NORTH VERNON — The Owls competed in the 2023-24 Jennings County wrestling sectional on Saturday morning.

Seymour finished in ninth place as a team, sending one competitor to regional along with two alternates.

Jesus Aguilar earned his spot by finishing in second place in the 215-pound class, leading the Owls. 

The senior spoke on advancing to the Regional competition.

“I’m very proud of myself and the work I’ve put into this sport,” Aguilar said. “All my teammates have pushed me to be the best I can be, and I’m thankful for that.”

Seymour head coach Dan Rasey spoke on Aguilar’s performance at the sectional.

“Finishing second was quite a feat for Jesus, though he is heartbroken,” Rasey said. “He has been going back and forth with one of our assistant coaches, Nate Banister, about ending our drought of sectional champs. Nate was our last in 2020. Jesus has a very good chance of having a rematch in the regional finals as he has previous wins over half of the regional field.”

Aguilar received a bye before pinning Jonathan Morales of Columbus North in the second round to get to the semifinal. He then pinned James Moss of Columbus East to secure his spot in the first-place match against Kellen Fellure of Franklin. He was then be defeated by Fellure in a back-and-forth battle, dropping the match via 4-3 decision.

Briley Compton and Palik Findley both qualified as alternates in the regional competition, ending in fifth place. They would compete if any wrestler in the top four is unable to compete in the next postseason competition.

“Coming into the day, I knew it was going to be a tougher sectional than last year,” Rasey said. “You don’t add teams like Franklin Community, Indian Creek and Salem and have it remain the same. Our sectional has become one of the largest and deepest. With all of this being said, I was proud of the fight our kids showed today.”

AnnMarie Shuler and Charlie Bruce both finished in sixth place for the Owls. The remaining competitors did not place for Seymour.

“Our inexperience did show at times today and hurt us in the team standings, but we lost a lot of very tight matches that could have gone our way just as easily,” Rasey said. “My hope and message to the team is to remember this and use it going into the upcoming offseason. We return basically our entire lineup next year except Jesus.”

Rasey said most of the kids returning are freshmen and sophomores, allowing serious growth in the future for the team.

“The future should be quite bright for us in the years to come if we use this experience in the proper way,” he said.

Aguilar advances to the regional in Jeffersonville, which takes place Saturday at 8 a.m. Feeder sectionals for this regional are Jeffersonville and Jennings County.

If Aguilar can place in the top four once again, he will be on his way to semistate, which would take place at 9 a.m. Feb. 10 at Ford Center in Evansville. This meet is in the Central Time Zone, meaning it will be 10 a.m. in Eastern Standard Time.

Team scores

1, Columbus East, 223. 2, Franklin, 193.5. 3, Columbus North, 190. 4, Switzerland County, 130. 5, Jennings County, 104. 6, Madison, 89. 7, Indian Creek, 83. 8, Salem, 67. 9, Seymour, 49. 10, Scottsburg, 32. 11, Eastern (Pekin) 22. 12, West Washington, 10. 13, Southwestern (Hanover), 0.

Individual results

106: AnnMarie Shuler placed sixth 

Champ. Round 1: AnnMarie Shuler (Seymour) won by forfeit over West Washington

Quarterfinal: Talon Jessup (Columbus East) won by fall over AnnMarie Shuler (Fall 0:42)

Cons. Round 2: AnnMarie Shuler won by forfeit over Beau Carter (Scottsburg)

Cons. Round 3: Aiden Woods (Franklin) won by tech fall over AnnMarie Shuler (Tech Fall 3:00 16-0)

Fifth-place match: Elizabeth Dowty (Indian Creek) won by fall over AnnMarie Shuler (Fall 4:33)

113: Palik Findley placed fifth 

Champ. Round 1: Palik Findley (Seymour) received a bye

Quarterfinal: Palik Findley won by fall over Khycen Sutton (Jennings County) (Fall 4:00)

Semifinal: Ethan Pittman (Madison) won by decision over Palik Findley (Decision 9-4)

Cons. Round 3: Brayden Walters (Salem) won by fall over Palik Findley (Fall 2:37)

Fifth-place match: Palik Findley won by decision over Liam Curfman (Columbus North) (Decision 8-2)

120: Seymour did not compete. 

126: Charlie Bruce placed sixth 

Champ. Round 1: Charlie Bruce (Seymour) won by forfeit over Columbus North

Quarterfinal: Gage Rutan (Columbus East) won by tech fall over Charlie Bruce (Tech Fall 2:43 17-1)

Cons. Round 2: Charlie Bruce won by fall over Collin Massie (Jennings County) (Fall 0:26)

Cons. Round 3: Ryan Million (Franklin) won by decision over Charlie Bruce (Decision 8-4)

Fifth-place match: Drew Zuckschwerdt (Madison) won by fall over Charlie Bruce (Fall 2:06)

132: Liam Chandler did not place

Champ. Round 1: Liam Chandler (Seymour) won by fall over Michael Pedigo (Jennings County) (Fall 5:39)

Quarterfinal: Kellan Carter (Scottsburg) won by fall over Liam Chandler (Fall 0:23)

Cons. Round 2: Keegan Gross (Switzerland County) won by fall over Liam Chandler (Fall 1:33)

138: Raul Diego Juan did not place 

Champ. Round 1: Kenny Smith (Scottsburg) won by fall over Raul Diego Juan (Seymour) (Fall 0:31)

Cons. Round 1: Raul Diego Juan (Seymour) received a bye

144: Seymour did not compete 

150: Nic Frady did not place 

Champ. Round 1: Nic Frady (Seymour) won by forfeit over (Scottsburg)

Quarterfinal: Cameron Sommers (Franklin) won by fall over Nic Frady (Fall 3:06)

Cons. Round 2: Gabe Jackson (Switzerland County) won by decision over Nic Frady (Decision 7-2)

157: Seymour did not compete 

165: Briley Compton placed fifth 

Champ. Round 1: Briley Compton (Seymour) won by forfeit over Bryson Shanks (Eastern)

Quarterfinal: Evan Saevre (Columbus North) won by tech fall over Briley Compton (Tech Fall 5:42 17-1)

Cons. Round 2: Briley Compton won by fall over Brandon Cornwell (Salem) (Fall 1:55)

Cons. Round 3: Cory Fuller (Franklin) won by decision over Briley Compton (Decision 6-5)

Fifth-place match: Briley Compton won by decision over Nick Cortes (Jennings County) (Decision 5-1)

175: Mason Nugent did not place 

Champ. Round 1: Mason Nugent (Seymour) won by forfeit over Switzerland County

Quarterfinal: Keller DeSpain (Columbus North) won by fall over Mason Nugent (Fall 2:20)

Cons. Round 2: Brady Briscoe (Salem) won by fall over Mason Nugent (Fall 1:52)

190: Alexis Cisneros did not place 

Champ. Round 1: Curtis Gault (Indian Creek) won by fall over Alexis Cisneros (Seymour) (Fall 1:16)

Cons. Round 1: Alexis Cisneros received a bye

215: Jesus Aguilar placed second 

Champ. Round 1: Jesus Aguilar (Seymour) received a bye

Quarterfinal: Jesus Aguilar won by fall over Jonathan Morales (Columbus North) (Fall 3:44)

Semifinal: Jesus Aguilar won by fall over James Moss (Columbus East) (Fall 2:00)

First-place match: Kellen Fellure (Franklin) won by decision over Jesus Aguilar (Decision 4-3)

285: Phillip Dacayo did not place

Champ. Round 1: Philip Dacayo (Seymour) won by forfeit over Salem

Quarterfinal: Alex Lozano (Columbus North) won by fall over Philip Dacayo (Fall 1:03)

Cons. Round 2: Logan Porter (Indian Creek) won by fall over Philip Dacayo (Fall 1:34)