Western Boone Jr. - Sr. High School

If Western Boone was going to end their 34-year conference title drought, it was going to come down to their final match in their final Sagamore Conference Tournament. Trailing Crawfordsville by three points heading into the final weight class, the Stars jumped into the lead when Isaac El-Shahat pinned North Montgomery’s Gage Taylor for third place. The final match was the championship match at 285, and the Stars needed Lebanon’s Stefan Barker to beat Crawfordsville’s Keegan Cokel to win the title. Barker did just that, securing a third-period pin and handing the Stars their first conference title since 1991. “This is an awesome feeling,” Western Boone head coach Wes Mikesell said. “It’s a long-time coming and it’s a big step for our program. To come hear and win it means a lot.” Coming into the meet, Mikesell knew that while they weren’t favored, they would have a chance to win if they wrestled to their potential and stayed focused throughout the day. The team did just that, fighting for every place and scoring bonus points when possible. “They all wrestled great, especially in those wrestle back rounds,” Mikesell said. “The key was getting bonus points, and we were out there getting pins, which is what won it for us today. We really didn’t have to tell them anything special, they knew what they had to do to pull it off, they just went out there and executed.” Emphasizing the value of the whole team, the Stars only had one weight class champion on the day. Kameron Mikesell was the lone champion, taking the title at 157 pounds with pins over Lebanon’s Logan Hites, North Montgomery’s Donavon Johnson and then Crawfordsville’s Noe Torres in the final. “He’s been wrestling this way all season,” the elder Mikesell said. “He is having a great senior year and leaving it all on the mat. That’s all we can ask from him.” The Stars got runner-up finishes from Lincoln Rose at 144, Broden Wilson at 165 and Heath Williams at 190. Isaiah Garland (132), Trey Fuston (138), David Puckett (175) and Jacob Smith (215) all placed third along with El-Shahat. Jackson Bloss, Jaxsyn Mathews, Cale Scagnoli and Jacob Anderson all placed fourth. Western Boone has home duals with Greencastle and Lebanon this week before getting ready for the sectional. “We just have to keep doing what we are doing,” Mikesell said. “We are going to keep our heads down and continue to grind heading into sectionals.” freestar Lebanon places fourth There were plenty of positives for the Lebanon wrestling team on Saturday afternoon, but they couldn’t overcome all their adversity and ultimately placed fourth in the tournament. “I thought we performed really well,” Lebanon head coach Jacob King said. “We had some good wrestling and saw good competition. We left a few matches out there, which happens, butt overall we wrestled well and I am pleased with our performance.” Lebanon had the second most finalists with six and tied for second-most with three champions. The first champion came at 165 pounds with Eli Stogsdill, who topped Southmont’s Graison Million and North Montgomery’s Jayden Thompson to reach the final, then defeated Western Boone’s Broden Wilson 7-3 in the final. “He got second here last year and really wanted to get this,” King said. “(Wilson) had beat him earlier this year, so to get that loss back and get the championship is big for him.” Lebanon then won the final two weight classes. At 215, Garren Stokes beat Southmont’s Tyler Davis and Western Boone’s Jacob Smith to reach the final, then battled to a close 9-7 win over Frankfort’s Daniel Martinez-Mendoza to claim the title. “Garren has really matured this year in his knowledge of wrestling and his ability to fight through adversity in a match,” King said. “He hadn’t seen that Frankfort kid this year, but it is a potential sectional opponent so that was a big win.” Stefan Barker closed the show with a win at 285, pinning his way to the title. He beat North Montgomery’s Gage Taylor, Western Boone’s Isaac El-Shahat and then Keegan Cokel of Crawfordsville. “Stefan does nothing but work hard in the room and it is showing,” King said. “That kid beat him earlier this year, and we told the kids this week – this tournament is a chance to prove we’ve gotten better. We truly believe we have and we showed that today.” Lebanon got runner-up performances from Braxton Aragon (113), Niko Trepcos (150) and Thomas Thompson (175). Logan Hites placed third at 157 and Gabe Thieke was fourth at 132. The Tigers finish the regular season Thursday at Western Boone. “I think we are really clicking with technique and conditioning, it’s more the mental stuff right now,” King said. “We are really going to focus on keeping them engaged. Conference is a goal, but sectionals is the main goal, so we’re going to stay sharp mentally and physically and be ready to go.” Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.