Isaac qualifies for state wrestling finals, Thompson will go as alternate

It was a great day for a pair of Tippecanoe wrestlers as the district tournament was held at Wilmington and two of the Tipp grapplers will be making the trip to Columbus this weekend for the state meet.

Collin Isaac, at 150 pounds, placed as the district runner-up after losing to the defending state champion. Trent Thompson finished fifth at 126 pounds, meaning he will go to state as an alternate in the meet.

“Collin is the first male state qualifier at Tipp since 2018,” Tipp coach Nick Petro said. “The guys wrestled great. We saw a lot of great attitude and effort. They avenged some losses earlier in the year, and we are really looking forward to the state tournament.”

Also for Tipp, Eli Stacy competed at 113 pounds and lost his first match of the districts in 3:21 to Christian Falcione of Butler to drop into the consolation bracket. Eli then lost to Malik Meachem from Mount Healthy by pin in 2:34.

Thompson started his day at 126 with a pin against Spencer Blair of Franklin in 2:37 to advance into the second round, where he came up big again, defeating Aiden Jordan of Whitehall-Yearling in 2:21 to advance into the final four.

Joe Curry of Watterson was next up, and the sophomore was too much for Thompson with a pin in 3:09, dropping Thompson into the consolation bracket.

Thompson then fell 16-1 to Blaine Demarco of Graham to drop into the fifth-place match and a chance to go as an alternate. Thompson sealed that chance with a pin in 2:47 against Farrell Hall of Tecumseh.

Next up for Tipp was 150 and Isaac, and he had little trouble getting to the finals. Jesse vanDoesburg from Butler was first up, and Isaac earned a pin in 2:46. The Tipp sophomore then defeated Andre Billingsley of Marion Franklin in 1:43 to head into the final four.

At that point, Isaac was wrestling for a spot at the state meet, and the Tipp wrestler pinned Layne Settle from Urbana in 32 seconds to get into the finals. In the championship match, Isaac lost to Mitchell in 2:57 and placed as the district runner-up. He will wrestle in Columbus this weekend.

Bret Ballard went 1-2 in the 165 weight class and at 215, Ryan Koln went 0-2 at districts.

The Red Devils finished 14th overall and scored more team points than they have in the last five years combined in the district tournament.

The state meet will be held starting Friday in Columbus.