INDIANAPOLIS – First time under the big lights. First time performing in front of 10,000 wrestling fans.
But as far as Brennen Cernus is concerned, just another match.
“I just tried to perform and do what I do,” said Culver Academies’ freshman phenom following his opening night win at the IHSAA state wrestling finals.
Cernus scored a 16-0 technical fall over Aidan Sprague of East Noble in the 106-pound weight class, guaranteeing himself an award medal when the annual tournament wraps up Saturday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Any wrestler who won his opener Friday is guaranteed a spot on the awards stand. The only question is: which spot?
Culver Academies will, in fact, be bringing three award medals home. Plymouth and LaVille will collect some hardware, as well.
Plymouth junior Graham Calhoun looked sharp in an 11-0 victory over Eastern-Greentown’s Bryce Buckley in the 170-pound weight class. He now stands 38-1 on the season.
LaVille’s Alex Cartwright looked even sharper, taking down Perry Meridian’s Samuel Littlejohn as soon as the whistle blew and recording a fall in 1:20. He is 30-0.
It will take two more victories for either to reach the finals, which start at 7:30 p.m. tonight. The finals will be broadcast live on the Internet at: IHSAAtv.org.
Wrestling resumed with quarterfinals at 9:30 a.m. today.
Only one Eagle fell in his opener, as Culver Academies continued its late-season surge. In the 160-pound class, Brady Welch dropped an extremely close, 8-7 decision to Castle’s Robert Deters.
Meanwhile, William Finnearty (28-2) scored an 11-4 win over Fort Wayne Snider’s Beau Humphrey at 120, and Andrew Donahue (37-2) was a 5-0 winner over Jasper’s Zachary Flynn at 182.
If they keep winning, Donahue could potentially run up against NorthWood’s Jake Lone (37-4) in the championship. Lone was a 5-2 winner over Jon Farrell of Fishers.
“Once the whistle blows, you just block everything out,” said Cernus, who won an East Chicago semistate title last week. “It’s important to get the first takedown, because if I can do that, I feel like the match is mine.”
We’ll know how well that works by the end of the day.
•IHSAA STATE WRESTLING FINALS
At Indianapolis
FIRST-NIGHT RESULTS
(Area wrestlers)
106: Brennen Cernus (Culver Academies) tech. fall Aidan Sprague (East Noble), 16-0 in 3:16.
120: William Finnearty (Culver Academies) dec. Beau Humphrey (Fort Wayne Snider), 11-4.
160: Robert Deters (Castle) dec. Brady Welch (Culver Academies), 8-7.
170: Joseph Walker (Mishawaka) maj. dec. Delton Moore (Manchester), 8-0; Graham Calhoun (Plymouth) maj. dec. Bryce Buckley (Eastern-Greentown), 11-0.
285: Alex Cartwright (LaVille) pinned Samuel Littlejohn (Perry Meridan), 1:20; Yehezquel DeVault (Penn) pinned Crae Kunkleman (Hamilton Southeatern), 3:03.
