Coach Todd Weaver said members of his Seymour wrestling team weren’t mentally prepared for their matches against Columbus North in the Lloyd E. Scott Gymnasium.
The results showed as the Bulldogs went home Thursday with a 36-30 win despite Seymour receiving 24 points on four forfeits. Of the nine matches that were contested, North won seven of them.
“They have good wrestlers,” Weaver said. “They may have just nine guys, but they wrestled really hard, and they know how to wrestle.
“It’s kind of deceiving. A lot of times, people take it for granted that you get spotted a few points, and all of a sudden, ‘I don’t have to wrestle hard because somebody else will probably pick up the pace and win,’ and that didn’t happen tonight.
“Actually, I think what happened is we took them for granted a little bit, and we were spotted 24 points and we’ll win, but nobody went out there to do their part. When you don’t do your part, that’s when things go bad.”
Seymour’s wins on the mat came from Owen Chandler at 113 pounds and Cheaney Reichenbacker at 152.
Chandler defeated Keandre Watson 8-6 for his 30th win of the season.
Chandler had two takedowns in the first period to lead 4-1. Chandler had an escape and reversal in the second period, while Watson had a takedown and reversal in that period. Each wrestler had a penalty point in the third period.
Reichenbacker scored a 7-6 win over Will Russell.
After neither wrestler scored a point in the first period, Russell gained a reversal and a near fall for a 5-0 lead in the third period.
Reichenbacker scored a reversal and a near fall in the third period to tie the match at 5. After Watson had an escape, Reichenbacker had a takedown for the win.
Seymour’s Leo Pena gave up a takedown and reversal to Brigham Kleinhenz for a 4-0 loss at 182, and the only point Jacob Roberts could score was an escape in the second period in a 3-1 loss to Josh Larson at 195.
The Owls’ Jacob Roberts (220), Isaiah Pichardo (106) and Brant Steele (120) lost by pin.
Owls claiming forfeits were Josh Shuffitt (126), David Shuffitt (132), Brandon Penegar (138) and Jacob Kriete at 145.
It was Seymour’s senior night, and before the meet, senior wrestlers John and David Shuffitt, Reichenbacker, Thomasma and Dalton Miller and their parents were introduced.
With North forfeiting four matches, Weaver said he wanted to get Reichenbacker a match, so he made some changes in the lineup and moved the senior up a weight.
“We moved a little bit, not a lot, and maybe it ended up biting us in the end,” Weaver said.
The Owls will wrestle in the Hoosier Hills Conference Tournament on Saturday at Jennings County.
Chandler is seeded No. 2 at 113 for Seymour’s highest seed.
“They’ve got to be ready mentally, and that’s really been our complaint the last couple weeks, that in practice, our kids have not been into it mentally, that they were not into this meet tonight,” Weaver said. “Sometimes, it gets to that time of year that you’re either going to show up when it counts or you’re just going to fold tent and not work hard, and I think some of our guys needed a real wakeup call, and hopefully tonight, this was it.”