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SPHS, CHS wrestle at Ben Davis
INDIANAPOLIS--For the last time in 2014, South Putnam and Cloverdale's wrestling squads competed Saturday morning as both teams took part in the Ben Davis Giant Duals.
Holes in both line-ups prevented either team from having the success they were looking for as the Eagles went 2-3 as a team while the Clovers fell in all five rounds.
"I thought we wrestled pretty well," South Putnam head coach Josh Hendrickson said. "The matches we got were pretty good.
"I thought we wrestled well considering we had three days of practice to prepare for this meet."
As a team, the Eagles alternated losses and wins, starting with a loss to South Adams before downing Mount Vernon (Fortville).
Ben Davis proved too tall of a task for the Eagles to overcome in the next round before South Putnam knocked off Tri-West, eventually falling in the fifth place match to Fountain Central.
Individual success was a little easier to come by for the Putnam County grapplers, though, particularly for South Putnam as seven wrestlers finished the day with records above .500.
Kyle Shaffer led the charge with an unblemished 5-0 record while Will Cruse, Kieffer Vittetow and Jacob Lorimer each finished 4-1. Levi Whitaker, Dakota Bunten and Cody Wyatt each finished 3-2 while Oliviero Vurro and Jesse Owen were each 2-3.
"Kyle had a good day, Will did pretty well and Kieffer came in and had a pretty good day. Everyone wrestled pretty well. When we're giving up so many points, it's hard to win the team score, but it was still a pretty good day."
Cloverdale's small line-up meant there was no margin for error even when other teams had large holes of their own.
Clover coach Christian Frye said the squad battled well against a tough field.
"I think the kids wrestled tough against some hard competition today," Frye said. "These guys are getting better but there are still a lot of things to work on as we prepare for the state tournament."
The Clovers were unlucky enough to face Ben Davis and Lafayette (KY) in the opening rounds before falling to Tri-West and Mount Vernon in the next two rounds.
In its final match, Cloverdale was paired up with Turkey Run and despite winning two of the three contested matches, fell by three as the Warriors featured one more wrestler than the Clovers.
Individually, Peyton Skadra led Cloverdale with a 4-1 record while Jackson Szczerbik, Nick Blundell, Jacob Gibson and Noah Dean each finished the day 2-3.
Frye added that even though the competition was tough, there were chances for the wrestlers to pick up more wins than they did.
"We wrestled well but there is still plenty of room for improvement," Frye said. "There some missed opportunities that we had today but, again, it's still good preparation for the end of the season."
With the season beginning to build toward a head as sectionals approach, Frye and Hendrickson both shared optimistic views about the squad.
"We can tell there is confidence in the guys in the way they wrestle," Frye said. "They've been wrestling better since the beginning of the season and we've seen that in events like the county tourney.
"All five guys won their matches against North Putnam and they are more confident in the way they compete because they've seen high level competition all year.
"There were several state-ranked wrestlers from Indiana and Kentucky that they faced today," Frye said. "They know when they go on the mat that no one is going to kill them and that they can wrestle with good competition, which continues to help them get ready for the end of the season."
"I think we're good," Hendrickson said. "I think we're to the point where we're doing most of the fundamental stuff right, so it's time to polish those things up and start getting ready for tournament runs.
"We've got the WCC in a couple of weeks and a couple of tough duals with Avon and Plainfield that should help get us prepared for sectionals. We're looking at sectionals now and I think we're on our way."
At Ben Davis
Ben Davis Giant Duals
Team Champions: Ben Davis
Individual Results
South Putnam (2-3, 6th Overall)
126: Kieffer Vittetow 4-1
132: Jacob Lorimer 4-1
138: Levi Whitaker 3-2
145: Olivier Vurro 2-3
160: Dakota Bunten 3-2
170: Cody Wyatt 3-2
182: Kyle Shaffer 5-0
195: Will Cruse 4-1
285: Jesse Neal 2-3
Cloverdale (0-5, 12th Overall)
145: Jackson Szczerbik 2-3
152: Nick Blundell 2-3
160: Peyton Skadra 4-1
182: Jacob Gibson 2-3
195: Noah Dean 2-3
Next Matches: South Putnam participates in the Monrovia Invitational while Cloverdale participates in the South Vermillion 8-Way on Jan. 10.