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Lakers take second at own tourney Indian Lake’s wrestling team brought out the throwback polyester singlets for Saturday’s Laker Invitational and that helped spark the team for a second-place finish. The Lakers were behind defending Division III state champion Troy Christian, which won the tournament with 303 points. The Lakers had 255.5 points, while Tecumseh finished third (200.5) and Celina was fourth (179.5). Lakers’ head coach Bill Fulton knows there is no shame in finishing behind a defending state champion. “We knew coming in that it would be a tough battle with Troy Christian,” said Fulton. “We try to face tough competition and that is who we want to come here. “The old-school singlets kind of came through for us because four of the five guys who wore them in the finals won,” laughed Fulton. Indian Lake senior Thomas Taylor (215) was one of many highlights for the Lakers as he earned the 100th win of his career and the 215-pound tournament title. “It was great to see Thomas get his 100th win,” said Fulton. “That is an outstanding accomplishment. There have only been eight or nine guys to do that in my time here. He wrestled a good tournament and the 100th win capped it.” Taylor rolled to the finals with pins over Mitch Miracle of Celina (3:13) and Dakota Burke of Milton- Union (3:17) and an 8-4 win over Travis Richardson of Greenon. In the finals, Taylor handled Josh Delver of Troy Christian with an 8-0 major decision. The Witt brothers also provided a spark for the Lakers as Adam Witt (130) and Arron Witt (160) each won championships. “The Witt brothers came through for us big time,” said Fulton. “Adam didn’t make weight (at 125), but ended up winning 130 pounds. Arron had a great finals match. He sat behind some guys last year, so I was happy to see him win.” Adam Witt (130) dominated his opponents, starting with a 16-4 major decision over Jacob Meinerding of Celina. He then earned tech falls over Chris Paugh of Greenon 18-1 and Sam Studebaker of Tecumseh 18-1. The finals round saw the senior pin Jordan Price of St. Marys (5:21). Arron Witt (160) battled his way into the finals. He pinned Larry Williamson of Columbus DeSales (1:23) and Derek Minch of Celina (1:31). The sophomore then edged Austin Wyen of Greenon 9-6 and Phil Roth of Tippecanoe 18-13. Arron Witt then had all the fans on their feet with a flurry of big maneuvers in the finals. Witt hit a claw-single leg combo numerous times to lead 10-5 before pinning Brad Jones of Troy Christian in 5:08. The final champion for the Lakers was Matt Marshall (189) who pinned his way to the finals. He earned falls over Killian Vallieu of Milton-Union (2:36), Stephen Smith of Tippecanoe (2:49) and Vet Smelko (4:43) of Tecumseh. The senior then battled Celina standout Steve Stoker and emerged with a 3-1 decision. “Matt wrestled a real smart match in the finals,” said Fulton. “Stoker is a tough contender. He did a great job” Chris Schulz (112), Steven Wray (119) and Kevin Christman (145) each earned runners-up finishes for Indian Lake. Schulz (112) recorded three pins to reach the finals. There the freshman ran into Troy Christian standout Paulos Campbell and was pinned in 2:52. Wray (119) cruised to the finals as four of his pool matches didn’t reach the third period. He had four pins before he battled Troy Christian state placer Cody Libengood in the finals. Wray gave Libengood a battle and trailed just 8-5 before he was caught in a double grapevine and was pinned in 3:51. Christman (145) defeated Tecumseh’s Justin Sneary 10-4 to reach the finals. The sophomore then ran into defending state champion Zach Toal of Troy Christian. Toal beat Christman by a 20-4 tech fall. “All the guys who got second did well,” said Fulton. “Kevin and Steven did outstanding and Chris had a real nice tournament.” Cody Ray (152) finished third by beating Kyle Keplinger of Troy Christian 8- 3. Scottie McMillen (140) placed fourth and Mikael Neeley (140) was fifth. The Lakers’ Nate Harmon (135) battled former state qualifier Brendan Johnson of Milton-Union in his final pool round. But Harmon suffered a shoulder injury Saturday and had to injury default to fourth. Indian Lake travels to Sidney for a tri-meet with Troy on Wednesday. |