Lincoln Cooper
In finishing fourth in the Disney Duals, the Columbus East wrestlers placed higher than they ever had in the annual competition.
What made that feat even sweeter is that the Olympians did it exclusively with their own wrestlers.
“This is the first year we’ve only taken Columbus East kids, so that was new,” veteran East coach Chris Cooper said. “In past years’ we’ve always had a pickup or two.”
The Olympians went 9-3. Their only losses were to the eventual champions from Camden, Georgia and twice to a team from Southwest Miami.
Lincoln Cooper, who wrestled at both 150 and 157 pounds, went 12-0 and was a Gold All-American. Caleb Cooper (138) went 11-1 and was a Silver All-American.
Gage Rutan (132) and Colin McMahon (195) each went 10-2 and were Bronze All-Americans. Ethan Poling (106) and Caleb Kirkpatrick (144) each went 9-3 and were Copper All-Americans. Talon Jessup and Cameron Cooper each went 7-5 between 120 and 126
“I thought we wrestled great,” Chris Cooper said. “We had a real young team last year with a lot of freshmen in the lineup. Everybody is a year older now. The maturity level has improved tremendously. To do what we did with our own guys is incredible.”
Following their stay in Orlando, the team went to a three-day camp at Tampa Jesuit High School.
“There was a lot of team-building stuff and leadership-type stuff that we did,” Chris Cooper said. “It just made a great trip.”
Earlier this summer, East went 9-1 to finish second behind Avon and ahead of Cathedral in the adidas Midwest Duals at Evansville North. Jessup, Rutan, Caleb Cooper and Kirkpatrick all went 10-0.
Prior to that, the Olympians went 3-3 in the NHSCA National Duals at Virginia Beach over Memorial Day Weekend. Jessup and Lincoln Cooper each went 5-1.
After the school year begins, East will compete in the Wild Midwest Duals in late August in Noblesville.
“It’s been great,” Chris Cooper said. “It’s just fun watching the development of these kids. These are really good kids. They get along, they make good decisions. It makes it easy as a coach.”
