Tri-Central's Johnson advances to state finals
by Jeff Pyke
posted 2-15-10

NEW CASTLE- Tri-Central had two wrestlers go to wrestling semi-state here on Saturday. One of them earned the right to advance to the IHSAA state championships at Conseco next Friday and Saturday.

Tri-Central junior Montrail Johnson finished third at the New Castle Semi-State to advance. Johnson started his day with a tech fall (16-0) over Rossville’s Drew Miller.

In the ticket round, Johnson defeated Tre Spenser from Pike High School, 10-3. Johnson was defeated for the first time this year in the semi-finals, by another undefeated wrestler: Patrick Robinson of Hamilton Southeastern, 6-5 over Johnson. Johnson came back in the consolation match to defeat Kyle Riedling, of New Palestine, 8-1.

Johnson will take his 45-1 season record into Conseco Fieldhouse on Friday night Feb. 19. If he wins, he will continue his quest in the Individual State Tourney on Saturday as one of the medalists (top 8) in his weight class.

Senior Haydon Buck’s season ended in the first round at Semi-State in a 16-2 loss to Mason Gesell of Union County. Buck finishes the season at 32-4.

 

Lady Devils fall to Taylor in sectional
by Emily Wilson
posted 2-11-10

MIER - The game had been anticipated all week. Originally schedule for Tuesday, and twice postponed due to the inclement weather, tip-off was at 7 p.m. Thursday at Oak Hill High School.

After a rocky couple of weeks, the Lady Devils were well prepared for the game. The end of the first quarter had Tipton down 16-17. The game continued to be tight in the second stanza but Taylor was able to gain two more points on Tipton to take a 31-34 lead into halftime.

Taylor came out a little stronger in the second half to have a 41-49 lead at the end of three. Tipton had a comeback and trimmed Taylor’s lead down six points, 50-56, when the Taylor called a time out with 5:02 left in the game. Taylor went on a 12-point run to take the victory 50-68. The game was much closer than the final score reveals.

Tipton’s defense played very well had they had balanced scoring. They also rebounded well. Tipton was whistled for 21 personal fouls.

Taylor’s three-point shooting sealed the win for them, as they consistently scored from behind the three-point arc.

Tipton will lose no players to graduation this year, so look for the Lady Devils to come back even stronger next season.

In the final bout of the year, Brook Juday took high scoring honors with 13, Abby Neff had eight, Chelsea Ragains and Taylor Degenkolb had seven each, Aubree Elston and Audrey Wilson both had six and Jessi McCullough had a three-pointer.