We’ve come to the conclusion of our ‘Top Moments of the Year’ series as the fourth and final installment will feature the Fountain Central Mustangs. What stood above all else for the Mustangs this season was what Greg Dean and his team was able to accomplish on the basketball court. Along with that, there were many individual performances to note that will also be highlighted in this article and a culture shift within a few key sports for FC.
As stated in three previous articles, these moments were chosen with the help of our athletic directors and are no particular order.
Let’s take a look at the top moments for the Mustangs.
1. Boys hoops has dream season
One of the most special teams in our coverage area this past year was this Fountain Central boys basketball team. A 23-5 overall record saw Fountain Central make it all the way to the semi-state semi-finals saw the Mustangs have a season that will be remembered for a very long time. Second-year coach Greg Dean had a plethora of talent in junior Will Harmon, 6’10 big man Mason Larkin, 6’5 Luke Foxworthy, and 6’5 Isaac Gayler just to name a few.
What was more impressive than what FC did on the court, was the support they received from the entire Veedersburg and surrounding community.
“When you live in a community like we do, the school is the centerpiece most often times,” Dean said. “Right now our basketball team is front and center because of their success and our community has come out in waves and waves to support these kids and our program. There’s so many positive things going on right now and our kids build and play off the energy that they’re able to give us.”
The Mustangs tied the school record for wins and will bring back players like Harmon, and Gayler and likely see 6th man Owen Acton move into the starting role as well. Round out the starting five with returning seniors Koby Wolf and Brayden Prickett and FC is well-equipped to have another special season on the court come this winter.
2. Waylon Frazee has 2nd straight semi-state appearance
Junior Waylon Frazee for the second straight season made it back to the semi-state in wrestling after winning the sectional title at 132 lbs for the third straight season. He followed that up with a third place finish at the Regional. At the semi-state, Frazee was mere seconds away from wrestling for berth in the state finals before falling to Perry Meridian’s Keaton Morton scored a reversal to win 3-2. Morton went on to place 2nd in the 132 lb bracket. Frazee ended his junior season with a 31-4 record.
In what will be his senior season with the Mustangs, Frazee will look to qualify for his first state finals this upcoming year.
3. Chase Witsman concludes career with stellar senior season
For those who don’t know Fountain Central’s Chase Witsman, he has an interesting sports story. For nearly the entire swimming season, Witsman was the only member of the Fountain Central boys swimming team. That didn’t stop him from not only continuing to swim, but being very good at it. During the season, Witsman went undefeated in both the 50 and 100 freestyle along with winning the WRC title in both events. At the sectional Witsman concluded his swimming career with runner-up finishes in both events for the Mustangs.
His career accolades include being the Bi-County champion in the 50 and 100 all four years of his career and the WRC champion three of his four years. Witsman was also honored at Benton Central’s annual Sportsmanship Awards Banquet that’s put on each season by the Bison.
4. Brailey Hoagland continues to rack up XC & T&F accolades
Brailey Hoagland is a very rare 4-sport athlete. Yes that means she plays multiple sports in the same season. In the fall she’s the star cross country runner for the Mustangs while also helping them on the volleyball court. This past winter she was key member of the basketball team, and in the spring she helps lead the Mustang track team. She does all of this as a sophomore by the way.
In track this past spring, Hoagland went undefeated in the 100 meter dash on her way to breaking the school record (12:24) and was the sectional champion in both the 100 and 400 meter dashes. Back in the Fall in XC, she placed third at the sectional. In the Bi-County meet, Hoagland added more accolades with wins in the 100 and 200 meter dashes and the 300 meter hurdles.
There’s plenty more accolades for the young Mustang to achieve as she’s just beginning to hit her peak.
5. Culture beginning to shift for GBB, Football, and Softball
For the last few season’s up until this past year, Fountain Central was looking for a change in culture in their football, girls basketball and softball programs. Two of the three sports (girls basketball and football) had first year coaches this season while softball was able to have one of the best seasons in recent memory. All three head coaches in Herb King (football), Sam Karr (GBB), and Ric Walke (softball) began to change the culture of each of their programs as each team saw progress in big ways this season.
Football went 4-7 but still saw their most wins in a year since 2018. Girls Basketball with not a single senior on the team went 11-13 and show great signs of growth near the end of the season. Then with the softball team, with players like Kacey Kirkpatrick, and most notably Zoe Foxworthy-Dejournett, FC was able shatter nearly every single season offensive record.
There’s reason to believe with great coaches leading the way that all three of these programs for the Mustangs will continue to be on the rise heading into the 2023-24 season.
