NEW CASTLE —
When Mason Todd was a freshman, he said he wanted to be the first four-time state tournament qualifier in Pendleton Heights wrestling history.
On Saturday at the New Castle Semistate, he fulfilled that promise.
Todd improved his season record to 37-0 en route to winning the 120-pound title at the New Castle Fieldhouse. He will be one of four local wrestlers to participate in the Parade of Champions to kick off the 74th IHSAA Individual State Tournament on Friday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
“I’m not thinking about that right now,” Todd said of his fourth trip to the state finals. “I’m going next week to win another state title. Until that happens, I’m not satisfied. I’ll just keep (the fourth state trip) in the back of my mind.”
Joining him will be classmate Clint Nicholson. Nicholson (34-9) qualified for his first trip to Indianapolis. Alexandria junior Luke Blanton (43-1) placed third at 132 pounds to qualify for his second straight trip to state. He finished his day with a pinfall victory. Shenandoah’s Jacob Lumpkin rounds out the quartet. The Raiders junior (40-4) finished fourth at 195 pounds.
Todd ended his day with an 8-4 win over New Castle’s Brendan Campbell. Campbell beat Todd during a tournament this summer. In high school competition, Todd and Campbell have met three times on the mat. Todd has won twice.
Arabians coach Dave Cloud describe each meeting as “an instant classic.”
The undefeated Arabian took a 2-0 lead with a takedown early in the first round. It appeared that Todd’s 2-0 lead would hold through the round, then Campbell tied the score with a reversal at the buzzer.
“I got that first takedown and I thought ‘Sweet, I’m ahead of the game,’” Todd said. “He got that reversal at the very end — and that was a good call. Last time we wrestled it was 0-0 at the end of the first, so it was the same thing as last time.”
Todd took a 4-2 lead into the third period after scoring the only takedown of the second period.
With Todd leading 5-3 in the third period, both wrestlers were called for stalling and were awarded a point to make the score 6-4.
Another takedown by Todd closed out the scoring.
“Mason was in control there in the first and then Campbell gets in a scramble and scores two,” Cloud said. “A couple years ago, he might have been mad at himself and made a mistake. Now he’s got the mentality of just go get more points.”
For the winner, the determining factor was conditioning.
“I knew he breaks easy in the third period so I wanted to push him hard in the first period,” Todd said. “Even if I don’t score, it’s no big deal. I can wear him out, I’m in better shape.”
Luke Blanton of Alexandria saw his unbeaten streak came to an end in the 132-pound semifinals against Levi Moss of Ben Davis. Moss beat Blanton by fall at 5:21 of the third period. The Tigers junior bounced back in the third-place match against Austin Fuller of Union County. Blanton built a 13-0 lead before pinning Fuller in the second round.
“I just went out and wrestled as basic as I could get and dominated (Fuller),” Blanton said. “I feeling good about finishing in third place instead of fourth. That should make it a little bit easier (at state).”
“He came back in (the third-place match) and wrestled his most solid match of the day,” Tigers coach Jack Grimaldi said. “He just wanted to come back and finish strong. He was down cause he lost his chance to win it, that was his goal, but he battled through it.”
Nicholson gave Pendleton Heights its second state qualifier after a fourth-place finish at 160. Jacob Lumpkin’s fourth-place finish at 195 assured Shenandoah High School of its first state-qualifying wrestler since 1997.
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Pendleton Heights' Mason Todd defeats Ryan McCarty of New Palestine at 120 pound during the first round of the New Castle Semistate on Saturday. David Humphrey
Discussion
Arabians' Todd fulfills promise on mat
PH wrestler one of four locals to advance to state
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