2011 Merrillville Semi State

Saturday's Merrillville semi-state always guarantees fans two things. First, you will see some of best, most physical wrestling in the state and second, you will see this wrestling in one of the most uncomfortable, stifling venues imaginable.

The wrestling action is what draws the fans to the Pirates' Cove and this year is no different. Crown Point, the state's top ranked team appears ready to crown multiple champions and may approach double digits in the amount of qualifiers for state.

Not far behind them is fourth ranked Penn. The Kingsmen boast 14 semi-state qualifiers and at least eight of them stand a good chance of moving on.

One of those Penn Kingsmen is actually lady Kingsmen. 112 pound Sarah Hildebrandt will be making her second trip to the Semi State. Hildebrandt , along with 103 pound Kalya Miracle will be looking to make history by becoming Indiana's first female state qualifier.

103

Half of the state's top sixteen lightweights will converge on Merrillville and many a talented wrestler will be paying their own way next week. Crown Point's Josh Fuqua and Lafayette Harrison's senior Reise Overby appear to be wrestling the best right now. All four ticket round matches should be excellent.

Best ticket round matches: Santo Marciano (Munster) vs. Buckley(Valparaiso)

Overby (Lafayette Harrison) vs. Steven Micic (Hanover Central)

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Another very deep field awaits anyone who wants to wrestle in Indy next week. Two veteran studs look to have a semistate rematch from last year in Warsaw's Jarred Brooks and Hanover Central's Paul Petrov. Petrov seems to have Brooks number. Ticket round matches here are again all excellent as there will be no easy ride.

Best ticket round match – Brian Orzechowicz(Griffih) vs. Sammy Ferdig (South Bend Adams)

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119

The 119 class contains the first “sure thing†for the Merrillville semistate. Defending state champion Kyle Ayersman of Lake Central should handle the field. Relative unknowns that will look to dethrone Ayersman include Culver Military's Anthony McHugh and Rochester's Garth Simpson. Both wrestled at 125 most of the year.

Best ticket round Match: Simpson (Rochester) vs. Taylor Draper (Lafayette Jeff)

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125

Fans at Merrillville have gotten used to seeing a lot of Cavemen the last few years so their absence from the finals seems slightly odd. Layten Binion should end the Mishawaka drought. He has had little trouble dispatching nearly everyone in his path with his only loss being to Perry Meridian's top Jared McKinley.

Best ticket round match: Jordan Hicks (Seeger) vs. Tyler Chapple (Penn)

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130

Mishawaka will look to get back to back champs at 130 where senior Taylor Wisler brings a 37-3 record and state hardware to Merrillville. However, the road will not be easy. In his path will probably be Crown Point's very stout Cameron Halstead. Wisler narrowly edged Halstead in mid December. On the other side of the bracket is arguably the hottest wrestler in the region, Valparaiso's senior Chad Miller.

Best ticket round matches: Chad Miller (Valpo) vs. Mitch Hartman (SB Clay)

Wisler (Mishawaka) vs. Cameron Halsted (Crown Point)

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135

The Rochester regional should continue a roll at 135 with Penn's Alex Gregory. He is undefeated and largely unchallenged. He should receive his toughest test to date in the semi finals versus Crown Point's junior Jake Fuqua. Many might say this is the actual championship match.

Best ticket round match: Chris Pajdzik (Hammond Gavit) vs Luis Acuna (Portage)

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140

Tsirtsis

Best ticket round match: Dan Ginter (Penn) vs. Charlie Mavros (Lowell)

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145

Roach

Best ticket round match: Owen Dorris (Pioneer) vs Javier Avalos(Merrillville)

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152

I was tempted to have a third strait one word preview but Crown Point senior Josh Flamme has taken a back seat to his more heralded teammates to not deserve some recognition. He has been nearly as dominant as Roach and Tsirtsis and has yet to lose to an Indiana wrestler this year.

Best ticket round matches: Eric Palmieri (West Lafayette) vs Kelly Kolat (SB Riley)

Luke Smith (Munster) vs. Mike Hummer (Penn)

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160

Chesterton's junior Anthony Quiroz headlines the 160 pound class. There is not a whole lot of depth here and that is a recipe for upsets. Three ticket round matches appear to be very tight. A possible sleeper looms in the bottom of the bracket. They only speak his name in hushed tones on the East Side of Gary.

Best ticket round matches: Dusty Schurg (Crown Point) vs. Michael Green (Rensselaer)

Davon Alwine (SB Clay) Ethan Dale (McCutcheon)

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171

Devildog's delight at 171. A champion from the Logansport regional. Delphi's junior stud Tanner Lynde is already two for two on state final appearances and there is not enough firepower in this semi state to deny him a title. Lowell's Jeremy Crocker will be his likely foe in the finals.

Best ticket round matches: Joe Peco(Hobart) vs. Kyle Shrewsbury(Crown Point)

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189

Two top five ranked wrestlers appear to be a notch above the rest of the field at 189. Merrillville's Kourtney Berry will be wrestling in front of the hometown crowd with an outstanding 39-0 record. One of those victories was a 6-4 decision over Culver Community's sophomore Matt Hurford. Both wrestlers are aggressive and scramble well so an exciting match should be the result.

Best ticket round match: Berry(Merrillville) vs. Ross Hoover (Warsaw)

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215

Crown Point will likely finish off their day with another champion in junior Tyler Kral. Kral was likely disappointed with last years showing at Merrillville and would like to redeem himself this year. His likely finals foe should be South Bend Clay's Joe Gallegos. A very nice ticket round match might occur with Logansport regional champ, Matt Sumner of McCutcheon facing off against Devin Reagan of Penn.

Best ticket round match: Sumner(McCutcheon) vs. Reagan(Penn)

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285

Second ranked Damon Howe of Plymouth looks to get back to his winning ways after being pinned in the semi-finals at regional. His is likely to face the wrestler that pinned him, Culver Community's Jeremiah Harvey.

Best ticket round match: Blake Ford(McCutcheon)/Abraham Hall(Bremen) vs. Montel Davis (Gary Lew Wallace)

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