By KEVIN HARRIS
When you look at the seedings of the 30th annual Jeffersonville Classic, Southwestern and 19th-ranked Carmel are considered the favorites. If the seedings go according to plan, the Rebels would end up winning this Saturday’s tournament, while the Greyhounds would place second.
But according to Red Devil head coach Danny Struck, the Jeff Classic is anybody’s ballgame.
“The tournament field toughens every year,” Struck said. “We are ranked No. 20 in the state, but Madison and New Albany have beaten us though. Jennings County has won more Jeff Classic (titles) than any other team here. Carmel is ranked No. 19 in the state and South Dearborn is getting votes. Throw Charlestown in there, who just beat New Albany, and you have a great field of teams. There are 14 wrestlers ranked in the top 20 in the state wrestling this weekend.”
New Albany coach Eric Burres, whose team is seeded third, thinks the Jeff Classic will be as challenging as ever.
“The Jeff Classic is a tough tournament with good competition,” Burres said. “There will be a lot of great matches and tough battles going on this Saturday. We will wrestle teams from (Indianapolis), Muncie and the southeastern part of the state as well as tough local teams.”
Charlestown coach Tom Kendrick says the tournament does not bring in the top teams like it has in the past. But he thinks the Jeff Classic is still one of the best tournaments in Southern Indiana.
“The overall quality is down team-wise. Several years ago, they had Floyd Central and East Central,” Kendrick said. “But it’s a good local tournament. Most of the sectional teams are still there. At every weight class, you have state qualifiers and semistate qualifiers.”
The Bulldogs have the most top seeds among the area teams with three. They are Nick Oxley at 125 pounds, Ivan Rodriguez at 145 and J.T. Jenkins at 171. Oxley is the only returning Jeff Classic champion for the Bulldogs, while both Rodriguez and Jenkins were state qualifiers a year ago.
Three New Albany grapplers are seeded third in Tim Martin (119), Kirk Moore (130) and Brett Kaelin (152).
“We should finish somewhere in the top five with a couple of champions,” Burres said. “We do have 11 kids seeded in the top eight, but the kids still have to go out and get the job done.”
Despite having no top seeds, Jeff is tied with Carmel with the most No. 2 seeds in the tournament with five. The Red Devil two seeds are Curtis Smith (112), Alex Bailey (140), Tyler Tatgenhorst (189), Richard Hayes (215) and John Clark (285).
“We have no No. 1 seeds, but our kids have wrestled a tough schedule and it should pay off,” Struck said. “We have already wrestled three of the top 10 schools in the state, so it was tough for us to have No. 1 seeds. We hope to see our kids rise to the occasion.”
The highest seedings for Charlestown are a pair of three seeds in David Stotridge (103) and Kevin Gonzalez (112). Six other Pirates are seeded fourth.
“We are (seeded) in the top eight in all our weight classes. From top to bottom, we’re looking pretty good,” Kendrick said.
New Washington only has one wrestler seeded in the top eight in Josh Sampson. The sophomore is third at 145.
C-T0WN WINS MSC DUALS AGAIN
Once again, Charlestown proved it was the best in the Mid-Southern Conference when it comes to dual meets.
Last Saturday at Bill Dunn Sports Arena, the Pirates won their fourth MSC Duals championship in a row as they downed their five opponents by an average margin of 51.8 points.
Charlestown defeated Salem and Corydon by identical 75-6 scores and upended Pekin Eastern (76-6) and Scottsburg (57-18). The Pirates also beat New Albany (39-27), which participated in the meet despite not being a conference member.
Stotridge and teammates Iram Polito (135), Craig Brown (189) and Logan McCutcheon (215) each went 5-0. Brown had three pins, while McCutcheon and Stotridge each made two.
Going 4-1 for Charlestown were Gonzalez (112), Jeff Stotridge (125), Brandon Balmer (130), Aaron May (140), Taylor Newcomb (4-1), Mark Daugherty (152) and Steve Martin (160). May, Newcomb and Jeff Stotridge made three pins apiece.
Kendrick said the New Albany match was a competitive one.
“(The Pirates) came in and knew it would be a good one,” Kendrick said. “It was a great match from all sides. It was a good, old-fashioned barnburner.”
HIGHLANDERS FIFTH AT CALUMET DUALS
Floyd Central won four of its five dual meets to place fifth in the 16-team Calumet Duals in Northern Indiana last Saturday. The Highlanders finished behind four ranked squads in No. 2 Mishawaka, No. 4 Indianapolis Cathedral, No. 5 Crown Point and No. 9 Lawrence North.
Floyd’s four victories came against Southmont (38-26), No. 12 Franklin (30-27), Portage (32-31) and Valparaiso (60-12). The Highlanders’ lone loss was to Cathedral 45-15, but four of the individual matches in that meet each had a losing margin of two points or less.
Cooper Samuels and John McAndrew led Floyd by posting 5-0 records, while teammates Eric Luckett and Tyler Alvey each recorded a 4-1 mark.
“This is a big victory for the program,” Highlander head coach Rob Willman said. “This tournament is regarded as the toughest dual tournament in the state all year. For us to go up there and compete the way we did is a really big deal. However, we have areas in which to improve.”
PIRATES FALL AT SOUTHWESTERN
Last Wednesday, Charlestown lost a dual meet at Southwestern, 42-27.
The Pirates won six individual matches with the victors being Gonzalez, Jeff Stotridge, Newcomb, Daugherty, Brown and McCutcheon. Gonzalez, Newcomb, Brown and McCutcheon each prevailed by pin.
“We got beat, but I enjoyed watching every match. We wrestled hard,” Kendrick said. “I enjoyed it because I saw a lot of good things. I saw some correctable things.”
UPCOMING SCHEDULE
• TONIGHT: Corydon at Jeffersonville, 7 p.m.
• THURSDAY: Floyd Central at Providence, 6 p.m.
• SATURDAY: Floyd Central Invitational, 10 a.m.; Charlestown, Jeffersonville, New Albany, New Washington in Jeff Classic, 8 a.m.; Providence at Crown Point Duals, 9 a.m.
• TUESDAY: New Albany at Paoli, 6 p.m.
• NEXT WEDNESDAY: Scottsburg at New Washington, 6 p.m.; Louisville Doss at Jeffersonville, TBA.
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS
MID-SOUTHERN CONFERENCE DUALS
Dual-meet scores — Charlestown 39, New Albany 27; Charlestown 75, Salem 6; Charlestown 75, Corydon 6; Charlestown 76, Pekin Eastern 6; Charlestown 57, Scottsburg 18.
Charlestown individuals — 103: D. Stotridge, 5-0, two pins; 112: Gonzalez, 4-1, two pins; 119: Duran, 2-1, one pin; Lentz, 2-0; 125: J. Stotridge, 4-1, three pins; 130: Balmer, 4-1, two pins; 135: Polito, 5-0, one pin; 140: May, 4-1, three pins; 145: Newcomb, 4-1, three pins; 152: Daugherty, 4-1, two pins; 160: Martin, 4-1, two pins; 171: T. Brown, 3-2, one pin; 189: C. Brown, 5-0, three pins; 215: McCutcheon, 5-0, two pins; 285: Zipp, 2-2, two pins.
CALUMET DUALS
Dual-meet scores — Floyd Central 38, Southmont 26; Indianapolis Cathedral 45, Floyd Central 15; Floyd Central 30, Franklin 27; Floyd Central 32, Portage 31; Floyd Central 60, Valparaiso 12.
Floyd individuals — Samuels 5-0, McAndrew 5-0, Luckett 4-1, Alvey 4-1.
DUAL MEET
Southwestern 42, Charlestown 27
103: L. Schroeder (S) won by forfeit.
112: Gonzalez (C) pin Parker, :38.
119: Bartlett (S) pin Lentz, :30.
125: J. Stotridge (C) dec. Smith, 6-0.
130: Harmon (S) pin Balmer, 1:06.
135: Brawner (S) dec. Polito, 5-4.
140: O’Neill (S) dec. May, 9-4.
145: Newcom (C) pin Schroeder, :35.
152: Daugherty (C) dec. Lauderbaugh, 7-2.
160: Bruther (S) dec. Martin, 9-7.
171: Rowlett (S) pin T. Brown, 5:00.
189: C. Brown (C) pin Sailer, 5:59.
215: McCutcheon (C) pin, 1:12.
285: Tatem (S) dec. Zipp, 8-7, 3OT
