There were 14 championship matches at Saturday’s Calumet Sectional, but only the 138-pound title bout captivated every set of eyes in the building.
The match featured top-ranked Hobart senior Brendan Black and third-ranked Portage junior Kris Rumph.
After an emotionally charged six minutes, Black rallied from an early 6-2 deficit to edge Rumph for a rousing 12-11 victory.
“As soon as that first period was over, I got control of myself,” Black said. “I said, ‘Hey, I’m only down by (four). I’m still in this.’ I’m never going to give up in a match.”
The emotions boiled over early in the second period as Rumph went crashing into the scorers’ table. Black stated his case afterward.
“I was going for a shot of both legs while keeping my feet in,” he said.
More drama ensued near the end of the second period, with Black holding up his right arm to the officials. Rumph declined to get into the details of either controversy.
“I’m not going to go back-and-forth with that,” he said. “Today is not the most important day. It’s all about that Saturday night (at the state meet), under the lights.”
The final drama came with 12 seconds left as coaches and officials argued over potential near-fall points for Black. After a lengthy delay, Black was awarded the points to go ahead 12-11. He hung on for the win.
Black’s efforts helped Hobart finish second in the team standings with 221 points, but Portage finished first with 307. The Indians were represented in all 14 championship matches.
“I’ve always felt the depth of this team is what makes us powerful,” Portage coach Leroy Vega said. “It’s hard to beat 14 solid guys in the finals. I don’t know if that’s been done here before.”
Two Portage wrestlers won their title matches in overtime. Junior Colin Poynter edged Hobart junior Tylor Triana 5-3 at 120, adding another win for the fifth-ranked Poynter in a long rivalry with the second-ranked Triana.
“I was going more defensive because he was taking most of the shots in the match,” Poynter said of his OT strategy. “I had to defend all of those and then get on my offense after his attack.”
Classmate Kasper McIntosh was more aggressive in his overtime session, scoring a 5-1 win over Hobart’s Dante Colza.
“He didn’t really score on any shots and I felt like I was closer (to scoring) than he was,” the second-ranked McIntosh said. “So that factors into it. You have to go off of how the first three periods went.”
Six other Portage wrestlers finished first: freshman Ty Haskins (106), sophomore Brock Peele (113), juniors Zach Nugent (152), Drake Guerrero (160) and Jeremy Torres (182) and senior Gio Murillo (285).
Dave Melton is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.
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