By Kevin Leibrock
BROWNSBURG — The Brownsburg wrestling team opened its season on a positive note Saturday, winning an eight-team invitational in its home gym.
The Bulldogs edged Zionsville 36-35 in the final round. Plainfield beat Crawfordsville in the third-place match.
“I’m pretty happy overall,” Brownsburg coach Jason Catellier said. “I thought we wrestled really well today.”
Bulldog Chris Oaks dominated the 135-pound weight class Saturday, winning all five of his matches — all by pin in the first round.
In the championship match, Oaks wasted no time pinning Zionsville’s Sean McCloskey in the first round.
For his efforts, Oaks earned the invitational’s Outstanding Wrestler Award.
“He’s rolling with a lot of confidence,” Catellier said. “He’s a senior and he’s wrestled his entire life. He’s doing a great job in leading the team and showing leadership through what he’s doing on the mat.”
Brownsburg won eight matches in the final round of the invitational.
“We had a lot of guys that wrestled with a lot of heart and a lot of toughness,” Catellier said. “Trent Worden was great today. Justin Fuller and Dustin O’Bannon also looked really good. I felt comfortable moving some guys around in a few weight classes to get some less experienced guys some matches.”
Other winners for Brownsburg in the championship round were Arnold (103), O’Bannon (112), Worden (145), and Jon Stinnett (189).
Justin Fuller (119) and Andrew Wong (125) were victorious by forfeit.
Zionsville coach Bob Brennan was pleased with his team’s second-place showing, despite missing a few wrestlers due to illness.
“Overall, I thought we wrestled pretty well,” Brennan said. “I was happy we went 4-1, and obviously we thought we had a chance in the last match. But it hurt that we ended up giving everybody 12 points.”
A loss to Zionsville ended Plainfield’s title hopes, but Quakers coach Paul Nicodemus came away pleased with his squad’s performance throughout the invitational.
“I was especially thrilled with Dustin Parrish,” Nicodemus said. “He was undefeated on the day, and Kalob Heald, our 130-pounder, was also undefeated. Both of those guys did a really nice job putting together 10 wins between them.”
kevin.leibrock@flyergroup.com
