Columbus East’s Talon Jessup, left, wrestles Columbus North’s Liam Curfman, right, in the 120-pound weight class at Columbus North, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023.
The Republic file photo
It will be a big weekend of wrestling for Columbus East, Columbus North and Jennings County this weekend.
The Indiana High School Girls Wrestling semistate will be Friday at Mooresville. All six East and both North girls have qualified, along with 11 girls from West Washington Regional champion Jennings County.
The Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Team State Duals event for boys will take place on Saturday. East is in the 3A bracket at Franklin.
The Olympians are seeded second behind Terre Haute South in the 12-team 3A tournament. East received a first-round bye and will face the winner between No. 7-seed Greenfield-Central and Fort Wayne Snider in the quarterfinals.
A win would put the Olympians in the semifinals against No. 3 Floyd Central, No. 6 New Palestine or East Noble. Columbus East likely would see Terre Haute South, No. 4 Franklin or No. 5 Mishawaka in the final.
The Olympians won the 3A state duals two years ago and lost to Mishawaka in the final last season.
East is led by a pair of ranked wrestlers. Sophomore Talon Jessup is ranked No. 12 at 106 pounds, and sophomore Caleb Cooper is ranked No. 16 at 144.
In the girls semistate, East’s Monica McMahon is the No. 1 seed at 190 pounds. Taylor Engelking is No. 6 at 115, Allison Pool is No. 6 at 170, Eden Knight is No. 7 at 145, Madison Mount is N0. 11 at 140 and Tienica Ditz is No. 12 at 100.
North’s Lilly Breedlove is the No. 5 seed at 130. Reggie Holguin is the No. 9 seed at 140.
Jennings is led by Sasha Hicks, the No. 1 seed at 115. Adyson Sorenson is the No. 4 seed at 235.
The top four in each weight class qualify for the Feb. 12 girls state finals at Kokomo.
The boys postseason begins with the sectional on Jan. 27. East and North will be in the Jennings County Sectional. The regional is Feb. 3 at Jeffersonville, followed by the semistate Feb. 10 at the Ford Center in Evansville and the state finals Feb. 16-17 back at the Ford Center.
