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Unheralded, unranked Beadles striving to make mark for South Putnam in loaded field at 215 pounds
FILLMORE – In the middle of the gym at Fillmore Elementary school, a group of five wrestlers is working well into the month of February, a time when many are taking some downtime before spring sports get into full swing.
The numbers out on the mats have dwindled over the past three weeks as the IHSAA Wrestling State Tournament has claimed all but one of the Eagles on the path to Evansville’s Ford Center in the lead up to the IHSAA Wrestling State Finals that take place Friday and Saturday.
Aiden Beadles is that last man standing, the first state qualifier for South Putnam since current Greencastle head coach Kyle Shaffer finished third at 195 pounds in the 2016-17 season.
Should Beadles match Shaffer’s placement, the Eagle senior might be one of the talks of the finals weekend after being drawn into a tough quarter bracket containing the No. 1, 3 and 9-ranked wrestlers at 215 pounds.
It isn’t Beadles’ first trip to Evansville, which came the week before at the Evansville Semi-State, one in which he finished 3-1, defeating North Posey’s Brant Oakley by fall and and Franklin Community’s Kellen Fellure by 7-2 decision to reach the state finals.
“The first match, we had talked about it being one of the toughest matches of the day, but when I went out there, I kind of overwhelmed (Oakley),” Beadles said. “I was aggressive and got the pin early, so I felt good.
“The ticket round match with (Fellure) was a real fight. He was a freshman but we knew he was really good.
“I scored early and had some moments where it was fight, but in the end, I feel I had the better gas tank,” Beadles added. “As a senior, it was all-or-nothing. I wanted it bad and fought him for it.”
For a third week in a row, Beadles finished third in the state series after falling to Tell City’s Landon Terry in the semifinal round before bouncing back to pin Heritage Hills’ Parke Hart in the third-place match.
“In the first period, we were pretty equal,” Beadles said about the loss to Terry. “I was expecting the match to go the distance so I took bottom to start the second period to try and get a quick escape but he rode me pretty well.
“I tried a granby one too many times, he saw it coming and stuck me. If I went back and wrestled again, I’d make some smarter calls, taking neutral instead of bottom and not letting him get on top, which was his strong suit.
“In the last match, we tussled a bit in the first period before (Hart) got a quick takedown,” Beadles said about the third-place match. “On bottom, he tried to run all of his stuff and tried a butcher; when he did, I turned out and was able to get my arm through and around his head, turning him.
“Once I got him on his back, I had him pretty tight and he realized it pretty quick that he wasn’t going anywhere.”
Beadles will open the finals against Bellmont’s Keagan Martin, ranked third heading into the state tournament, with Crown Point’s Will Clark, the defending champion at 215 pounds and top-ranked wrestler at the weight class, facing Mount Vernon (Fortville’s) Devin Kendrex, the ninth-ranked wrestler in the weight class, on the other side of the quarter bracket.
“I didn’t really know much about (Martin) when the draw happened, so I looked him up, knowing it was going to be a tough matchup regardless,” Beadles said. “We’ve done some research and watched some matches of his since then.
“He wrestled (Hart) earlier this year and only won by a point or two, so looking at it, he’s a bit more technical than me but I think we’re evened out. He has a number next to his name and I don’t but that makes me more dangerous in that bracket.
“I have nothing to lose going in and everyone else does,” Beadles added. “If I make it through, every match is going to be tough and it’ll be whatever God chooses until I go.”
In fact, Beadles is the only wrestler in the weight class who isn’t ranked in some fashion as 14 of the 16 wrestlers in the field are ranked in the IndianaMat top-25; Manchester’s Preston Duffy is the other non top-25 wrestler at 215 pounds but was ranked within the Fort Wayne Semi-State.
“I think people will be overlooking me,” Beadles said about being the least heralded wrestler in the weight class. “Who isn’t going to be looking at the quarterfinal, seeing the No. 1 kid in the weight class and not be worrying about that?
“Maybe others are looking at what to do with him and that gives me some benefits as I know my moves and know how I want to wrestle. Just because I don’t have one of those numbers in front of my name doesn’t mean I’m not a tough opponent, something I’ve proven against some tough competition.
“Either way, I’m not going to make it easy on anyone,” Beadles added.
After listening to a fiery post practice speech from South Putnam head coach Antonio Hernandez, Beadles and the rest of the Eagles rolled up the mats for one of the last times this year and headed their separate ways for the evening.
Since Shaffer’s exploits for the program, South Putnam has struggled to get wrestlers to the regional round and had not even had a semistate qualifier until Beadles and freshman Keenan Mowery-Shields qualified this year.
As much as Beadles was going out there to compete against the best the state of Indiana had to offer, he said he was carrying a banner for those still to come to rally behind.
“I’m going out there for myself and coaches,” Beadles said. “It’s been a tough couple of years for the program, which has been in a rebuild.
“Ultimately, this is the goal of every wrestler and program, to get guys winning the conference, out to the regional, the semistate and to the finals. I’ve accomplished a lot and getting to place at the state finals would be the cherry on top.
“Overall, this is more than I could have imagined and more than my coaches could have imagined. Either way, this has been a big accomplishment, no matter what.”