The 29th annual Jeff Classic, which took place Dec. 15-16, was a meet head coach Tom Kendrick and the Charlestown Pirates wanted to forget.

Charlestown finished 13th out of 17 squads and its highest finish in any of the 14 weight classes was fifth.

But after celebrating Christmas and taking a few days to regroup, the Pirates bounced back nicely last Friday at the South Putnam Invitational. Charlestown went 3-2 in the five-team dual tournament and had four individual champions.

“We wrestled better. We wrestled with a little more pop and enthusiasm,” he said. “We had a lot of spark back. I’m happy with the four champions. It was a good trip for us.

“We were a little tired (after the Jeff Classic), and Christmas break helped with that.”

All four champions went 5-0 in their respective weight classes. They were junior Brandon Balmer at 112 pounds, sophomore Eddie Duran at 125, Tyler Newcomb at 130 and Taylor Newcomb at 140.

Teammate David Stotridge went 4-1 at 103, and Kevin Gonzalez (119), Aaron May (135) and Geoff Hosterman (171) each posted 3-2 records.

Charlestown’s three wins came against the host Eagles (47-27), Blue River Valley (78-6) and Turkey Run (66-18). Cloverdale and Fountain Central handed the Pirates their two setbacks.

Charlestown is the only area team that will compete in two conference meets. The Pirates will visit Southwestern for the Southern Indiana Wrestling Conference meet on Saturday, Jan. 13. The following weekend they host the Mid-Southern Conference meet on Saturday, Jan. 20.

Kendrick thinks his team needs to work hard the next several days to have a shot at both league titles.

“We need a couple good weeks of practice,” he said.

Mater Dei wrap-up

Floyd Central and New Albany each fared well in one of the toughest wrestling tournaments in Indiana last Thursday and Friday at the Mater Dei Holiday Classic in Evansville.

The Highlanders came out of the tourney with two individual champions. Junior Cooper Samuels placed first at 160 after beating Evansville Memorial’s Nick Wedding in the final by an 11-3 major decision. Samuels, who was the state runner-up at 145 last season, currently sports an 11-1 record.

Teammate Jake Missi took home the 135 crown. The senior downed North Posey’s Nick Price in the championship, 11-4. Samuels and Missi won the rest of their matches by pin.

The only other Floyd grappler to place in the top four was Brach Hollis. The senior lost in the 140 third-place match to finish fourth.

The Bulldogs had one champion in Nick Oxley. He won the 125 division to up his record to 23-1.

Three of Oxley’s teammates earned medals, who were Martin Woodrome, Ivan Rodriguez and C.J. Amos.

Providence, which was without six starters, had one champion. Eean Huffman captured the 285 title.

“He settled down (last) week and wrestled very well. He defeated some very good kids en route to the championship,” Pioneers coach Phil Cook said. “Mater Dei is one of the best tournaments in the state if not the best. We were disappointed with the fact we wrestled without so many kids, but that’s the way it goes from time to time.”

Jeff’s great season continues at Scottsburg

Last week was a record-setting one for Jeffersonville.

The Red Devils broke the school record for most victories in a season by going an impressive 9-1 at the Warrior Classic in Scottsburg, which happened last Wednesday and Thursday. The Red Devils finished second behind first-place Columbus North, their highest placing ever in the 12-team tournament.

Jeff upped its record to 26-3. The 26 victories snapped the previous school mark of 23, which occurred last season.

The Red Devils’ nine victories were against Edgewood (40-21), Fort Wayne Concordia (64-6), Greencastle (52-23), Danville (68-10), Jennings County (42-29), Bedford North Lawrence (66-15), Indianapolis Chatard (58-18), Mitchell (75-5) and the host Warriors (55-13). Jeff’s lone loss came to the Bull Dogs, 36-31.

Two Jeff seniors claimed championships. Amani Norris went 10-0 to take home the 125 title, while Justin Cunningham was 9-1 to win the 189 crown. Cunningham’s most impressive victory was a 3-2 decision over Scottsburg’s Bill Simpson, who was ranked fifth heading into the tourney.

Four other Red Devils suffered only one loss apiece. They were Curtis Smith at 103 (9-1), Jon Reed at 112 (9-1), Kyle Smith at 215 (9-1) and Tyler Tatgenhorst at 171 (8-1).

Jeff coach Danny Struck was relatively pleased with his team’s effort at Scottsburg, but would have liked to have collected the team title.

“We had a lot of kids step up and show great things,” he said. “We are not satisfied with second and will put a lot of work in this season and in the ones to come to keep gaining ground the way we have.

“I am especially proud of Amani Norris. He was (junior varsity) until this meet, and in his senior year when he got his chance at varsity, he seized the opportunity by going 10-0 and winning a championship.”



UPCOMING SCHEDULE

THURSDAY

DUAL MEETS: Salem at Jeffersonville, 6:30 p.m.; New Albany at Tell City, 6:30 p.m.

FRIDAY

DUAL MEET: Charlestown at Floyd Central, 5:30 p.m.

SATURDAY

TOURNAMENTS: Jeffersonville, Milan, Paoli, Southwestern, Tell City at Providence six-way meet, 9 a.m.; Charlestown at Forest Park Invitational, 9 a.m.; Floyd Central in Old Capital Classic at Corydon, 9 a.m.