The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/906097
E-8 Winter Sports Preview Wednesday, November 22, 2017 The Press-Dispatch Hewig hopes to exceed last year's excellence Pictured above is the 2017-18 Pike Central High School wrestling team. They are, first row, left to right: Lane Potts, Jaydon Gordon, Hunter Kunz and Jerry Greer. Second row: Randall Powell, Jagar Gladish, Dalton Williams, Aiden Mullins, Tyler Kirby, Brandon Geoppner, Lane Miller, Sam Jones, Blake Henson and Jackson Smith. Third row: Manager Shelby Sisk, Dylan Jones, Chris Leavitt, Jake Sisk, Silas Goff, Gavin Boyd, Christian Alvey, Tyce Sorguis, Jerry Greer and Manager Allyson Davis. Not pictured: Ian Allen, Coulson Dillard and Mike Seals. John Heuring photo WM Keith Hill (812) 789-6367 or Jason Keeker (812) 354-2419 Let Our Experience Work for You! Specializing in Real Estate, Farm Equipment, Antiques and Personal Property at Your Place or Ours. NO BUYER PREMIUM 45 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE Otwell, IN (Hwy 257)• www.hillsauctionservice.com HEAD FOR THE HILL'S for all your auction needs! LICENSED IN INDIANA, KENTUCKY AND ILLINOIS Hill's Auction is rooting on the hometown team! Go Chargers! Auction service 625 N. Ninth St., Petersburg Phone: 812-354-8776 Wishing all Pike Central Chargers the best of luck this season. GO CHARGERS! By Andy Heuring Pike Central High School's wrestling team hopes to duplicate or exceed last season when the Char- gers had five conference champs, five wrestlers in the regional and two wres- tlers advance to the semi- state. Coach Billy Hewig has all three of his regional cham- pions returning and some young talent filling holes left by graduation. The Chargers lost two se- niors to graduation, Jaylon Owens at 160 and Colton O'Neal at 170, who were pe- rennial 30 -match winners and regional qualifiers, but Hewig thinks he has two sol- id upperclassman to step in their weight classes nicely in Gavin Boyd and Ian Allen. Pike Central will be strong at the top of their line-up with seniors Silas Goff and Jake Sisk anchor- ing the 285 and 220 classes. "I can't say enough about Jake. He is at 103 career wins. I think he is the on- ly wrestler I have ever been around who had 100 wins as a junior," said Hewig. "He has been a thorn in the side of every 220 pound- er for a long time. He won more than 20 matches as a freshman and 30 plus both his sophomore and junior years. He won't give up. He wants success. A lot of times kids will be taller and more muscular. He grabs a hold of them and doesn't let go," said Hewig. "There are a lot of seniors I want to thank, because they have been so great to have around and he is one of them." Goff comes into his senior season after being close to advancing to the state fi- nals. "He lost by one point to a guy who went to the state last year in the semi-state," said Hewig. "I think Silas uses that as motivation. His ceiling is high and his belief in him- self is getting better. It has been fun to see him prog- ress," said Hewig of Goff. "He is a big, strong kid." Goff has an advantage ma- ny 285 pounders don't have, two good sparring partners: Hewig, who was a state fi- nalist, and assistant coach Ryan McCain, who finished third at heavyweight in the state finals. Hewig said he can tell Goff is more confident by how much more aggressive he is wrestling. Hewig thinks senior Christian Alvey is going to have a breakout season at 195 pounds like he did as Pike Central's quarterback this season. Alvey moved to Pike Cen- tral during his freshman year and only got to wrestle part of the season. "He kind of took his lumps that season, but he came in as a sophomore and had a really good year for us. If he didn't win 30 matches, he was really close to it. Then he had a knee in- jury and didn't get to wrestle last year. I thought last year would be a breakout year for him," said Hewig. Hewig said Alvey has been working hard toward this season. Alvey attended the Maurer/Coughlin camp in Evansville and has been meeting with Coach Hewig for workouts. Hewig cited Alvey's hard work to recover from knee surgery and get ready for football and wrestling sea- son. "People don't realize this about him, but last year at this time, he weighed more than 240 pounds after ACL surgery. At the end of last wrestling season, I asked him if he was 220 or 195 for this season. He didn't hes- itate when he said 195. I thought, well, we will see," said Hewig. But just like Alvey prom- ised, he was under 200 pounds for football season and is ready to go at 195 for wrestling season. "He has a lot of grit and determination." At 182 pounds, the Char- gers will have a veteran wrestler in Chris Leavitt. He doesn't have a lot of wres- tling experience, with just one season under his belt, but he is already a member of the National Guard. Last year, in his first year of wres- tling, he got a big win for the Chargers that allowed the team to beat Louisville Trinity. "Wrestling is something he thought would help him in the National Guard. He just came in and started battling right away," said Hewig, who noted Leavitt looks improved this year. At 170 pounds, the Char- gers will have one of their better athletes in Gavin Boyd, a three-sport athlete. "His aggressiveness is second to none. Don't see people as aggressive as he is. Fantastic kid, fun to watch," said Hewig. Because he is such a good soccer player and track run- ner, it limits his offseason time on the mat. However, he was able to attend their summer team camp. Ian Allen will fill the 160 -pound class as a soph- omore. "He has been work- ing extremely hard. He goes in and battles everyday. He won't back down from any- body. Doesn't matter if it is Silas or Jake. It will be in- teresting to see how he pro- gresses this season," said Hewig. Sophomore Tyler Kirby will be at 152 this season. He had a strong freshman year and lost in the sectional after having a big lead that kept him from going to the regional. Hewig thinks this could be a big year. "He has the ability to be shown a move one time and then go out and execute immediately. The kid is a sponge," said Hewig of Kirby. An example of Kirby's ability was his winning the pole vault in the PAC after only beginning vaulting a couple of weeks prior to the meet. "He is an exciting kid to watch," said Hewig. Senior Jerry Greer is at 145 pounds in his fourth year of high school wres- tling. "He has a tremendous work ethic. He has shown a lot of dedication this season. He works hard everyday just to make sure he can be the best he can be and see what he can do." Pike Central has a lot of young guys battling at 138 to see who will fill the spot. Sophomore Blake Henson and junior Randy Powell are battling for the 132-pound spot. Hewig said Powell is showing signs of improv- ing a bunch over his 25 to 28 wins last year as a fresh- man. "Henson started as a freshman last year and had never wrestled before. He took some lumps, but he has worked his tail off. He doesn't stop and doesn't let up. I have never seen a kid progress like him. I'm look- ing forward to what he can do," said Hewig. He said Henson could end up anywhere from 126 to 138 pounds. At 126, the Chargers have defending PAC champ se- nior Dylan Jones returning. "He is working hard. He had a bump in the road at sectional, but he is working hard to eliminate those mis- takes," said Hewig. Freshman Lane Miller is showing a lot of prom- ise at 120 pounds. He had a strong middle school sea- son last year and this sum- mer didn't miss a single mat session. Along with attend- ing the team camp at Maur- er/Coughlin, he went to the Jeff Jordan camp in Ohio. At 113 pounds, the Char- gers will have Dalton Wil- liams, who posted more than 20 wins as a freshman. "He has been in the whole offseason and went to camp at Evansville. He has im- proved his aggression a lot and is picking things up," said Hewig. Despite playing tennis this fall, he met Hewig in the mornings before school to workout. "He has really improved this year," said Hewig. Lane Potts is expected to be at the 106 -pound slot. He ran cross country this fall. "I'm impressed with how he works. It is fun to have him in the room," said Hewig. Overall, Hewig thinks this year's squad shouldn't miss a beat. He said their goal every year is to put themselves in position to have a strong conference performance, so when they head into the sectional, they will be in the best position possible to advance. With a strong core of win- ners at the top of the line-up, and a lot of talented under- classmen who had success last year, they think this could be another strong sea- son for the Chargers. Charger There are a lot of seniors I want to thank, because they have been so great to have around." – Coach Billy Hewig " C & Z Roofing 1-812-582-2440 Cody Caldemeyer | Zach Langebrake FREE ESTIMATES c.zroofing14@gmail.com Good Luck Team! 2017-'18 WRESTLING BOYS'