THS, 3-1; 5. Mason Drake, Sul, p. Tristan Hicks, BS (7-11), 1:33.
195: 1. Drew Chandler, BS (28-5), d. Brock Higgins, WV (24-5), 5-3, SV-OT; 3. Dalton Simmons, Nv, md. Brandon Freeman, 8-0; 5. Marty Higgins, P, p. Braden Hubbell, Edg (16-18), 3:50.
220: 1. Alex Rose, THS (31-3), P. Eli Hinshaw, OV (32-1), :52; 3. Preston Montgomery, WV, p. Devyn Orman, Nv, 2:04; 5. Trenton Fender, Edg (21-14), d. Logan Porter, IC, 16-14, SV-OT.
285: 1. Bryce Mills, OV (26-6), p. Brandon Brewer, Nv, 4:52; 3. Sean Murphy, THS (30-5), p. Region Hendricks, WV, 2:15.
Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com or 812-331-4381 and follow on Twitter @Jim Gordillo.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: South's Chandler keeps on swimming, wins first sectional wrestling title
