On Saturday, Feb. 22, five wrestlers from Warren Central MTXE competed in the IHSAA State Meet. These wrestlers individually received various placements over the Saturday and Sunday competitions and concluded their wrestling season for 2019-20.
Juniors David Pierson (126) and Jajuan Anderson (145) and seniors Brice Coleman (152), Damon McClain (160) and Dennis Hubbard (285) were the five individual athletes that competed at individual state at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Although none of the athletes were able to become state champions, each athlete was tough competition to everyone they faced. Anderson defeated Riley Rust, Center Grove, 10-4, in the IHSAA Championship. He was the first wrestler since Tristen Tonte to compete for a state championship, but came up just short losing in overtime 4-6 and finished the season 36-5.
As well as the five athletes advancing to state, they also did significantly well in semi-state. Anderson placed third, Coleman placed first, Hubbard placed third, McClain placed fourth, Pierson placed second and were the only five individuals from Warren Central to place.
“The beauty of the tournament series is that anyone at any time can stand out,” head coach Matthew Krulik said. “We look forward to seeing our wrestlers take advantage of the opportunities in front of them and punch their tickets to state. We are known for a high scoring style that is tough to compete with.”
MTXE has been having tremendous success this season and has been making noise across the state. They have set high goals for themselves and believe that they have the potential and talent to succeed in what they hope to do and are extremely competitive with what they do.
“From a competitive standpoint our goal every year is to win state,” Krulik said. “As coaches, we teach our wrestlers to always go after the opportunities in front of them. Warren Wrestling is a big family at all levels from elementary on up. When you create and build that type of atmosphere anything is possible.”
Last month, senior Autumn Terhune traveled to Edgewood High School for Girls Regionals and placed first, securing her spot to the state championship meet. During this meet, Terhune defeated Kaylin Durski (Penn) by Fall in the first period of the final found and became the second female and 20th Individual Champion in Warren Central MTXE history. Terhune joins her sister as a State Champion and although she is currently undecided, she plans to continue wrestling in college.
As the season concludes, Krulik looks forward to next year’s skill and competitiveness. MXTE is a traditionally strong program that is a tough adversary for those they face and Krulik hopes to keep up this trend as he looks to begin his second year as a head coach.
“There is still time for us to accomplish our goal of becoming state champs. Moving forward, we have put ourselves in a great position to accomplish this while also achieving our goals at the individual level,” Krulik said.