South, Owen Valley wrestling get each other ready for Team State

BLOOMINGTON — The team aspect of wrestling is something important to Owen Valley coach Steven Spicer.

The team he inherited when he took over had just six boys on the roster, and he certainly emphasized igniting the atmosphere around the program from the start. It's paying off.

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The Patriots are starting to earn notice, from Branson Weaver's run to a state medal in 2024, ending a drought of 36 years for the program, to now multiple invitations to the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Team State Meet this weekend.

"This is our third time, and we've never finished above 11th," Spicer said. "It's great. Our admin, principal, and everyone backs us. You come to a duel at Owen Valley, we have the spotlights going, it's an environment.

"It's a cool environment to see. They do a pep session for us."

Bloomington South is going as well, and it's a point of pride to get the call. OV is the sixth seed in the Class 2A bracket at Brownsburg. The Panthers, who topped OV 49-20 in their annual duel meet at home on Wednesday, are the No. 3 seed in the 3A bracket at Franklin.

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"It is a big deal in all aspects for your program," South coach Mike Runyon said. "People see your name up there year after year after year, it helps.

"They take a lot of pride in it. Sometimes they have too many expectations for themselves, so hopefully, we can calm that down a little bit."

OV is hoping this mid-week dual will help as well this weekend. OV's had a solid season, finishing fifth at the Mooresville Holiday Classic and taking the Bo Henry Classic title. In the past, they had watch parties to see if they were getting an invite as the brackets were revealed.

Not this year. OV knew they were going to be there.

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"We're thinking about Team State," Spicer said. "That's what we've been selling all week. Yeah, it's a sectional matchup, and those are important for seeding head-to-head.

"But we looked at it as they're seeded third in the class above us, and we're seeded sixth. Iron sharpens iron. It's a good duel for them, it's a good duel for us. Only three pins and very few bonus points. South did the same, kudos to them, they're tough. So it was more using this to take momentum into this weekend."

The team state format gives each team a chance to face schools they wouldn't normally see and wrestlers they have little to no scouting reports on. OV opens with Jay County, with the winner getting third-seeded Bellmont.

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"I think as a coach it just makes it hard for you to prepare," Spicer said. "We have zero head-to-heads. I don't know anybody who has wrestled them.

"But it's awesome. They don't know anything about us, and we don't know anything about them. Here's our 14 best, here's your 14 best, let's scrap it out."

And it means wrestlers falling back on what they do best and adjusting on the fly. Great prep for deep in the postseason.

"It's just sticking to what we do," Spicer said. "Getting into our positions where we score points. Pull them into our positions. We rely on conditioning. We're going to wrestle you off the mat. We don't have to do anything special.

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South gets a first-round bye and meets the winner between New Haven and No. 6 Floyd Central.

"Anytime you can get on a mat with somebody new and good competition, it's always good," Runyon said. "You're always going to learn something out of that. Some of those teams we'll see at semistate or at the state tournament."

South 49, Owen Valley 20

The match started at 106 pounds with five straight wins from South by Nicholas Russell (pin in 3:43), Jaxsen Jean (8-3 over Austin Boltinghouse), Josiah Stanton (15-0 tech fall), Jude Pratt (p 1:44) and Mark Hand (18-2 tech fall) for a 25-0 lead.

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At 138, William Ranard came up with OV's first win, 9-7, getting the winning takedown with 1:07 left over Brian Conley. Reid Lanman (16-7 major at 144) and Hunter Sloan (15-8 decision at 150) had a nice run for OV.

Wyatt Cooksey had a pin in 2:20 against Mooresville Holiday Classic champ Riley Martin at 157, followed by Ezra Ostler (pin in 2:21), Denny Allgood (pin in 3:17 at 175) and a pin by Mason Grubb (1:47) at 215. OV added a 14-3 major by Zander Pendley and William Doty's pin at 285 in 1:52 to cap the night.

"I thought we looked pretty decent," Runyon said. "We were kind of behind the 8-ball a little bit, missing a couple of tournaments we had snowed out. Couldn't practice, couldn't got down to Mater Dei, couldn't go down to Floyd (Central), so that set us a back a little bit.

"But we've got Team State this weekend, so hopefully we can regain some energy here."

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: South, Owen Valley wrestling get each other ready for Team State