Raising his personal record to 26-3 with a trio of wins, Gardiner, a junior, earned a forfeit in the opening round then pinned James Winguard of Greencastle in 1:55 to earn a spot in the championship match. Pitted against Jacob Stigall of North Putnam, Gardiner registered a second period pin in 2:56 to earn the WCC championship.
Another bright spot for coach Brian Siddons' Clovers found 152 pound freshman Josh Hatten finishing second, losing a 6-1 decision to South Putnam's Jon Parker in the title match. Moving through the ranks, Hatten, now 16-6, pinned Michael Judkins of Speed-way in just 33 seconds in the opening round, then pinned Jacob Wright of Greencastle in 4:53 to ad-vance to the finals.
Other point proders for the Clovers included sophomore Todd Rightmyer (12-19) fourth at 145, and freshman Derek Davis (12-17) fourth in the 215 pound class.
Cloverdale's other wrestlers included Brittney Hughes at 112, Keith Morgan at 135, Nick Keefer at 140, Derick Evans at 160, Brian Young at 171 and Alex Swenson in the 275 (heavyweight) class.
From a team standpoint, the 2006 WCC title went to South Putnam with 220 points, Greencastle was second with 164, North Putnam third with 141, Monrovia fourth with 117, Cascade fifth with 109.5, Cloverdale sixth with 96 and Speedway completed the field in seventh with 60 points.
The CHS junior varsity will travel to Southmont Thursday, January 26 then the varsity will move into sectional competition Saturday, January 28, in a ten-team site at Avon.
The Cloverdale Elementary students and staff wore blue to support our Indianapolis Colts. The Student Council members sold blue football lollipops and blue Kool-Aid. They also did a wonderful job with painting blue horseshoes on students' faces. Cloverdale is very proud of the commitment that the students have to help with a variety of charitable community projects. Thank you, Cloverdale Elementary, for having so much spirit and pride! We thank the Colts for providing us with a fun-filled year of football, and challenge them to demonstrate to students across Indiana real leadership by keeping the dream alive in the face of defeat!
