MOORESVILLE
Moving up three weight classes did nothing to stop the wrestling momentum of Center Grove sophomore Hayden Watson.
A sectional champion a year ago at Mooresville at 113 pounds, Watson displayed similar dominance on Saturday, returning to the same gymnasium and capturing the title in the 132 division with three convincing performances.
Watson, ranked sixth in the state, improved to 35-1 with a 9-1 victory over Decatur Central’s Conner Alcala in the final. He was one of 11 Johnson County wrestlers to claim titles, an impressive showing led by Franklin’s five individual champions.
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The offseason, Watson said, provided him plenty of time to adjust to a new weight class.
“During the summer, you just get bigger. You lift all of the time and get more muscle mass,” said Watson, the highest-ranked of the county wrestlers. “Everybody was gunning for me. When you’re the highest-ranked you always have a target on your back.”
Franklin’s 234 points were good enough for the Grizzly Cubs to secure their second straight sectional team title, the 19th in program history and first under new head coach Jim Tonte.
The procession of Grizzly Cub wrestlers walking to the top of the awards podium began with 120-pounder Jake Bechert, who takes a 23-10 record into Saturday’s regional, also hosted by Mooresville. He was followed by teammates Jude Barger (138, 24-11), Tyler Fuqua (160, 32-3), Jalen Ward (170, 30-5) and Harris Eason (195, 32-2).
Bechert, a junior, said sectional success gives him the necessary confidence entering what is an extremely difficult regional.
“Oh, it’s a big part of it,” said Bechert, who won by fall over Mooresville’s Isaiah Pugh in the 120-pound finale. “I knew that I had to secure this win so that I could go into the regional and do the same thing. It’s all about moving forward.”
Besides Watson, Center Grove wrestlers Riley Rust (22-5) and Drake Buchanan (31-2) picked up championships at 145 and 182 pounds, respectively. Rust defeated Decatur Central’s Mark Everman in the title match, 5-2; Buchanan pinned all three of his opponents on the day.
Greenwood junior Anthony Walker (29-4) proved similarly dominant at 152, the toughest of his three matches being in the final against Franklin’s Noah McCann. Walker won by fall in the second round.
Walker, who won nine of 10 matches at 160 pounds to open the season, has established himself as a force at 152.
“Today was about just staying persistent and not letting him try to muscle me,” said Walker, one of two Woodmen crowned sectional champion along with 113-pounder Nik Baugh (22-12). “This feels pretty good, but it’s just a small step.”
The county’s first champion of the day was Whiteland freshman Eli Brooks, who improved to 31-4 at 106 pounds after scoring a tech fall over Cascade’s Logan Bickel in the final. It’s been a big first varsity season for Brooks, who also won his division at the Johnson County meet in December.
“I’ve just got to put in the work in the (wrestling) room and out of the room. It’s about trying do work your hardest,” Brooks said. “There was a lot of intimidation because I came in as a 2 seed, and I saw the 1 seed in the finals and ended up beating him.”
