ZIONSVILLE – What is it about Lawrence North, the IHSAA team wrestling regional championship, and the need to live on the edge?

Three years ago, LN upset Indianapolis Cathedral on the third criteria (a 3-2 advantage in pins) after each tied at 31 in the championship match of the North Central (Indianapolis) Regional. In the Feb. 7 finals of the Zionsville Regional against No. 14 Hamilton Southeastern, the 10th-ranked Wildcats called up the same script once again.

But this time, the final verdict wasn’t in till the eighth criteria. And Lawrence North’s seventh trip to the state finals in the tourney’s 16th season via a thrilling 30-29 win wouldn’t have come at all without a monumentally large pin in the very last match by senior Jordan Johnson.

Moving up from 130 pounds where he’s ranked fifth in the state, Johnson had to pin HSE 16th-ranked sophomore John Tatom in order for Lawrence North to tie the Royals at 29. And that he did, wrapping Tatom – who may have been a bit shell-shocked following a 7-0 loss to Noblesville’s No. 17 senior Tyler Gadient in the semifinal round – in a gorgeous cradle and getting the stick in just 44 seconds as the LN bench erupted.

The six points for the pin completed LN’s comeback from deficits of 20-3, 23-11 and, finally, 29-20 with just two matches remaining. As it eventually turned out, that was just enough for coach Jared Williams’ Wildcats to close out a most improbable rally. 

Lawrence North opened the finals with a high-scoring 12-9 decision at 140 by fifth-ranked senior Matt Rattay over sophomore Jackson Bennett for a 3-0 lead. But the Royals responded by winning four straight matches – including the last two on first-period falls – to go up by a surprising 17 points.

LN won three of the next four – including a first-period pin by No. 1-ranked undefeated freshman Nathan Boston at 103 – to climb back within 23-17. But Southeastern stood tough with one-point decisions in two of the next three matches to seemingly take control of the match at 29-20.

That’s when Johnson’s backup at 130, Jacob Henry, stepped up big-time. The junior’s 5-4 decision over HSE sophomore Ryan Reeder cut the deficit to 29-23 to set the stage for Johnson, who had been unable to pull off the last-ditch pin twice before this year.

With a trip to the team finals possibly on the line – and no one knows what the criteria situation is in the heat of the last moments of a match – the senior wasn’t about to let that happen a third time (click here or see video player to the right of the page).

Lawrence North will face the survivor of the Feb. 8 Logansport Regional – either Eastern (Greentown), Huntington North, Delphi, or the host Berries – that’s been delayed by ice for six days. That Feb. 26 state quarterfinal winner then will battle either top-ranked Crown Point or No. 2 Evansville Mater Dei for a berth in the state championship at Center Grove. 

The complete results, courtesy of ihsaa.org:

Match 1: #14 Hamilton Southeastern 46, Noblesville 15

Match 2: #10 Lawrence North 53, Southmont 21

Championship: #10 Lawrence North 30, #14 Hamilton Southeastern 29 (8th criteria)

103: Vance Ellis (N) dec. Edrece Stansberry 7-2

112: Mitch Snyder (HSE) pin Tyler Carlotto 2:23

119: Chase Watson (HSE) major dec. Justin Wilding 11-2

125: Derek Sanders (HSE) dec. Patrick Mangan 7-3

130: Mikhail Marcuson (N) dec. Ryan Reeder 9-6

135: #17 Tyler Gadient (N) dec. #16 John Tatom 7-0

140: Alex Wormuth (N) dec. Jackson Bennett 9-3

145: Wayne Spect (N) dec. Levi Pearson 4-2

152: #12 Matt Irick (HSE) dec. #13 Alex Bowers 3-1

160: #8 Austin Neibarger (HSE) pin Mitch Hensley 0:40

171: Garrett Smitley (HSE) pin Ben Elliot 1:15

189: Jeff Dixon (HSE) pin Slater Branum 3:55

215: Steven Lind (N) dec. Andy Eldridge 9-3

Hwt: Hayden Janney (HSE) dec. Steven Rushforth 7-1

103: #1 Nathan Boston (LN) pin Josh Jenkins 3:10

112: #17 Alex Sparks (LN) dec. Chandler Moore 7-3

119: #7 Robert Boston (LN) pin Dylan Rodgers 2:47

125: Dan Barrett (S) dec. Andrew Rattay 6-4

130: #5 Jordan Johnson (LN) pin Landon Nave 1:06

135: #5 (at 140) Matt Rattay (LN) tech fall Vince McCaslin 18-2

140: Ricardo Briseno (LN) dec. Chance Brown 5-4

145: Corey Gorman (LN) pin Dalton Burris 0:55

152: Nestor Castillo (LN) pin Brad Harrington 0:43

160: Austin Long (S) pin Bradley Duffy 2:37

171: Brandon Douthitt (LN) pin Scott Dove 3:43

189: #9 Jeremy Haskett (LN) pin Dennie Brown 2:17

215: Cole Wills (S) pin Tremayne Perryman 1:05

Hwt: Chandler Burkhart (S) pin Shonn Mersh 0:33

103: #1 Nathan Boston (LN) pin Edrece Stansberry 1:26 (HSE, 23-17)

112: Mitch Snyder (HSE) dec. #17 Alex Sparks 5-4 (HSE, 26-17)

119: #7 Robert Boston (LN) dec. Chase Watson 2-0 (HSE, 26-20)

125: Derek Sanders (HSE) dec. Rene Briseno 4-3 (HSE, 29-20)

130: Jacob Henry (LN) dec. Ryan Reeder 5-4 (HSE, 29-23)

135: #5 (at 130) Jordan Johnson (LN) pin #16 John Tatom 0:44 (29-29; 8th criteria)

140: #5 Matt Rattay (LN) dec. Jackson Bennett 12-9 (LN, 3-0)

145: Levi Pearson (HSE) dec. Corey Gorman 3-1 (3-3)

152: #12 Matt Irick (HSE) tech fall Nestor Castillo 19-3 (HSE, 8-3)

160: #8 Austin Neibarger (HSE) pin Bradley Duffy 1:03 (HSE, 14-3)

171: Garrett Smitley (HSE) pin Brandon Douthitt 1:55 (HSE, 20-3)

189: #9 Jeremy Haskett (LN) tech fall Jeff Dixon 19-4 (HSE, 20-8)

215: Anton Craig (LN) dec. Andy Eldridge 9-5 (HSE, 20-11)

Hwt: Hayden Janney (HSE) dec. Deon Lockhart 5-0 (HSE, 23-11)