Same old for Portage
Indians have 8 champs, cruise to 6th straight sectional title
GARY — There are some things in life which you can truly count on. Two of them you know already: death and taxes. But in the world of high school wrestling, there is a third item worth carving in granite: Portage winning a sectional title.
The Indians had eight champions in winning their 28th sectional title with 308 points Saturday at Calumet. Hobart (228) was second, followed by Griffith (172), Highland (128), Lake Station (127.5) and Calumet (124.5).
“Yeah, I’m happy with what I saw today,” said Portage coach Leroy Vega, whose Indians have won six straight sectionals. “The kids wrestled well and I hope we can have another good week of practice and get ready for regionals.”
Portage’s individual wins ran the gamut from dominant, such as Steven Lawrence’s 14-3 win at 145 pounds and Alex Guerrero’s 15-4 win at 182, to quick, fast, and in a hurry. Gaige Torres was in the latter category with a 29-second fall in the 126 final.
“We expected to come here and dominate today,” Torres said. “I’m proud of my team. I still have some work to do but I’m pretty happy with how I did.”
Davin Gonzalez’s win at 152 for Portage was neither dominant or quick. But it was debatably the best match of the sectional. Hobart’s Angelo Guarnero led 5-1 before Gonzalez came back to win 8-7, thanks to a takedown with 48 seconds left in the match.
“I got thrown down on my back and when that happens are you’re down 5-0, what can you do?,” Gonzalez said. “It was late in the period and I had to stand up. Once I got that one point, I had to attack. Our coaches train us hard, I believe we’re the hardest working team here, so I had to push through it.”
Tyler Joseph (132), Kasper McIntosh (138) Ismael Cornejo (170) and Braden Majewski (220) also took first for the Indians.
Griffith’s Jeremiah Reitz, who was the state champ at 106 pounds last year, was a winner at 120.
“I stayed solid on my feet and kept them moving and then I opened up my shots,” Reitz said. “Now I have to get ready for regionals. One step at a time.”
Hobart got three first-place finishes, from Tylor Triana at 106, Zachary Lovell at 113 and Scottie Sopko at 160. Calumet’s Nick Fowler was a winner at 195 while Lake Station’s Isiah Schultz took first at 285.