Shelbyville High School, which finished in second place as a team on Saturday at the Cumberland Regional is sending seven wrestlers on to the Robinson Sectional this Friday.

As a team, the Rams placed second overall (140.5 points), behind only powerhouse Vandalia (218), but ahead of St. Joe-Ogden (120), Oakwood Fithian (110.5), Cumberland (103), St. Anthony (50) and Danville Schlarman (45). Last year, the Rams finished third at Robinson Regional to Vandalia and Litchfield. Two years ago, the Rams, led by 100-win standouts Caleb Duckett (27-10) and Nate Bly, finished second at regional to Vandy. Bly (35-8) placed at state that year, taking fourth.

Four Rams won regional championships to advance and three more Rams grabbed the bronze to advance. The combined records of the four Ram regional champions is 121-16, a dominating winning percentage of 88%.

In addition to those seven, three more Rams (a total of 10 Rams in all) placed fourth at regional and are alternates for sectional should 1st, 2nd, or 3rd place finishers in their weight class cannot compete next week.

Senior Buddy Holmes earned a regional championship at 103 pounds, sophomore Alex Jones won a regional title at 130 pounds, junior Dalton Brown earned a regional crown at 135 pounds and senior Jeff Gill claimed the 160 pound regional championship.

Dylan Hammond placed third at 145 pounds, freshman Luke Hatfield placed third at 152 pounds, and senior James Gill placed third at 215 pounds. Fourth placed finishers were junior Zach Jarnagin at 171, senior Eric Hightower at 119 and sophomore Kyle Brown at 125.

Holmes (23-7) started the day with a bye, then beat AJ Gaylord of Vandalia with a second period pin (2:25). Holmes got to the championship match of the 103-pound class against Ashton Haton of Fithian (27-8). Experience and maturity might have had a hand in the close decision as the Ram senior defeated the Fithian freshman, 6-3.

Last year, Holmes (25-8) placed second at regional, but did not advance out of sectional. The year before Holmes (27-6) won regional.

At 130 pounds, Jones, who qualified for state last year asd a freshman and three years before that in junior wrestling, had an initial bye, then beat Drew Nagy of St. Joe-Ogden with a quick stick (:21) to advance to the title match. Jones, with the most wins of all the Shelbyville All Star Wrestlers (35-3) took out his older Vandalia opponent, John Vosholler, with an 8-3 decision.

Last year, Jones (22-5) won the Robinson Regional title at 125 pounds, beating the same kid, Vosholler, by a 9-5 decision. At sectional, Jones (25-6) placed third and advanced to state by beating a Benton senior, TJ Tomshack (25-6), with a pin (1:21). At state, Jones was one and done, as he lost to Trace Engelkes of Winnebago on a late fall (5:44) and never got another chance to wrestle.

Junior 135-pounder Dalton Brown, a 2-time state qualifier and 3-time regional champion, had a bye, then beat Drew Simmons of Fithian with a second period pin (3:14). In the title match, Brown was up against a Vandalia senior, Jake Harris (17-15. Brown (33-1) racked up a major decision, shutting out Harris, 13-0.

Last year, Brown (as a sophomore) won the regional title at 130 pounds, beating a Vandy senior, Anthony Coney by a 7-1 score. At sectional, Brown (32-2) also won the championship, beating the same Vandy senior, Coney (25-17), by a 9-0 shutout.

At state, Brown had to wrestle senior Seth Milks (32-4) of Dakota and lost an 8-1 decision. Brown then had to wrestle fellow sophomore Stormy Hild of Petersburg (33-5) and lost 5-2. Brown's two opponents finished first and fourth at state and he finished in the Elite Eight.

As a 119-pound freshman, Brown (24-1) also won regional an dplaced second at sectional to advance to state. Brown beat Josh Smith of Prairie Central, 7-3, then lost again to Seth Milks, who went on to win the state title. Brown then lost to Dustinn Brown of Tolono, 19-8. Dustinn Brown finished fourth at state and Dalton Brown in the Elite Eight.

The fourth Ram to claim a title was 2-time state qualifier and 2-time regional runner-up, senior leader Jeff Gill (30-5) at 160 pounds. Gill also had a bye, then beat Cole Brummer of Toldeo in a quick stick (:26). Gill then had to wrestle another Vandy standout, sophomore Levi Ulmer (29-8). Gill was able to get revenge for last year against Ulmer and get the championship with a close decision, 7-5.

Last year, Gill (26-7) was second at regional, losing to Ulmer (28-12) in a late pin (5:05). Despite that second place finish at regional, Gill won the sectional title with a 10-7 win over a senior from Benton, Casey Spencer (28-6), to advance to state.

At state, Gill won a 10-5 decision over Dan Stott of Harvard (39-8), then lost by a 9-4 decision to Jesse Kugler (29-3) of Macomb. Gill then lost in wrestlebacks to Ethan Ball of Aledo (35-2), who finished third in state. Gill finished in the Elite Eight

As a 152-pound sophomore, Gill placed second at regional and second at sectional to advance to state. At state, Gill beat senior Josiah Imig of Tremont (30-8), then lost to Barry Glaudel of Stillman Valley (32-4) by a narrow 4-3 decision. Gill never got to wrestle again that year at state.

One of the Rams to claim a regional third for the second year in a row was senior James Gill (215 pounds). Gill (23-9) had a bye, then lost a close decision to Evan Casey of Toldeo,3-0. Gill went to wrestlebacks and beat Jake Bayles of St. Joe-Ogden with a first period pin (1:38).

In the third place match, was up against sophomore Joe Cahill of Danville Schlarman (12-7). Gill stuck Cahill in the first period of the match (1:08) to advance to sectional. Last year, Gill (9-6) placed third with a win over Francison Avila of Robinson (9-7) by a close decision, 9-7.

Two of the Rams who earned third place wins were junior Dylan Hammond (145) and freshman Luke Hatfield (152), got them from walk-overs. Hammond started the day with by pinning Nick Glover of St. Joe-Ogden in the second period (3:09). He then lost to the eventual champ, Mikal Hardin of Fithian by fall (1:49). Hammond got to the third place match and got a walk-over because he had already beaten his opponent, Nick Glover of St. Joe-Ogden (15-19), earlier. Hatfield (16-18) also started his day with a pin over John Kay of St. Anthony in the first period (1:39). Hatfield then lost to Alex Foster of Vandalia, the eventual champ, by fall (:43). Hatfield had also beaten his 3rd place match opponent, John Kay of St Anthony, earlier, so Hatfield got a walk-over.

Senior Eric Hightower (18-16) is a sectional alternate at 119 pounds, because he placed fourth. Hightower won his first match with a quick stick (:37), then fell to Wesley Patton of Fithian (4:58), the eventual regional runner-up. Hightower just did lose the third place match to Nathan Johnson of St. Joe-Ogden, 9-7. It was Hightower's second regional fourth place finish in the last two years.

Sophomore Kyle Brown (125) also wrestled his way to the third place match at regional. First, he had a bye, then lost to Zach Poe of Toledo, the eventual champ, by fall (1:23). Brown's third place match, wasn't as close a match as Hightower's. Brown (11-22) lost by major decision to Trevor Alstal of Vandy , 12-4.

The other sectional alternate is junior Zach Jarnagin (171). Jarnagin (9-7), who just started wrestling after New Year's, lost to Clay Smith of Fithian in a barn-burner, 13-11. Jarnagin then beat Cody Sandschafer of St. Anthony with a late poin (5:33) to advance to the third place match. However, he didn't get to wrestle the third place match, because he had already lost to senior Clay Smith (24-14) of Fithian. Fithian got the walkover for third.