Eagles reclaim Putnam County wrestling title

Greencastle senior Aaron Langdon puts a hold on Cloverdale's Azamat Holov during Thursday's county tournament. Langdon (170) was 3-0 at the tournament on his way to his second county title. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

CLOVERDALE -- The South Putnam wrestling team dominated the big and small weight classes en route to seven individual county champions, helping the Eagles claim the 2013 Putnam County team wrestling championship with a 3-0 record at Thursday's meet at Cloverdale.

The Eagles beat Cloverdale 52-21, Greencastle 60-12 and North Putnam 66-12.

South Putnam's seven class champions were freshman Kieffer Vittetow (106), senior Nick Owen (120), sophomore Jacob Lorimer (126), freshman Kyle Shaffer (182) and seniors Rudy Harris (195), Lane Hacker (220) and Jacob Williams (285).

North Putnam's Caleb Winings gains position on South Putnam's Levi Whitaker. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

"I'm happy with the way we wrestled today," SPHS coach Josh Hendrickson said. "The kids came out, they wrestled hard and they wrestled physical. I could see things that we do in practice translate on the mat and it was a good win."

North Putnam finished the tournament in second place, entering the third round with a 2-0 record against Greencastle and Cloverdale before losing to the Eagles in the deciding match.

The Cougars had two individual county champions, sophomore Trae Straziscar (113) and senior Caleb Winings (132).

"I was hoping for improvement," NPHS coach Bucky Kramer said. "The big thing with our kids, the returners that we had last year, is making sure that they improved on their knowledge.

"And with the newcomers -- we have a lot of newcomers -- is getting them match-ready mentally. We have a lot of room for improvement ... but coach Hendrickson is doing a wonderful job with South Putnam. We like wrestling those guys. We like our county. It's a good tournament."

Cloverdale finished in third, beating Greencastle in the deciding third-round match.

The Clovers had three class county champions, senior Wade Warren (152), junior Max Secrest (160) and junior Jake Waycott (138).

"They wrestled really hard," Cloverdale coach Christian Frye said. "We had a few slip away from us, but we have a lot to work on for conference. ... We need to be more aggressive. (That comes from) practicing, working and drilling to make it second nature."

Greencastle, the county champion both of the last two seasons, finished the event in fourth place with a 0-3 record. The duals against North Putnam and Cloverdale were both decided by one class.

The Tiger Cubs had two class champions, seniors Riley Jayne (145) and Aaron Langdon (170).

"Aaron Langdon and Riley Jayne both work really hard and I'm happy to see their efforts rewarded," Greencastle coach Logan Kuhne said. "We're going to use this. We've got a lot of things to get better before our next few tournaments and before we see these guys at conference and sectionals

"South Put's got a good team. (I give) lots of respect to them."

South Putnam freshman Kyle Shaffer rolls over North Putnam senior Ben Wiatt. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

Two-time individual county champions were Lorimer, Langdon and Hacker.

Harris, a state finalist last season, won his third county championship on Thursday.

"The seniors all did well," Hendrickson said. "The seniors came out and wrestled like they expected to and they were able to capitalize."

The Eagles are off until Saturday, Dec. 28 when they compete at the Ben Davis Giant Invitational. They've also been selected for the team duals in January.

North Putnam competes at Twin Lake on Friday, Dec. 27. Cloverdale has a meet at Ben Davis on Thursday, Jan. 2. Greencastle competes at the Warrior Classic on Dec. 27-28.

Cloverdale senior Wade Warren gains position on South Putnam's Dakota Bunten. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

2013 Putnam County Wrestling Tournament
At Cloverdale
Team results
1. South Putnam, 2. North Putnam, 3. Cloverdale, 4. Greencastle