The Mechanicsburg Indians have celebrated their share of special moments this season. Saturday they piled on a few more.
But the best moment for sophomore Luke Stroud is simply being with his team.
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“We have a really great team this year. We’re all really tight with each other,” Stroud said at the Division III sectional tournament. “I like being out there with the team.”
He and the majority of his Indians teammates get to spend at least another weekend together. Mechanicsburg qualified 10 wrestlers and two alternates to next week’s district tournament. The Indians also had three sectional champions with Stroud at 120 pounds, freshman Jake Hurst at 132 and sophomore Caden Coleman at 195.
Mechanicsburg scored 204 points to win the team title over runner-up Covington’s 195.5 points.
“I was just telling the guys that Friday and (Saturday) were a total team effort,” Mechanicsburg coach Cameron Doggett said. “Troy Christian is a tough team. Covington is a tough team. When we had a chance to get bonus points our guys figured out how to do it.”
One of Mechanicsburg’s biggest wins came with Coleman at 195. He entered with an 11-13 record and left 14-13 thanks to his 5-3 sudden victory upset of top-seeded Quincy Brown of Middletown Madison.
“He’s struggled all season and I didn’t know what to expect,” Doggett said. “He just wrestled solid today.”
The Stroud family doubled its chances of a state qualifier at next week’s district tournament. Luke will be joined by freshman brother Jesse at 106. Jesse finished third.
“That feels pretty good to have my brother going with me, too,” Luke said. “We practice together and we have a lot of fun. We can normally drill to warm up together and we can practice things we’ve learned at home.”
Northeastern qualified four (and one alternate) to the district meet, highlighted by senior Nate Sudhoff’s runner-up finish at 220 pounds.
“I was pleased with the overall finish of the Jets,” coach Ben Obee said. “We have had half a team all year and today allowed some individuals to shine. We will see what next week brings once we see the draws. I do know it’s motivating to wrestle with your buddies than to be there by yourself.”
Southeastern advanced sophomore Duke McCombs at 120 pounds.
The D-III district meet is Friday and Saturday at Troy’s Hobart Arena. The top four qualifiers advance to the state tournament.
Also on Saturday:
Springfield qualified three wrestlers at the D-I sectional at Centerville 1. Tecumseh competed in the Centerville 2 sectional and advanced five to next week.
Graham hosted the Graham 1 sectional and won the team title winning 10 of the 14 classes. The Falcons advanced 13 wrestlers to the district meet. Shawnee qualified five and Northwestern and Kenton Ridge both qualified four. Northwestern senior Nathan Snyder won the 195 title.
Urbana had a pair of sectional champs in Graham 2. Senior Gavin Grim won at 132 pounds and freshman Trevor Stewart won at 170. The Hillclimbers advanced four overall to district.
At the Lehman sectional, Greenon crowned three sectional champs among its six district qualifiers. Sophomore Evan Davis won at 138, senior Blake Potter at 160 and senior Levi Morrison at 195. Greeneview senior Devan Hendricks won the title at 145 as the Rams qualified two. Triad also advanced two wrestlers.
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