The Titan wrestlers traveled to Tecumseh for a makeup meet on January 18, after a couple weeks off due to bad weather. But, that did not stop the team from practicing and preparing for the tournament.
“The focus of practice leading up to the meet was mostly to get us back in the groove of competing,” head coach Tim Alcorn said. “We had a week of practice and a tournament canceled due to the snowy weather.”
The Tecumseh invite included Bosse, Harrison, Mater Dei, North Knox, South Spencer, Southridge, Tecumseh and Washington. Keeping up with practices, the Titans were ready to compete.
Gibson Southern came up short behind first place finisher Mater Dei with a score 199 to the Wildcats’ 240.
“The biggest takeaway, in my opinion, was that we were able to knock the rust off,” Alcorn said. “We had been off for almost a month, and it showed. We needed this tournament to get sharp for conference.”
The Titans had five individual weight class champions: freshman Braxden Walker at 106 pounds, freshman Max Stevens at 113 pounds, junior Jax Coleman at 126 pounds, sophomore Deacon Dressler at 157 pounds and junior Brody Klem at heavyweight. Dressler was also chosen as the Most Outstanding Wrestler at the meet.
“As a team, I think we did very well overall,” Klem said. “Some people who have not had too much success before the tournament pulled through and won some tough matches when it mattered most.”
Gibson Southern also had two weight class runners-up: freshman Isaac Dill at 138 pounds and junior Colin Scherer at 165 pounds.
“I wrestled well, but lost in the finals,” Scherer said. “We are going to learn and improve from there.”
This tournament gave Alcorn clear spots to work on in the coming weeks.
“The key points, for me, we’re seeing some areas that we need to focus on for the postseason,” he said. “When you don’t look your best, the best thing to do is go back and watch a film. We need to see what we can fix and improve going forward.”
The wrestling team is back in action Saturday, February 1, for the Sectional at Central High School.
