CENTERVILLE, Ind. – Knightstown’s wrestling team had a pair of individual champs during Saturday’s Tri-Eastern Conference Championships as the Panthers took the title.
“We really had a great team effort,” Knightstown Head Coach Jared Evans said. “We got seven guys into the championship round. We knew it was going to take a tremendous effort to beat some of the great teams here.”
Thomas Sollars (113) and Kaleb Buchanan (120) won their championship contests, while Jacob Hanna (126), Nick Walsh (138), Conner Brockman (195), Charlie Moore (220) and Burias Wisner (285) were all second in their class.
Sollars started the finals with an intense 14-13 decision over Hayden Busby of Centerville as both wrestlers scored in the final five seconds.
“It was amazing to come back and win it with one second,” Evans said. “The whole team kind of got some motivation and it carried us through the finals.”
The Panthers finished with 207.5 points.
Centerville (187) was second with defending champion Winchester (135) in third followed by Hagerstown (115), Union City (88), Lincoln (84), Northeastern (73), Tri High (67) and Union County (40).
Centerville had four individual champs as Tyler Vredeveld (106), Gabe Phillips (126), Elijah Phillips (132) and Alfredo Calderon (182) won.
Elijah Phillips won for the fourth year in a row, while Calderon defended his crown as he scored with 0.4 on the clock to beat Josiah Jackson of Tri High 4-3.
Kristion Bates (145), Cameron Purtha (152) and Jake Combs (170) won title for Hagerstown.
Northeastern won two contests as David Berger (195) and Cullen Browning (220) were victorious.
The other title went to Nick Wells (138) of Union City, Tucker Coffman (160) of Union County and Logan Shaffer (285) of Winchester
Coffman moved up a division after winning at 152 a year ago.
Shaffer of Winchester defended his title as he beat the previously undefeated Wisner of Knightstown 5-2.
A charter member of the TEC in 1962, this is Knightstown’s second league title, but outright championship since coming back to the league last year after leaving in the late 1960s.
The boy’s tennis team tied for the TEC crown in 2017 with Centerville.
Knightstown does have 10 other TEC championships from the 1960s with three each in boys basketball (1964, 1966, 1968), boys cross country (1962, 1963, 1965) and boys track (1963, 1966, 1967), while the baseball team had the other in 1967.
TEC Championship Team Scores
1. Knightstown 207.5
2. Centerville 187.0
3. Winchester 135.0
4. Hagerstown 115.0
5. Union City 88.0
6. Lincoln 84.0
7. Northeastern 73.0
8. Tri High 67.0
9. Union County 40.0
2018 TEC Individual Champions
106 – Tyler Vredeveld (38-3) Centerville
113 – Thomas Sollars (33-2) Knightstown
120 – Kaleb Buchanan (28-2) Knightstown
126 – Gabe Phillips (39-3) Centerville
132 – Elijah Phillips (38-1) Centerville
138 – Nick Wells (27-4) Union City
145 – Kristion Bates (27-10) Hagerstown
152 – Cameron Purtha (30-7) Hagerstown
160 – Tucker Coffman (32-5) Union County
170 – Jake Combs (26-9) Hagerstown
182 – Alfredo Calderon (31-2) Centerville
195 – David Berger (30-5) Northeastern
220 – Cullen Browning (30-6) Northeastern
285 – Logan Shaffer (25-5) Winchester
TEC Championship Round Results
106 – Tyler Vredeveld (C) def. William Castle (H) (Fall 3:55)
113 – Thomas Sollars (K) def. Hayden Busby (C) (Dec 14-13)
120 – Kaleb Buchanan (K) def. Josh Miles (L) (Fall 3:08)
126 – Gabe Phillips (C) def. Jacob Hanna (K) (Fall 1:21)
132 – Elijah Phillips (C) def. Hunter Brown (L) (Fall 2:38)
138 – Nick Wells (UCI) def. Nick Walsh (K) (Fall 1:25)
145 – Kristion Bates (H) def. Josh Crawford (UCI) (MD 11-2)
152 – Cameron Purtha (H) def. Brandon Moore (W) (Fall 2:46)
160 – Tucker Coffman (UCO) def. Jacob Duncan (W) (Fall 0:43)
170 – Jake Combs (H) def. Jayminson Myers (W) (MD 16-6)
182 – Alfredo Calderon (C) def. Josiah Jackson (T) (Dec 4-3)
195 – David Berger (N) def. Conner Brockman (K) (Fall 1:45)
220 – Cullen Browning (N) def. Charlie Moore (K) (Dec 9-5)
285 – Logan Shaffer (W) def. Burias Wisner (K) (Dec 5-2)
Click on the weight class to view the final brackets and then click on center of bracket to expand.