2013 Year in Review

This past year was filled with a lot of great stories in the sport of wrestling. Here is a recap of the top ten stories from the year in no particular order.

1. Angel and Reece on World Team

Two of the seven representatives on the World Team this year were former state champions. Angel Escobedo and Reece Humphrey both wrestled for Team USA in Budapest, Hungary. Escobedo placed 5th and narrowly missed a medal. Humphrey battled his way to the quarter-finals only to drop his match on a late push-out.

2. Howe is back

After what seemed like an eternity, Andrew Howe is back on the mat. He started the season out with a win at the All-Star Classic against the returning national runner-up and has already defeated the returning champion at Bedlam. He will look to cap his final NCAA season with another title.

3. 600 Wrestlers at the IHPO

In what started as a little wrestling tournament with 170 wrestlers on 4 mats has exploded to one of the best preseason tournaments in the country. This year there were over 600 wrestlers on 12 mats at Carroll High School. This year four wrestlers joined an exclusive club as being a two-time champion in Nathan Boston, Brendon Kelley, Austin McCloskey and Josh Alber.

4. Tsirtsis on Junior World Team

Jason Tsirtsis made his first World Team this year when he qualified for the FILA Junior World Team in May. He wrestled 66kg(145.5lbs) for Team USA in Sofia, Bulgaria in September. He won his first two matches before dropping his third match to his opponent from Iran. He ended up placing 7th in the tournament.

5. Micic on Cadet World Team

Stevan Micic made his first World Team in 2013 also, when he qualified for the FILA Cadet World Team. He wrestled in Zrenjanin, Serbia, which is actually where he still has family. He wrestled 54kg(119lbs) and dropped his first and only match to Nematdin Rahmanov of Azerbaijan.

6. Perry Takes Title #3

Perry Meridian brought their third straight title to the south side. After having a rough quarter-final round in which they lost three of seven matches they came back to take three individual titles with one runner-up. Yorktown kept it close throughout the day until the finals where Perry increased their lead to win by 40.5 points.

7. Six Collegiate All-Americans

While no Indiana natives earned All-American status at the Division I level, there were many others in the lower divisions. At the Division II level Alex Johns and Cameryn Brady lead the way with 5th and 7th place performances respectively. At the Division II level Reece Lefever placed 7th for the Wabash Little Giants. Finally, Indiana Tech came back from NAIA Nationals with two All-Americans in Travis Barroquillo and Kris McKinley. Trivia Question: What wrestling club did Lefever and Barroquillo wrestle for in high school?

8. Nick Lee makes an early mark

Mater Dei's Nick Lee had quite a year as he placed second at FILA Cadet Nationals and third at Fargo. This all as just an 8th grader. He even earned national recognition as being nationally ranked before his first freshman class.

9. Northwestern Nabs Third Straight Top Recruit

Northwestern has had a knack for snagging top recruits from around the country, but recently has just had to come to the Hoosier state to get top kids. In 2012 they brought in four-time state champion Jason Tsirtsis to the Wildcat program. Their 2013 class included another top recruit from the Hoosier state in two-time state champion Mitch Sliga. This year's class will include Hanover Central's Stevan Micic as he becomes the third straight top recruit to take his talents to Evanston.

10. Olympic Wrestling on the Brink of Extinction

During the week of the state finals this year we were dealt some devastating news that wrestling may be out of the Olympics. After FILA made some drastic changes in the structure of the organization and in the rules of the sport we still had to battle three other sports for one elusive spot in the games. In a vote on September 9th the fate of wrestling in the games was in the hands of the IOC board and their votes. The IOC voted wrestling back in the games and through a tumultuous seven months the wrestling community from around the world came together like never before.