Trojans win regional, snap Crown Point streak

“I guess this is a little bit of redemption for last year. It stunk losing a narrow one,” undefeated senior Lucas Davison said.

Crown Point won its 10th consecutive regional title in 2017 with a Justin Akers pin in the 220 final. Chesterton finished second, 9.5 points back.

“In the end, (a regional championship) isn’t our ultimate goal,” Davison said. “We’re competing for a state championship in a couple weeks, hopefully. So, I think that’s the bigger focus. This is just a small little reward for our labor.”

The Trojans totalled 240 points. Crown Point finished second with 178. All 14 Chesterton wrestlers advance to the E.C. Central semistate.

Davison did his part Saturday, pinning state-ranked Ewan Donovan of Hebron in a minute, 16 seconds in the 195-pound final.

“I’m trying to be the first one to score in every match, trying to get out there and score as many points as possible,” he said. “I didn’t want to mess around too much, just straight to business and trying to get as many team points for my team as possible.”

Freshman Evan Bates added 24 points, as well.

The Chesterton freshman pinned Wheeler’s Marc Buehler in 1:17 to win the 170-pound final. Buehler is ranked No. 9 in the weight class by Indiana Mat. Bates is not ranked.

“I didn’t really know if I was going to be on varsity or not (at the beginning of the season),” Bates said. “I just realized that I was good enough to compete with these kids. I didn’t expect this much success.”

Buehler pinned Bates earlier in the season.

Bates needed 4:20 to earn three pins on the day.

Lowell’s Andres Moreno continued his march through the 113-pound weight class with another dominant day. He topped Wheeler’s Jose Diaz 7-2 in the first-place match there.

Diaz scored on two escapes.

“There was a lot on the line. When me and (Diaz) wrestle there always is,” Moreno said. “It’s always one of the most fun matches I have all year because me and him wrestle so much.”

The two wrested in the sectional, as well. Moreno won that match, too. His record sits at 39-0.

“Last weekend I had to battle back but this weekend I knew what to expect,” Moreno said. “I try not to change things. I just try to wrestle myself.”

Another pair of state-ranked wrestlers met in the 160-pound final. Crown Point’s Oszkar Kasch pinned Chesterton’s Diego Lemley in 2:39. After shaking hands, Kasch pumped his fist in the air and Lemley walked out the back doors of the gym to cool off.

“I saw my opportunity for a fall and just went for it,” Kasch said.

Lemley beat Kasch the last three times the two met.

“If you just lost to a kid three times in a row, you get a little excited,” Kasch said.

Alex Bautista fought through an unrepaired ACL tear to win the 120-pound championship. He won an 8-1 decision over Chesterton’s Ethan Kaiser.

“The gameplan was to stay on my feet and stay away from bottom,” he said. “That was basically it, just staying tight my defense between everything, escapes, bottom, top. This knee is pretty messed up and I don’t want to miss semistate.”

Bautista said he feels almost 100 percent. He plans to have knee surgery after the season.