PENDLETON — Senior Arabians grappler Tremor Bynum lost out on a sectional title to K.J. Roudebush of Tipton by a slim 4-3 decision on Jan. 26.
Bynum used that disappointment to drive his quest for a regional title.
Bynum and Roudebush met again in the regional final at Pendleton Heights Feb. 2. This time Bynum stood atop the winner’s podium a regional champion after a 7-3 decision against an opponent who had lost only one match during the season.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
“The time I wrestled him early in the year, he pinned me early, and I’ve been improving throughout the season,” Bynum said.
His win will help his seeding at semistate. He will face Kyle Krummen of East Central.
“I’m going to keep working hard and focusing on who I’m going to wrestle, and not let it get into my head … worrying about what I’m going to do in the match,” Bynum said.
The Arabians placed fourth as a team behind champion Cathedral, followed by Mt. Vernon and North Central.
Six Arabians placed high enough to move on to semistate.
“We thought we could get a couple more kids through, but we didn’t have a great round in our lower weights, and that was a little disappointing for our seniors,” coach Dave Cloud said. “We’re happy to have six kids going through, especially Tremor’s championship. We thought overall we did pretty well today.”
Jared Brown was runner-up to Chase Wilkerson of Mt. Vernon in a 3-2 decision in the 126-pound weight class. Brown will be the No. 2 seed at New Castle next week and will face Gaige Lloyd from Hamilton Southeastern.
At 160, Jarod Miller faced the 14th-ranked wrestler in the state, Bradley Harrington of North Central. Miller lost the round by a technical fall. In the match for third and fourth place, Miller faced his sectional opponent, Bobby Williams of Hamilton Heights. Miller won the match by a fall in the second period, placing him in third. Miller will face Josh Moore of Southport at semistate.
Clayton Todd at 182 placed third after falling to Mt. Vernon’s P.J. Sterrett in the semifinal 6-9 but went on to defeat Devontay Moore of North Central 8-6. Todd will be pitted against J.D. Farrell of Fishers.
In probably the most exciting final match of the day, Arabian Cade Campbell faced Kyle Cornwell of Elwood. Cornwell came into the round having lost only two matches this season. While Cornwell won the round 13-2, making Campbell runner-up, Campbell’s late-round surge had the crowd on its feet cheering him on. Campbell will face Alexander Burton from Eastern Hancock at semistate.
“This is going to push me a lot harder in practice working on technique and powering through,” Campbell said. “Cade and I were saying this was probably the most exciting major decision you’ve ever been through when you’re on the losing side of it,” Cloud said. “He wrestled really well, and he’s getting better and better. I think he’s going to be hard to beat next year.”
At 285, sectional champion Justin Stephens faced off against Noblesville’s Sam Wertz. Stephens had defeated Wertz at sectional for the title, but Wertz won a second-period fall over Stephens this time. Stephens placed fourth and will face Ben Ahrens from Cambridge City Lincoln at semistate.
Lapel is sending two wrestlers to semistate.
Harrison Hadley and Phoenix Mills will represent the Bulldogs.
“It’s nice to have two wrestlers going to semistate. I’m excited to see how they will out and compete with a chance to go to state on the line,” Bulldog coach Jake Stilwell said.
Hadley lost to eventual champion Logan Galbraith of North Central in the semifinal round of the 120 weight class and went on to finish fourth.
Mills, at 195, lost to Roudebush in the semifinal but took third place with a fall over David Garcia of North Central.
Competition at the New Castle High School semistate begins at 9 a.m.