By TR HARLAN

Chesterton wrestling coach Chris Joll has talked continually this season about establishing the Trojans as a “program.”

The results are the proof needed and Saturday Chesterton took another big step in that direction as it picked up its second consecutive LaPorte Sectional title.

“I was really happy with this victory,” Joll said. “It’s a totally different kind of team than last year. We’re still struggling with getting the athletes out though.

“Hopefully we become the program where guys have to fight every day to keep their spots.”

The Trojans picked up 216 team points to outdistance second place LaPorte (206) and third place Portage (205 1¦2).

Chesterton will meet Hanover Central in the Regional Semifinals on Wednesday night at Portage beginning at 6 p.m. Crown Point and LaPorte will meet in the other semifinal.

“Ten points separated the top three teams,” Joll said. “Our 10 points could have been lost anywhere.”

The Trojans had three Sectional champions, but Joll gave a lot of the credit to a pair of freshman --- 125-pounder Joel Gillespie and 135-pounder Will Butz.

“I thought our freshmen 125-pounder and 135-pounder winning to get to the consolation finals was the difference,” Joll said. “That’s 12 team points right there.”

Ben Williams continued his dominance at 112 pounds with three quick pins.

“The coaches told me what I needed to do and I went out and did it,” Williams said. “It’s a really important meet and you always have to be a little safe and not make a big mistake.

“I only had made one today when I rolled to my back and that was in the first round. You have to be smart.”

Williams needed just 1:07 to beat Michigan City’s Matt Dixon in the opening round by fall. He continued that roll with fall victories over Portage’s Brandon Coppinger (:51) and John Glenn’s Travis Mowery (:29) in the finals.

“In the final, I went for the takedown and the kid just fell into an over-under and I pinned him,” Williams said. “We needed the team points. I wanted to win this as a team again.”

“Ben killed people,” Joll said. “We didn’t have to watch him wrestle much. How do you replace that kid?

“It was nice for him to go out and just dominate the Sectional. It was nice to just see him be the guy.”

Zack Thornton had much the same path at 119 pounds.

“I’d beaten everybody I was going to wrestle today before, so I knew I could do it,” Thornton said. “I came out real weak and tired last year and I wanted to wrestle a lot harder this year.”

It worked as the sophomore beat Michigan City’s Vince Yadavia by fall in :29 and followed that up with a pin of LaPorte’s Justin Fredel in 2:44. In the finals, he beat Portage’s Luis Acuna 13-6.

“I knew the match with Acuna was going to be a tough one and it was,” Thornton said. “I wanted to come out and get control early, maybe shake him up a little.”

“Zack did a really nice job,” Joll said. “He had a disappointing Sectional last year and DAC this year. This was the kid we knew we had.”

Spencer Stockwell was the final Trojan champion at 160 pounds.

“It feels pretty good,” Stockwell said. “Hard work really pays off I guess.”

Stockwell beat John Glenn’s John Dolph in the opening round by fall in 3:44. In the semifinals, he beat LaPorte’s Kyle Butts 5-3.

“What do you say about Spencer?,” Joll said. “I thought he wrestled great. He was wrestling not to lose and he’s wrestling guys 8-10 pounds more than him.

“If you would have told me he was going to be a Sectional champ before the season started, I’d have told you he was crazy.”

In the finals, Stockwell and Michigan City’s Scott Deutscher were tied at 0 heading into the third period before he cradled Deutscher and ended the match by fall at 5:32.

“We were both pretty gassed from the start of the second period on,” Stockwell said. “I got the takedown and it was like he gave up. The cradle was there, so I took it. The plan was to put legs in and turn him, but I’ll take whatever happens.

“I didn’t think I wrestled my best, but I’m really excited about getting to Regionals.”

The Trojans will send 12 wrestlers to the Individual Regional next Saturday at LaPorte beginning at 9 a.m.

Team Results

(Top two teams advance to Wednesday's

Portage Team Regional)

1. Chesterton, 216; 2. LaPorte, 206; 3. Portage, 205 1¦2; 4. New Prairie, 173 1¦2; 5. John Glenn, 131; 6. Michigan City, 123; 7. Knox, 87; 8. North Judson, 43 1¦2.

Individual Results

(Top 4 advance to Saturday's LaPorte Regional)

Championship

103 -- Kaleb McCallum (JG) dec. Joe Arroyo (P), 10-3. 112 -- Ben Williams (C) pin Travis Mowery (JG), 0:29. 119 -- Zack Thornton (C) dec. Luis Acuna (P), 13-6. 125 -- Garrett Payne (MC) dec. Kyle Hernandez (K), 6-1. 130 -- Mike Torres (P) pin Brian Kowalski (C), 5:40. 135 -- Sean McMurray (P) tech fall Daniel Peronis (MC), 18-2. 140 -- Tommy Torres (P) dec. Michael Tucker (C), 5-3. 145 -- David Oviatt (L) dec. Doug Kraemer (JG), 8-2. 152 -- Mike Roberts (L) dec. Jordan Martin (NP), 6-4. 160 -- Spencer Stockwell (C) pin Scott Deutscher (MC), 5:32. 171 -- Derrick Nesvold (L) dec. Nathaniel Coleman (P), 7-5. 189 -- Nick Poplawski (NP) dec. Ian Beach (L), 5-0. 215 -- Bryce Holland (L) dec. Kannon Keigley (NP), 8-3. Hwt. -- Craig Fitzgerald (JG) pin Adam Boatright (C), 1:00.

Consolation

103 -- George Choucalas (C) dec. Aaron Kuzdas (L), 7-5 (OT). 112 -- Brandon Coppinger (P) pin Matt Dixon (MC), 3:41. 119 -- Devann Biddle (K) pin Justin Fredel (L), 5:52. 125 -- Miles Ostergren (L) dec. Joel Gillespie (C), 12-1. 130 -- Jimmy Poplawski (MC) inj. def. Robert Leda (JG). 135 -- Jon Wilke (L) pin Will Butz (C), 3:45. 140 -- Nick Santana (L) dec. Austin Nelsen (NP), 8-5. 145 -- Chris Santos (P) pin Charles Watts (NP), 3:40. 152 -- Ethan Harbrecht (C) pin Josh Dunbar (JG), 3:24. 160 -- Kyle Butts (L) dec. Chris Robbins (NP), 8-2. 171 -- Niles Goodman (NP) dec. Jim Butz (C), 10-0. 189 -- Ryan Sanchez (C) dec. Kyle Keith (P), 8-4. 215 -- Billy Pearman (P) pin Richard Marquez (NJ), 1:18. Hwt. -- Bryan Wiltfong (NP) dec. Jimmy Schwartz (NJ), 9-4.

Posted 1/28/2008