For The Tribune
NORTH VERNON
Seymour put five wrestlers in the finals of Saturday’s Jennings County Sectional, but unfortunately for the Owls, none could come away with championships.
Still, those five wrestlers, along with five others from Seymour, earned the right to continue their seasons with top-four finishes. They’ll compete in Saturday’s Jeffersonville Regional.
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Click here to purchase photos from this gallery“The goal now is to game plan for the kids we draw at the regional and make sure our kids can go out and do it,” Seymour coach Todd Weaver said. “Hopefully, we’re ready for next week at the regional and can get some kids on to semistate.”
The Owls finished third as a team with 186 points. No. 19 Columbus East won with 260, and Jennings was second with 199½.
David Shuffitt was the first runner-up for Seymour, falling to East’s Dawson Combest by a 25-10 technical fall in the 132-pound final. Brandon Penegar then was pinned by East’s Jake Schoenegge in the 138 final.
Zack Newton dropped a 13-2 major decision to East’s Andy Davidson in the 152-pound final. Kevin Corralles fell 8-3 to Columbus North’s Josh Larson in the 195-pound final.
Dalton Miller came closest to a title, falling 4-1 to East’s Austin Sheckles in the 220-pound final.
“I wrestled an opponent I had wrestled before, so I kind of knew what was coming,” Miller said. “I wrestled my heart out. I laid it on the line there, and I made a mistake at the end. But overall on the day, I feel like I wrestled to the best of my ability. I just have to get a good week of training in and make up what I didn’t do this week next week.”
Jacob Rotert (160) advanced with a third-place finish. Bradan Thomasma (170) and Leo Pena (182) made it with fourth-place finishes.
Rotert had to fight back through the consolation bracket after dropping his quarterfinal match.
“Our 160-pounder, Jacob Rotert, I’m sure was a surprise for everybody else,” Weaver said. “It wasn’t for us. We saw the draw, and we told him all week, ‘You are going to be a regional qualifier. Here’s who you’re going to wrestle; here’s who you’re going to beat,’ and he went out and did it. He did exactly what we said was going to happen.”
The Owls’ Isaiah Pichardo (106), Owen Chandler (113), Cheaney Reichenbacker (145) were one place away from qualifying after finishing fifth.
“I thought there were maybe just a couple letdowns that we had,” Weaver said. “That 145-pound weight class was without a doubt, the toughest weight class here. We had a good 145-pounder, but there were a lot of other good kids. It’s a tough sectional.”