Ingram is a different kind of 220
Daily Globe Sports Editor
Shelby wrestler Carson Ingram has spent a season surprising opponents, but he knows exactly where he should be — the state tournament.
After making a considerable jump on the weight scale from his junior campaign, the 220-pound senior will represent the Whippets in the Division II State tourney scheduled for Saturday and Sunday at Sparta Highland High School.
“I’ve definitely surprised other people. My coaches believed in me… I believed in myself. I’m at where I’m supposed to be at because of how much work we put in as a whole team,” said Ingram.
After finishing 2-2 at the sectional tournament a year ago during a 32-11 season, Ingram said others in the wrestling community outside of Shelby didn’t have any expectations of him.
All Ingram has done is go out and prove them wrong as evidenced by his current 42-3 record after a third-place showing at the always-rugged district tournament in Norwalk last weekend.
“My coaches knew and I knew this is where I should have been,” said Ingram Monday before practice.
On the subject of reaching the state tournament and getting another week added to his season, Ingram said “it’s great to be here, but I think it’s where I should have been.”
A year ago, Ingram was wrestling at 160 pounds and shared his story on how he wound up at 220.
“It started out I was gaining weight for football, trying to get ready for football season,” said Ingram, who played linebacker for the regional runner-up Whippets.
“During the quarantine I lifted all the time at a home gym and just kept putting on pounds,” said Ingram, who wasn’t sure at the time what his weight future held for him but he was curious to see what the end result would be.
“I talked with coach Tonn because last year at 160 I was cutting a lot of weight and told coach I didn’t want to cut a lot of weight and he said ‘that’s fine,’” shared Ingram, who said the style and everything associated with wrestling at 220 has worked best for him.
Noting he is a lighter 200, Ingram said he’s run into bigger opponents.
“I’m a linebacker and I’ve run to a lot of linebackers I remember playing against who are a lot bigger with a lot of muscle that just want to throw you around. Every once in a while you get a smaller wrestler who likes to work a lot of technique for the most part. It’s the bigger ones with a lot of muscle that try to push you across the mat,” said Ingram.
Despite facing some larger opponents, the Shelby wrestler has more than held his own as evidenced by his record.
Ingram, who will attend Hillsdale College in Michigan to further his education and play football, has also managed to get 37 of 42 wins by pin. His falls broke the former mark of 35 in a single season held by Brahm Ginter.
“I’m pretty good at pinning kids. My biggest strength is being kind of weird. I’m a 160 that wrestles 220. I wrestle a little differently than most 220’s and not a lot of people have not seen that,” said Ingram.
Ingram’s first-round opponent at state will be Elijah Llewellyn (161) from Indian Creek.
Looking ahead to state, Tonn said “Carson’s a dark horse and he’s dangerous. He’s definitely a home run hitter and can take you down with one move. He’s very coachable.”
Because of the current COVID-19 pandemic, wrestlers across the state won’t get to compete under the bright lights of the Schottenstein Center on the Ohio State University campus as has been the case in years past because the facility is not available.
To remedy that, three high schools surrounding Columbus opted to host state tournaments. While Highland is hosting Division II, Marion Harding will serve as the Division III site and Hilliard Derby will be the Division I host.
Saturday’s action will be split into two sessions and Ingram will take part in session two for the upper weights starting at 4:30 p.m. Action will resume Sunday at 10 a.m. for all weight classes.