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HUNTERTOWN — Four Garrett wrestlers took one more step down the state tournament trail Saturday by finishing in the top four at the Carroll Regional.
All four earned spots in next week’s semistate at the Coliseum.
Zac McCray won the regional title at 160 pounds and stayed undefeated for the season at 37-0. It was his second straight regional crown.
Bryce Schendel took second at 145, his third consecutive runner-up finish in the regional. He’ll take a 30-6 mark to semistate.
Brayden Moreau finished third at 130 and improved to 28-7, while Shea Novy also moved on with his fourth-place finish at 140, and will go to the Coliseum with a 32-6 record.
“These young men have to rise to the occasion weekend after weekend,” Garrett coach Lucas Fielden said. “We were able to come out on top at conference, and we really felt we had a shot at the sectional. Then to come back for the regional just as excited, it was great to see them rise to the occasion.”
McCray and Schendel both faced rematches of the their sectional final with Conner Lefever and Reece Lefever of Carroll.
Conner Lefever scored a quick takedown on McCray and had the home crowd fired up.
“More than anything, Zac stayed mentally tough,” Fielden said. “They went out of bounds and Zac had to get set in the down position, and the Carroll fans were really getting into it.”
McCray, who pinned his first two opponents of the day, scored an escape and takedown to take the lead before the first period was over, and went on to win by decision.
Schendel got the first takedown against Reece Lefever, but the Charger junior scored a reversal and a two-point nearfall just before the first-period buzzer, and protected his lead the rest of the way.
“It was another tough, close match,” Fielden said. “Bryce just caught in a bad position, and Lefever got those nearfall points right at the buzzer.”
Schendel won an early sectional rematch over Jordan Venderley of Bishop Dwenger, a wrestler he lost two earlier this season.
Moreau lost to eventual champ Tucker Smith of Homestead in the semifinals at 130. He bounced back to beat Michael Nix of Dwenger for third place.
Novy also ran into the eventual winner in the semifinals at 140, Justin Beck of Leo, who won for the second straight year. Novy lost to New Haven’s Nick Bloomfield for third place.
Fielden said he was happy with the efforts of Garrett’s other regional qualifiers. Austin Gibson lost late in the match at 189, while August Novy (103), Austun McCray (119) and Logan Lee (125) also had close losses. Kyle Lanning (112) also saw his season end.
“We had some other guys we were hoping could get it done, and they wrestled some tough matches,” Fielden said.
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