“If you were here and you experienced that and didn’t enjoy it, then you don’t enjoy wrestling,” exclaimed Wawasee head coach Frank Bumgardner. “That was freaking exciting! That is one of the loudest single gym environments I may have been in for a dual match, maybe ever.”

The stage was certainly set for a blockbuster dual Friday night in Decatur. A Class 2-A top-10 matchup with No. 6 Wawasee visiting No. 3 Bellmont in Wawasee’s first trip to Decatur in over two decades. Aptly named “The Teepee”, the home of the Braves and Squaws had the ominous championship banners whisping quietly in the background, providing a cover to its Braves under a cloud of wrestling championship dates numbering over four dozen in total.

It was a scene all its own, equipped with a student section, entrance music for its competitors, even a tad bit of gamesmanship in Bellmont sending in its warriors from a hallway sometimes multiple minutes after their names were called, the Warriors left to pace the mat in anxious anticipation.

The night was steeped in celebration of longtime Bellmont coaching legend Paul Gunsett, missing his first match in almost 30 years while he fights brain cancer. It was almost like the deck was stacked against a Wawasee squad loaded with talent but still a little long in the tooth.

What a battle that was waged in The Teepee.

Bellmont rallied with a pin by Henry Kukelhan over Donovan Blair in the final showdown of the night to rally the Braves to a 36-34 dual win much to the delight of a raucous home crowd.

It wasn’t the final pin that made the night, as the whole evening seemed to be a Team State atmosphere more so than a season opening dual for both squads. In 13 contested duals – all sponsored by area entities – Wawasee actually won the pin battle 5-2 and won seven of the 12 mat battles straight up, but as team points go, had to eat 12 points on an injury default at 126 when Gaige Boyd was unable to continue after injuring his shoulder, and didn’t send out a 220.

Perhaps the showdown of the night was at 170, where Duke Myers returned to action after making the podium at the state finals a year ago, and holding a lofty No. 3 individual ranking with Indiana Mat. Opposite was Gavin Malone, who is no stranger to regional rankings, but certainly wasn’t favored on the road. But Malone looked like he was the one who everyone expected to dominate, controlling much of the flow of the match. After Myers took a 2-1 lead on a nice takedown, Malone countered out of it with a reversal to regain the lead.

Myers scored a third period escape to knot the score at three, but couldn’t get any traction on Malone, who was masterful in fighting off any charges Myers tried. Malone managed to escape from the bottom in the first overtime to take a 4-3 lead, and didn’t allow Myers to break free in the final 30 seconds of the second overtime, scoring a massive upset.

“He didn’t show any panic, he was calm the entire match,” Bumgardner said. “It was awesome to see. He was in control of his motions, of his demeanor. That’s how you win matches you aren’t supposed to. Take what you’re given and don’t give anything away.”

Also finding some magic was Cam Zimmerman, who was all but dead and buried at 182 against Austin Christner. After Christner bodyslammed Zimmerman early in the first, the momentum took Christner into a near fall. Somehow, Zimmerman wriggled out of the hold and got a reversal. Getting to the second period, Zimmerman worked from the bottom to a reversal, and eventually into a pin at 3:17 to stun Christner.

Wawasee made hay with its lightweights, where Kaleb Salazar got Wawasee on the board with a 14-1 major over Ethan Curtis, followed by impressive first period pins from Cam Senter and Colten Sutton, both making their Warrior debuts, the freshman Senter getting the slap at 1:43 and Sutton, a transfer from Mount Vernon Fortville, at 1:53.

“You see a kid like Sutton, he’s super excited before the match, big cheesy smile, walking around, he’s ready to go,” Bumgardner said. “It’s body language. He didn’t overexert, stayed in control and didn’t put himself in bad positions.”

After Bellmont scraped back 11 points on the injury default and a tech fall for Sam Wolpert over Titus Taylor, Logan Stuckman won a smart match over Blake Luginbill, 6-2, and Ethan Rodriguez scored a pin 31 seconds into the second period over Landon Rich.

In a matchup of state-ranked foes, Gavin Davis beat Hunter Miller, 9-1, in a showdown that had Davis control any offense Miller tried to mount while scoring a late takedown to sneak a major decision onto the scorebook.

Carson Nine dropped a tough 10-9 decision to Xavior Palacios, and Eleazar Vazquez was pinned with one second left in the first period to Yovani Hernandez.

“I really like our team,” Bumgardner said. “We are solid up and down the line. It’s a tough dual team. But we still have to get better, and not just because we lost, but because it’s early and a lot of these kids are still pretty young.”

Bellmont 36, Wawasee 34

*Match started at 220
220 – Bellmont forfeit
285 – Yovani Hernandez (B) pin Eleazar Vazquez 1:59
106 – Kaleb Salazar (W) major decision Ethan Curtis 14-1
113 – Cam Senter (W) pin Tate Krueckeberg 1:43
120 – Colten Sutton (W) pin Bryce Rickord 1:53
126 – Chandler Thomas (B) injury default Gaige Boyd
132 – Sam Wolpert (B) tech fall Titus Taylor 24-9
138 – Logan Stuckman (W) decision Blake Luginbill 6-2
145 – Ethan Rodriguez (W) pin Landon Rich 2:31
152 – Gavin Davis (B) major decision Hunter Miller 9-1
160 – Xavior Palacios (B) decision Carson Nine 10-9
170 – Gavin Malone (W) decision Duke Myers 4-3 (2 OT)
182 – Cameron Zimmerman (W) pin Austin Christner 3:17
195 – Henry Kukelhan (B) pin Donovan Blair 3:46