GHS wrestlers win County

After the dust settled Thursday night at the Putnam County Wrestling Tournament at Cloverdale, the Greencastle Tiger Cubs wrestling team hoisted the championship trophy.

Greencastle captured the team championship as well as tying Cloverdale with most individual weight class champions.

"We were very lucky," Greencastle coach Russ Hesler said after the meet.

"If Cloverdale hadn't had to forfeit a weight class, that could've turned the match completely around."

Helping Greencastle capture the overall title was Nolan Lewis, who won the 112 weight division with a 3-0 record. Greencastle also won at 125 with Tommy Downing running a 2-1 record.

In the 160 weight class, Chris Pingleton notched three victories to get the win and Robert Bittles brought won the 171 class to the Tiger Cubs.

Michael Rumley rounded out the individual titles for Greencastle by winning the 215 weight class with a 3-0 record.

Hesler knows that everything that comes with winning is not always a good thing.

"I guarantee that when it comes time for conference, everybody will be gunning for us," he said with a grin.

South Putnam grabbed two weight class victories that helped them secure third place.

Jon Parker at 145 scored a 3-0 record and Jeremiah Parrish followed Parker by winning the 152 with his own 3-0 record.

South Putnam wrestled well all night but some key losses and a disqualification didn't help their cause.

The North Putnam Cougars tallied two individual class victories in the 140 and the heavyweight class.

B.J. Brewer, fresh off of a win Tuesday night, captured the 140 title with a 3-0 record. Emmett Boruff was North's only other individual title at the 285 weight class posting a 3-0 record.

Cloverdale recorded five individual titles on the night and locked up the second spot in the team standings.

Zach Waycott, with a 3-0 record, gained the 119 championship for the Clovers. Zac Osburn wrestled three hard matches en route to the 130 title.

Fellow Clover, Benjamin Sanders, followed at 135 recording three wins and Alex Gardiner was strong winning at 189.

But the highlight of the night had to be Cloverdale's championship win in the 103 weight class. Brittney Hughes walked onto the mat to face Greencastle's Nate Kelly to a relatively good audience response. As the match went on and Hughes started to take control, the home crowd seemed ready to burst at the seams.

The excitement built as her fellow teammates stood at the mat cheering her on and the crowd rose to their feet. Then Hughes took Kelly the mat and the roof nearly came off the place.

With the crowd going crazy, Hughes took control of the match and pinned Kelly with :50 seconds remaining in the first period to take the 103 title with three wins on the night.

Another wonderful sight was as the wrestlers were waiting for the results to be announced, members of all participating teams help put up mats and equipment.

After the contest, Hesler couldn't stop saying great things about his team and the other teams.

"I've got a class bunch of kids" he said. "It's fun to compete with good coaches and good teams with good sportsmanship."

Greencastle will host the Greencastle Tournament this Saturday at 9 a.m.

Cloverdale will host Cascade next Tuesday at 6 p.m.

South Putnam will host the Eagle Super Six on Friday Dec. 29th at 9 a.m.

North Putnam will host Rockville Wed. Jan. 10th at 6:30 p.m.

At Cloverdale

Overall Team Standings - Greencastle, Cloverdale, South Putnam, North Putnam

Overall Individual Champions

103 - Brittney Hughes - Cloverdale

112 - Nolan Lewis - Greencastle

119 - Zach Waycott - Cloverdale

125 - Tommy Downing - Greencastle

130 - Zac Osburn - Cloverdale

135 - Benjamin Sanders - Cloverdale

140 - B.J. Brewer - North Putnam

145 - Jon Parker - South Putnam

152 - Jeremiah Parrish - South Putnam

160 - Chris Pingleton - Greencastle

171 - Robert Bittles - Greencastle

189 - Alex Gardiner - Cloverdale

215 - Michael Rumley - Greencastle

285 - Emmett Boruff - North Putnam

Next Meets - Greencastle will host the Greencastle Tournament this Saturday at 9 a.m., while Cloverdale will host Cascade next Tuesday at 6 p.m. South Putnam will host the Eagle Super Six on Friday Dec. 29th at 9 a.m., while North Putnam will host Rockville Wednesday Jan. 10th at 6:30 p.m.