2010 Marion County Preview

By Tim Cooper

The Marion County Tournament is always one of the toughest in the state and this year is no different.  #2 Perry Meridian is the clear favorite, but this field is stacked with quality teams looking to knock off the defending champions.

Teams participating

Beech Grove, Southport, Roncalli, Perry Meridian, Lawrence Central, Lawrence North, North Central, Franklin Central, Warren Central, Park Tudor, Speedway, Pike, Decatur Central, and Ben Davis.

You can follow all the action at the following link.

Click here for the Trackwrestling link

103

This weight class is stacked with some exciting matches.  Even with Riley Newkirk moving up to 112 this weight class is still loaded with 3 ranked wrestlers in #1 Nathan Boston, #14 Barry McGinley, and #16 C.J. Whitten.  Jacob Cottey of Perry Meridian rounds out this weight class for some exciting semi finals.

Favorite - #1 Nathan Boston of Lawrence North

Match of the Day- This should be a great match between C.J. Whitten and Barry McGinley in the semis.

Dark Horse- Jacob Cottey

112

This weight class features some outstanding freshman and sophomores.  The field is led by Perry’s  #7 Cody LeCount and Lawrence Central’s #5 @103 Riley Newkirk.  Newkirk is moving up a weight for this tournament so it should be very interesting to see how he does against some very good 112 pounders.

Favorite- #7 Cody LeCount

Match of the Day- LeCount and NewKirk

Darkhorse- Josh King of Roncalli has been very impressive this year.  He could knock off Newkirk in the semis to take a place in the finals.  Should be a great match.

119

Sophomore Levi Moss stands the top of the 119 pound weight class.  The returning state qualifier of a year ago is trying to earn is second Marion County Championship.  Standing in his way are #14 Robert Boston of Lawrence North and freshman standout Gerald Dycus of Warren Central.

Favorite- #3 Levi Moss

Match of the Day- Boston and Moss

Darkhorse- Aidan Kenny of Perry Meridian.

125

There are no secrets here.  This weight class is all about Perry Meridian’s  #1 Jared McKinley and Roncalli’s #2 Josh Kieffer.  This will be the rematch to the 3 OT win for McKinley last weekend.  These two should be very accustomed to each other by the end of the season.

Favorite- This is a toss up, who is going to execute better.

Match of the day- McKinley and Keiffer

Darkhorse- Jesse McIntosh of Speedway

130

This weight class should come down to a battle between #10 at 135 Jordan Johnson and #14 Nick Bova.  Johnson finished runner up last year at 125 and Bova finished 3rd at 103.  Even with the big jump in weight Bova has really filled out and has been successful at 130 this year.  Standing in their way are Mikhail Randall of Ben Davis, Brennon Ellis of Roncalli, and Wes Hunt of Speedway.

Favorite — Jordan Johnson

Match of the day- Johnson and Bova

Darkhorse- Brennon Ellis of Roncalli

140

This weight class is wide open and features many talented wrestlers.  Top wrestlers in the group include Matt Rattay, Charlie Smith, Joe Kieffer, Clayton Davenport, and Alex Louzon.  Rattay has been very impressive this year and could face either Kieffer or Smith in the finals.  This weight class should prove to be very competitive with a lot of close matches.

Favorite-#5  Matt Rattay

Match of the day- #5 Rattay and #12 Kieffer

Darkhorse- Clayton Davenport of Ben Davis.

145

The 145 pound weight class is open for the taking as well.  #10 @140 Tiandre Edwards stand on the top with the #1 seed, while surprise #2 seed Riley McClurg is coming from the bottom half of the bracket.  Riley is a very tough wrestler and is coming back from injury, he will likely meet returning state qualifier Kyle Reidling of Warren Central.

Favorite- Tiandre Edwards

Match of the Day- Edwards and Reidling

Darkhorse- Clay Labarr of Lawrence Central

152

I am not sure if anyone is going to stop returning state place winner Kirk Johnson of Perry Meridian.   He is the #1 seed and looks to continue his impressive season with another Marion County Championship.

Favorite- Kirk Johnson

Match of the Day- Ford and Boucher

Darkhorse- Drake Duncan of Ben Davis

160

This weight class should be action packed all day.  This class features four runner ups from last year.  Mike Taylor was  runner up @152 and is the surprise #1 seed.  #8 Derek Harz is the #2 seed and finished runner up @ 145 last season.  Cole Kelly was runner- up at @ 160 last season and #10 Mitchell Judkins of Speedway is a two time runner up and finished 2nd @171 last year.  One these guys will improve on their performance last year and take home the title.

Favorite- Derek Harz of Perry Meridian

Match of the Day- Harz and Judkins, whoever wins this one takes home the championship.  Harz defeated Judkins 1-0 at the Capital City Classic.

Darkhorse- Tre Spencer

171

#4 Mike Smith of North Central is looking to win his second straight county title @171 at he continues on his journey to make is his 3rd trip to Conseco Fieldhouse.   Standing in his way is #2 seed Jake Masengale of Perry Meridian.  Other strong competitors in the field are Kyle English, Damon Albertson, Erick Zeleya, and Logan Brougher.

Favorite- #4 Mike Smith

Match of the Day- Masengale and Albertson

Darkhorse- Kyle English of Ben Davis

189

#11 Jeremy Haskett of Lawrence North is the #1 seed in this weight class and will have to get by Perry’s Sam Tasseff to reach the finals. Beech Grove’s Joe Mueller and Ben Davis’s Drew Craig will battle to reach the finals as well. The semi final matches should be very exciting.  Look for Haskett and Mueller to meet in the finals.   Haskett beat him 2-1 in the county last year.

Favorite- #11 Jeremy Haskett

Match of the Day- Mueller and Haskett

Darkhorse- Drew Craig

215

#10 Logan Cooper sits at the top of the 215 pound weight class in the county.  He is looking for his 1st Marion County Championship.  #13 Jake Tucker of Roncalli and Pike’s Justin Sanders will wrestle to see who comes out of the bottom part of the bracket to face Cooper in the finals.

Favorite- #10 Cooper

Match of the Day- Cooper and Tucker

Darkhorse- Austin Netherton

285

Even without #10 Michael Cheh in this weight class it is still the most competitive of the entire tournament.  There are 6 or 7 guys who if they are on their game can come away with a championship.   This field includes #4 Willie Henson, #5 Eric Thigpen, #12 Jordan Naughton, #13 Kyle White, #15 Adam Decker, Southport’s Jon Cleary with a 15-1 record, and Speedway’s Jared Schall with a 16-2 record.

Favorite- Willie Henson

Match of the day- Henson and Thigpen

Darkhorse- Kyle White (returning state qualifier)