NPMS wrestlers fall in opener

Friday, February 7, 2014

CRAWFORDSVILLE -- A young North Putnam Middle School wrestling squad opened up its season Thursday night At Tuttle Middle School. The Cougars showed promise to their season but fell, 68-28.

The Cougars have a lot of new comers this year, which helps them strength up their classes. This is the best turn out for North Putnam in the last several years.

"We have a lot of new guys and I want to get them involved in the offseason," Cougars' coach Bucky Kramer said, "There are some tournaments involved and that is how I want to help our team grow."

The first year wrestlers show promise because of their youth, most being sixth- and seventh-graders. This allows them to have several years to mature and learn.

"My first year kids obviously need a lot of work," Kramer said, "We have a lot of kids, though, and I'm happy about that. We have a lot to look forward to."

The seasoned wrestlers are the kids who got the points for North Putnam. They knew what to expect and they had spent the extra time participating in the high school practices to help their skill.

That possible could have been because the Cougars only won one match against Tuttle last year. This year they won six.

One of those was eighth-grader Dillon Binnion in the 160 class, a second year wrestler who joined midway through last season. Binnion had his struggles last year, but with a year of practice and spending his time at high school practices he got a pin in an astounding 14 seconds.

"The guys that won tonight are guys that really put a lot of effort into it," Kramer said, "They always have their heads banging and with the high school practices they get a lot of the conditioning part."

Also recording wins for the Cougars were Tyler Wright in 75 (decision), Jarrek Montgomery 85 (pin), Jake Plessinger 120 (decision), Patrick Kimes 155 (pin), and Jake Powell 220 (pin).

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