The Batesville Wrestling team traveled to South Dearborn High School to wrestle in the state wrestling sectionals on Saturday. The Bulldogs sent a young group of wrestlers to wrestle off with some great competition this weekend. The Bulldogs were led by Senior Michael Deal in the 126 lb class and freshman JT Linkel in the 132 lb class.
Deal started his day off against Lawrenceburg’s Charlie Eliason where he earned a pin in the 2nd period. The second match for Deal faced him off against Garrett Walton of South Dearborn. Walton and Deal battled to the end of three periods with Deal finding the 15-9 victory and a place in the finals. The finals had Deal and Adam Negangard of East Central facing off. Deal wrestled well but fell just shy of a victory losing a close 4-1 decision earning a 2nd place finish with a trip to Richmond for next week’s regional.
JT Linkel started his day off with solid 1st period pin over Matthew Grote of Rushville. Linkel then faced off against Cainen Schafer of South Dearborn. Linkel fell by an 18-1 decision to Schafer who would eventully become the 2017 sectional champ with a record of 45-0. Linkel bounced back with two more wins beating an East Central and MIlan opponent earning 3rd place and a trip to the regionals at Richmond. Great job to both MIchael and JT.
Jon Vincent in the 138 lb class and Jon Kurtz in the 220 lb class both had respectable showings winning their final matches of the day earning 5th place finishes. Max Foutch was the last of Batesville placers earning a 6th place finish.
Additional Wrestlers competing for the Bulldogs include: Ethan Meyer (145 lb), Chris Schene (152 lb), Nick Schneider (160 lb), Axel Garcia (170 lb), and Drew Garbarini (195 lb).
Courtesy of Bulldogs Coach Chris Deal.