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TeamGarcia

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    TeamGarcia reacted to Y2CJ41 for a article, 2024 Evansville Semi-State Preview   
    TRIPLE_B EVANSVILLE SEMI-STATE SPECTACULAR PREVIEW!!!!!!
     
    This year Trips will hit turn the big 4-4 on Saturday, Mrs 3B will be in attendance for her first SS ever, will this be the greatest Evansville SS of all time?? Dirty brackets, blood round matches that feel like your cutting fresh onions, and all around excitement will fill The FORD Saturday February 10th. 
     
    Evansville is THE BEST Semi-State in the land!! 224 wrestlers will be battling for 56 Golden tickets to Indy…..errrr…. Back to Evansville!!! Out of those 224, 138 are Semi-State ranked and 98, I Said 98 (!!!!!!) are ranked in the IndianaMat State Rankings!! Lawwwwwdy have Mercy!!!! This might be the big one Elizabeth!!!! 
     
    Here’s some quotes from my rankers…. Just in case you needed more convincing of the bloodbath that is Evansville:
     
    “The land encompassing Evansville was formally relinquished by the Delaware Indians in 1805 to General William Henry Harrison, then the governor of the Indiana Territory, and the namesake of Evansville’s Harrison High School.  On Saturday should anyone surrender a late takedown, escape or back points, they will find themselves relinquishing a spot on the podium.  Faltering in the first couple of rounds will likely mean a one-way ticket to palookaville.”
     
    “There is going to be some blood shed this weekend. Dirty South has some match-ups that just plain SAY'S Wrestle back are NEEDED!!!! Damn Travesty! EVSS has 8 Brackets with 3 Top 25 Ranked wrestlers & the other Semi-States combined only have 9..
    So yes, if you make it out of the South 
    "You are a BAD Dude" pain and simple!!  Go Dirty South”
     
    “Some of these were tough. I HATE these freakin' draws man! Evansville gets screwed. Crown Point looks amazing with their 'easy' draws. BB and CG get picked apart down in the toughest semi state.”
     
    In other words…… WE BUILT DIFFERENT!!!!!!



     
    House keeping items - 
     
    Here is the link for the Indianamat Semi-State Hub - 
     
    https://indianamat.com/index.php?/articles.html/high-school-news/2024-semi-state-information-center-r1358/
     
    From our former inside man Markio - Ford Arena info:
     
    NEW DOOR ENTRY PROCESS FOR WRESTLERS SEE UNDERLINED INFO BELOW

     
    Parking and general information about the arena can be found at www.thefordcenter.com Wrestlers can enter the arena at 7:30am for weigh-ins. Wrestlers and coaches will enter at the rear double doors on 6th Street near the corner of 6th Street and Bob Jones Way.  You will pick up your credentials here. The only coolers allowed are for wrestlers and must enter at the check in table through the rear wrestlers entrance door. NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR DRINK for anyone else is allowed inside unfortunately. Not my rules, just standard building policy.  Public doors open at 8:00am CST. Enter on Main Street through the main lobby. We will look to create a separate door/entrance for those that already have tickets. $12 dollars for all session ticket, $10 for finals only.  There is NO onsite parking. Please do not have any team vehicles attempt to park in the loading dock or attached outer lot. These are reserved spots. There is no public Wi-Fi.  Please do not jump over the dasher walls to access the floor. They try to control access to the floor, so you need to enter from the lower level hallway under section 103. You wouldn't jump the wall at Gainbridge would you? lol The hospitality room for officials, etc. will be in the Corner Club. Enter from the main lobby and hang a right at the lower level hallway. If you are going to set up a camera please do not have the cord running across the aisle. You will be made to unplug any cords running across an aisle. We will have full concessions available throughout the day. Coffee and hot chocolate are also available all day as well. (get the bbq pork nachos, huge and awesome) There is no smoking on or in the Ford Center property, this includes e-cigarettes. Brackets will be updated throughout the day and posted on several of the 170 or so TVs located all over the arena. The brackets end up kind of small, but hey, they are everywhere and pretty cool. Lastly,if you are a wrestler that loses please don't kick,throw,or punch Ford Center property. We had a kid break off a door handle last year.Sent the bill to the school.   
    How does this work - The exclusive Evansville Championship Selection Committee (ECSC) spent 2 days in hard deliberations over their Ford Fab 4 picks. Each member selected their ballot, points were accumulated, and from there the picks started falling into place.
     
    Article features: 
     
    The Charles Barkley “Turrible”  Draws - ticket round matches that shouldn’t be happening in the ticket round!
     
    The Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerkers - Best first round matches!
     
    The Built Ford Tough Locks - Any weight class where the pick for champion was unanimous, makes it a Ford Tough Lock. This year we have, what may be a record, 10, yes 10 FORD TOUGH LOCKS!
     
    Ford Fab 4 - After the picks were gathered, points distributed, and the dust settled, we’ll have the Ford Fab 4.
     
    Rankings will be featured like such (State Rank/SS Rank)
     
    A big shout out to Navy80, BigToe19, DuckTails (Wooohoo!), Hook&Half and The DONNIE BAKER for their contributions. I will add some commentary throughout from our great pickers.
     
    What if I didn’t agree with the ECSC or I thought they made a terrible error? Then have no fear - The TripleB Guarantee will help you sort out the madness. 

     
    106: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 8/10
     
    (19/7) David Alstadt crumbled this bracket up last week at Regionals and tossed it in the can. We have several great opening matches and the ticket round matches should all be competitive and great for the fans. 8 State ranked wrestlers will be competing for the 4 spots. This weight class has it all! The winner of Malone/Byrd will be the favorite, no offense Wildcat nation, and really after what we saw last weekend this weight could be wide open. Alstadt/Goelz/Jessup/Ogle/Malone/Byrd could all win or can lose in the ticket round. I’m not sure we’ve seen 106 so up for grabs in a long time!
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - There’s not alot on paper here. Let’s go with 2 great programs and 2 SS ranked wrestlers - Bloomington South’s (SS10) Jaxsen Jean and Brownsburg’s (12/5) Eli Ogle. Jean ranked 10th in the SS and Ogle is ranked 5th, both coaches know how to get their kids ready.
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - We aren’t gonna wait long for blood rounds… soooo HERE….WE….GO…. Monrovia has been known for putting out quality kids and Freshman Royce Malone will look to continue the hammers the Bulldogs. Washington Senior Brady Byrd ran off 42 straight wins…. Until getting upset last week at Regionals by Mater Dei’s David Alstadt. This now sets up a turrrrible draw… as (6/3) Malone will take on (4/2) Byrd. A Frosh vs a Senior… LETSSS GOOOOOO
     
    Don’t sleep on…. Switzerland County has been building a reputation in the southeast part of the state for a few years. Sophomore Ethan Rose is making his second trip to the FORD, can he become the first Pacer to punch their ticket to state? He does have a favorable draw by avoiding all the top ranked guys!
     
    The Hook&Half DL:  “Brownsburg’s Eli Ogle will pull off two—count ‘em—two upsets en route to the semis, where he will meet the winner of EMD’s David Atlstadt and Avon’s Mason Goelz.  It’s a crying shame; in opposite brackets you could be looking at a finals match between the Oriole and the Wildcat.”
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Royce Malone Monrovia, Mason Goelz Avon, Talon Jessup Columbus East, Joey Hamilton Center Grove
     
    113: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 6/9
     
    The 4 quarter brackets at 113 couldn’t look anymore different. 2 brackets feature locks in returning state champ (1/1) Revin Dickman from Brownsburg and his counterpart Avon’s (2/2) Nate Rioux. The other 2 feature first round matches that could determine the 3rd place match. Which we’ll cover below. The big story: can the Castle Regional crash the Mooresville Party?
     
    Also: Despite having a returning state champ, we do not have our first LOCK (Momma2Dickmans don’t try to fight me in the hotel lobby again). Can Rioux get one on Dickman? They’ve wrestled 1,000,453 times… and both are in the same room in the offseason at Contenders, if anyone knows Revin, it’s Nate. Could Saturday be the day?
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - Now business is about to pick up!! 2 Fab Frosh from down South looks to end the season of 2 Juniors from the Mooresville Regional. In our first match up (10/3) Jr. Brennan Leonard from Martinsville gets Mater Dei’s (8/4) Freshman Caleb Schaefer. Schaefer is ranked higher in the state, Leonard is ranked higher in the semi-state. What a match!!
     
    Our other first round match of state ranked wrestlers features Freshman (24/7) Wyatt Ulrey of Boonville taking on Junior (19/5) Gavin Ash of Monrovia. Will this be our first Mooresville 4 over a 1? It probably won’t be our last. 
     
    Can the Castle Regional Freshman send home the Mooresville Juniors?  
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draw - See Leonard/Schaefer above. Two top 10 state ranked wrestlers going at it in the first round is absurd. These two should be wrestling next Friday at the Ford!!!
     
    Don’t sleep on…. The “Other Guys”. After winning those first round matches will the victors look past Eli Collier from Owen Valley and Tom Nguyen from New Albany? Let me tell you, if they do, their day will end pretty quick!
     
    Also a shoutout to my man Ethan “Eazy E” Pittman, Madison Freshman and Regional Champ. I don’t know who that kid’s youth coach was,but if I was a young wrestler in Southern Indiana, I’d find that guy….. Oh yeah, I’m THAT GUY!
     
    Ford Fab 4 -  Revin Dickman Brownsburg, Nate Rioux Avon, Caleb Schaefer Evansville Mater Dei, Gavin Ash Monrovia
     
    120: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 8/11
     
    Let’s pour more gas on this fire!! All 4 quarter final matchups will feature 8 state ranked wrestlers with 2 of those matches pitting top 10 ranked wrestlers against each other!!!  120 also features one of the worst Turrible Draws of all time. This weight class is so loaded, we have 2 top ten ticket round matches!
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - A pair of super sophomores will be battling it out early. Heritage Hills Berke Eisenhauer brings a stunning 41-4 record into this match and will be battling it out with Edgewood’s John Orman. Both of these lads are battle tested and the winner gets…. Returning state champ Charlie LaRocca. But I digress, enjoy this match as it’s a warm up for the quarters!
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draw - Ohhhhh boy…. When Brownsburg’s Preston Haines lost in Regionals last week, every single regional started buzzing, we all knew what was gonna happen. A Haines/Hendeson ticket round match. We will get a state ranked top 4 match, in the ticket round. This just isn’t fair. Henderson got the big pinfall dub at State duals over Haines. Can Hendo do it again-o?  This match is so big it overshadows the other top 10 matchup of Walter Hagerdorn from Tell City and Isaac Ash of Monrovia. 
     
    Don’t sleep on…. Floyd Central Freshman Tony Kessinger. Dude is mean and built different. He will draw a familiar foe in Corydon’s Jayden Owsley in the quarter finals. Two of Isaac Knable’s Invicta grapplers going at it with a trip to state on the line.
     
    Ford Fab 4: Charlie LaRocca Center Grove, Ty Henderson Evansville Mater Dei, Isaac Ash Monrovia, Tony Kessinger Floyd Central
     
    126: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 7/10
     
    126 has it all, but the word is disparity as we got our first unranked quarter bracket, 2 big state ranked ticket round matches and our first of 8 First Ford Tough Locks!! I love the unranked quarterbrackets, sheer chaos and every kid wrestling like crazy. What makes this semi-state great is brackets like 126. 
     
    Isaiah Schaefer also looks to join his pops as an IHSAA state champion with being our first FORD Tough Lock!
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - 2 state ranked wrestlers will be going at it with in the opening round. Returning state qualifier and #6 ranked Dominic Brown will meet up with Terre Haute South’s 19th ranked Nathan Bryan. Terre Haute has been on a tear the last few years and Brown is in that tough Center Grove room. This match should deliver!
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draw - Speaking of Dom Brown, if he’s successful against Bryan, it will set up another top state ranked match up in the quarters as #1 ranked Isiah Schaefer will be waiting. Here’s what I know - Schaefer is a two time state medalists and has that Schaefer dog in him. Brown is in a room full of medalists and hammers. Schaefer had a quick fall at team state and that can’t sit well w/ Brown. 
     
    Switzerland County’s Peyton Richards brings in a stunning 84-1 career record into Sem–State, as a sophomore! His one loss was last year to Eddie Goss in the ticket round. This year the Pacer has Avon’s Luke Rioux. Rioux, a former state medalists, lost a tough 5-4 to eventual state runner up Jackson Heaston. It’s #11 vs #3 and maybe not a turrrrible draw, but a match for sure to watch!
     
     
    Don’t sleep on…. The bottom quarter bracket, someone is gonna “sneak” thru, the early favorite is Floyd Central’s Fynn Douglas. But Heritage Hills has a one loss Freshman in Eli Hedges that could also get through. The only SS ranked wrestler in this bracket is a “Mooresville 4” in Greenwood’s Keegan Murray. And Jeff is like Charlie Puth… .they are… headlock….away!
     
    Ford Tough Lock: Isaiah Schaefer Evansville Mater Dei
     
    Ford Fab 4: Isaiah Schaefer Evansville Mater Dei, Braylon Reynolds Brownsburg, Luke Rioux Avon, Fynn Douglas Floyd Central
     
    132: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 7/10
     
    Mooresville is known for bringing absolute studs to Evansville. 2 terms have been coined because of the strength of the Mooresville Regional - The Mooresville Sweep and The Mooresville 4. We might see both here as Mooresville looks to sweep the top 4 spots and possibly our first Mooresville 4th place finisher sends a regional champ packing!
     
    132 also features our next LOCK but we will keep that a secret for now! SUSPENSEFUL!!
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerkers -  An interesting quarter-bracket where a “Mooresville 4” is favored to win, but when you really look at it anybody can! Mt Vernon Sophomore Jayden Stillwagoner brings a regional championship and 32-4 record from the always tough Castle Regional while Keith Parker brings a state ranking of 13th and is a top 4 SS ranked wrestler. In the other match up. SS #12 Keegan Jochim of Franklin will take on (23/8) Hunter Banet of Floyd Central. Who’s one of those 4 losses STillwagoner has to? Hunter Banet!!
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - There are no real “Turrible Draws” if we go by criteria. We do have 2 seniors w/ phenomenal records that look to be victims of the dreaded Mooresville Regional. Terre Haute South’s Josiah Dedeaux (16/5) will go at it with Avon’s (10/3) Quentin Schoeff. Josiah has put together a great body of work. Schoeff is an Oriole from Avon and the young Oriole has had a great season. What happens when these two meet up is anyone’s guess!  The other Senior is Scottsburg’s Kellan Carter. A truly great story of toughness and grit, after missing his Junior season the Warrior from Scottsburg has put in work. He wrestled over 70 matches in the off season and has grinded non-stop. Last weekend at regionals he was upended by Columbus North Freshman (coughTripleBtrainedcough) Cohen Long. The bracket god weren’t kind w/ Carter drawing 2x state champ and Oklahoma Sooner commit Jake Hockaday in the ticket round!
     
    Don’t sleep on…. It’s a turrible draw, but gotta give love to Former RoughNeck and one of TripleB OG’s - Cohen Long. The Columbus North Freshman grabbed him a regional title last weekend and will get (2/4) Eddie Goss in the ticket round!
     
    Ford Tough Lock: Jake Hockaday Brownsburg
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Jake Hockaday Brownsburg, Eddie Goss Center Grove, Quinten Schoeff Avon, Keith Parker Ben Davis
     
    138: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 9/11
     
    We have another LOCK at 138 but after Brady Ison, this weight class will be fun. After proving the doubters (myself included) wrong, no one is questioning Brady this year! A Syra/Thornton ticket round match had the rankers at odds. Tons of possible sleepers litter this bracket. Some state ranked first round matches. Don’t miss 138 on Saturday!
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker -  Let’s look at state ranked match ups in the first round. The first one is Columbus East’s (22/7) Kaleb Kirkpatrick taking on (16/12) Camden Baumann from Evansville Mater Dei. It’s OTR’s rankings vs TripleB’s rankings as Kirkpatrick is ranked higher in the semi-state but Baumann is higher in the state rankings. Grrrrrrr!!! 
     
    The other state ranked draw is Floyd Central Junior (23/8) Vince Kessinger taking on (15/4) Seth Syra of Avon. Syra has all eyes on a rematch with Justice Thornton but if he’s caught dreaming of Justice…. Vinny take out his knees!!! Heeeeyyyy!!!
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draw - Speaking of the Syra/Thornton rematch. This was a ticket rounder a year ago and it was a banger!! Thornton won a late reversal and fought off a last second takedown attempt by Syra. Syra got redemption at IHPO with a pinfall victory. Syra is 2-1 in head to heads, can Justice prevail this time?!?!!?
     
    Don’t sleep on….Landon Horning - Evansville Memorial, with all eyes on the team race and William Vander Luitgaren getting all the love from the rankers, can Horning spoil the Sophomores run in the ticket round? This is a battle built for Ancient Greece, the Tiger vs the Trojan!!! 
     
    Ford Tough Lock: Brady Ison Brownsburg
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Brady Ison Brownsburg, Justice Thornton Columbus North, Chase Stephens Tell City, William Vander Luitgaren Center Grove 
     
    144: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 7/11
     
    We are on LOCKdown as we have another LOCK, Reese Courtney will look to hold COURT on 144! The rankers actually all liked the same 4 but just in some different orders. Almost a chalk weight for the crew. Parker Reynolds will look to overcome his ticket round upset last year and he continues to show his resolve after off season health issues (look up the article on IndianaMat!). Can Branson Weaver crash this party?? Find out Saturday!
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - A rematch from the Hoosier Hills Conference finals highlights the opening matches at 144. Columbus East Caleb Cooper (19/7) has won just about everything this year - Columbus Invite, HHC, Sectionals, and Regionals. The Olympian grappler will have to get by a game Webster (SS10) to keep his run going. This match was 4-2 back in January. The Bulldog Senior will not want his season to end with another loss to Cooper!
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - Bloomington South’s Wyatt Cooksey (13/4) has been chasing Branson Weaver of Owen Valley all post season. He’s yet to cook up the recipe to knock him off and that has left him w/ turrible draw of returning state runner-up and #1 ranked Reese Courtney of Center Grove! Yet another ticket round match of top 4 ranked SS guys.
     
    Don’t sleep on…. This weight class was hard, lots of good kids. Last year I cursed Gabe Rose w/ the TripleB Guarantee so I’ll stay away from that. I’ve gotten several texts about this freshman from Gibson Southern. However, I’m going to go w/ one of the favorites; Owen Valleys Branson Weaver. With the #1 and #2 wrestlers in the state, Weaver will get overlooked. He is a returning SQ and has the tools to WEAVE together an impressive day Saturday. Everyone says 144 is the most wide open weight at state and I think we might also see that trickle down to Semi-State also!
     
    FORD Tough Lock: Reese Courtney Center Grove
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Reese Courtney Center Grove, Parker Reynolds Brownsburg, Branson Weaver Owen Valley, Deacon Dressler Gibson Southern
     
    150: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 8/10
     
    Nothing much going on at 150, just the top 3 ranked wrestlers in the state and one of them will not be advancing to the IHSAA state finals next weekend! I said 126 featured one of the worst Turrible draws ever, but now it’s #2… How in the world.. Nevermind we will get into it later. We have a lock… that’s not a returning state runner up… 150 is bananas… b-a-n-a-n-a-s…BANANAS!!! 
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - I’ll take Nate “Dogg” Anderson (25/8) vs Griffin “The Col” Sanders (22/6). This match features 2 seniors, with 9 total losses and this bracket really is wide open. The winner puts themselves into the blood round and one more step closer to that golden ticket!
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draw - Floyd’s Hunter May is one of the most decorated wrestlers in the state; 3 time state medalist, returning SS champ, Returning state runner up, returning FORD Tough LOCK. You’d think he’d be another Lock, but no fast my friend, the voters are split!! Some like (3/3) Brownsburg’s Tommy Gibbs! That’s not a typo, we have the #2 and #3 ranked wrestlers in the state going at it for a chance to just get into the top 4 at Semi-State. But NOOOOOOOO we don’t need no wrestlebacks! SMDH!!!
     
    Don’t sleep on….The winner of Anderson/Griffin will get Heritage Hills Junior Alex Smith. Smith was in an open bracket last year and took a trip to Greco City, the trip became a nightmare for this Patriot. Look for Smith to get the winner of Anderson/Griffin and not take any exits on his way to the semis!
     
    The Hook&Half DL: “I like North’s Cale Bonenberger.  I hate his draw against CG’s Wyatt Krejsa.  Krejsa wrestles like you kicked his dog.  Equally, Floyd Central fans hate Hunter May’s ticket round draw against Brownsburg Sophomore Tommy Gibbs.  Gibbs is going to let it fly and claim the “V”.”
     
    FORD Tough Lock: Wyatt Kresja Center Grove
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Wyatt Kresja Center Grove, Tommy Gibbs Brownsburg, Tyler Vanover Evansville Mater Dei, Alex Smith Heritage Hills
     
    TRIBLEB GUARANTEE - Not sure why there’s a lack of respect for Hunter May, but he won’t go down without a fight! Donnie Baker and ducktails told me to bet the boat and call Randy because we ain’t coming in Monday! Da Knobs will be rocking and rolling lead by Hunter May and the rest of his state qualifiers teammates!!
     
    157:  State ranked/Semi State ranked = 7/10
     
    157 features our first Turrible draw in the first round! Also not a Lock after a few weights of nailing them down. Also the Jeff Regional (for once) and the Mooresville Regional will look to shut out the other 2 regionals here. Silas Stits was as close as one can be to being a LOCK but one ranker was feeling upsets in his bones at 157!
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker/Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - Let’s just kill 2 birds w/ one stone. We got a first round match featuring our #3 and #4 ranked SS wrestlers. How does this happened\?!?!?! Well it’s old news now, The Mooresville Regional, that’s how this happened. Columbus North’s (9/3)  Asher Ratliff took home a regional championship last weekend and his reward is Martinsville’s (16/4) Evan Hamblin. This match was an 8-6 victory for Ratliff in the regular season. It looks like Hamblin is/was dealing w/ some type of injury. Let’s hope he’s ready to go Saturday!
     
    Don’t sleep on…. Indian Creek Freshman Elijah Guyer is the popular pick in his quarter bracket but don’t sleep on Bloomington North’s Cael Hickok. He brings a sectional and regional championship and also is flying under the radar being unranked. The FORD Center might be full of Cougars Saturday, but will Hickok be the luckiest one there?
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Silas Stits Center Grove, Mason Day Brownsburg, Asher Ratliff Columbus North, Elijah Guyer Indian Creek
     
    165: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 8/10
     
    After a slight opening, we are back on LOCKDOWN! Hey doesn’t it seem like Bloomington South always has “that guy”? This year that guy is Evan Roudebush and he’s the prohibitive favorite at 165. Be on the lookout for a great semi-final match where Indian Creek’s Oliver Hallett will go toe to toe with Roudebush. That match should be great! Hallet just has to survive a TURRIBLE draw in the quarters to get there!
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerkers - 2 matches in the 165lb bracket will get the party started for his weight class. Just wait a second on the pulled pork nachos… you got matches to watch!. 
     
    I’ve heard this alot this year “I really like _____” and these names all fit in that sentence: (21/6) Matthew Pegram from Evansville North, (19/8) David Oyebode from Decatur Central, (12/3) Gage Eckels from Ben Davis, and (23/7) Spencer Turner of Evansville Mater Dei. So imagine my happiness when I saw them all pitted together Saturday in the opening round!!! Letssss GOOOOOOO!!!
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draw - We got another top 4 ticket round match… Jeeze Louise!!! Indian Creek Sophmore (8/2) Oliver Hallet will wrestle the winner of Eckels/Turner. While TripleB never counts one of his WildCats out, lets just assume Eckels wins. This match will be great. Eckels is a senior and a returning qualifier, does this Giant have one more Giant match in him? Or can Hallet bring the Giant down to size?
     
    Don’t sleep on…. Can Spencer Turner pull some Mater Magic at the Ford and beat two top ranked SS kids?
     
    FORD Tough Lock: Evan Roudebush Bloomington South
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Evan Roudebush Bloomington South, Jesser Derringer Brownsburg, Coy Bender Terre Haute South, Oliver Hallett Indian Creek

     
    175: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 6/8
     
    Hey…. did you know that once upon a time Noah Clouser and Bray Emerine were teammates and workout partners? It’s true!!! Is that not a way to set up a potential finals match?? Two old workout partners going at it for a semi-state title on the line?!?!? Probably due to their familiarity and closeness, we don’t have a lock at 175! Will there be a “Mooresville 4” strike also at 175??
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - This first round match up features contest between two wrestlers that’s flown under the radar. Columbus North’s Keller Despain has been in and out of the line up all season with injuries and Brownsburg’s Griffin Cambpell has also had some injuries keep him sidelined. These two seniors will be going at it to try to keep their careers alive!
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - The Mooresville Regional Strikes Again!!! This time we will get (9/3) Freshman Phenom Sam Howard of Boonville (51 matches?!?!?) and (14/4) Noah Sumner of Martinsville. Their combined record is 84-5!! TUUUURRRRRIIIBBBLLLEEE
     
    Don’t sleep on…. Columbus East loves pulling seniors out of nowhere and sending them to the big show. This year that could be Tyler Lake. Lake won Regionals last week, giving him the best path to a semi-final appearance. McCloy is the heavy favorite and already owns a pinfall win over Lake. Will McCloy be focused on a potential semi-final match up with Noah Clouser? If so he might drown in the Lake!
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Bray Emerine Floyd Central, Noah Clouser Center Grove, Sam Howard Boonville, Cooper McCloy Terre Haute South
     
    190:  State ranked/Semi State ranked = 6/10
     
    If there’s one thing this Semi-State delivers, it’s exciting ticket round matches and Turrrible draws. 190 will keep that coming with Goldsberry/McConnell. I won’t spoil anymore, but this match will highlight 190. Also a potential Terry/Henry rematch. Those guys tore down Jeffersonville earlier in the year!
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - 2 more seniors going at it in the first round and the winner will be the favorite in the quarters. Pike Senior (SS7) Kameron Biven will take on Terre Haute South’s (11/5) Collin Casad. On paper The Brave looks like the favorite but Biven is battle tested and has had some close matches with some high ranked wrestlers. The other first match between state ranked wrestlers is (6/3) Noah Terry vs. (18/6) Braxton Lewis of Cascade. Terry and Gunner Henry are a potential semi-final match and had absolute barn burner (won 8-7 by Henry) back in December. IF Terry is looking past Lewis, we all know Cascade has that magic at Evansville and can certainly drop some upset L’s on people.
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - McConnell/Goldsberry…. Mannnnnnnnn……are you serious right now? Kaden McConnel is the returning state runner up and is currently ranked 2nd to his nemesis from The Burg, Gunner Henry. Jett Goldsberry is a returning SQ and is currently ranked (8/4). These two hammers will meet in the ticket round to determine who advances to the IHSAA State Championships. 
     
    Don’t sleep on…. The aforementioned Kameron Biven
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Gunner Henry Brownsburg, Kaden McConnell Brownsburg, Noah Terry Tell City, Collin Casad Terre Haute South
     
    215:   State ranked/Semi State ranked = 5/9
     
    Another bracket of unranked wrestlers, a Turrible draw and a LOCK all highlight 215! Caden Brewer’s High School story has been one of upsets and redemption, His freshman year he won a sectional and regional and got put out at Semi-State, last year he won sectionals, regionals, semi-state and got knocked out the opening round of state. This year the Bulldog from Brownsburg looks to take that next step as he hopes to climb on the podium in his Junior year, he is the LOCK at 215! From a lock…. To a wide open bracket, which we will discuss below. 215 will be a great weight class come Saturday!
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - We have a quarter bracket w/ zero ranked state wrestlers and only one ranked SS wrestler. Keep your eyes on Kellen Fellure (a 3B guarantee), Noah Owens, Aiden Beadles, and Brant Oakley. This bracket is up for grabs. There were disagreements everywhere as TripleB descented from the pickers! 
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - We also have a bracket where 2 top 4 SS guys will go at it for a spot in the state finals. Junior from Tell City (17/4) Landon Terry will hope to follow in his brother’s footsteps, but first must get through (14/3) Spencer Watson from Tri-West. Despite being the favorite in both rankings, Watson finds himself as the underdog in this match up!
     
    Don’t sleep on…. Heritage Hills Parker Hart, he has a win over Terry early in the season and has been in several close matches. He does have a loss to his potential ticket round opponent, Tyson Ruhe, but still the Patriot knows what it takes to win!
     
    FORD Tough Lock: Caden Brewer Brownsburg
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Caden Brewer Brownsburg, Landon Terry Tell City, Tyson Ruhe Jasper, Austin Beadles South Putnam
     
    TRIPLE B GUARANTEE: The Blue Cactus in Franklin Indiana will be throwing a wild party of all you can eat Chili Cheese Burritos when Franklin Community Freshman Kellen Fellure punches that ticket!!! We can’t have state in Evansville w/o a Tonte Suit on Friday!!!
     
    285: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 6/9
     
    One of the rare, maybe only weights where there were no official curtain jerkers as it’s all ranked vs unranked individuals. Also no Turrible Draws, none of that means this weight class won’t be fun. While it does have our last lock, Center Grove’s Nate Johnson, and all 4 picks were unanimous, not chalk, I’d be shocked if they all held up. The big quarterfinal match will feature returning state qualifier Ben Land taking on Avon Senior Oluwagbenga Orisadare. Another match up where the favored wrestler wasn’t picked to advance as the pickers like (16/5) Orisadare to beat (13/4) Land. 
     
    Don’t sleep on…. Big Ben Land, dude is a throwing machine and never stops wrestling. In his earlier season 16-5 loss to (11/3) Justin Brown from Floyd, Land just kept coming and coming and giving up points to try to score points. He’s not a boring wrestler at all!
     
    FORD Tough Lock: Nate Johnson Center Grove
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Nate Johnson Center Grove, Justin Brown Floyd Central, Oluwagbenga Orisadare Avon, Hayden Smith Heritage Hills
     
    Man we made it…….let’s end w my favorite - food recommendations
     
    Hilltop Inn - Fried Brain sandwiches. Brains aren’t your thing? Turonis is a local pizza place that’s dynamite. Like German? Gerst Haus is phenomenal. Want to head out for some adult beverages? Go to Franklin St, Gerst Haus is there and a number of other watering holes and great restaurants. I’m never up early enough for Breakfast so I have no clue. I hear the nachos at the Ford are great and worth the $. And a tradition on the way home used to be Stoll’s Country Diner (RIP). 
     
    We’ll end w/ this unreleased track…. I love the Ford!
     
    An homage to the best Wrestling Semi-State in the Indiana! 
     
    We got winners
    We got losers
    Dippers and boozers
    We got WildCats
    We got Bulldogs
    We got angry fathers
    And the moms all dressed up in their glitter
    Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, I love the FORD
    We got Trojans
    We got Olympians
    Broken-hearted wrestlers and seniors
    And we got state placers
    We got fighters
    Early-pinners and over-timers
    And the old timers in letter jackets talk about their battle scars
    Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, I love the FORD
    I love THE FORD
    It's my kind of place
    Just walkin' through the front door
    Puts a big smile on my face
    It’s actually pretty far
    Come as you are
    Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, I love the FORD
     
    See everybody Saturday!!! 
  2. Like
    TeamGarcia reacted to Y2CJ41 for a article, Reynolds Overcomes Surgeries, Long Road to Recovery Ahead of Comeback Campaign   
    By Anna Kayser
     
    When Brownsburg opens its doors to kick off the 2023-24 wrestling season on Nov. 29 vs. Westfield, it will be the first time in 291 days that Parker Reynolds steps onto the mat in competition. Nine months and 18 days full of doctor’s visits, blood tests, surgeries, physical therapy and pushing himself to the limit, all for a young athlete to return to wrestling stronger than he left it.
     
    Parker, the 138-pound freshman starter in last year’s Bulldog lineup, had his first high school campaign riddled with a then-mysterious condition causing numbness in his hands. A season which had incredible high points – on Dec. 10 at the Walsh Jesuit Ironman, he defeated the eventual 138-pound state champion from Ohio – was challenged by a mix of physical and mental hurdles.
     
    “When I wrestled, I would lose all feeling. It was almost like there were knives in my forearms, it hurt really, really bad,” Parker said. “It started to almost become a mental thing because before a lot of matches, I wouldn’t know if it was going to come up or not and it almost freaked me out before every match. I was worried that my hands were going to go numb, and it really started messing with me when I wrestled.”
     
    Following a semi-state loss to end his freshman season, Parker immediately began seeing a series of doctors to diagnose his condition. They tested his heart, musculoskeletal system and blood for autoimmune diseases before being referred to a group of specialists on thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) – one being Dr. George G. Sheng, a vascular surgeon with Ascension Medical Group.
     
    According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, TOS – a condition often found in pitchers due to their repetitive throwing motion – refers to a series of syndromes where compression of nerves, arteries and veins in the lower neck and upper chest causes pain or numbness in the surrounding areas.
     
    Parker, after undergoing another series of tests with Dr. Sheng, was diagnosed with both neurogenic and venous TOS, two of the three syndromes related to TOS causing his hands to turn purple, numbness and the sensation of feeling knives in his forearms.
     
    The constant movement of the shoulder forward – similar to a pitcher’s throwing motion – at a young age can affect the placement of ribs before they’re entirely developed, leading to a partial blockage of different nerves and veins making up the spinal system. Parker became the first wrestler Dr. Sheng had seen with TOS, and in turn became the first to undergo a procedure to remove the first rib on his right side in an effort to alleviate his symptoms. The recovery timeline for this surgery to treat TOS is one year.
     
    “Nobody thought he was going to be able to wrestle this year – not even the surgeon, not even us,” Josh Reynolds, Parker’s dad, said. “He was going to have to put the work in, he was going to have to go to physical therapy and see how his body [healed].”
     
    Parker has TOS on both sides of his body, but an early expectation of having two rib-removal surgeries faded as the April 3 surgery on his right side relieved most symptoms on both. However, the doubt of a possible second surgery and how his body would rebound expanded the unknown from one year to potentially never wrestling again.
     
    “This is the longest I’ve ever gone without having a match, I felt like so much was getting taken away from me. There was a lot of doubt [if I would ever wrestle again],” Parker said.
     
    The beginning stages of Parker’s recovery can be summed up in two words: Boring and grueling. Unable to do anything where he might feel pressure in his left side, the rising sophomore found himself unable to do all of his favorite things – wrestling, as well as enjoy fishing and a number of water activities at his family’s vacation home in Florida.
     
    After months of being in a dark place mentally, from not knowing what was going on with his body to possibly being unable to wrestle for at least a year, Parker began seeing a mental coach.
    “[Parker’s mental coach] has probably been one of the biggest influences in all of this,” Josh said. “He was a calming voice to Parker and saying ‘Listen, you’ve got to listen to your body. If you’re not right, you can’t come back prematurely.’”
     
    Taking the next step in his rehab process by beginning light, lower body-focused workouts helped, too, and Parker’s parents saw a noticeable change mentally.
     
    And then, a lump on his neck appeared and severe nosebleeds began, sparking a series of blood tests with the possibility of lymphoma or leukemia. The average size of a lymph node is under 1.5 centimeters in diameter, and Parker’s grew to near 3 centimeters.
     
    “He’d make comments like, “I don’t know what I can do if I can’t wrestle. That’s all I’ve ever done, I’ve been wrestling since I was four.’” Josh said. “As a family, it was tough especially for my wife and I because we’re just saying we want [Parker] healthy and in his eyes, ‘Well if I’m healthy I can wrestle.’”
     
    Parker had another surgery in July to remove the entire growth from his neck. The tests for leukemia came back negative, and instead he was diagnosed with Epstein Barr virus – another form of mononucleosis – likely caused by the hit his immune system took with the removal of his rib.
     
    He was cleared to return to practice in August, with stipulations from his surgeon: He couldn’t be taken down and was only allowed to be in situations which he could control. But he could build his entire daily routine around wrestling and gaining strength for the season.
     
    “Coach [Chad] Red said, “You tell me when and where and I’m with you every step of the way,’” Josh recalled. “That’s when we saw this mental transition. [Parker] was working with the mental coach, doing one-on-ones with Coach Red, practicing twice a day [plus lifting weights] and he was changing his mindset.”
     
    Over the summer, Parker lost close to 10 pounds. After being cleared by his physicians, he began working out and practicing three times a day, before school and after school, to get himself back in wrestling shape for Brownsburg’s impending Oct. 30 practice.
     
    “After a couple months, you can see he’s getting smoother and feeling better,” Brownsburg head wrestling coach Darrick Snyder said. “Now, we’re working through with him that he’s not going to be the same dude at our opening meet that he will be at the end of the year. He’s going to take some leaps this season.”
     
    Now, Parker’s coming back with a vengeance – finally stepping onto the mat with more answers than questions. Along with a renewed sense of confidence in his health and wrestling ability, he’s entering this season with three things he didn’t have last year:
     
    A tattoo on his lower ribs of a quote by Moliére, a French playwright, reading, “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.”
     
    A list of all the wrestlers he beat last season who placed at the state championships in Indiana or surrounding states.
     
    And a necklace with his first rib, removed when this all started, to wear around his neck before each of his matches during his improbable comeback campaign.  
  3. Like
    TeamGarcia reacted to Y2CJ41 for a article, 2023 Evansville Semi-State Preview   
    By Dustin Bentz
     
    It’s that time of year!!! Triple B feels like WWE Hall of Famer Booker T, he’s walking down the streets of North Vernon and Madison Yelling, “CAN YOU DIG IT, SUCCCKKKAAAHHHHH”
     
    It’s me, it’s me, it’s TripleB and I’m here to deliver the World Famous TRIPLEB EVANSVILLE SEMI-STATE SPECTACULAR PREVIEW!!!!!!
     
    With good old 3B’s birthday being the Friday before, is there a better gift than the GREATEST SEMI-STATE IN THE STATE OF INDIANA??
     
    Evansville will be popping off Saturday, I’m actually negotiating with the IHSAA to go ahead and send us the state medals b/c we all know that THE DIRTY SOUTH SEMI-STATE is the GOLD STANDARD!!!
     
    House keeping items - 
     
    Here is the link for the Indianamat Semi-State Hub - 
     
    https://indianamat.com/index.php?/forums/topic/62910-article-2023-semi-state-information-center/
     
    From our former inside man Markio - Ford Arena info:
     
    Parking and general information about the arena can be found at www.thefordcenter.com Wrestlers can enter the arena at 7:30am for weigh-ins. Wrestlers and coaches will enter at the interior ticket office lobby (to the far right of the main lobby doors) to check in and head back. You will pick up your credentials here. The only coolers allowed are for wrestlers and must enter at the check in table through the interior ticket lobby. NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR DRINK for anyone else is allowed inside unfortunately. Not my rules, just standard building policy.  Public doors open at 8:00am CST. Enter on Main Street through the main lobby. We will look to create a separate door/entrance for those that already have tickets. $12 dollars for all session ticket, $10 for finals only.  There is NO onsite parking. Please do not have any team vehicles attempt to park in the loading dock or attached outer lot. These are reserved spots. There is no public Wi-Fi.  Please do not jump over the dasher walls to access the floor. They try to control access to the floor, so you need to enter from the lower level hallway under section 103. You wouldn't jump the wall at Gainbridge would you? lol The hospitality room for officials, etc. will be in the Corner Club. Enter from the main lobby and hang a right at the lower level hallway. If you are going to set up a camera please do not have the cord running across the aisle. You will be made to unplug any cords running across an aisle. We will have full concessions available throughout the day. Coffee and hot chocolate are also available all day as well. (get the bbq pork nachos, huge and awesome) There is no smoking on or in the Ford Center property, this includes e-cigarettes. Brackets will be updated throughout the day and posted on several of the 170 or so TVs located all over the arena. The brackets end up kind of small, but hey, they are everywhere and pretty cool. Lastly,if you are a wrestler that loses please don't kick,throw,or punch Ford Center property. We had a kid break off a door handle last year.Sent the bill to the school.   
    Nestled between two days of absolute Love (3B’s birthday on Thursday and Valentine’s Day on Tuesday) 224 grapplers will be battling to GAIN 56 tickets to the Bridge in Indianapolis next weekend!!
     
    Let’s not pull any punches, Evansville is the toughest Semi-State in the state. There were kids getting sent home at regionals that could have placed at state and the same will happen this weekend. It will be absolute Carnage, Chaos, and Heartbreak. 176 Semi-State ranked wrestlers, 107 of whom are also state ranked will take to the Ford Center Saturday  with more excitement than the pre-teens at the Jo-Jo concert the night before. We have the potential to feature, 4, yes 4 #1 vs. #2 state ranked wrestlers. We also have 7 of the 14 #1 ranked wrestlers in the state in our semi-state. 
     
    How does this work - The exclusive Evansville Championship Selection Committee (ECSC) spent 2 days in hard deliberations over their Ford Fab 4 picks. Each member selected their ballot, points were accumulated, and from there the picks started falling into place.
     
    Article features: 
     
    The Charles Barkley “Turrible”  Draws - ticket round matches that shouldn’t be happening in the ticket round!
     
    The Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerkers - Best first round matches!
     
    The Built Ford Tough Locks - Any weight class where the pick for champion was unanimous, makes it a Ford Tough Lock. This year we have, what may be a record, 10 yes 10 FORD TOUGH LOCKS!
     
    Ford Fab 4 - After the picks were gathered, points distributed, and the dust settled, we’ll have the Ford Fab 4.
     
    A big shout out to Navy80, BigToe19, a mystery guest picker, and The DONNIE BAKER for their contributions. I will add some commentary throughout from our great pickers.
     
    What if I didn’t agree with the ECSC or I thought they made a terrible error? Then have no fear - The TripleB Guarantee will help you sort out the madness. 
     
    Before we get started….. Is this the year for siblings??? Or are some cousins??? Or maybe Uncle/Nephews??
     
    BigToe did some digging and came up with the following families, good luck this weekend!
     
    Ash Brothers - Monrovia
    Bell Brothers - Ev North
    Haines Brothers - BBurg
    Heaston Brothers - Indian Creek
    Henderson Brothers - Vincennes Lincoln
    Rioux Brothers - Avon
    Rose Brothers - Switz County  
    Schoeff Brothers - Avon
    Smith Siblings - Heritage Hills  ( Brother/Sister ???)
    VanOver Brothers - EMD
    *Clement Brothers- Merrillville/Edgewood
     
    BigToe Regional Breakdown based off his predictions (will slightly differ from the selections ahead):
     
    Bigtoe19 Regional Breakdown:
     
    Mooresville - 25 to State, & 7 EVSS Champs
     
    Bloomington- 11 to State, 3 EVSS Champs
     
    Jeffersonville- 6 to State, 1 EVSS Champ
     
    Evansville- 14 to State, 3 EVSS Champs
     
    Without further ado—--------LET’S FREAKIN’ GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
     
    106: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 7/9
    All 10 SS ranked wrestlers have navigated the waters! Every year we talk about future hammers and blue bloods filling out 106. This year is no different as names like Bloomington High School South, Avon, Brownsburg, Columbus East, and Floyd Central all litter the bracket. But there are some schools hoping to be bracket busters!
     
    106 also welcomes our first of record 10 Ford Tough LOCKS!!! 
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - Freshman from Columbus East Talon Jessup has had a great year, Brennan Leonard has been lurking in the shadows w/ an injury and brings 6-3 record to SS. This match will kick things off Saturday!! Another rising program, Indian Creek, will bring Jude Heaston to the Ford and a first round match w/ Brady Byrd from Washington should be the caffeine everyone needs Saturday morning!
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draws -  LET THE MOORESVILLE CHAOS BEGIN!!!  The Mooresville Regional, or the fifth semi-state as those #County folks have started referring to it, which always causes death draws. #4 SS ranked and returning State Participant Cameron Meier from Bloomington South will take on Monrovia’s Super Sophomore Gavin Ash. Could they both punch tickets if in a different bracket? Don’t know but this match will be great!
     
    Don’t sleep on…. Gavin Ash, as mentioned above. Nate Rioux, he’s wrestled Dickman approximately 1000 times and both are Contender trained. But keep an eye on  The Castle Regional duo of Ty Henderson from Vincennes Lincoln and Brady Byrd from Washington. Both are battle tested and compete on the national level. Byrd and Dickman aren’t strangers and that match could be entertaining!
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Our first Ford Tough Lock - Revin Dickman of Brownsburg hopes to get Bulldogs from Brownsburg going early!
    1st - LOCK Revin Dickman  Brownsburg, 2nd - Nate Rioux  Avon, 3rd - Isaac Campbell Floyd Central 4th - Cameron Meier Bloomington High School South
     
    113: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 6/8
    A returning LOCK that is ranked #1 in the state and #1 in the semi-state…. And he’s not a lock, nor is he favored! 5 top ten state ranked wrestlers will look for top honors at 113 and up until a week ago returning SS champ Preston Haines of Brownsburg appeared to have it locked up again. Then the Trojans of Center Grove came a’callin, and Charlie LaRocca helped pull the weight class and regional upset! This weight class is loaded and 3 different wrestlers all got votes to win it; Haines, LaRocca and Avon’s Luke Rioux. 
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - #9SS ranked and regional champ Gavin Wheeler from North Posey got a Curtain Jerker and turrible draw as he gets #8 state ranked Isaac Ash from Monrovia. Wheeler is tough and North Posey wrestles a great schedule, don’t expect him to lay down for Ash!
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draw - Sound the FLIPPIN Sirens…. Call the EVPD, actually don’t, I follow a page called Evansville Watch and they need their own TV show, anway…. We got 2 returning state medalists going at it in the ticket round!!! #6 ranked Jackson Heaston has gone out and got challenges all season at whatever weight he wanted. #4 Luke Rioux comes from the battle hardened Contender Academy and Rioux family….. Someone really has to go home?!?!?!
     
    Don’t sleep on…. Hold on, I’m still gathering myself…. Don’t sleep on the dream dashers known as the IHSAA!!!
     
    Ford Fab 4 -  It’s the first Mooresville Sweep!!! LaRocca gets the nod and the rest play out like last weekend
     
    1st - Charlie LaRocca  Center Grove, 2nd -  Preston Haines Brownsburg, 3rd - Luke Rioux Avon, Isaac Ash Monorovia
     
    TRIPLEB_GUARANTEE - Preston Haines gets the W back and gets another SS crown. 
     
    120: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 7/9
    120 features a returning semi-state champ, state champ, who hasn’t lost in the state of Indiana in over a year, has to be a lock right? NOT SO FAST MY FRIEND!! Jake Hockaday is the presumptive favorite but some pickers think a Wildcat can take out a Bulldog. This weight class features 4 top ten ranked wrestlers not all are favorites to get out!
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker: Lane Gilbert has lots of state, national and even world medals. He definitely has his eyes set on finally climbing that podium next weekend, but will that cause him to overlook Cascade Cadet #23 ranked Logan Bickel? Another great first round match will feature SS #8 ranked Quinten Q Schoeff vs #10 ranked Cameron Fogle from Southridge. Fogle is a sectional champ who dropped a decision loss to Gilbert last weekend. 
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draw - See below….. 
    Don’t sleep on…. Switzerland County wrestling has been quietly putting together the pieces for a run for a few years now. Freshman Peyton Richards comes into Semi-State undefeated and has collected a sectional and regional championship. Trips has been trying to tell people but no one will listen!!
     
    Ford Fab 4: Hockaday gets enough to cover followed by Mater Dei’s Isaiah Schaefer (we didn’t even mention him, he did get a vote to knock off Hock), Gilbert, and Richards
     
    1st - Jake Hockaday Brownsburg, 2nd - Isaiah Schaefer, Evansville Mater Dei, 3rd - Lane Gilbert Sullivan, 4th Eddie Goss Center Grove
     
    DONNIE BAKER AND TRIPLEB’S BET THE BOAT - Peyton Richards becomes Switzerland County’s first ever state qualifier… and won’t be the only Pacer going. 
     
    126: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 7/10
     
    Our 2nd LOCK at 126 and is 2x state medalist, 2x semi state finalist and a champ 2 years ago, Evansville Mater Dei’s Evan Seng. Seng has been rolling through the state tourney w 4 falls, 1 tech and 1 major. He is the heavy favorite Saturday. Yearly 126 is one of the deepest weight classes and 2023 is no different as there are some absolute hammer matches in the both first rounds and the ticket round. 
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - Both #8 Josiah Dedeaux of Terre Haute South and #7 Keith Parker of Ben Davis didn’t like how their seasons ended a year ago and went to work. They’ve wrestled all over the country. They have grown leaps and bounds. Dedeaux was knocked out of regionals last year by Floyd’s Vince Kessinger and this year he knocked off Kessinger for third place. Parker has flip flopped matches w/ Landen Haines the last two weekends. This match has all the makings of a barn burner, unfortunately the winner gets the LOCK Seng. 
     
    Another lights out curtain jerker features returning state qualifier Dominic McFeely from Cascade taking on super soph from 3 time 1A state champs Tell City Chase Stephens. Can the Marksmen keep rolling or will the Cadet triumph?
     
    ANNNNDDD Hold on one more match!  Brownsburg’s Landen Haines will go at it w/ Vince Kessinger from Floyd. Throw the rankings away, these dudes wrestle w/ multiple siblings. I can’t even imagine what Thanksgiving looks like at either of their houses. The Kessinger Kids, the Haines Bros…. Battles and that will come into play Saturday. Kessinger has home run capabilities and Landen can’t wait to get his Haines on…wait, bad joke, nevermind…. Don’t miss this match!
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draw - The winner of McFeely/Stephens won’t have long to rest b/c CE’s returning state qualifier Liam Krueger waiting for them. Krueger has wins over both, though just a 2 pt decision over Stephens.
     
    Corydon’s Zane Schreck has been on a mission all year, last weekend he beat Krueger convincingly, Krueger has Dub over Yeager. One of these two are going home!
     
    Don’t sleep on…. Hell is there anybody I haven’t mentioned?? Yeah there is, Remember the headlocks heard around the world last year? I guarantee Seth Cowden does, he was winning 11-0 heading into the 3rd period when Jarred Dunn dropped the boom. Last weekend Cowden lost in OT to Chase Stephens. You think that dude is happy right now? He could send Yeager and Schreck packing Saturday!
     
    Ford Fab 4: A grinder of a bracket after Seng, Krueger, Haines and Schreck all still standing at the end
    1st - Evan Seng Evansville Mater Dei,  2nd Liam Krueger Columbus East, 3rd Landen Haines Brownsburg,  4th Zane Schreck, Corydon Central
     
    132: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 8/8
     
    Here’s what we know about 132 - It’s Joey’s world and we are just trying to keep up, and after that all bets are off. Joey Buttler from Whiteland is our next LOCK as the 2x state medalist and returning Semi-State champ looks to rule the bracket. The bottom half bracket is insane. Past turrible draw recipients from last year Coy Hammack from Tell City and Justice Thornton from Columbus North both hope to avoid being on the bad side of the draws. 
     
    Hammack is a 2x qualifier, 1x medalist and was upended last year. 
    Thornton is now a 2x regional champ for Columbus North. 
    Both have Mooresville Regional draws in the form of Seth Syra and Brady Ison. 
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerkers -  Floyd Central Freshman Hunter Banet and Jennings County’s Lane Kirchner is a homer pick for old 3B, two HHC foes going at it! Kirchner won the HHC in January, Banet took third but they didn’t cross paths. 
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - Coy Hammack has a celebrated career, but the grinder of Evansville doesn’t care about celebrations. In what might be one of the worst (or best??) ticket round match ups ever he gets Brownsburg 2x State Qualifier Brady Ison. It’s a shame someone’s season and possibly career ends here Saturday. This is also what makes Evansville the absolute best SS in the state. 
     
    Don’t sleep on…. Seth Syra, Avon. He was a ticket rounder last year and has a 1-0 win over Thornton this year. The pickers went w/ Thornton but can Seth Syra put a stamp on his earlier season win?  Also Odin Fortune from Reitz has never been able to punch his ticket, the pickers say he will do just that this year, but will his fortune reveal more than just a state finals birth?
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Buttler, Hammack gets the nod, Thornton gets the nod and Fortune 
     
    1st - Joey Buttler Whiteland, 2nd - Coy Hammack Tell City, 3rd - Odin Fortune Evansville Reitz, 4th - Justice Thornton Columbus North. 
     
    138: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 8/10
     
    Cheaney Schoeff is the star of this weight class. He’s a 3x state semi-finalist, defending semi-state champ is looking to finish off his career with a state ‘ship next weekend. He’s also LOCK #4! 
     
    With all 10 ranked SS wrestlers in the bracket there are a number of bangers to open this weight class and some possibly good Ticket round matches. Another Pacer punching his ticket and WildCat helping out a Bulldog?!?! 138 is LOADED!!
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - Interesting 1 vs 4 to get things going Trevor Hott is ranked 18th in the state but not ranked in the semi-state. Gabe Rose is ranked 10th in the state, has beaten everyone he’s wrestled as he’s walked through the state tourney but isn’t ranked in the state! 
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draw - Not really turrible draws, but some great blood round matches here - Rose/Hott winner vs #8/#4 Branson Weaver. Weaver has had tough L’s in the state tourney, but not an impossible draw here. 
     
    Skip down to #12/#5 Kelby Glenn, a tough 2 loss senior from Tell City and Freshman Phenom from Brownsburg #3/#2 Parker Reynolds. This match will be good, and a turrible draw!!!
     
    Don’t sleep on…. Evansville Mater Dei’s Tyler Vanover has a “Dub” over Reece Courtney in a barn burner at Team State. This is another ticket round match. 
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Schoeff is a LOCK, two upsets on paper as Rose edges out Weaver and Vanover gets one on Courtney, Parker Reynolds punches his first ticket
     
    1st - Cheaney Schoeff Avon, 2nd - Parker Reynolds Brownsburg, 3rd - Tyler Vanover Evansville Mater Dei, 4th - Gabe Rose Switzerland County
     
    145: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 6/9
     
    Center Grove’s Wyatt Krejsa was one of the highlights last year when he won his ticket round match by fall in 30 seconds. There’s no surprises this year as Krejsa is our 5th LOCK. 
     
    After that there are some great first round and ticket round matches as this weight features all 10 SS ranked wrestlers, w 9 being ranked in the state. Can my boy, TripleB Trained Braedon Spears come out of one of the toughest quarter brackets and finally punch his ticket?!?! 
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - State ranked wrestlers right out of the gates!!! #18 Alex Smith was winning his first round match a year ago when he got cradled with under a minute to go. Braedon Spears was up 3-2 w/ 14 seconds to go in his ticket round match when a shredded knee and reversal ended his season. With heartbreaks on their minds, these grapplers have each other in this highlight Curtain Jerker! The winner gets tough Jeffersonville Senior Bradley Owen. They both own wins over Owen but Owen is on fire right now. This will be a great ticket round match!
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - Cash Turner just became Edgewood’s first ever 4 time regional champion, a 2x state finalist and would be a three timer if not for Brownsburg…. Who he happens to have this year in Bulldog Sophomore Mason Day. They are both ranked top 4 in Semi State and top 12 in the state. 
     
    Don’t sleep on…. Bradley Owen as mentioned above and Tell City Senior Brayden Lain. The pickers like Luke Robards from Evansville Central but Tell City’s season has been magic, don’t count Lain out!
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Another weight, another LOCK - Kresja, Spears, Turner ekes out Day, and Robards
     
    1st - Wyatt Kresja Center Grove, 2nd Braedon Spears Madi…err.. Plainfield, 3rd - Cash Turner Edgewood, 4th - Luke Robards Evansville Central
    TRIPLEB_GUARANTEE - My man crush on Mater Dei is well documented, but what has stayed hidden is my affinity for my boy JMILL and Brownsburg - Give me Day over Turner. 
     
    152: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 8/9
     
    3 returning state qualifiers, another LOCK, and what could be a wide open quarter bracket highlight 152. 
     
    2x state medalist and a semi-finalist last year, Mater Dei’s Hunter May is the next WildCat LOCK joining teammate Wyatt Seng. The WildCats aren’t being heavily talked about which is weird, but these two LOCKS hope to pull off some hometown magic!
     
    The rest of the bracket will feature 3 great ticket round matches and another school hoping for their first ever state qualifier. 
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - Terre Haute South Senior and 24th state ranked Luke May is making his first trip to Semi-State, Jeff’s Senior Hayden Bartle is making this third trip to Ford, well Jasper/Ford, whatever. These seniors would both like to keep their seasons rolling into the quarters!
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draw - 2 turrible draws - Greencastle Senior Chase Carrington is probably underranked (17/7) as he won the always tough Mooresville Regional. Tyce DuPont is a returning state qualifier that ran into Evan Roudebush last weekend. That leaves these two dudes duking it out here w/ a trip to Gainbridge on the line. 
     
    Speaking of Roudebush and that tough Mooresville Regional, Silas Stits of Center Grove hit a road bump last weekend named Gage Eckels from Ben Davis. Now we get the turrible draw of two top ten ranked wrestlers in the state as Stits will take on Roudebush for a chance to advance!!
     
    Don’t sleep on…. And speaking of Gage Eckels, the Giant might be already making plans for state but West Washington Senior Wyatt Johnston along w/ teammate Mason Jones gave the Senators their first wrestling regional championships last weekend. Don’t sleep on Johnston punching that ticket!
     
    Ford Fab 4 - LOCK Down May, Dupont in a nailbiter, Eckels, and Roudebush gets the nod
     
    1st - Hunter May Evansville Mater Dei, 2nd - Evan Roudebush Bloomington South, 3rd - Tyce DuPont Tell City, 4th - Gage Eckels Ben Davis 
     
    TripleB GUARANTEE: Center Grove shocked the state last weekend when they upended Brownsburg for a regional title. If the Trojans wanna add a SS title, they need Stits. Give me Stits!
     
    160:  State ranked/Semi State ranked = 5/8
     
    Jeb Prethcel has put himself together a season - 33-0, Bo Henry Champ, SIAC champ, Spartan Champ and has made it unscathed to Evansville. Will Evansville be his undoing? NOPE, ANOTHER LOCK FOR THE JASPER WILDCAT!! 
     
    Outside of that there is what might be the most fun quarter bracket in the tourney and some great blood matches
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - Just highlight this quarter bracket as anything can happen - Charlestown’s Braden Moore, Mooresville’s Corbin Scott, Cale Hickok from Bloomington North, and Peyton Bell from Evansville North. The votes for the winner of the quarter bracket were split between Hickock and Bell, which means this first match could feature a state qualifier!
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - 2 years in a row Cascade’s Michael Hutchinson has shown he has all the tools to be a medalist and now 2 years in a row the bracket gods have not been kind. This year he gets Jeb Pretchel, the weight class LOCK. Great kid, Great family (his dad introduced me to Hey Dudes like 6 years ago!) Come On HUTCH!!!
     
    Don’t sleep on…. Decatur Central  Junior David Oybode spent some of the year at 170 before coming down, Luke Kemper is a stud. But don’t count out Oybode!
     
    Ford Fab 4 - LOCK Precthel, Center Grove’s Andre Merritt (The reason Hutch has the death draw), Kemper, and Hickok gets the nod
     
    1st - Jeb Prechel Jasper, 2nd - Andre Merritt Center Grove, 3rd - Luke Kemper Evansville Central, 4th - Cael Hickok Bloomington North
     
    TripleB GUARANTEE: Give me Peyton Bell, he has SS experience, tough Evansville area. 
     
    170: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 5/8
     
    Hey we finally don’t have a LOCK….. Just kidding, Delaney Ruhlman is as close to LOCK as one gets. He’s a 3 time state qualifier and returning two time runner up. He’s on a mission… Gold medal in his sight. 
     
    There’s an interesting quarter bracket brewing as rumors swirl about Noah Clouser and his knee. How bad is it? Will he give it a go? Will he pull out? How does this affect the weight and quarter bracket?
     
    A freshman looking to make a splash, Heritage Hills Jett Goldsberry has had some good wins and puzzling losses. Can the frosh put it together and become a State Qualifier? 
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerkers - SS #6 ranked Noah Sumner from Martinsville and #7 Spencer Turner from Mater Dei will be competitive, unfortunately the winner gets Ruhlman. 
     
    And watch the quarter bracket featuring Regional Champ Teagan Trotter from Jennings Co, Maddox Vernon from Southridge, Austin Bell from Evansville North, and Noah Clouser from Center Grove. If Clouser pulls out, all bets are off and it’s a free for all. Man, maybe even if his knee is banged up bad enough it might be  free for all. 
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draw - SS ranked #3 Vincent Tinoco from Whiteland and SS ranked #4 Noah Terry from Tell City will hook up in the Quarters. Winner goes to state, the loser goes home. Turrible, Turrible, Turrible draw!!!
     
    Don’t sleep on…. Noah Clouser, yeah he’s picked to get through but w all eyes on him and his coaches planning all week, the Trojan might just figure out how to get through and survive!
    Also don’t count out Teagen Trotter from Jennings County. Trotter is a Regional Champ and w/ Clouser banged up, can an unranked Trotter be the beneficiary of the bad luck?
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Lock Lock Lock Denlany Ruhlman from Bloomington South, Clouser figures it out, Tell City gets another and Goldsberry JETTS through!
     
    1st - Delaney Ruhlman Bloomington South, 2nd - Jett Goldsberry Heritage Hills, 3rd - Noah Clouser Center Grove, 4th - Noah Terry Tell City
     
    Donnie Bakers Bet the Boat Shocker of Saturday - Jasper’s Victor Peter gets to workout w/ Jeb  Precthel every day….. Victor will be the VICTOR over Goldsberry and advance. Take that Randy!
     
    182: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 7/12
    After a run of 7 straight LOCKS, Navy80 said naaahhhhh enough of that. The LOCK wasn’t top SS ranked Caden Brewer but rather Highlander Bray Emerine, Navy likes Brewer. 
     
    This weight class does appear to be a 2 horse race w/ Emerine and Brewer, but there could be several spoilers littered throughout the bracket. Jackson Fox made his 182 debut at sectionals and promptly knocked off always game Van Skinner two weeks in a row. Speaking of Skinner, a two time ticket rounder who took John Purdy to the limit last year in the first round of SS. This is Skinner’s last chance, can he knock off Emerine in the ticket round?
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - This is the first weight class were nothing really jumps off the page. The only opening match between two ranked wrestlers is Emerine vs. #9 Alex Ramsey of Ben Davis. 
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - Call me a homer…. Van Skinner is a stud that has shown multiple times he could be on the podium. His SS draw has gone - Gabe Sollars, Gabe Sollars, John Purdy. This year he gets Bray Emerine. It’s a turrrrrrrrrilble draw….. for Emerine as the Madison Cub finally punches that ticket (*Warning those thoughts are those strictly of TripleB)
     
    Don’t sleep on…. Richard Alexander, on paper, would be the favorite over Jackson Fox. It’s more of an issue that the Olympian dropped late and I just wasn’t sure where to place him. Fox is the favorite, Alexander has big moves and has had a great year. Don’t sleep on Alexander getting one over Fox here. 
     
    Donnie Baker was either in a meat coma by this point of just sleeping but he stirred and started yelling “Johnson, JOHNSON I SAY!!” I asked him what he meant and like a bear he arose and bellowed “I SAID CALE JOHNSON OVER WEEMS!!”
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Despite Navy 80’s Pleas, Donnie’s Demands, and TripleB Guarantees - Emerine is the favorite, followed by Weems, Brewer and Fox
     
    1st - Bray Emerine Floyd Central, 2nd - Julian Weems Center Grove, 3rd - Caden Brewer Brownsburg, 4th - Jackson Fox Columbus East

     
    195:  State ranked/Semi State ranked = 5/10
     
    After taking a small detour of a weight class without a lock, we have resumed our normal activities with our 9th LOCK, Castle’s John Purdy. Purdy is pretty good and a 2x time state medalist. He’s currently ranked #1 in the state and SS. 
     
    Purdy might be a lock, but weight class features the #1, #2, #3 and #7 state ranked wrestlers. 
     
    Brownsburg’s Gunnar Henry is a returning state semi-finalist, Purdy is a 2x medalist,Southridge’s Reid Schroeder is a 2x qualifier and a medalist last year. Kaden McConnel from Center Grove knocked off Henry last weekend! The semis here should be lights out!
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - SS#5 Blake Driver from Whiteland vs SS#8 Parker Hart from Heritage Hills will be entertaining. The only other first round match of SS ranked wrestlers is #7 Stevie Drake vs #1 Purdy. 
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - Another homer selection - Scottsburg Sophomore Bryson TANK Mata is an alum of the Bentz DoJo. He’s 42-1 and won both Sectionals and Regionals in dominating fashion, pinning everyone. Imagine if Gunnar Henry had stayed at Pekin Eastern? These two would have battled multiple times!  Now these sophomores will go at it for a chance to go to state. Turrible draw for……. Henry!!!!
     
    Don’t sleep on…. It only took 12 weights to get here, but this our first “chalk” weight where the pickers all picked the same 4 kids to advance. There were some disagreements on the order that’s about it
     
    Ford Fab 4 - LOCK and Chalk - Purdy, Henry, McConnel, Schroeder
     
    1st - John Purdy Castle, 2nd - Reid Schroeder Southridge, 3rd Gunnar Henry Brownsburg, 4th - Kaden McConnell Center Grove 
     
    220:   State ranked/Semi State ranked = 6/10
     
    STOP THE PRESSES… STOP THE PRESSES…. After having everything ready and my TRIPLEB_Guarantee of Clay Martin ready, he’s disappeared!!! Abracadabra!! Gone!! Good thing I was the odd man out and I blame it on my wildcat obsession. We also do not have a lock here, with 3 returning State Qualifiers and no medalists, it’s a 3 man between Tommy 220, Alex Kissed By A Rose, and Nate “Dog” Johnson! Also a dark horse looms at 220 as Tecumseh Senior Mason Hines brings in a 34-2 record along w/ a Old Capitol Classic, PAC, Sectional and Regional. Despite all that, he’s not ranked in the Semi-State…. Yeah I messed up…
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - Give me #9 Spencer Watson from Tri-West and #10 Malachi Rios from Charlestown. Both have 30 plus wins, the winner gets Mason HInes and they both have to feel like that was the best draw possible. 
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draws -Eli Henshaw is a2 time Semi-State Quarter finalists. He’s battled all year w/ Alex Rose - They both have 2 wins over each other. But Rose’s wins have came at Sectionals and Regionals. This leaves Hinshaw, ranked #8 in state and #3 in Semi State, taking on #8/#2 Nate Johnson from Center Grove in the ticket round. Two big boys going at it, this is Hinshaw's last shot… Trips says FIREWORKS BABY!!!!!
     
    Don’t sleep on…. Jakarrey Oliver of Whiteland has been in the talks of being a state qualifier for a few years. This year he just hasn’t been able to solve Nate Johnson. Good news is, he doesn’t have Nate Johnson, he has Alex Rose. I wouldn’t look past Oliver, he’s tough and capable of grabbing the Dub.
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Tommy 220 was almost a lock, but Alex Rose got some gold love. They are followed by Johnson and Hines
     
    1st - Tommy 220 Morrill Columbus East, 2nd - Alex Rose Terre Haute South, 3rd - Nate Johnson Center Grove, 4th - Mason Hines Tecumseh
     
    Joe, Joe, Joe don’t ya know - Secret guest picker says Hinshaw over Johnson!
     
    285: State ranked/Semi State ranked = 6/10
    Let’s just get this out of the way, Leighton Jones should be going for his third state championship. I refuse to acknowledge 2 years ago and I wasn’t around last year. So in Trips eyes, he IS a 2x state champ. He’s a 4x sectional, 3x regional, 2x SS and now a 3x LOCK! 
     
    This is also a weird bracket where one wrestler got more people votes, but another got more points. That’s the only time this happened in 2023. HWT also had 7 unique individuals get votes, also the most of any weight class in 2023. 
     
    Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerkers - Don’t run to the bathroom yet… there’s some matches here worth sticking around for. #6 Hunter Kolley from Heritage Hills and #10 Ben Land from Jeffersonville will feature two big dudes looking for big moves. Land was an ISWA Cadet Triple Crowner a year ago. 
     
    Here’s another interesting one - SS #7 Ben Craig has two losses, both to Patrick McMahon from Columbus East. He’ll take on State ranked #15 (but not ranked in SS) Austin Vanover from Mater Dei. Some like Vanover to move on!
     
    Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - Columbus East Heavyweight Senior Patrick McMahon is in his first year of being a varsity wrestler and he’s done okay, just kidding he’s done phenomenal. He’s won the Columbus East Invite, Hoosier Hills Conference, Sectionals, and Regionals. He’s currently ranked #19 in the state and #3 in the semi-state. He will go to battle w/ State ranked #16 and #4 semi-state ranked Tyler Schott from Center Grove. Both have good wins this year, this match should be fun. 
     
    Don’t sleep on…. The already mentioned Austin Vanover and Kelton Farmer as a champ. Kelton is a 2x State Qualifier, Jones has shown he’s not invincible. I could totally see a Kelton Farmer win here and a Leighton Jones 3rd state championship next weekend. 
     
    Ford Fab 4 - Our last LOCK, Leighton Jones of Brownsburg leading an absolute crew of studs behind him. Austin Vanover had 3 voters rank him 4th, but Bryce Mills had 2 rankers place him 3rd. So Mills gets the nod!
     
    1st - Leighton Jones Brownsburg, 2nd - Kelton Farmer Evansville Memorial, 3rd - Tyler Schott Center Grove, 4th - Bryce Mills Owen Valley 
     
    TripleB_Guarantee - Erick Ousley finally gets out of my shadow and gets him a state qualifier that he can claim all on his own, Patrick McMahon will punch his ticket!
     
    Man we made it…….let’s end w my favorite - food recommendations
     
    Hilltop Inn - Fried Brain sandwiches. Brains aren’t your thing? Turonis is a local pizza place that’s dynamite. Like German? Gerst Haus is phenomenal. Want to head out for some adult beverages? Go to Franklin St, Gerst Haus is there and a number of other watering holes and great restaurants. I’m never up early enough for Breakfast so I have no clue. I hear the nachos at the Ford are great and worth the $. And a tradition on the way home used to be Stoll’s Country Diner (RIP). 
     
    It’s been a pretty dramatic year for TripleB. I’m just happy to be here, typing this letter. My life took a huge turn the Monday after semi-state last year. My health bottomed out and for about a week we weren’t sure I was going to see another Semi-State. That being said, I can’t freaking wait to be there Saturday. Have a great time Saturday, I love the Evansville Semi-State experience. I’ll be there slumming around, feel free to say hey, you can’t miss me! Good luck to all my coaching buddies and all 224 grapplers. Use this to pump you up and get mad bc you were slighted and parents have fun with this as we at Indianamat are just trying to bring attention to our favorite sport, wrestling!
     
    See everybody at the FORD and onto The Bridge!
     
  4. Like
    TeamGarcia reacted to Y2CJ41 for a article, Bulldog Breakdown: Key Pieces Help Elevate Brownsburg Wrestling Under Snyder   
    By Anna Kayser
    If you’ve been an unfamiliar passerby in the town of Brownsburg, Ind. over the past seven years, one of the first things that might catch your eye are the purple street signs – deep purple markers adorned with a bulldog, two on each corner if you’re lucky.
     
    At least, that’s what I noticed as I drove through the small – but not too small – suburb of Indianapolis en route to the fourth official practice of the 2022-23 IHSAA wrestling season, with no prior knowledge other than what was scribbled on the notepad next to me.
     
    One thing I hadn’t taken note of prior to passing the “Welcome to Brownsburg” sign on Highway 139, and something that might give any other small-town Midwesterner the same familiar wave of recognition: The residents of this town about 30 minutes northwest of downtown Indy live and breathe Brownsburg High School athletics.
     
    The 2021-22 Brownsburg wrestling team was nothing to snub at. The Bulldogs went 18-1 in duals and extended their program-record streak to eight consecutive Hoosier Crossroads Conference championships. Jake Hockaday led the lineup with the first state title by a freshman in school history, continuing Brownsburg’s reign of crowning one champion each year since 2016. More on him later – I promise.
     
    But that was last year, and while the result is indicative of the journey to get to where they are now, it’s not the full story. What better place to begin than at the beginning – when the Bulldog wrestling program transitioned from a bottom-of-the-barrel finish to an HCC Championship in two years, to an IHSAA State Championship in four.
     
    “Regardless of what it is, I have high expectations,” Brownsburg Community School Corporation Superintendent Dr. Jim Snapp said. “My experience has been if you want to have a state contending team, you [hire a coach] who has done it before.”
     
    After beginning his head coaching career at Mishawaka High School – a time in which he led the program to three consecutive top-two finishes and a pair of championships in 2008 and 2010 – Darrick Snyder found himself as the subject of a coaching inquiry almost 150 miles dead south of the place where he was a Northern Indiana Conference champion and state place winner.
     
    From Snyder’s point of view, there were a number of perks to coming to Brownsburg. And when his wife asked him about the wrestling team’s recent lack of success, he saw the potential to upgrade the team to something special.
     
    “Yeah – but there’s no reason [for that lack of success],” he said. “All the pieces are there.”
     
    Immediately, things began to shift. During Snyder’s first two seasons, the Bulldog program went 36-12 in duals and was crowned 2015 HCC Champions. Of course, that success comes not entirely from the corner but from the center of the mat itself – it’s a combination of what happens behind the scenes and the performances under the spotlight.
     
    That first piece of the puzzle, the one that is encapsulated in the public eye each time the mats are rolled out: The athletes.
     
    The success of that 2015 team was boasted by a pair of wrestlers that took center stage on the IHSAA State podium come February – Ty Mills (106), Brownsburg’s first finalist since Mark Meunier’s title in 1977, and Nathan Walton (170). As four-year place winners at the state tournament, they were two of four key athletes named by Snapp as being difference-makers in raising the heights of the program.
     
    None was more instrumental under Snyder’s tutelage, however, than All-American and two-time NCAA Division I Championships qualifier Brayton Lee, Minnesota’s current starting 157-pounder. A leader that, without Snyder’s drive to create a pipeline from younger levels into a high school program the town could be proud of, might never have donned the purple Bulldog in the first place.
     
    “[My family] knew that [Snyder] was a good coach and had a lot of success, but we weren’t that familiar with him,” Lee said. “We went to Brownsburg for a high school tournament to meet up with him when I was in middle school, and we just talked. He was just supportive and said that he would help me to become the best wrestler I can possibly be. We were really excited about Snyder, he pretty much sold us [on where the Brownsburg program would go].”
     
    Not only is building the high school program a key part in escalating success, but also what feeds into it. The implementation and management of a strong program for middle school students ensures that development and love for the sport occurs at a younger age.
     
    “We were fortunate enough to get some kids [like Lee] that came here because of him, and he’s worked on [building up] the middle school program – kids want to come here, kids want to stay here,” Snapp said. So, we’ve got this interaction of developing the feeder program and kids that, if they’re going to wrestle in the Indianapolis area, they [want] to come to Brownsburg.”
     
    With two established wrestling academies nearby – Contender’s Wrestling Academy in Brownsburg and Red Cobra Wrestling in Avon – growth through both the school program and external coaching elevates athletes even higher.
     
    Lee, a product of Red Cobra, was a good example of how development can skyrocket through that extra effort and help outside of a school program. What the Bulldogs standout star lacked early on, however, was the team aspect.
     
    “It was definitely different, just because I had never been on a team before – I had just wrestled on my own,” Lee said. “I had grown up going to our very intense wrestling club and on both sides, practices were tough. I appreciated and respected that. [Snyder] was always making us do lots of tough stuff intertwined with wrestling.”
     
    Prior to Lee’s first of three IHSAA state titles in 2016 – a year in which he, along with five other state placers, led the charge on Brownsburg’s IHSWCA Dual State championship and IHSAA state runner-up finishes – the Bulldogs had only crowned two individual champions in school history.
     
    “We were always focused on the next day,” Lee said. “The first time I won, it was awesome, and I was grateful for it – but there was always a team aspect. I wanted to win with our team, and that idea of winning definitely pushed us. I think me winning helped bring other guys along. Knowing I was kind of a leader, knowing that my success was inspiring other guys on the Brownsburg wrestling team made me want to keep pushing.”
     
    For Lee’s career specifically, the results of the drive to win as a team came quickly. His second title at 145 pounds saw seven Bulldogs on the IHSAA podium and a franchise-high three finalists – Mills and Blake Mulkey included as runners-up – to lead Brownsburg to its first IHSAA state championship in school history.
     
    That influx of high-performing athletes jumpstarted Brownsburg’s rise to the top of high school wrestling in central Indiana.
     
    “You put those kids together – we had a core of four, good kids – and Darrick coached up other kids around them,” Snapp said. “That started [a stretch] of us winning the conference every year for the last eight years, we’re in the strongest athletic conference in the state of Indiana. Our wrestling team has dominated. It hasn’t even been close.”
     
    The second piece to the puzzle, where Snapp, the administration and coaching staff as a whole come into play, is the support Snyder continues to have behind him.
     
    The best example? The wrestling room at Brownsburg High School, built during Snyder’s reign as head coach and designed by Snapp to help raise the standard of the program and accommodate the growing numbers of the extracurricular.
     
    “I knew I was going to have [Snapp’s] support on just simple things,” Snyder said. “My first year here, I wanted to take a fan bus to individual state… and I was told no [by the athletic director]. I said, ‘This is a really important to the program. These guys need to watch this event, it’s incredible.’
     
    “I called Jim, and every year [since], just like most teams, we get to take a team bus to state.”
     
    The backing from Snapp and the administration is a means to an end in shifting the culture not just in the Brownsburg wrestling room, but in the town that loves its high school athletics.
     
    “That first year, there wasn’t really anyone there for the kid that was wrestling [at state]. When you win, you want to look up and see a bunch of purple and sit with those people between rounds,” Snyder said. “We’ve really tried to change that around, anything like that.”
     
    It also extends to the actual competition and helping those wrestlers reach the mats at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
     
    In order to develop the athletes coming to Brownsburg or growing through school programs the Bulldogs support, the level of competition needed to continuously be raised.
     
    “When I first got here, no program did any overnights or anything out of state,” Snyder said. “I went to [the athletic director] and told [them], ‘I’ve got to get out of Indianapolis’ – I was tired of wrestling the same teams over and over again, and then we got to the point that there weren’t many teams in our area that would be competitive.”
     
    This upcoming season, the Bulldogs’ schedule includes the Walsh Jesuit Ironman Wrestling Tournament from and the Crown Point Invitational – Crown Point defeated Brownsburg 178-105 in the 2022 finals, setting an IHSAA record for the largest margin of victory by a team champion by over 20 points – on back-to-back weekends in December.
     
    That elevation in competition level allows wrestlers to face some of their biggest challenges early and prepares them for high-pressure situations come February.
     
    “I always tell [our guys] that our schedule is not meant for them to go undefeated,” Snyder said. “If you do, that’s great, but we’ve set up a schedule where we’re going to take some losses. That took administrative support to be willing to allow us to do overnights, to allow us to go out of state.”
     
    Pushing athletes beyond their comfort zone to prepare them for future career hurdles is a common theme in Snyder’s coaching style, something that is on record in helping wrestlers reach their full potential.
     
    And, well, maybe no one can attest to that better than a Big Ten starter.
     
    “I think just his competitiveness and him pushing us every day helped me,” Lee said. “He helped push me past my comfort zone a little but more than maybe I would myself, and that’s really the main purpose of a coach. Snyder knew I wanted to be great, and he helped me move into a little bit more uncomfortable territories which is important for any athlete, especially when you’re trying to go to the next level.”
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