It’s a tradition that was started a few years ago between Tippecanoe and Tecumseh’s wrestling programs. The Travel T Trophy goes home with the winner of the dual meet between the two Central Buckeye Conference schools. The Red Devils got behind early in the lighter weight classes, then rolled through the last eight matches en route to a 54-22 win over the Arrows.
”This really renewed a rivalry with Tecumseh having this dual meet every year,” Tippecanoe coach Jordan Krebs said. “We got together to make it a one-on-one matchup to get both schools excited about it. We had a phenomenal student section here for this match, and the kids were excited.”
“We knew that coming in, Tipp had nine seniors and seven of them wrestled in this match,” Tecumseh coach Scott Herbert said. “They are very good from 145 pounds through heavyweight. I thought our wrestlers did a nice job from 106-138.”
“We knew we needed to keep in close at some of the heavier weight classes to win this match, but we couldn’t do it,” he added. “It wasn’t our best performance.”
Starting at 106, John Erhard defeated Tecumseh’s Conner Maxwell 10-5, then the Arrows lost a forfeit to the Red Devils at 113.
At 120, Blake Biteman gave Tecumseh a win over John Hegyi in a 49 second pin, and then Dylan Johnston picked up a pin at 126 for the Arrows.
Allen Eben also picked up a pin for Tecumseh at 132, followed by a major decision win for Gage Whitt at 138, as the Tecumseh junior had a 10-2 major decision over Kory Florence.
Then the floodgates opened for the Red Devils.
At 145, Jack Peura earned his 100th career win by pinning Steven Marker in 1:19. He became the 12th member of the 100 Pin club at Tippecanoe.
“He has been a workhorse for us, and cut down to 145 to solidify the lineup,” Krebs said. “He is not an emotional guy and it’s all about working for him. He was relieved to get his 100th win, and we even saw a smile coming off the mat, something we don’t see from him.”
At 152, Gabe Callicoat defeated Will Rose in 1:10, while Cole Smith defeated Michael Herbert at 160 8-4. Austin Robins continued his solid year with a 2:27 pin over Caleb Young from the Arrows at 170, and Brandon Arndts defeated Eric Masden at 182 in one minute.
Dodd also picked up a win at 195 for Tipp, as he defeated Brock Watson in 44 seconds, while Logan Ferrell won at 285 over Tristan Taylor in 4:33.
“We were 2-4 after the first seven weight classes, then we battled back well,” Krebs said. “From 120-138, Tecumseh is very good. In the heavier weight classes, we have a lot of experience and that really helped us.”
Both Tippecanoe and Tecumseh now prepares for the CBC league tournament this Saturday at Indian Lake High School. The sectionals begin the weekend after that and both teams look forward to the challenge ahead.
