New Albany wrestling coach Eric Burres’ ultimate goal for his program is to develop state champions.

The Bulldogs took a major step toward that goal last Saturday at the Jeff Classic.

New Albany produced three champions, the second-most on the day, to finish fifth in the 29th annual tournament. The Bulldogs scored 183 1/2 points.

“I thought we did a really good job. We wrestled really hard,” Burres said. “We had some good matches, and at the same time, we had some disappointing matches. But all in all, we really did a good job. For the middle of December, we’re where we need to be at.”

Seniors Martin Woodrome and Kyle Hall and junior Nick Oxley were the tournament champs for New Albany. Oxley, who is his first year as a varsity wrestler, won the 125-pound division to up his record to 19-1. Hall was the 130 champion and Woodrome placed first at 140 to improve his mark to 20-1.

Oxley said his mental toughness helped him persevere.

“The key for me was the mindset going into the championship round. I was a little flustered going into the round,” he said. “Going into the finals, you have to be thinking positive and just keeping everything in your mind.”

Oxley’s triumph in the 125 final helped inspire Hall to win his championship bout, a 13-3 majority decision over Southwestern’s Michael Harmon.

“Once he won his match, it really pumped me up for my match,” Hall said. “It was a mindset thing for me, too.”

Like Oxley and Hall, Woodrome was gratified to beat some formidable competition. The Jeff Classic featured ranked teams from both Indiana and Kentucky.

“Each of us beat some pretty high-ranked guys, and that really boosted our confidence,” said Woodrome, who defeated longtime rival Bobby Willis of Jennings County in the 140 final.

New Albany also had two runner-up finishes, which were junior Ivan Rodriguez at 145 and J.T. Jenkins at 171. Jenkins lost a close final with Providence’s Ethan Cook, 4-3.

Despite his team’s great finish at Jeff, Burres says there is still a lot of room for improvement before his team competes in the Hoosier Hills Conference meet and the Jeffersonville Sectional next month.

“We need to get better by the time conference comes,” Burres said. “We need to fix some things that we’re doing wrong now by conference and by the end of the year.”

Jeff, Providence have good day at Classic

Even though New Albany had the most Classic champions among area teams, Jeffersonville had the highest team placing.

The Red Devils were third with 188 1/2 points. Freshman Curtis Smith was second at 103 pounds, while sophomore Jon Reed (112), Rob Ferguson (140) and Austin Copeland (160) each placed fourth.

Providence wound up seventh with 155 points. The Pioneers had two champions in Cook and Kevin Mooney (112). Heavyweight teammate Eean Huffman was fourth.

It was a rough day for Charlestown, which finished a disappointing 13th with 85 points. Brandon Balmer, the Pirates’ lone top seed, got knocked off in the second round and finished outside the top eight.

Charlestown’s best finish came from Taylor Traver, who was sixth at 215. The senior lost to South Dearborn’s David Davies in the fifth-place match, 1-0.

The Pirates’ Kevin Gonzalez (112) and Eddie Duran (125) each placed seventh.

New Washington wound up 17th with 15 points. The Mustangs’ Aaron Dabney finished eighth at 145.

Floyd goes 4-1 at 6-way

Floyd Central had a very productive day last Saturday, going 4-1 in a home six-way meet.

The Highlanders downed Corydon (72-6), Tipton (44-31), South Oldham (39-28) and Vincennes (59-21). They lost to Fern Creek in the final dual meet of the day, 36-34.

Two Highlander grapplers went 5-0 in Eric Luckett and Jake Missi, while teammate Garrett Blackman was 2-0. Four teammates went 4-1 in Tom Denny, Travis Doss, Jeremiah Faulkenburg and Brach Hollis.

Last Wednesday, Floyd claimed a home dual meet with Providence, 55-24. Winning for the Highlanders were Luckett, Faulkenburg, Missi, Hollis, Doss, Drew Denny, Josh Happel, Tyler Alvey, Ian Emerson and Richard Torres.

The Pioneers’ winners were not provided at press time.

Devils, Pirates also have dual meets

Also last Wednesday, Jeff and Charlestown competed in dual meets to prepare for the Jeff Classic.

The Red Devils claimed a road victory at Corydon, 51-19. Six Red Devils prevailed by pin, who were Smith, Reed, Copeland, Brett Walker, Alex Bailey and Justin Cunningham. Also winning for Jeff were Dominique Smith, Caleb Browner, Tyler Tatgenhorst and Kyle Smith.

But Jeff coach Danny Struck was proud of two Red Devils who lost to ranked opponents in Caleb Visser and Rob Ferguson.

“Caleb wrestled with a lot of guts and never gave up,” Struck said. “Rob has wrestled the toughest schedule of anyone on our team. His record isn’t what he wants it to be.”

Charlestown downed Pekin Eastern at home 48-12, as only 10 weight classes competed.

Five Pirates — Iram Polito (135), Mark Daugherty (145), James Kendrick (152), Glenn Payne (189) and Dustin Wheeler (285) — each won by pin. Polito, Kendrick, Payne and Wheeler defeated their respective opponents in less than a minute, with Wheeler posting the quickest pin at 13 seconds.

Teammates David Stotridge (103), Luis Gonzalez (171) and Chase Nickles (215) won their matches by forfeit.

Charlestown head coach Tom Kendrick decided to use several junior varsity wrestlers to get them some experience.

“Some of those kids needed a match,” the Pirates’ mentor said. “I was happy with that. We came out and wrestled well. We were able to get some kids some mat time that needed mat time.”