WRBI’S TOP LOCAL SPORTS STORIES FOR 2020!
1. Covid-19 hits the Sports World. The IHSAA cancels The Boys Basketball Tourney’s Regional, Semi-State, and State Final games due to Covid-19. The NCAA cancels The Men’s & Women’s Basketball Tourney as well as a huge part of the Conference Tourneys. High School and College Spring Sports were canceled. The MLB, NBA, NHL, and MLS seasons were pushed back to start in the summer with many games played at certain venues with little or no people at the games. The coronavirus is still affecting the schedule of games for high school, college, and pros during the fall and winter seasons.
2. The Ripley County Basketball Tourney saw The Milan Indians win the Boys portion of the tourney for the first time since 1960 and The Jac-Cen-Del Lady Eagles repeated as County Champs; winning for the fourth time in five years; thus, capturing a record-setting 11th overall RCT Girls Crown.
3. The Cincinnati Reds end the regular season with a winning record and a playoff appearance for the first time since 2013. Pitcher Trevor Bauer becomes the first pitcher as a Red to win The Cy Young Award.
4. East Central Trojans Wrestler Bryer Hall placed 2nd at The State Finals in the 152 # Weight Class. Fellow Trojan teammate Kole Viel (182) and Lawrenceburg Tiger Andrew Roth’s (160) also qualified for The Wrestling State Finals.
5. Greensburg Cross Country Runner Brenner Hannah and Batesville Girls Golfer Emma Weiler make a repeat return to their respective The State Finals.
6. Despite the coronavirus affecting the College Football season with the FCS, Divisions 2 & 3, and the NAIA canceling their seasons, The FBS did play Football this year with many area teams having big success this year including Ball State winning The MAC Conference Crown for the first time since 1996 and getting to play in The Arizona Bowl on New Year’s Eve; IU goes 6-1 for the year with a trip to The Outback Bowl on January 2nd; UC wrapped up the regular season with an unblemished 9-0 mark, capturing The American Athletic Conference Crown, and earning a New Year’s 6 Bowl Game Appearance in The Peach Bowl; as well as Notre Dame and Big 10 Champ Ohio State qualifying for the College Football Playoffs on New Year’s Day.
7. Many local Sports legends passed away during the year including Glenn Butte, Joe Morgan, Tom Seaver, Ken Riley, and Sam Wyche.
8. The East Central Lady Trojans and The Greensburg Lady Pirates Basketball teams reach The Elite 8 in the State Tourney while Jac-Cen-Del and North Decatur also winning Sectional Crowns.
9. The North Decatur Chargers and The Lawrenceburg Tigers Football teams repeat as Sectional Champs. The Chargers Football team left The Mid Indiana Football Conference (MIFC) to join The Mid-Eastern Conference (MEC) starting 2021.
10. The Cincinnati Bengals select Heisman Trophy Winning QB from LSU, Joe Burrow as the overall #1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. Burrow’s season was going great until a knee injury ended his rookie season around the end of November. The Indianapolis Colts have improved from last year’s 7-9 record with double-digit wins and playoff-bound in 2020.