Carrington wins title at Mooresville Regional; Murphy also advances to Evansville Semi-State

Greencastle's Chase Carrington won all three of his Mooresville Regional matches by decision, including a 10-4 decision over Decatur Central's Isaac Cadwell (pictured) and a 7-3 decision over Ben Davis' Gage Eckels for a second-straight week to win the title at 152 pounds and advance to Saturday's Evansville Semi-State.

Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

MOORESVILLE – Chase Carrington avoided the pitfall of falling to the same opponent he beat the previous week to finish as champion at 152 pounds at the IHSAA Mooresville Wrestling Regional Saturday.

The Greencastle senior won three decisions in one of the more competitive weight classes at the regional and will be joined at the Evansville Semi-State by North Putnam’s Lucas Murphy, who finished fourth at 170 pounds.

Center Grove strolled to a team title with 211 points, breaking Brownsburg’s seven-year hold at the regional as the Bulldogs (186.5) finished second. Whiteland (78) finished third, followed by Avon (71.5) and Cascade (38.5) with Greencastle (18) ninth and North Putnam (6) tied with the host Pioneers for 16th overall.

Carrington came through his opening-round match against Franklin Community freshman Cory Fuller with a 10-5 decision before adding a second strong showing in the semifinal, winning 10-4 over Decatur Central’s Isaac Cadwell.

The final saw the Greencastle senior paired with Ben Davis’ Gage Eckels for a second time in as many weeks, the latter upending Center Grove’s Silas Stits in the semifinal, and after two periods the pair were tied 2-2.

Choosing bottom in the third period, Carrington secured a reversal and was able to turn Eckles for three near-fall points to secure a 7-3 win and a top seed at the Evansville Semi-State Saturday.

Murphy appeared to be in good shape in his opening round match, comfortably leading Monrovia’s Drew Elmore 9-0 before a late takedown nearly led to the Cougar senior being pinned in the final seconds, instead hanging on for a 9-5 win.

In the semifinal, Murphy started off trailing Whiteland’s Vincent Tinoco 4-1 before a takedown and three near-fall points turned the match around.

Leading 8-6 after two periods, Murphy was unable to keep Tinoco down long while a pair of stalling calls eventually tied the match at 8-8, sending the match to overtime where the Warrior senior secured a takedown and a 10-8 win.

Murphy was unable to figure out Martinsville’s Noah Sumner in the third-place round, falling 9-2 and will be a fourth seed at the Evansville Semi-State.

The opening round quickly separated the advancing group from the rest of the field with Greencastle’s Dylan Archer falling to Monrovia’s Gavin Ash at 106 pounds, as would North Putnam’s Corie Stancombe to Bulldog Isaac Ash at 113 pounds.

Tiger Cub David Olson made it to the third period against Center Grove’s Eddie Goss but would fall in that period at 120 pounds while Cayden Blodgett was on the wrong end of a 18-3 tech fall to Cascade’s Dominic McFeeley at 126 pounds. Cooper Robinson fell in the second period to Whiteland’s Joey Buttler in the second period at 132 pounds.

Both representatives at 160 pounds fell early as Cougar Braden Glaze fell in the second period to Decatur Central’s David Oyebode while South Putnam’s Wyatt Speth fell in the first period to Center Grove’s Andre Merritt.

The most topsy-turvy of the first-round matches came at 195 pounds where Eagle senior Ethan Harcourt and Martinsville’s Stevie Drake traded off throws, though the latter built up a 10-1 cushion that allowed him to withstand being in danger twice in the third period as Harcourt bowed out in a 17-10 decision.

Carrington will face North Posey’s Wyatt Gamblin in the opening round at 152 pounds while Murphy will face Heritage Hill’s Jett Goldsberry in the opener at 170 pounds Saturday.