Wrestling sectional results

The four Hancock County schools competed in the Warren Central wrestling sectional Saturday afternoon, and 13 local athletes will be moving on to next Saturday's Perry Meridian regional.

G-C's Josh Farrell and Dezman McGinley and NP sophomore Robbie Elsea all were sectional champions, and 10 others moved on by virtue of placing in the top four in their individual weight classes.

Overall, the Cougars finished fifth in the standings with 134 points, New Palestine finished sixth with 105.5 and Mt. Vernon was ninth out of 10 teams with 63 points. Eastern Hancock did not have any wrestlers place in the top six and earn team points.

New Palestine had five wrestlers move on. Elsea (32-6) won the 130-pound weight class by defeating Shelbyville's Cody Clark in the final.

There were three runners-up for the Dragons. Sophomore Taylor Fee (31-5) fell to Roncalli's Josh King in the final match at 112. Sophomore Gordon Wagner (27-8) was runner-up to Roncalli's Josh Kieffer at 125. Kieffer's brother Joe defeated NP sophomore Nick Ulrey (26-7) in the title match at 140. Freshman Rylan McCarty (26-13) advanced at 103 by finishing fourth.

Josh Holden's Greenfield-Central squad had its best showing in several years in the sectional, and advanced six wrestlers, including three who will have either a No. 1 or No. 2 seed next week.

At 119, Farrell (31-2), a sophomore is looking to return to the State Finals, and having a top seed for the regional next week is a strong place to start with that quest. He defeated Franklin Central's Andrice Martin in the title match. McGinley is now 32-3, and defeatred Roncalli's Joe Ardizzone in the title match at 160 to give him a top seed for the regional next week. Farrell is ranked fifth in the state at 119, according to Indiana Mat. McGinley is 19th at 160.

Junior Ian Early was the runner-up to Roncalli's Damon Albertson at 171. Early is 33-5.

Sam Locke (125, 32-10), Dustin Mayhugh (130, 32-8) and Adam Ruff (135, 2-2) all finished fourth to advance for the Cougars.

The big upset of the day happened in the semifinals at 215, as Mt. Vernon senior Sam Balbach suffered his first defeat of the year. He then won the third-place match to advance with a 34-1 mark. He takes a No. 15 ranking into the regional. MV senior Chris Jones (19-12) was the runner-up at 152 and will also compete at Perry next week.

Roncalli was the sectional champion, with Beech Grove finishing second. The Rebels will advance as a team to the team regional.