BLOOMINGTON – Bedford North Lawrence advanced four wrestlers to the IHSAA regional during sectional action at Bloomington North on Saturday.
BNL’s Wyatt Philpott, Jorj Filler, Ethan Stancombe and Junior Arellano quailed for the second stage of the state tournament series. The top four in each weight class advanced. The Stars finished eighth in the team standings with 73 points, while Terre Haute South won the team title with 294.
“All of our guys wrestled well today,” BNL assistant coach Mike Branam said. “We had some trouble during the third round, but almost everyone shook off the loss, regrouped, and wrestled to earn their spot and set themselves up for a potentially good position next weekend.”
Philpott was third at 106 pounds. He started with a pin of Bloomington North’s Oscar Rigdon (25 seconds), then suffered a semifinal loss to Terre Haute South’s Cale Thomas (pin in 3:57). He bounced back to pin Terre Haute North’s Gavin Lemmons in 47 seconds.
Filler was the runner-up at 126. He flattened Brown County’s Xavier Himebaugh in 3:01 in the quarterfinal, then stopped Edgewood’s Cayleb Sides in 1:59 in the semifinal. Terre Haute South’s Nathan Bryan topped Filler in 41 seconds in the final.
Stancombe was third at 165. He clipped Bloomington North’s Jeremiah Casillas 8-7 in the opening round, then suffered a pin loss to Bloomington South’s Evan Roudebush (1:38). He stopped West Vigo’s Jordan Kruse (pin in 4:47) and edged Casillas for a second time (2-0) to advance.
Arellano was fourth at 285. He defeated Bloomington South’s Johnathan Merrimack (pin in 25 seconds), then suffered a semifinal loss to Northview’s Brandon Brewer (pin in 49 seconds). After pinning Sullivan’s William Hollifield in 49 seconds, he dropped a 9-7 decision to Owen Valley’s Dylan Hale.
“I am very proud of this team and what they have accomplished this weekend and this season,” Branam said. “We are a small team, only filling half of the weight classes, but we have wrestled tough and made some noise all season long. I am excited to see what they can do next weekend.”
The Stars will compete in the regional at Bloomington South on Feb. 3.
