The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/941742
The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, Februar y 14, 2018 B-1 SPORTS Submit sports items: Call: 812-354-8500 Email: sports@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central High School senior Kyson Western will continue to play soccer af- ter signing a national letter of intent on Friday, Feb. 9, to attend Kentucky Wes- leyan College in Owensboro, Ky. "I chose Kentucky Wesleyan because it's at a level I've always wanted to play at," said Kyson Western, the 18 -year-old son of Chad and Heather Western, of Petersburg. "When I took a visit there, I liked the coaches and all the players on the team. I think it's going to be a real- ly good fit." Chad Western – who has served as head coach of the Pike Central High School boys' soccer team for the past three seasons, during which another son, Jacob, has served as his assistant coach – said that Kyson's signing with Kentucky By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central High School boys' basketball senior Ka- leb Claridge was in the right place at the right time in the closing seconds of the Chargers' 40 -39 victo- ry at Tecumseh on Tuesday, Feb. 6. With Pike Central trail- ing 39 -38, a pass intended for senior Cameron Hen- son was deflected. Howev- er, the loose ball went di- rectly to Claridge, who put it up and in to give the Char- gers a 40 -39 lead with 6.7 seconds left. "It was really kind of a lucky play," Claridge said afterward. "The ball just kind of went into my hands. I was right under the bas- ket, and I just laid it in." Claridge, who was fouled by Tecumseh junior Woody Brucken on the shot, missed the and-one free throw, and Braves' se- nior Tanner Brammeier grabbed the rebound. With the game's final seconds ticking off the By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net Pike Central High School junior Natalie Bohnert placed 25th out of 32 com- petitors during preliminar- ies in the 100 -yard back- stroke during the 2018 IH- SA A Girls' Swimming/Div- ing Championship at the Indiana University Natato- rium in Indianapolis on Fri- day, Feb. 9. Natalie Bohnert, who was seeded 24th in the 100 -yard backstroke with a qualify- ing time of 58.28 seconds, finished seventh out of eight participants in the second of four heats with a time of 58.84 seconds. As a sophomore, Natalie Bohnert finished 27th in the 100 -yard backstroke with a time of 59.74 seconds after being seeded 26th with a qualifying time of 59.04 sec- onds. As a freshman, she fin- ished 30th in the event with a time of 1:01.29 after being seeded 29th with a qualify- ing time of 1:00.82. During Saturday's fi- nals, Zionsville senior Tessa Wrightson placed first in the 100 -yard backstroke with a time of 54.02 seconds. In addition, Natalie Bohnert placed 29th in the 200 -yard individual medley, finishing fifth in her heat with a time of 2:13.70. She was seeded 29th with a qual- ifying time of 2:12.82. A year earlier, Natalie Bohnert placed 30th in the 200 -yard individual med- ley with a time of 2:14.80 af- ter being seeded 30th with a qualifying time of 2:14.39. During Saturday's finals, Carmel senior Trude Ro- throck placed first in the 200 -yard individual medley with a time of 1:58.28. The top 16 in each swim- ming event during Friday's preliminaries returned for competition on Saturday, with the top eight individu- als vying for state champi- onship honors. Those who finish ninth through 16th on Friday make up the compet- itors in the consolation heats. Lady Chargers head coach Mike Bohnert noted that it was not at all unusual for swimmers to add time from their sectional to the state meet. "You cut so much coming into sectional, and then it's hard to duplicate that cut the next week," Mike Bohnert said. "You don't have enough time to put yardage back, so you're going off of what lit- tle taper who had the week before." "We didn't taper a lot, but By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net The third time proved to be the charm for Pike Cen- tral High School senior wrestler Jake Sisk. On Saturday, Feb. 10, Sisk placed fourth in the 220 -pound weight division during the IHSA A Semi- State Championships at the Ford Center in Evansville to become the first Charger wrestler to advance to the state meet since Cody Ken- dle accomplished the feat – as a junior – in 2010. A fter opening with a win by pin in 1:13 against Ben Davis sophomore Aleksei Tavassoli, Sisk punched his ticket to the state meet – which will be held on Fri- day, Feb. 16, and Saturday, Feb. 17, at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis – by pinning South Spencer sophomore Will Stewart in the second round in 1:16. "Ever since I was a little kid, I dreamed of it," said Sisk, who suffered first- round losses at the semi- state meet to end his soph- omore and junior seasons. "I thought it would come true, but I didn't ever think it would happen the way it did." "It was just a complete shock," Sisk added. "It felt like a dream." "I've never had a kid that dominated opening rounds like that in my life," Pike Central head coach Bil- ly Hewig said. "It's good to see a kid take it on himself to win a match and go out and get quick pins. That's fun to watch." For Sisk, the sec- ond-round win avenged a 4- 2 loss by decision to Stewart during the Pocket Athletic Conference Duals on Dec. 8, 2017, at Tell City. "We had game-planned for it, and we knew what he needed to do," Hewig said. "All the credit in the world to Jake. We didn't really have to coach him up much. He knew what to do. He just had to go out and do it." "I knew I had to beat him, and I knew what it took, and I knew I had to push the pace, that I had to be the one that set the pace in the match," Sisk said. "I had to be the one to win it. It couldn't come down to the final (period). I knew I had to take him." In the semi-final round, Sisk would lose by pin in 1:36 to undefeated Whiteland se- nior Ryan Hammond. In the championship bout, Ham- mond defeated Evansville Mater Dei senior Michael Boots by a 5 -2 decision to improve to 39 -0. "We didn't want to hang our head after that first loss, because we had to come back out and wrestle hard, and he didn't," Hewig said. "We had to game plan for the next one." "You never want to lose, but if you lose, you want to lose to the champion," Hewig added. That's part of it. That kid was extreme- ly talented and strong and he was good at stuff most 220s aren't. It posed a dif- ferent match for us, but Jake fought hard and just got in a couple of bad spots that we're not used to getting caught in." Sisk subsequently suf- fered an 8 -3 loss by decision to Columbus East junior Ja- cob Bolte in the third-place bout. "He ended up having a lit- tle bit of injury there in that last match that he's over now," Hewig said. "But it kind of slowed him down a little bit. You could tell a definite difference." "The last match was kind of difficult," Sisk said. "I had Bohnert competes in state girls' swim meet preliminaries Hendrixson named to PAC All- Conference girls' basketball team SISK PUNCHES TICKET TO STATE WRESTLING MEET Pike Central High School junior Natalie Bohnert placed 25th in the 100-yard back- stroke and 29th in the 200-yard individu- al medley during pre- liminaries at the 2018 IHSA A Girls' Swim- ming/Diving Champi- onship at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis on Fri- day, Feb. 9. Submitted photo Pike Central High School senior Jake Sisk celebrates after winning a second-round match against South Spencer sophomore Will Stewart in the 220-pound weight class during the semi-state wrestling meet at the Ford Center in Evansville on Saturday, Feb. 10. With the win, Sisk earned a berth in the state meet, which will be held on Friday, Feb. 16, and Saturday, Feb. 17, at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Kyson Western (second from right) gets ready to sign a national letter of intent to play soccer for Kentucky Wesleyan College in Owensboro, Ky., on Friday, Feb. 9. Also pictured are, from left to right, brother, Jacob; mother, Heather; and father, Chad. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School senior Ka- leb Claridge takes a shot at the basket during varsity boys' basketball action at Tecumseh on Tues- day, Feb. 6. Claridge scored four points – including two on the game-winning basket with 6.7 seconds left – in a 40-39 victory over the host Braves. Ed Cahill photo Croak, Nalley receive honorable mention By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net For the second straight year, Pike Central High School senior forward Erika Hendrixson has been named to the Pocket Athletic Confer- ence's All-Conference Team in girls' basketball, which was announced on Monday, Feb. 12. During the 2017-18 regu- lar season, Hendrixson aver- aged 15.0 points, 7.1 rebounds and 2.6 steals per game in 20 games. In eight games against PAC opponents, Hen- drixson averaged 16.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game. "It's something that she's worked for," Lady Chargers head coach Kyle McCutchan said of Hendrixson, who al- so received honorable men- tion as a sophomore. "She's put the effort in and her hard work has paid off for her. I'm awful proud of her." Also named to the All-Con- ference Team were Heritage Hills senior Abby Wahl, Gib- son Southern junior Tabatha Klem, Gibson Southern se- nior Skylar Boes, North Posey senior Kim Weaver, Forest Park senior Taylor Bay- er, Forest Park senior Lanette Blume, Heritage Hills senior Kate Kaetzel, Tell City junior Kammie Jo Hayes, Gibson Southern sophomore Mere- dith Raley, Tecumseh junior Dalina Meyer and Tell City se- nior Katie Goffinet. Among those receiving honorable mention were Pike Central senior guards Demi Croak and Brook Nalley. Nalley, who also received honorable mention accolades as a sophomore, averaged 5.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.8 steals in 20 regular-sea- son games. In eight games against PAC opponents, Nal- ley averaged 6.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.3 steals per game. Nalley, who led the PAC in steals as a sophomore, had a conference-best 75 steals this season. "That's probably why she got on there," McCutchan said. "I know our record was See BOHNERT on pg 4 See CLARIDGE on pg 3 See PAC on pg 6 See WESTERN on pg 6 See SISK on pg 2 WE ARE PROFFESIONAL GRADE uebelhorgm.com 1-800-937-8721 Jasper, IN Claridge lay-in lifts Chargers to 40-39 win at Tecumseh Kyson Western signs to play college soccer at Kentucky Wesleyan