Bloomington South wrestling's 'Baby Brigade' ready for first IHSAA regional
Five freshmen managed to make it out of the sectional wrestling meet and into Saturday's regional at Bloomington South.
Three of them are from South, the Baby Brigade, as they like to call them, which leaned on its youngsters a lot this year to keep the lineup filled. Jaxsen Jean (106 pounds), Amrin Pratt (132) and Mason Grubb (190) are moving on and gaining valuable experience, no matter how the day turns out.
"They did what they were supposed to do over the last couple of summers," South coach Mike Runyon said. "They wrestled in seventh grade and did a lot over the summer. Then they wrestled in eighth grade and did a lot through the summer as well.
"So technically, those guys are not freshmen. Those guys are seasoned enough, they're coming in as sophomores the way I look at it. Especially those three guys, they were taking some lumps out there so we can have some victories now."
They also learned from their losses.
"All three of those guys, that's why things are happening now," Runyon said. "All season, you tell them something and the next day, in the practice room, you see them trying this or that, working on what we just went over."
More: Wrestling: Bloomington North's Hickok saves his best for last at sectional
As a result, Jean (27-7), ranked 10th in the Evansville Semistate bracket, roared to a sectional title.
"It's just my life," Jean said. "Wrestling's been my life since third grade. It feels good to be doing as good as I'm doing."
North also had a freshman advance in Trae Hopkins, third at 132, while Owen Valley's Austin Boltinghouse was third at 106.
Learning the ropes
Of South's three sophomores who advanced to regional, two had postseason success last year. Wyatt Cooksey won a sectional and made it to semistate while Wayne Harden was a regional qualifier. Brian Conley was sixth.
Jean will be the favorite at regional now, aided by the fact that the top-ranked wrestler at that weight from Floyd Central, missed weight for sectional.
"It adds something to his confidence that he just won sectional," Runyon said. "Now, how far can I go? Next is regional and then keep working up the ladder. Get through this week, then get through the next."
As Jean progressed throughout the season, his goals changed radically.
"I just toward the beginning, I just wanted to make it out of sectionals," he said. "But as it went on, it became clearer and clearer that I was going to make it further and further. So by the time I got to conference, I wanted to make it to semistate."
What changed? Well, Jean found himself learning and then succeeding against the tough competition South's schedule provides. They were thrown into the frying pan, but eventually, they started cooking.
"At the beginning, we faced some of the best teams," Jean said. " but when you start getting better as the season goes on, and we just kept getting better."
He lost to a pair of state-ranked wrestlers in the always-tough Al Smith Classic in Mishawaka, but he also took down a foe from Mount Vernon, 8-6 in overtime, who is ranked eighth in the New Castle Semistate bracket.
"That really pushed me to think that I could do better," Jean said.
And so did his teammates. He's heading to the region with the right amount of confidence.
"Just practice, facing more people," Jean said. "I've done better and I've faced older people, who have more experience. And that's pushing me."
Pratt, Grubb face different battle
While it's not unusual for freshmen to succeed at the lighter weights — five frosh are in the 106 bracket at South, three at 113, two at 120 and three at 132 — it's certainly another matter at 190 where Grubb competes.
He is just one of three freshmen left at the weight in the entire Evansville bracket. Only one won a sectional title. It takes a special freshman to succeed there and that describes Grubb.
"Mason is a different kid," Runyon said. "He's been a sponge this year. He's learning as he's growing. He's starting to peak at the right time. He stays in the room extra. Nothing surprises me out of him. He keeps on trucking and I hope this summer, he'll do the same thing."
Grubb had to start trucking most of the day at sectional after losing his quarterfinal, 11-7. He made a run through the consolation bracket, winning 8-4, then 6-4 in overtime over BNL's Tate Tanksley, just to secure a spot in the third-place match.
He won that one, 7-3, to earn a tough rematch with Spencer Fain of Floyd Central (23-9) in the regional opener.
"He really wants to learn," Runyon said. "Figure it out, do better and then things will happen. And you've made that happen because you're asking those questions, putting in the extra time and listening to what you've been told."
Pratt is tall and lean and ran into a strong senior in the sectional final. But during the year, he won a title at the Goshen Invitational. Jasper junior Hayden Biggs (25-15) is his next task at regional.
"Pratt is learning what can and can't get by with," Runyon said. "He's smart enough."
The learning will continue as long as they keep their seasons alive.
"It's great for them, the experience of getting there," Runyon said. "And the opportunity to go to semistate, you can't replace that.
"I think they are happy (with their seasons). This week is a new week and time to reset the mindset. Let's get through regional. Keep living week to week. Get past that and see what happens next."
Tickets bought and tickets punched
Tickets for fans are $10 and available at public.eventlink.com/tickets?t=68205.
For wrestlers to punch their tickets to semistate they only need to win their opening match to secure a spot in the top four of their eight-man brackets. From there, the next two matches are important for seeding.
The Bloomington area has 24 qualifiers from Bloomington North, South, Edgewood and Owen Valley, with Bedford North Lawrence and Paoli also represented.
Just two defending champs are back in South's Evan Roudebush at 165 and Bray Emerine of Floyd Central at 175. Roudebush is the top-ranked wrestler in the semistate while Emerine is No. 2 in his bracket.
Others returning to regional include OV's Branson Weaver and South's Wyatt Cooksey, both at 144, who were runner-ups in different weights in 2023 and Edgewood sophomore John Orman (120) and North senior Cael Hickok (157), who were third but come in as first-time sectional champs this time around.
BLOOMINGTON SOUTH REGIONAL PAIRINGS
T: top bracket, B: bottom bracket
106: [B] Austin Boltinghouse, OV (24-12) vs. Nolan Mullins, Jasper (34-6); Jaxsen Jean, BS (27-7) vs. Jack Cavallo, New Albany (23-12). 113: [B] Wyatt Philpott, BNL (22-10) vs. Leblanc Phan, Floyd Cenreal (13-11); Eli Collier, OV (28-8) vs. Clint Wirthwein, Southridge (14-22).
120: [T] John Orman, Edg (24-5) vs. Caleb Shirley, New Albany (16-16); Kanye Roberts-Gray, BN (18-9) vs. Tony Kessinger, Floyd Central (26-6). 126: [T] Cayleb Sides, Edg (17-12) vs. Cameron Fogle, Southridge (27-10). [B] Jorj Filler, BNL (28-6) vs. Will McLaughlin, New Albany (21-16); Brian Conley, BS (11-22) vs. Fynn Douglas, Floyd Central (21-5).
132: [T] Amrin Pratt, BS (18-13) vs. Hayden Biggs, Jasper (25-15); Peyton Arthur, Edg (15-15) vs. Hunter Banet, Floyd Central (25-7). [B] Trae Hopkins, BN (21-11) vs. Jaden Harris, New Albany (27-10). 138: [B] Wayne Harden, BS (9-3) vs. Vince Kessinger, Floyd Central (15-5).
144: [T] Branson Weaver, OV (35-0) vs. Eric Aldana, Southridge (12-17). [B] Joel Silvernail, Edg (14-8) vs. Antwane Webster, New Albany (29-5); Wyatt Cooksey, BS (29-7) vs. Lucas Beier, Tell City (11-6). 150: [T] Michael Neidigh, Edg (27-4) vs. Seth Weisenburger, New Albany (24-14); Lucas McBee, OV (14-5) vs. Kris Fuhrman, Forest Park (31-6). [B] Carson Bohall, BS (21-14) vs. Hunter May, Floyd Central (17-0).
157: [T] Caylen Stephens, Edg (20-10) vs. Mason Lubbers, Forest Park (25-4); Cael Hickok, BN (20-3) vs. Noah Ring, Southridge (18-20). [B] Jonny Shellenberger, Paoli (31-7) vs. Jesus Lopez, TH South (25-6). 165: [T] Jeremiah Casillas, BN (23-8) vs. Maddox Vernon, Southridge (31-6). [B] Evan Roudebush, BS (33-2) vs. Colton Philpot, Floyd Central (11-19); Ethan Stancombe, BNL (28-7) vs. Garrett Fuller, North Knox (29-5).
175: [B] Tristaan Hicks, BS (17-17) vs. Mason Gegogeine, Jasper (30-7). 190: [T] Mason Grubb, BS (18-17) vs. Spencer Fain, Floyd Central (23-9). 215: none. 285: [T] Dylan Hale, OV (32-6) vs. Evan Nordhoff, Jasper (28-7); Junior Arellano, BNL (16-4) vs. Justin Brown, Floyd Central (28-3).
Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on X @JimGordillo.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington South wrestling's 'Baby Brigade' ready for IHSAA regional
