Tipp suffers two tough dual losses

It was a great three-team dual last week at Tippecanoe High School. The Red Devils hosted MVL foes Troy and Piqua in a competitive match leading into this weekend’s MVL championship meet at Butler High School.

Tipp opened the day with a tough 42-39 loss to Piqua. They then came back with a tough 40-29 loss to the Trojans after holding a lead late in that matchup.

“That meet was something we like to do to highlight the wrestling over here,” Tipp coach Nick Petro said. “Piqua came out to wrestle and the environment was great for us, we just had a couple of missteps here and there.”

Starting out at 106 for Tipp was freshman Trace Frazier, and Petro was thrilled how we responded to the challenge.

“He came out guns blazing and didn’t hold back. He has made big progress the last couple of weeks,” the Tipp coach said. “To see him carry that on during this dual and start us off against Piqua was fantastic. Frazier finished 2-0 on the day.

“Piqua has a good unique style of wrestling, and those kids are always ready to wrestle. We just need to focus on position and keeping it simple to turn it around for us.”

At 165 was Collin Isaac, who also was unbeaten in his two matches on the day.

“To have guys like Trace and Collin, particularly in the lineup where they are at, is huge,” Petro said. “If we drop a couple in the lower weights after Trace, Collin is right there to pick it back up to set the tone for the bigger guys. We have a strong lineup in the upper area that holds us down.”

Against Troy, Tipp again had Frazier earn the early win, and Tipp had a solid day to build the lead.

“Trace wrestled hard, and we were on pace,” Petro said. “We had some tough matches in there. Troy has a very tough 132 pounder, so knowing that, we knew we had to come out in those upper weights and fill that in.”

“It came down to the big guys. I can’t say enough about Brian Lomelie, who is a first-year wrestler at 285. He came out and fought his guts out and put the Piqua guy on his back and almost had the pin. If he comes up with the pin there, we win the dual.”

“He has improved and is improving every day. Throwing around those big guys is a hard thing to do.”

Petro added this group is totally focused on the upcoming tournament. They will have their minds right when things get going in the postseason.