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      #MondayMatness: Jimtown's Kerrn has sights set high on the mat after super season on the gridiron

      By STEVE KRAH
      stvkrh905@gmail.com
      Kenny Kerrn turned heads during his senior football season at Jimtown High School.
      He is hoping to do more of the same in his final prep wrestling campaign for the Jimmies. He ranks No. 2 in the 2016-17 Indiana Mat preseason rankings at 152 pounds.
      “There’s a lot of high expectations for me this year and a big part of that is because of my dad,” Kenny Kerrn said of Mark Kerrn, the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Famer. “He’s such a respected coach in the state. I’m kind of just in awe of seeing my name ranked second in the state. It makes me want to go in everyday and work as hard as I can and get that title under my name.”
      And his fall sport has definitely contributed to his winter sport and vice versa for the teen.
      “Wrestling helps me with football and football helps me with wrestling,” Kenny Kerrn said. “It’s a good balance.”
      As a running back for a 7-5 team that was a sectional finalist, Kenny toted the football 261 times for 1,563 yards and 26 touchdowns in the fall. In game against Concord, he set single-game school records for carries (38), yards (320) and points scored (32).
      Learning wrestling from a young age from his father and other talented coaches and JHS wrestlers, Kenny enjoyed a breakout season in the circle as a junior.
      A 2015-16 campaign which culminated with a seventh-place finish at 145 at the Indiana High School Athletic Association State Finals included a 45-6 record (he is 96-28 for this first three high school seasons).
      Along the way, the young Kerrn won titles at the prestigious Al Smith Classic at Mishawaka as well as in the Northern Indiana Conference, Elkhart Sectional and Goshen Regional. He was a runner-up at the Fort Wayne Semistate.
      As a team, Jimtown went 21-2 with a sectional title and runner-up finishes in the conference and the Class 2A division of the IHSWCA State Duals (the Jimmies are slated to compete in the meet again Dec. 23 at Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne). Mark Kerrn was named NIC Coach of the Year.
      Several of Kenny Kerrn’s wrestling teammates were also his mates on the football field.
      “It’s kind of fun to see how they act in one and another,” Kenny Kerrn said.
      While both sports are physically-demanding, the Jimmie senior who is exploring different college options that could include some combination of football, wrestling or track sees a contrast.
      “It’s totally different atmosphere,” Kenny Kerrn said. “Somedays in the wrestling room are just intense. It’s something you would never see on the football field. (Wrestling) can be hard-nose, just going non-stop for two hours. In football, there’s a little bit more of the learning aspect.
      “Coaches will stand you up and teach you the things you need to know for football. (In wrestling), it’s all hands-on and you’ve just got to drill.”
      Kenny Kerrn (@KennyKerrn on Twitter) explained the difference between being “wrestling shape” and for other sports, including his third prep sport (track).
      “You can go run seven miles everyday if you want to and still not in wrestling shape because you haven’t been down in your stance, feeling that burn in your legs. It’s a totally different thing.”
      Of course, there are parallels to the mat and the gridiron.
      “People talk all the time about how if you need help with tackle form, it’s just a double-leg takedown,” Kenny Kerrn said. “It really is if you think about it. A text-book tackle (in football) is really a blast-double for wrestling.
      “And keeping your head up (in wrestling) in just as important as it is on the football field.”
      Stay low and keep your feet moving is good advice in both sports.
      “You want that low center of gravity, keep you feet moving and explode out,” Kenny Kerrn said. “Running backs in college and the pros are explosive. They find a whole and explode. You look at the best wrestlers in the Olympics and stuff and they are staying low to the ground and they are exploding out when they’re taking shots.”
      Mark Kerrn, who is also a longtime Jimtown football assistant coach as well as being in his 25th season as head wrestling coach, said he can cite example after example of pro football players who wrestled and learned lessons that transferred well from the mat to the gridiron — things like balance as well as physical mental toughness.
      “Guys who wrestle aren’t afraid tote the rock or be a receiver or a quarterback — that limelight guy — because they have no fear of losing,” Mark Kerrn said. “Because there’s a chance that every time they go out on the mat they are going to lose by themselves and have nobody else to blame but themselves.”
      That being said, there was a brotherhood displayed during the football season that has carried over into wrestling.
      “We had one of the closest group of seniors (in football),” Mark Kerrn said. “And that’s carried over.”
      And there’s been “proud dad” moments all along the way as father has watched son.
      “It’s really been special watching him go from that 4-year-old bouncing around on the mat, jumping on people and not being able to take a stance then year by year getting better and better and better,” Mark Kerrn said. “He’s always been a competitor. But it really snapped last year. Something kicked in and he started doing some really great things.”
      The Kerrns and the Jimmies are hoping to get even more kicks this last go-round together.

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      #WrestlingWednesday: Perry Meridian Loading Up for a Deep Run

      By JEREMY HINES
      Thehines7@gmail.com
       
      Last season Perry Meridian advanced 14 wrestlers out of sectional with 11 champions. They finished 13th in the state – and that leaves a terrible taste in their mouths.
       
      “We weren’t pleased at all with our finish last year,” said Falcon’s head coach Matt Schoettle. “We really felt like we should have been a top 5 team. We had some guys that should have made it to state that didn’t.”
       
      Last year was Schoettle’s first year as head coach for Perry Meridian. He had been an assistant coach for 18 years under Jim Tonte, who took the job at Warren Central. Tonte’s Warriors won state in his first year at the helm.
       
      “I learned everything from coach Tonte,” Schoettle said. “He has three state titles at Perry Meridian and then another one now at Warren Central. I learned dedication and commitment from him and how hard you have to work to get what you want.”
       
      This year’s Falcon squad is poised to make a run for the team title. The team returns state placers Sammy Fair (5th at 106) and Noah Warren (7th at 160). Fair is a sophomore and Warren is a junior this season.
       
      “Sammy is an awesome kid,” Schoettle said. “He will run through a brick wall for you. He’s a great student, a hard worker and every year he wins our extra workout award because he doesn’t quit. I look for very good things out of him this season.”
       
      As for Warren, Schoettle believes he has a real shot of winning a title this season.
       
      “Noah is kind of a clown on the team,” Schoettle said. “I’m an intense guy and he knows how to lighten the mood. His dad is my middle school coach. He works hard, doesn’t get in trouble but he knows how to make people around him have fun. He’s a great leader and he had an outstanding summer.”
       
      The Falcons graduated three state qualifiers. Brett Johnson finished 3rd at 152. Daniel Brookbank was 7th at 132 and Chris Ridle was a state qualifier at heavyweight. But, as it have done so often in the past, Perry Meridian believes they have athletes to step up and get the team to that next level.
       
      “I have three or four guys that were semistate guys last year that I think have state place-winner kind of talent,” Schoettle said. “Sunny Nier will be either 120 or 126. Kain Rust will go 138 or 145. Kain has multiple ISWA state titles and he could have a really good year. Jack Serview and Christian Warren could also get to state this year.”
       
      Incoming freshmen Brayden Littel and Brayden Lowery are also expected to have good seasons for the Falcons.
       
      The team has a lot of depth this season. Tuesday they held an intersquad match and there was a lot of competition at each weight class. There were 12 guys in the 138 bracket alone.
       
      “I told them that this bracket might be tougher than our first few tourneys,” Schoettle said.
      Perry Meridian’s goals are lofty. They want to win the dual team state title and the regular team state title.
       
      “We talk about it every day,” Schoettle said. “We have the team that can compete. We have to stay healthy, keep guys fresh and continue to work on improving and conditioning. As with any team, we will also need to get a few breaks. There are a lot of good teams out there this year, but we know we can compete with any of them.”

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      #MondayMatness: Marsh wrestling family on different sides now that Kyle is head coach at Fairfield

      By STEVE KRAH
      stvkrh905@gmail.com
      “How many of you can look me in the eye and tell me you are working as hard as you can? … Find a teammate and help him push through.”
      Those are the words of Kyle Marsh in his new role as head wrestling coach at Fairfield High School.
      The former West Noble High School wrestler and six-year assistant coach is putting the Falcons through a grueling workout — something Marsh knew well when he competed for WNHS for father Tom Marsh.
      Work ethic and attention to detail are the qualities that Kyle Marsh credits for his prep success.
      “You could push him, push him and push him,” Tom Marsh said of his oldest son. “He would take it and try to get better.”
      Before graduating from the Ligonier school in 2008, he was a two-time Indiana High School Athletic Association State Finals qualifier and two-time Westview Sectional champion (all at 130 pounds as a junior and senior). He was a Goshen Regional champion as a senior and place third at the Fort Wayne Semistate his final two high school campaigns.
      A collegiate mat career at Trine University was cut short by a shoulder injury suffered just before the Thunder’s intrasquad meet.
      Kyle learned how to put in maximum effort from his father. Tom Marsh has been an assistant football coach at West Noble for more than 25 years and has led the Chargers’ wrestling program since the mid-2000’s.
      “Being around him and his teams, work ethic was built into my DNA from a young age,” Kyle Marsh said. “I know there are kids that have a hard time being coached by a dad or a parent because sometimes the sport can be taken home. I’m definitely not like that. My dad coached me for six or seven years and was constantly pushing me and motivating me and I’m very thankful that he did.”
      Kyle Marsh began wrestling in the sixth grade. When Tom Marsh caught the wrestling bug, it allowed Kyle — and his younger siblings (Kevin and Molly) — plenty of off-season opportunities like tournaments and camps.
      “It became a family affair,” Kyle Marsh said. “My sister probably would have been the best wrestler in the state. She was a placer at the (Indiana State Wrestling Association) state meet a couple of times.”
      Molly Marsh is now a junior catcher on the softball team at Indiana University-South Bend.
      After his own college athletic career was over, Kyle began coaching wrestling, middle school football and some high school football at West Noble.
      In recent years, he had discussions with his father about possibly coaching at a different school.
      Kyle Marsh wound up at Fairfield — a Northeast Corner Conference rival to West Noble — after Jim Jones retired, leaving a head coaching vacancy for the Falcons.
      After discussing the situation with his wife — the former Erica Dolezal (who had been a girls basketball coach at Goshen Middle School) — Kyle decided to apply.
      “My wife was a coach and she knows the time commitment that coaching in general takes up,” Kyle Marsh said. “She thought it would be great. I reminded her that it would be a lot more time than just being dad’s assistant. She said ought to do it.”
      Kyle and Erica have three children — daughter Brogan, son Layten and caught Caelin. The latter is name for Cael Sanderson — “the greatest wrestler.”
      When Kyle got the Fairfield job, his father was the first person he called with the news.
      Tom Marsh said an attribute for Kyle is his ability to relate to young athletes.
      “I’m more Old School,” Tom Marsh said. “It’s a lot different than 20 years ago. There are so many more options for (students) after school. Some sports getting individualized. There are a lot of one-sport athletes.
      “Kyle does a good job of getting those kids to give it a go. They relate better to the young guys better than the old guys.”
      Father and son are ultra-competitive with everything from corn hole to golf (the two are currently tied in head-to-head matches at 22-all). Trash talk at family functions are common.
      So what happens when the Falcons and Chargers step on the mat together?
      “My sister, brother and I even joke around it being hash-tagged in text messages,” Kyle Marsh said in referring to the West Noble at Fairfield NECC dual meet. “It’s #December8.”
      Michelle Marsh — wife to Tom and mother to Kyle — is expected to be there with some sort of mashup outfit combining Fairfield and West Noble.
      The date is also important at West Noble.
      “I know he wants to beat us and we want to beat him,” Tom Marsh said. “We don’t talk about any of our kids to each other. We don’t go there with each other.”
      Kyle is familiar with the returning grapplers for the Chargers.
      “I know their kids real well and I know their wrestling styles,” Kyle Marsh said. “It’s probably a slight advantage, but I’m sure my dad is doing everything he can to find about kids from over here and they will talk plenty about strategy before Dec. 8.”
      Fairfield is scheduled to open the varsity season at home Nov. 22 against Northridge.
      West Noble begins varsity action Nov. 26 at the Wawasee Super Dual.

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      #WrestlingWednesday: Brayton Lee is All Smiles

      By JEREMY HINES
      Thehines7@gmail.com
       
      The very first time Brayton Lee watched a wrestling match, he ended up vomiting. He was 5 years old and sick that day his father took him to his first high school match, but even after vomiting, he didn’t want to leave. He had instantly fallen in love with the sport.
       
      “After I got sick I still stayed until the match was over,” Lee said.
       
      Now Lee is one of the top wrestling recruits in the nation. The Brownsburg junior won state last season at 138 pounds and he’s looking to do the same this year at 145.
       
      “I’ve coached kids that were three-time state champions,” Brownsburg coach Darrick Snyder said. “I’ve coached kids that have placed at Fargo or other preseason national tournaments. I’ve coached quite a few guys that have went on to wrestle in college in D1 or the Big Ten. But Brayton is at a different level from any of the guys I’ve coached before. I haven’t had anyone near as talented as he is.”
       
      Lee’s off-the-charts level of wrestling skills is one of the big reasons Brownsburg won the 3A team state title last season and is one of the favorites to do so again this year.
       
      “Brayton is very willing to work with his teammates,” Snyder said. “I use him as another coach. We use him to show a lot of technique because he has been coached by some of the best coaches in the country, and his wrestling knowledge is phenomenal. When Brayton graduates in a couple of years I’m losing as close to a guaranteed win as you can get, and one of my best coaches.”
       
      Lee isn’t sure exactly what he wants to do after high school, but he knows it will involve wrestling. He is getting letters in the mail on a daily basis from wrestling powerhouses like Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue and Michigan.
       
      He hasn’t narrowed his college choice down yet, but he is hoping that wherever he goes will help push him to his dream of one day wrestling in the Olympics.
       
      “I want to be the best there is,” Lee said. “I want to wrestle in the Olympics. I want to pursue the Olympics while I’m in college. After college I really think I’ll stay with wrestling and become a coach.”
       
      Things haven’t always gone Lee’s way. His freshman campaign ended with just one loss, in the ticket round of semistate when Mt. Vernon’s Austin Bethel pinned him in the third period.
       
      “That loss my freshman year, and not achieving my goal, ran through my head all the time the next season,” Lee said. “In practices I kept thinking about it. I knew I had to put some of those memories away, but it was just adding fuel to my fire.”
       
      Lee bounced back. Last year, during his sophomore campaign, he dominated the field en route to the state championship. In the Avon sectional Lee wrestled a total of 48 seconds, securing a pin in the semifinals in 36 seconds and a pin in the championship in 12. He continued his dominance in the Mooresville regional, winning by pin, tech fall and then another pin.
       
      In the Evansville semistate Lee opened with a pin, then won back-to-back 7-3 matches before winning the final 16-7.
       
      Lee saved his most dominant performance for the state finals. He won the opening round with a 32 second fall, then tech-falled his next opponent 18-3. After a hard-fought 4-2 victory to reach the final match, Lee obliterated his last opponent of the season and won the state title with a 20-5 tech fall.
       
      “Getting under the lights was everything I thought it would be and more,” Lee said. “There is nothing like it. When I walked out, my legs were really shaky. But afterward, when I was interviewed, it was just all joy. It was amazing. I had done it.”
       
      For a few random Lee-isms: He doesn’t have a favorite move, but one he really enjoys doing is a left-handed headlock. He said he would rather win by technical fall instead of by pin. Chad Red Jr., is one of his best friends, and he likes to think he is close to Red as far as swagger goes – but he admits he isn’t to Red’s level yet in that regard.
       
      Lee’s nickname at Brownsburg is smiley. Coach Snyder said that’s one of the first things you notice about Brayton, is how he is always smiling. With as much success as he’s having on the mat, it’s no wonder he’s happy.

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      #MondayMatness: South Bend Washington heavyweight McWilliams no longer under the statewide radar

      By STEVE KRAH
      stvkrh905@gmail.com
       
      Stay humble yet ready to rumble.
       
      It’s an approach that has served Isaiah McWilliams well.
       
      The South Bend Washington High School wrestler exploded onto the statewide scene, finishing his sophomore season in 2015-16 by going 45-9 and placing fourth in the 285-pound weight division of the IHSAA State Finals.
       
      “Not many people were counting on me,” Isaiah Williams said. He was ranked No. 17 coming out of sectionals.
       
      Along tournament trail, McWilliams’ confidence was fueled with victories against Jimtown’s Nick Mammolenti (Northern Indiana Conference meet), South Bend St. Joseph’s Michael Koebel (Mishawaka Sectional and Rochester Regional), Oak Hill’s Owen Perkins and Franklin’s Quinn York (State Finals).
       
      Supported by his family, coaches and teammates, Isaiah made it the semifinals of the State Finals before bowing to eventual state champion Shawn Streck of Merrillville.
       
      After a productive prep off-season, McWilliams began 2016-17 ranked No. 2 at 285.
       
      But the Panther heavyweight has not taken more mat success for granted while competing for his father and Washington head coach Tony McWilliams, a 1998 South Bend Bend LaSalle graduate and former IHSAA State finalist.
       
      “I want to continue to get better everyday,” Isaiah McWilliams said. “If I don’t get better everyday it means I’m slacking. If you’re not getting better today that means you’re getting worse
       
      “I have a bullseye on my back. I have to continue to work hard to defend that bullseye.”
       
      A year ago, the 5-foot-7 athlete took the mat at 240 pounds and began the current season around 265. He is looking to tone down to around 255 and maintain his quickness.
       
      “It’s all about how much heart you have and how you are determined to win,” Isaiah McWilliams. “It’s not the size that matters.
       
      “Speed at heavyweight is very critical. You can move out of the way if you’re very quick. My agility help me win (against York) because at the end he tripped me and I kept moving. I rolled between his legs and go my two (points).
       
      “My mindset is to go out there and dominate and get out as quick as possible and wrestle smart. If I can’t go for a pin, I’ll keep working my takedowns and turns and get as many points as I can.”
       
      Stamina is a strong suit for McWilliams, who was a first-team all-NIC pick in football last fall (he played defensive end and fullback).
       
      “He can go three periods or more,” Tony McWilliams said. “Some of those big guys can’t. One of his keys has been to wear them down and get them at the end. That’s where he wins the most — the third period.”
       
      Dad/coach said it’s not uncommon for Isaiah to get back from a Saturday tournament and run a mile before heading home.
       
      “Sometimes, if he’s mad, he’ll run two,” Tony McWilliams. “That’s his idea. Some of his teammates catch on, some don’t.”
       
      Tony McWilliams, who saw a quick study when he first began teaching wrestling to Isaiah at age 4, adds a few other qualities when listing his son’s reasons for mat achievement.
       
      “He listens,” Tony McWilliams said of his son, the holder of the 4.0 grade-point average. “If you tell him something, you don’t have to tell him more than once. His knowledge is there.”
       
      Isaiah is a medical magnet at Washington and job shadows doctors and nurses. He sees himself one day as a sports medicine doctor or pediatrician.
       
      That kind of attention to details translates to wrestling.
       
      “He’s focused,” Tony McWilliams said. “He’s got goals and ***NO NO NO***ion. You’ve got to have that in this sport because one false move and it can be over as far as a match or even your career.
       
      “He pays attention. He knows what to fix and how to fix it.”
       
      Tony McWilliams coached seven seasons at LaSalle Academy and is now in his seventh season as head coach at Washington. A lay coach (his day job is as a union carpenter), he relishes the chance to work with his son and take other young grapplers (the Panthers have no seniors this winter) as far as they want to go.
       
      “This is a dream come true for a father and a son to be in this situation,” Tony McWilliams said. “It’s really awesome. I’m at a loss for word sometimes.”
       
      Aggressiveness is what Washington wrestling is all about.
       
      “We have to go on offense,” Tony McWilliams said. “We’re not going to try to be defensive wrestlers this year. We’re going to perfect our moves and we’re going to score.”
       
      The bar is set high for Isaiah McWilliams, but the expectations are also up there for the rest of those in green and black.
       
      “A state championship, that’s our main goal for Isaiah,” Tony McWilliams said. “Our staff is going to be on his butt to get it. If anybody else on the team wants to go along for the ride, that’s great.”
       
      Tony rejects those who say Isaiah’s success comes because he is the head coach’s son and conveys that to everyone in his program.
       
      “Everything that he’s doing, I tell them that they had an opportunity to do — all the summer wrestling,” Tony McWilliams said. “Isaiah wrestled 80 matches last summer (including Disney Duals in Florida and National Scholastic Duals in Virginia). With the success he’s having, a lot of people are going to be watching this team and they’re going to see you, too.
       
      “If you want to make a name for yourself, now’s the time to do that. Now’s the time to practice hard, wrestler hard. We’ve got to get them to buy into that.”

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      #WrestlingWednesday: Bethel looking for more big wins in 2017

      By JEREMY HINES
      Thehines7@gmail.com
       
      Joe Lee won state last year, but didn’t win sectional. Brayton Lee has lost just one match in his Indiana High School career. The common denominator in both stories is a guy named Austin Bethel.
       
      Bethel pinned Joe Lee in the sectional final last season. The year before, he shocked most around the state by pinning Brayton Lee in the final 15 seconds of the ticket round match at the Evansville semistate.
       
      “A lot of people didn’t think I had much of a chance in either match,” Bethel said. “But I told myself that I’m not wrestling the name – I’m wrestling the person. I knew I needed to go out and do what I do best, which is scramble and look for five point moves. Both times I ended up with huge pins. It’s one of the best feelings in the world, looking up and seeing the surprise on everyone’s face.”
       
      Bethel, a senior at Mt. Vernon in Posey County, is a big-move wrestler. He has found himself down in several matches throughout his career, but in many of those matches, he’s scrambled his way to the pin.
       
      “With Austin’s style, possibilities are endless,” Mt. Vernon coach Tim Alcorn said. “He has big moves and finishing moves. There is nobody he doesn’t think he can beat. Catching Joe and Brayton were once in a lifetime things. But Austin could be one of the most, if not the most electrifying wrestler in the state.”
       
      Bethel’s career has been a curious one. He’s pinned two of the state’s premier wrestlers. He’s qualified for state three times. Yet, he has never made it past the Friday night match at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse.
       
      “It’s such a depressing feeling,” Bethel said. “I’ve been so nervous and I’ve wrestled safe. That gets me in trouble. I’m not that way normally. I’m a risk taker. For me, I’ve put imaginary pressure on myself that really wasn’t there. This year is my year to relax and put on a show. That’s what I want to do.”
       
      Coach Alcorn agrees that Bethel’s cautious approach to the Friday night matches at state has been his biggest mistakes.
       
      “Sometimes he’s too smart for his own good,” Alcorn said. “He’s very aware of his opponent’s strengths and weaknesses. If I could ever get him to just close his eyes and wrestle great things will happen. He has to welcome the opportunity, not fear it. He needs to let the chips fall as they may and leave everything out on the mat.”
       
      Currently Bethel is the No. 6-ranked 152 pounder in the state. He has a 3.985 grade point average.
       
      “Austin is hands down one of the best kids I’ve ever coached on and off the mat,” Alcorn said. “He’s the most well-rounded kid this program has ever seen. If he makes state again, he will be the most decorated wrestler in our program’s history. He is a four-year letter winner in soccer and a two-year letter winner in football. He helps out the elementary program. He helps officiating. He helps working the clocks. He is a ‘what can I do coach’ kind of kid. He’ll do whatever it takes to help the team.”
       
      Bethel started wrestling when he was five years old. But he didn’t develop a true passion for the sport until his parents went through a divorce.
       
      “I needed an outlet,” Bethel said. “I needed something to turn to. I needed to release some aggression. That’s when I started to pick up wrestling a lot more. I started traveling with the sport more and I met some truly amazing people along the way that took me in and helped me to improve. Wrestling became a big part of who I was.”
       
      In addition to having big-move capabilities, Bethel is also excellent at analyzing opponents. He knows their tendencies. He prides himself on research.
       
      “He’s the greatest student of the sport I’ve ever coached,” Alcorn said. “He watches more film than anyone I know. He watches film to a fault. He over analyzes. When he graduates from college, he’ll end up being one of the best coaches in wrestling.”
       
      Bethel epitomizes the blue-collar approach to life, and wresting. He works for everything he has, and everything he has accomplished. He has only received one grade in school lower than an A, and that was a B plus he took in a college-level match class. Math, he says, is by far his least favorite subject.
       
      His dedication to hard work has been infectious to the team. Mt. Vernon has 11 seniors, filling the biggest 11 weights in the lineup. Bethel works with the other seniors, as well as the younger wrestlers – trying to make everyone on the team better.
       
      “He’s the backbone to our wrestling family,” Alcorn said. “There is no question about it.”
       
      Family is enormously important to Bethel. If he wrestles in college, he wants to be in a program that provides a family atmosphere and a team-first mentality.
       
      “Austin is a kid that is a Lilly scholarship finalist,” Alcorn said. “He comes from a single-parent household. He has come from having nothing, but his mother and his sisters have made something of that and never used it as an excuse. He values every single thing he has. He and his family have had to fight and claw, tooth and nail for everything. He’s the most successful, but the most humble kid I’ve ever known.”
       
      As much as Austin has been through, on and off the mat, the one thing he still wants to accomplish is to place in state. To do that, he feels he needs to follow his own advice.
       
      “You have to enjoy yourself,” Bethel said. “That’s what I’ve struggled with early on. I put too much pressure on myself. I have worried too much. You have to slow everything down and just enjoy it and not be hard on yourself. In wrestling, anything can happen and anyone can come out on top. The hardest opponent you’ll ever face is the guy standing in front of you in the mirror.”
       
      Bethel has proven he can beat the state’s elite wrestlers. He’s never out of a match. And, if he gets back to state, he plans on putting on a show and wrestling his style. Caution will not be an option.

      3680 1

      #MondayMatness: Two generations of Faulkners make an impact on Mishawaka wrestling

      By STEVE KRAH
      stvkrh905@gmail.com
       
      Following in the footsteps of their father, the Faulkner brothers — senior 182-pounder Austin and junior heavyweight Alex — are looking to leave their mark on the storied Mishawaka High School wrestling program.
       
      Mike Faulkner, a 1987 graduate, was an IHSAA state finalist as a junior 185-pounder and state runner-up as a senior heavyweight for Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Famer Al Smith.
       
      Mike was bested by Lake Central’s Mike Fross in the ’87 finals then went on to grapple two years at Grand Rapids Junior College (now Grand Rapids Community College), placing eighth and fourth at the National Junior College Athletic Association Nationals for coach Charlie Wells, and two at Ferris State University.
       
      The elder Faulkner has coached or officiated the sport ever since. His resume includes a three-year stint as head coach at South Bend Adams High School, one season of leading the John Young Middle School program and many years as an assistant coach for his alma mater, working primarily with the heavyweights. He has more than two decades of experience as an IHSAA-sanctioned wrestling official and member of the St. Joseph Valley Officials Association.
       
      A former City of Mishawaka employee (14 of his 18 years were spent as parks superintendent), he served five years as assistant athletic director at MHS and July 1, 2016 became director of operations, overseeing buildings and grounds, transportation and safety.
       
      Austin Faulkner, 18, has his sights set high for his final prep wrestling campaign after earning his first Mishawaka Sectional title and second semistate appearance in 2015-16. He also went to semistate as a sophomore. All of this came at 182.
       
      A wall in the MHS wrestling room lists the state champions and state placers. Austin notices it at every workout.
       
      “I want my name to up there,” Austin Faulkner said. “I’m a Mishawaka wrestler. Mishawaka has had a tradition of great wrestlers. I want to continue that.”
       
      Alex Faulkner, 17, is looking to make his mark on the mat this year after placing fourth at sectional and bowing out in the first round of the Rochester Regional as a sophomore heavyweight.
       
      One thing Alex did in the off-season was hit the weight room.
       
      “I feel like I’m more physical and stronger than I was last year,” Alex Faulkner said. “I feel like I have more movement and will have a much better year. My loss at regionals last year upset me and I’m doing everything I can to make it to state this year.”
       
      Austin, who went into last week ranked No. 14 statewide at 195 but intends to be back at 182, knows that the formula for mat success is an offensive mindset.
       
      “Sometimes I catch myself being a little bit patient and not going after the guy,” Austin Faulkner said. “My dad tells me all the time just ‘go, go, go and keep attacking.’”
       
      That’s the way Mike was during his days as a wrestler and he still believes it.
       
      “You can’t win in wrestling unless you attack and go on offense,” Mike Faulkner said. “A lot of times you see wrestlers who are passive and they want to go on the defensive. Any successful wrestler that you have seen over time are those ones who continuously attack.”
       
      Those wrestlers also hone their moves repeatedly in the practice room in order to be able to perform them well on the competition mat.
       
      And the number of tricks in the bag does not have to be large.
       
      “It’s definitely better to perfect a few amount of moves,” Austin Faulkner said. “You see successful collegiate wrestlers who use a double-leg, a single-leg — nothing crazy.”
       
      Mike Faulkner is also a fan of repetition.
       
      “It becomes muscle memory,” Mike Faulkner. “It’s a reaction rather than a plot. I’m going to go out there and do this. As a wrestler, you can’t do that. It has to be a reaction. Mat time is crucial for the experience and for getting that feel for the flow of the match.”
       
      And no matter what, a grappler must commit to what they are doing.
       
      “You have to finish your move no matter what it is whether it’s a stand-up or a sit-out, switch, reversal or takedown,” Mike Faulkner said.
       
      Scouting reports on opponents are helpful, but not necessary if a wrestler can dictate what goes on inside the circle.
       
      “It’s nice to know what another guy does but you’ve got to go out and wrestle your match every time,” Austin Faulkner said. “You can’t let them control the match.”
       
      Mishawaka head coach Charlie Cornett counts Austin Faulkner as a leader for the Cavemen.
       
      “He comes in the room ready to go,” Cornett said. “He leads by example. He has improved quite a bit on his feet.”
       
      Cornett now sees Austin constantly pushing the pace, something he did not always do last season.
       
      The Faulkner boys are both multi-sport athletes. They are coming off a football season where fullback Austin (1,274 yards and 13 touchdowns as an all-Northern Indiana Conference first teamer) often followed the blocks of right guard Alex in helping coach Bart Curtis and the Cavemen go 10-3 and place second to Penn in the NIC North.
       
      “Football and wrestling go hand-in-hand in a lot of ways,” Austin Faulkner said. “Tackling is the same thing as a double-leg takedown. One of the things I like about being in football is that it makes me hungrier for wrestling season. Some of those kids that wrestle year-round might get tired of it. I can’t wait to get back on the mat.
      “(Mishawaka head football) coach (Bart) Curtis is big about us going out for other sports. It doesn’t matter what it is.”
       
      Cornett has watched Alex Faulkner fill out his frame, which is about 6-foot-4 and 250 pounds.
       
      “Alex has definitely picked up a little bit of an edge that he didn’t have last year from playing the interior line in football,” Cornett said. “He wrestled small at heavyweight last year and he got pushed around a little bit. I don’t see that happening this year nearly as much.”
       
      What’s the difference between football and wrestling shape?
       
      “They’ve finding that out right now,” Mike Faulkner said as his sons are now cutting weight for the mat. It’s something they don’t have to sweat in the fall.
       
      “Football shape, you can eat whatever you want,” Monique Faulkner, Mike’s wife and the mother of Austin and Alex, said.
       
      “You can’t get into wrestling shape by running the football or tackling the guy with the football,” Mike Faulkner said. “You’ve got to be wrestling live matches and doing those workouts in the wrestling room to get into tip-top wrestling shape. There’s no question.”
       
      Austin, who is pondering college offers for football and wrestling, played football at 207 and planned to be at 182 to start the season.
       
      Mike typically cut 40 pounds from football and wrestling leading up to his senior season when Coach Smith convinced him to be a heavyweight. Earlier in the year, he went from 190 to 210.
       
      “I never looked back,” Mike Faulkner said. “I was a heavyweight the rest of my life.
       
      “You can cut weight, but you’ve got to be smart about it. You can’t cut it too quick. There’s a reason the IHSAA and National Federation have implemented these (weight loss) rules.
       
      “(Austin’s) eyes are bigger than his stomach. He’ll eat the foods he enjoys the most rather than the ones that will benefit him and give him the protein he needs.”
       
      As for officiating, a wrestling background is helpful.
       
      “You can anticipate which way they’re going and get yourself in good position to call that near fall or takedown on the side of the mat,” Mike Faulkner said. “Knowing how the flow of wrestling goes is an advantage to an official.”
       
      Focus in the face of mental and physical fatigue is also important. Wrestling tournaments can be very long for wrestlers, coaches and the men in stripes.
       
      “You have to try to stay sharp and not let the day get the best of you,” Mike Faulkner said.
       
      Giving it their best is what Austin and Alex Faulkner indeed to do each day they step on the mat for Mishawaka.
       
      “It’s great to have both Faulkner boys on one team,” Cornett said. “They are definitely pillars.”

      4974 1

      #WrestlingWednesday: Ethan Smiley has plenty to smile about

      By JEREMY HINES
      Thehines7@gmail.com
       
      Beech Grove’s Ethan Smiley isn’t big on talking about himself. After repeated questions for this article about his wrestling and other accomplishments, Smiley barely mustered a word. But, when the questions turned to his teammates or his family, he was much more talkative.
       
      “Ethan is very quiet,” Hornet coach Matt Irwin said. “He isn’t the first person you notice in the room. He’d be the last person you’d notice. He is humble and it’s hard to get him to brag on himself. That’s how he was raised. He knows how to act and how to carry himself in a good manner.”
       
      Even though he won’t do it, Smiley has plenty to brag about on the mat and in the classroom. The Beech Grove junior is currently ranked No. 8 at 132 pounds. He has qualified for state both of his previous seasons. Last year he earned a spot on the podium with an 8th-place finish at 120 pounds.
       
      Off the mat, Smiley is ranked No. 1 in his class.
       
      “He has a GPA of over 4.2,” Irwin said. “Everything he does, he does it with all his effort. He takes everything seriously. He is an extremely hard worker with a no nonsense approach. He wants to get in, get out and get things accomplished.”
       
      Ethan would like to place higher at the state level this year than he did last year. It is equally important to him to get a teammate to state this year as well.
       
      “My goal is just to be grateful for the opportunity to wrestle and be with my teammates,” Smiley said. “We are better than we have been the last few years. I really want to bring some teammates to state this year. We have some decent guys that have a chance. Bailey Moore, our 138 pounder, could have a very good season. He is one of my practice partners.”
       
      Ethan’s older brother, Evan, was a two-time state qualifier for the Hornets. He finished fourth at 145 pounds his senior season.
       
      “I started wrestling when I was four,” Ethan said. “My brother was wrestling and I wanted to do it too. He still drills with me when he gets a chance.”
       
      Currently Evan is wrestling at 141 pounds for the University of Indianapolis.
       
      “I think Ethan has really taken a lot from Evan’s work ethic,” Irwin said. “Their styles aren’t similar, except that they are both very heavy handed. But they are very big on hard work and not cutting corners.”
       
      Coach Irwin believes Ethan has the ability to contend for a state title on the mat. Irwin said that Ethan has put a lot of work in during the offseason. He has gotten stronger, really worked with his nutrition and has done all of the right things to put himself in a good position to make a run.
       
      Last season Ethan wrestled Dylan Culp four times during the state tournament. He lost in the sectional final to Culp 6-0, but then turned it around and beat Culp 4-2 in the regional final. Culp won the semistate championship match 4-2. The two met one more time, in the 7th and 8th place match in the state finals. Culp won that battle 5-4.
       
      “I think my biggest win last year was at regionals when I finally beat Dylan Culp,” Ethan said. “That was my most satisfying win. He had beaten me numerous times before, but that was the first time I finally beat him.”
       
      Ethan would like to wrestle in college, but he hasn’t put much thought into that. He’s hoping to go to Purdue and study plant science.
       
      “I’m really into botany and plant science,” Ethan said. “I’ve been fortunate to work with a Purdue professor and do science research. I’d like to work in agriculture and get a degree in plant science. That’s what I work toward.”
       
      Wrestling is Ethan’s only high school sport. When he was younger he tried his hand at baseball and golf, but didn’t pursue those sports in high school. He usually shoots in the 90s in golf, he said.
       
      Ethan also plays guitar a little and loves comic books, especially batman.
       
      Ethan is very family oriented. He enjoys hanging out with his brother, or his parents Phil and Christa. He also enjoys playing with his dog.
       
      “Overall, Ethan is pretty serious, but he can be a goofball at times,” Irwin said. “He cares about other people and he wants his teammates to be successful. That is extremely important to him.”

      4445 2

      #MondayMatness: Chesterton's Davisons making their mark on wrestling world

      By STEVE KRAH
      stvkrh905@gmail.com
       
      Take the tenacity of the middle brother, the unpredictability of the youngest one and add the bloodlines of a two-time Indiana state wrestling champion and you get a formidable family combination: The Davisons of Chesterton High School.
       
      Andrew Davison, a 195-pound senior, and Lucas Davison, a 182-pound junior, are both ranked high statewide in their respective weight divisions and are out to make their mark this winter for the Trojans.
       
      Father Keith Davison, who won IHSAA state titles for CHS at 171 as a junior in 1988 and senior in 1989, is there as an assistant coach and inspirational figure along with long-time Chesterton head coach Chris Joll.
       
      Andrew has been to the State Finals twice already — placing fifth as a sophomore and bowing out in the first round as a junior. He missed his freshman season with a back injury.
       
      Lucas was a regional qualifier as a freshman and semistate qualifier as a sophomore.
       
      Jack Davison, now a student at Indiana University, was a three-time semistate qualifier as a Chesterton wrestler.
       
      Last summer, Andrew and Lucas both placed first at USA Wrestling Folkstyle nationals in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Five of eight All-American honors at the USA Wrestling Nationals in Fargo, N.D., were from Chesterton — four for the Davison boys and one for Eli Pokorney. Lucas was second in freestyle and fifth in Greco-Roman. Andrew placed seventh in both freestyle and Greco-Roman.
       
      In 2015, Andrew finished first in Greco-Roman and third in freestyle at Fargo while Lucas was second at folkstyle nationals.
       
      Keith Davison was a two-time All-American at the University of Wisconsin, where he grappled two years at 177, redshirted then two more at 190. Andrew is bound for the Big Ten as a signee with the University of Michigan, where is projected as a 197-pounder.
       
      For the 2016-17 prep season, Andrew and Lucas have flip-flopped weights. A year ago, Andrew was at 195 and Lucas at 182, but both grew during the off-season. At 6-foot-2, Lucas is slightly taller than Andrew and Keith.
       
      Keith sees Andrew as a wrestler willing to constantly push the pace.
       
      “(Andrew) doesn’t mind getting tired,” Keith Davison said. “He has a high threshold for pain and fatigue and he attacks a bunch, too.
       
      “He enjoys dragging people into the deep water (a phrase popularized by NCAA champion Isaiah Martinez of Illinois).
       
      Andrew explains his admiration for Martinez.
       
      “I hear he won’t leave practice until he has to crawl off the mat,” Andrew Davison said. “He’s pretty inspirational.”
       
      While tired himself, Andrew uses his opponent’s fatigue as motivation to fight through the pain.
       
      “It’s late in the third period, you’re gassed and breathing hard and you see your opponent is also gassed,” Andrew Davison said. “I’ve learned to push through stuff. It’s made me a much better and tougher athlete.”
       
      Having one last chance to climb to the top of the podium in Indiana inspires Andrew on a daily basis.
       
      “I’ve been thinking about it non-stop,” Andrew Davison said. “I can’t wait to get back down there (to the IHSAA State Finals). It’s definitely been motivating, just thinking about it all the time.”
       
      There won’t be many — if any breathers — along the way with tough Duneland Athletic Conference duals plus appearances in the Munster Super Dual, Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association State Duals and Mishawaka’s Al Smith Classic all happening before the end of 2016.
       
      “We’ve got a loaded schedule this year, to say the least,” Andrew Davison said. “That’s awesome. We don’t get to wrestle a whole lot of Indy teams. Hopefully we get to do that (in the IHSWCA State Duals Dec. 23 in Fort Wayne). That will be good for us. You want to wrestle the best of the best.
       
      “When you love it so much, it’s like more of a privilege. It’s such a cool experience. I’m really enjoying it.”
       
      Andrew chose to wrestle at Michigan because he saw himself as a good fit after being recruited by the Wolverines and making a visit to the Ann Arbor campus.
       
      “I saw how hard all these kids were working,” Andrew Davison said. “They have a common goal. They all want to be great at what they’re doing. I wanted to be somewhere they took wrestling seriously and academics just as seriously.”
       
      Though currently undecided on his college major, Andrew is considering pre-medicine.
       
      Lucas, a frequent workout partner, addresses his brother’s wrestling strengths.
       
      “He’s really good on his feet,” Lucas Davison said. “As a seasoned Greco-Roman wrestler, he can go from the upper body to low singles and anything in-between. He can attack the hips and launch you if it’s there for him. He’s dangerous from anywhere.”
       
      Joll credits hard work and being the off-spring of two athletes (mother Jennifer was a runner in her days at Chesterton High School) for Andrew’s success.
       
      “He has a great set of genes,” Joll said. “Dad was a very good wrestler in high school and college and he has made a commitment to making those boys the best they can be.”
       
      There is no doing things half way when Keith is around. That goes for all Chesterton wrestlers — not just his boys.
       
      “We’re not too concerned with pushing them past the point of exhaustion,” Keith Davison said. “We keep the intensity very high and try to be very physical. We’ll taper practices when we get ready for big competitions.”
       
      Keith sees Lucas as a versatile wrestler who can combine sound fundamentals as an attacker and defender with a few unorthodox moves.
       
      “Luke is pretty uncanny at his scrambling abilities,” Keith Davison said. “You think he’s in trouble and he comes out of danger on top a lot.”
       
      Lucas sees his long arms and legs and his mat experience as assets.
       
      “I’m a pretty tall guy and that leads to some clunkiness, but I’m able to manage that pretty well,” Lucas Davison said. “Being at one of the bigger weights, there’s a lot of strong guys. I’ve been around the sport my whole life. It’s huge to be able to understand the sport. I feel things other people wouldn’t be able to feel.”
       
      Lucas enjoys being versatile on the mat.
       
      “I try not to wrestle predictably,” Lucas Davison said. “You don’t want to move the same over and over. You want to change it up. I like to attack from everywhere. It’s important to have a big bag of tricks and be able to switch things up. You do something that’s super easy to key off of for an opponent.”
       
      Chesterton wrestlers employ a variety of styles.
       
      “We’re striving to be diverse wrestlers and have styles that would be hard to scout as opponents,” Lucas Davison said. “The goal is to have clean impeccable technique. It doesn’t matter if they know what’s coming.”
       
      Joll emphasizes the same point.
       
      “We have some basics that we go by, but let kids focus on their strengths,” Joll said. “As coaches, we try to foster individually.”
       
      And there’s also the old steel sharpens steel thing going on in the wrestling room.
       
      “Having a drill partner like my brother, you get to defend better than the average guy,” Lucas Davison said.
       
      Joll said wrestling builds camaraderie and life-long friendships because of all the hard work the athletes put in together.
       
      “The most rewarding thing for me get wrestlers to their potential,” Joll said. “Their accomplishments are just important to me as the high placers.
       
      Joll also likes to see them give back to the sport.
       
      That’s what Keith Davison is doing as a coach. Keith is also president of the Chesterton Wrestling Club (formerly the Duneland Wrestling Club). The group is open to all students from DAC schools and is based at CHS. The club has 70 to 80 members in Grades K-12.
       
      Among the ones making a name for themselves are the Davison boys.

      3467 1

      #WrestlingWednesday: Van Horn looking to corral a state title

      By JEREMY HINES
      Thehines7@gmail.com
       
      Burk Van Horn remembers being with his dad and brothers driving down the highway on their way to Nebraska, and seeing several cars trying to get their attention. Turns out, Van Horn had accidentally left the gates open on the family’s cattle trailer they were hauling, and some of the cattle was walking toward the opening.
       
      “The cows were just about to jump out when we stopped,” Van Horn said. “We had stopped to eat and I checked on the cattle, but forgot to close the gates.”
       
      Van Horn is a little more careful these days, both with cattle and on the wrestling mat. He’s currently ranked No. 2 at 160 pounds. He started the season out ranked No. 1 at 170 pounds and later moved to 160 and was given the top ranking there, before the latest polls had Evansville Mater Dei’s Joe Lee moving up to 160 and claiming the top spot.
       
      The Franklin Community senior has had a stellar career in high school, but it wasn’t until last season that he really stepped up his game. As a freshman Van Horn advanced to semistate. As a sophomore he was defeated in the first round of regional. But, as a junior, he not only made it to the state tournament – he wrestled his way under the lights at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse. Van Horn lost a 3-0 heartbreaker in the state finals match to two-time champ Jacob Covaciu.
       
      “My sophomore year I had a bad match at regionals,” Van Horn said. “But that helped me to become better and motivate myself more. I started to break down matches more. That loss was a setback, but it made me want to go further.
       
      “Then, last year when I saw my draw at state, I really felt like I could get under the lights. Just getting there wasn’t my goal. I wanted to win, not get second.”
       
      Franklin coach Bob Hasseman said losing in regional as a sophomore was a turning point in Van Horn’s career.
       
      “It was a crappy match and things happened that was a little out of his control with the officiating,” Hasseman said. “At that time, when something didn’t go his way, Burk could get a little discombobulated. But since that time, and probably because of that time, he has learned to keep on rolling and to take the good with the bad. He’s going to make mistakes. He’s going to get bad calls. That’s wrestling. But he has to stay focused and keep wrestling and not make a grave error when he’s frustrated.”
       
      Van Horn has mixed emotions about the rankings this year. He likes the fact that he was ranked No. 1 at two different classes. He likes that he has a target on his back and a lot of guys are trying to knock him off. But he doesn’t like when kids get intimidated just because of his ranking.
       
      “I’ve still got a lot of room to improve before I can become a state champ,” he said. “I’m just another kid out there wrestling. There are sometimes I wish I wasn’t ranked because a lot of kids won’t wrestle me. Or, if they do wrestle, some of them just roll to their backs like little girls instead of at least putting up a fight. But it is fun walking onto the mat and knowing that you’re the man.”
       
      Van Horn has made weight once at 160, but plans to go back to 170. At this point, he’s not sure where he will wrestle in the tournament.
       
      “I’m going to do whatever is best for the team,” he said.
       
      Burk started wrestling about the time he learned to walk. He has two older brothers that were state qualifiers.
       
      “Burk is quite a bit bigger than his brothers were,” Franklin coach Bob Hasseman said. “He’s got the size and he’s very talented. His whole family seems to be just genetically strong. He has good hips and is very rarely out of position on the mat. His body build also helps him tremendously.”
       
      Burk is the epitome of being country strong. His daily routine of wrestling and then going home and working with the cattle and his show pigs has helped him develop a habit of hard working.
       
      “I show pigs and cattle year around,” Burk said. “It’s a lot of hard work. If you want to win in the show ring, or in wrestling, you have to be willing to put in the hard work.”
       
      Van Horn is hoping all his hard work produces an end result of a state championship this season.

      2426 2

      #MondayMatness: Team focus has been good to small but mighty Triton

      By STEVE KRAH
      stvkrh905@gmail.com
      There may be an “i” in Triton, but there’s no “i” in team.
      And for the Trojans — under the direction of co-head coaches Matt Arvesen and Ron Brown — team is the most important thing.
      That philosophy has helped a school that is small (enrollment 265) become mighty in the wrestling community.
      Bolstered by the attitude and success of the Class of 2015 (then-sophomore 106-pounder Malachi Greene, senior 152-pounder, Grant Stichter, junior 160-pounder Gage Waddle and senior 170-pounder Nate Spangle) won their weight class at the Plymouth Sectional), Triton went to its first Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association State Duals in 2015-16 (placing 10th in Class 1A).
      Waddle defended his sectional crown as a senior last winter.
      The Trojans have been invited back to the State Duals for 2016-17 (the meet is Friday, Dec. 23 at Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne).
      “We’re where we are at because we kept the idea of team,” Arvesen said. “Everybody’s important. No person is more important than anybody else. Even my best guys will take the time to work with the younger kids, even if they have to sacrifice a little of their practice time.
      “It’s really nice that we have some kids who have learned how to lead in the room but, ultimately, it stems back to that (Class of 2015) group. They were all about each other and how the team was doing.”
      Arvesen said talk about “Team State” had been going on at the Marshall County school for four or five years and then Triton qualified and it really bolstered the program even more.
      “(Going to the State Duals) was nice because they kept everybody else focused on the team aspect,” Arvesen said. “We were never going to see the light of day, going to State with the Warren Centrals and the Penns. We just aren’t there as far as the level of commitment kids need as whole year-round to develop into that kind of team.
      “Whereas, we saw as an opportunity to get our kids to focus on the team and get the numbers out in the room, we could (earn an invitation to a classed dual tournament).
      “Last year, the experience was fantastic.”
      Even the kids who set the stage and had since graduated were there to cheer on the Trojans.
      “They took a break from college and made the trip to Fort Wayne,” Arvesen said. “It was cool to see everybody come together like that.”
      The athletes on the current squad are young and talented and still very team-oriented.
      “It’s really nice that we have some kids who have learned how to lead,” Arvesen said. “But with all the young kids, we are focused on learning technique.
      “Down the line, your condition is going to play a role, your strength is going to play a role, but ultimately, your level of technique and how well you do your best stuff is what’s going to take you to that highest level.”
      Arvesen wrestled for coach Bob Read at Plymouth High School and was an IHSAA State Finals qualifier as a sophomore in 1998 at 171 pounds then placed fifth at the IHSAA State Finals as a junior in 1999 at 189 and second as a senior in 2000 at 189. He was on the coaching staff at Yorktown High School while attending Ball State University and picked up technique from Troy Dulaney (now at Daleville).
      Brown, a 1999 graduate of Crosswell-Lexington High School in Michigan, was on the wrestling staffs at Richmond and Marion high schools before coming to Triton. Last fall marked his second as the school’s head football coach.
      A traditionally-strong basketball community, wrestling is now creating a buzz and crowds at Triton’s gym aka “The Trojan Trench.”
      “We’ve gotten more numbers (out for the team),” Brown said. “People have been talking about our success. It was a big deal the first time we qualified for (the State Duals).”
      Triton graduates Jason Thompson (who is also head junior high wrestling coach) and Brock Vermillion and Wawasee graduate Shaun Belin are also part of the Trojans wrestling coaching staff. Arvesen and Thompson also help coach football.
      Triton wrestlers begin learning a core of basic moves in the kids club — led by the high school coaches — and progress as they move up the ladder. The move set doesn’t change from fourth grade up to high school.
      “By the time they are freshmen, they pretty much know all the basics and we can get into the more complicated stuff,” Thompson said. “We can just move along. We don’t have to stop and take time to say ‘this is the double-leg (takedown), this is the Half (Nelson).’ We’ve already taken care of those things in the younger years.”
      The idea is to keep the lingo simple.
      “We all have the same terminology,” Arvesen said. “I can say something to any one of my kids and they’re going to understand what we’re talking about and what we want them to do during the match.”
      Some don’t step on the mat until they reach high school. But those who experience wrestling and start building a report with the coaches early at Triton have a real chance to succeed.
      “Most of our success can be attributed to getting them to buy in at a very young age,” Thompson said. “It really starts when we get the kids in junior high and they really buy into our system. He’ll have confidence in you as a coach if you have a good relationship with him.
      “If he knows you want him to be successful and you’ll work hard for him as long as he returns the favor for you. If you can get the kids to buy in early, they’ll do that for you throughout their career.”
      Brown said it’s not just about takedowns and pinning combinations at Triton.
      “We care more about them as people than athletes and I think they see that,” Brown said. “They put out a lot of effort for us. It’s a unique situation here. We see them so much in the classroom and in other sports.”
      Consequently, the Trojans are close-knit.
      “You can see it in how we handle them when they come off the mat after a tough loss or in the wrestling room,” Brown said. “It’s all very respectful and in a caring manner.”
      Greene, now a senior 132-pounder, enjoys the family atmosphere of the Triton program as well as the coaching staff’s ability to get the most out of their athletes.
      “Coaches drill us in a certain way to battle and fight for every point,” Greene said. “What makes us successful is that we don’t give up.”
      Junior Vincent Helton (182) said the Trojans give it “everything we have” at practices which typically include plenty of drill work and time for a little fun.
      “Everyone is focusing in the room and listening to what the coaches are telling us and working hard,” Helton said. “We cheer each other on. We’re their backing each other up.”
      Even as sophomores, 195-pounder Cameron Scarberry and heavyweight Billy Smith have their ideas of what makes Triton successful.
      Scarberry: “It’s our coaches’ enthusiasm for the sport and their constant reminding us that it’s an individual sport, but it’s also a team sport. We need to work hard and be intense through practices so we can do well individually and as a team. (Getting ready for State Duals) really gives us the boost of confidence we need to do better.”
      Smith: “We have great coaches. They love wrestling just as much as the kids do. You can’t do good if the coach doesn’t love wrestling. Our coaches never put us down. They expect us to do our best (no matter the level of opponent).”
      Because they’re all into it TOGETHER.

      2642

      #WrestlingWednesday: North Montgomery looking for more this year

      By JEREMY HINES
      Thehines7@gmail.com
       
      One and a half points. That’s all that separated North Montgomery from winning the Crawfordsville sectional championship last year.
       
      The Chargers were defeated by Southmont, their arch rival by a score of 242-240.5. It was the closest score between the top two teams in all of the state last year in sectional action.
       
      “Southmont is our county and they are our biggest rivals,” North Montgomery coach Maurice Swain said. “Our kids have been seeing those guys since elementary school. We’re hoping this year we can turn that score around.”
       
      North Montgomery is certainly poised to win a sectional title – and possibly more. The Chargers return a senior-laden team led by their 170-pound wrecking ball Tanner Webster. Webster is currently the No. 2 ranked grappler in the weight class, just behind his good friend Burk Van Horn.
       
      “Tanner is one of those kids that is always on the wrestling mat,” Swain said. “When I first came here he was in fifth grade and would wrestle in the varsity room. He was always working with our high schoolers. He always wants to get better. The goal this year for him is to win a state title.”
       
      Webster vividly remembers the excitement of advancing to state last year and ultimately placing sixth at 170 pounds. But now that he’s had a taste for the big stage, he’s setting his sights on bringing home top honors.
       
      “Last season just going to state was very cool,” Webster said. “It relieved a bunch of stress I felt to get there. But this year I want to win it all, and I want to have several of my teammates at state with me as well.”
       
      The Chargers have eight seniors on the team, and seven of those seniors are in the lineup.
       
      “Even the guys that aren’t seniors have been in our program for a long time,” Swain said. “At North Montgomery we don’t get move-ins. We have to develop our wrestlers.”
       
      Sophomore 106-pounder Seth Johnson is the team’s only other state-ranked wrestler. Johnson is currently No. 5.
       
      Cade Graves, Isaac Fruits and Cole Slavens are all ranked in the New Castle semistate. Graves is No. 7 at 152, Fruits is No. 5 at 182 and Slavens is No. 5 at 195.
       
      “I really think this is the best team North Montgomery has ever had,” Webster said. “Coach Swain has done an awesome job here. We know we can do some damage. From the bottom of our lineup to the top this is the best we’ve ever been.”
       
      The Chargers have the same goals every year. They want to win their County meet, their conference meet and do well in the state series. Southmont is standing in their way in all three goals.
       
      “Our county meet was postponed, but we are excited to see those guys,” Webster said. “We feel like we are better than we were and we hope to prove that.”

      2534

      #MondayMatness: Family atmosphere, 'next guy in' mentality drives Penn success

      By STEVE KRAH
      stvkrh905@gmail.com
       
      Penn has been an IHSAA state championship contender in most years since Brad Harper took over as head coach of the Kingsmen in 2006.
       
      In 2015, Penn won its first state team title.
       
      The goal every year is reach the top of the Indiana heap.
       
      It’s also to grow the program’s reputation in the state and beyond.
       
      At any given time during the high school season, there are around close to 100 wrestlers striving to get better while also forming a bond.
       
      “The family atmosphere — that’s huge for us,” Harper said. “That’s why we have 90 kids on the team.
       
      “We probably have 14 seniors and only three of them start. Why are you letting the seniors stay out? Because they want to be a part of it.”
       
      Long-time assistant coach Chad Hershberger, a 2000 Penn graduate, hears the word every time the Kingsmen break from a meet or a practice: “Family!”
       
      “That’s what we are,” Hershberger said. “We are a family from the time we step into that (practice) room until we leave. It’s 24-7, 365.”
       
      One of Harper’s teammates at Mishawaka High School (Brad won a state title in 1998 and was a state runner-up in 1999) was Mike Cramer, who is now associate pastor at New Life Baptist Church in Osceola.
       
      Cramer has been coming to Friday practices for years to give motivational talks that relate life to wrestling. Topics include hard work, teamwork, determination and — of course — family.
       
      Not every athlete buys into the family values that the coaching staff of 20 constantly talks about.
       
      But most do and thrive because of it.
       
      They gravitate to coaches like five men who have been at the core of the coaching staff for the past decade — Harper, Hershberger, Dave Manspeaker, Jim Rhoads and Tom Dolly.
       
      They also go to the many longtime volunteers to learn wrestling technique, but also to be motivated or to just have a friend and role model.
       
      “We mentor some of these kids,” Hershberger said. “Some of them don’t have much and they just want to be a part of something.”
       
      So while individuals set their own goals, the team goal is always a high one and everyone is expected to contribute.
       
      At some schools, they call them “program kids.”
       
      At Penn, it’s “next guy in.”
       
      “You’ve got to be ready because you never know when someone is going to go down,” Harper said.
       
      Getting wrestlers ready to jump into the fire is a schedule that has junior varsity wrestlers taking part in many varsity tournaments.
       
      “The only way that some of these kids were going to be able to step into that role is to have the varsity experience,” Hershberger said. “Are we always going to win? No. But that’s not what we ask. It’s about getting better and getting that varsity competition so when we do have injuries, that next kid is ready to step in. They are battle-tested.”
       
      Penn, which placed sixth in Class 3A at the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association State Duals Friday, Dec. 23 in Fort Wayne, also derives success from its feeder program. Three middle schools — Discovery, Grissom and Schmucker are all on the same page with the high school.
       
      The Penn Wrestling Club begins with pre-kindergarten grapplers and goes all the way through high school, where it’s known as Midwest Extreme Wrestling (MXW) and wrestlers come from all over to take part in national team events.
       
      It begins with the Kings Kids (Pre-K through First Grade) and goes to the Noble Kingsmen (Grades 2-5) Elite Kingsmen (Grades 2-6) and Black Knights (Grades (6-8) before high school.
       
      Chad Harper, Brad’s brother and a member of Mishawaka’s 1991 IHSAA team champions, is club’s event coordinator and vice president on the board of directors. He said there are currently 176 active wrestlers though eight grade and there are 40 or more in the high school club.
       
      When the high schoolers travel to Indiana events, they tend to go as the Penn Wrestling Club. At national tournaments, they tend to represent MXW.
       
      MXW promotes wrestling regionally, nationally and possibly at the world level.
       
      “It just makes for a good wrestling room,” Chad Harper said.
       
      Through fundraising efforts (each wrestler has their own account), club wrestlers travel all over the nation — from Las Vegas to the Fargo Nationals to the Disney Duals in Florida and more.
       
      “We’re seeing competition nationwide and that’s huge,” Brad Harper said. “Our goal is not just to be good in the state, we want to be No. 1 in the nation.”
       
      On April 7-8, 2017, PWC and MXW will again host a national dual tournament inside Compton Family Ice Arena at the University of Notre Dame. The 2016 duals — the first wrestling meet on the ND campus since 1992 — drew eight regional teams and the hope for 2017 is 16.
       
      “We want to grow it every year,” Chad Harper said. “We want to help build up the Notre Dame club.”
       
      Fran McCann, who helps coach at the high school and club levels at Penn, was the Notre Dame head coach when the school discontinued intercollegiate wrestling.
       
      Heading into 2016-17, Penn’s single-season leaders were Austin Kunze (217 takedowns in 2009-10), Tim Koch (37 reversals in 1987-88), Alex Gregory (35 pins and 50 wins in 2010-11), Derrick Jones (87 near falls in 1997-98) and Trevor Manspeaker (31 technical falls in 2012-13). Career leaders were Kenny Kaiser (331 takedowns from 1985-88), Tom Ginter (62 reversals from 2002-05), Alex Gregory (102 pins from 2007-11), Jeremiah Maggart (197 near falls from 2004-07), Trevor Manspeaker (93 technical falls from 2012-13) and Zach Davis (169 wins from 2011-14).
       
      Penn won its first Northern Indiana Conference title in 1980. The Kingsmen went into this season with a five-year streak of NIC crowns.

      2496

      #WrestlingWednesday: No Dull Ending to This Season

      By JEREMY HINES
      Thehines7@gmail.com
       
      Terre Haute North has never had a wrestler reach the championship match in the state tournament. Thomas Dull is hoping to change that this season.
       
      Dull has been a solid wrestler throughout his career, but when he took the time between his sophomore and junior season to work on expanding his offensive attacks – the rewards were almost immediate. Last year, as a junior, Dull advanced to the state tournament for the first time in his career, and ended up finishing fifth.
       
      Dull was defeated in the sectional and regional championships last season by Jacob Hendrich, but Dull was able to win the final meeting between the two in the third place match at semistate. Dull pinned Hendrich in that match. Dull went on to place fifth at state.
       
      “My defining moment came between my sophomore and junior year,” Dull said. “That’s when things really started to click for me. Things started to really work. I became more aggressive and I think that was able to make me turn a corner.”
       
      The most notable difference came in Dull’s offensive attack options. He was a three-time ISWA Greco-Roman state champion and relied heavily on his arsenal of throws to win folkstyle matches. He understood that he was going to have to open things up and work on his leg attacks to be able to beat the top tier wrestlers in the state.
       
      “Thomas really had a reputation as a thrower,” Patriots coach Mark Frisz said. “You get to the higher levels, and you have to have more of an attack. So he has opened up his offense. That really showed last year during the state tournament.”
       
      Dull, like many successful wrestlers, believes the key to success lies in hard work. That work ethic helped him on the football field this year when he earned all-conference and honorable mention all-state as a linebacker.
       
      Despite playing football at a very high level, Dull didn’t want to fall behind in wrestling. So he often conditioned on his own for wrestling after a football practice.
       
      “I tried to stay in wrestling shape,” Dull said. “I ran. I worked on hand fighting. I have wrestling mats at my house so I’d get them out and work on them. A few times I even took them to the city park to work out in the fresh air. People probably thought we were weird for doing that, but I loved it. It was different than being in a wrestling room.”
       
      Last year’s trip to the state meet motivated Dull to get back this season.
       
      “Going to state was the best experience I’ve ever had with wrestling,” Dull said. “There isn’t anything comparable to it in Indiana. I am definitely not satisfied though. I want first. After doing what I did last year, I know I can shoot for the top now.”
       
      Coach Frisz is also hoping to get back to state – and for the first time in his 27-year coaching career, he’d like to get a wrestler under the lights.
      “I haven’t had a state champion,” Frisz said. “I hope to find out what it’s like. I go to state every year and watch the kids under the lights. Having that feature match, around that big crowd is amazing. It would be a dream come true for Tomas, and for me and our program. It certainly would be a special moment.”
       
      Dull fell in love with wrestling when his dad, Larry, took him to a match between Terre Haute North and Terre Haute South when he was five years old. Larry had wrestled for Jay County in the 80s where he injured his knee and had to miss his senior season. His workout partner, Larry Brown, finished third in 1988 at heavyweight.
       
      Thomas has dedicated countless hours to the sport of wrestling. His hard work has been an inspiration to his teammates.
       
      “Thomas is a real leader,” Frisz said. “He has great leadership abilities. Kids gravitate to him. He picks up a room. His personality is infectious and it brings a room to life and makes practices as fun as they can be.”

      2388

      #MondayMatness: Curtis and Laughlin lead tough Yorktown team

      By STEVE KRAH
      stvkrh905@gmail.com
      Yorktown won its third Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association State Duals Class 2A title in five years two days before Christmas in Fort Wayne.
      Among those leading the Tigers were senior Brad Laughlin and sophomore Brayden Curtis.
      Both are ranked No. 1 as individuals — Laughlin at 160 and Curtis at 106. Curtis competed at 113 for Tigers coach Trent McCormick at the IHSWCA State Duals.
      Laughlin’s career mat resume includes three trips to the IHSAA State Finals — he was a qualifier at 120 as a freshman, fifth-place finisher at 138 as a sophomore and took third place at 145 as a junior.
      Curtis wound up seventh among 106-pounders at the 2016 State Finals.
      McCormick, who is in his 29th season at Yorktown with more than 500 dual victories, 92 state qualifiers, 50 state placers and three state champions (heavyweight Ross Janney in 2010, 138-pounder Devon Jackson in 2012 and 160-pounder Rhett Hiestand in 2014), explains what makes Laughlin and Curtis special.
      For West Point-bound Laughlin, it’s his willingness to do whatever it takes to get better. He takes very little time away from the mat or weight room during the year.
      “He’s got a great work ethic,” McCormick said of Laughlin. “He’s put a lot of time in during the off-season.”
      Until this year, Laughlin and Cael McCormick (Trent’s son and the fifth-place finisher at 152 at the 2016 IHSAA State Finals) were primary drill partners for about six or seven years.
      “They sharpened each other’s edge in the practice room,” Trent McCormick said.
      Laughlin is a student of the sport and studies FloWrestling video of himself and others and incorporates it into his system.
      And this Tiger likes to pounce.
      “I love to attack,” Laughlin said. “I think that’s one of my strongest suits. I attack, get takedowns and put points up on the board.”
      Laughlin, who placed fourth in the Super 32 Challenge in Greensboro, N.C., in October, signed to wrestle at Army — fittingly — on Veterans Day.
      He chose West Point because he likes the idea of fighting with “boots on the ground.”
      “On the ground with a rifle, that’s something that appealed to me,” Laughlin, a Yorktown team captain, said.
      Having Army wrestling in his future has benefitted his high school team and his senior season.
      “He knows he’s wrestling at the next level,” Trent McCormick said. “He’s shifted his training to more of a collegiate style. That helps him now, whether it’s being aggressive or proper positioning and those kinds of things.”
      McCormick enjoyed wrestling success himself at Delta High School (at 185, he placed fourth at the State Finals as a junior for team state champions in 1985 and first as a senior to team state runners-up in 1986; he went 35-1 that final prep season) and remembers what teammate David Palmer (state champ at 167 in 1981 and 177 in 1982) always used to say: “You can either hate drilling or hate losing.”
      Yorktown practices are drill-heavy and McCormick sees Brayden Curtis as someone who’s benefitted from hard work and daily challenges from teammates.
      “You have to have good drill partners if you want to be good,” McCormick said. “Everyday he’s wrestling Josh Stepehson. Zachary Todd and sometimes his own brother (junior Xavier Curtis), Brayden will wrestle anyone in the room if you ask him to. He just wants to get better everyday.”
      Brayden has been using his older brother as a wrestling role model for years.
      “It started in eighth grade,” Brayden Curtis said. “I saw my brother have success and I just wanted to be great like him.
      “He’s a real good counter to me because he’s tall and lanky and I’m very short and stocky. I have a little bit of quickness.”
      While being ranked No. 1 might be flattering, Curtis. Laughlin and McCormick are quick not to place too much stock in it.
      “It’s not something I’m too concerned about,” Laughlin said. “I just want to go out there and compete. Rankings are made for the fans.”
      “At the end of the day, it’s just a ranking. I just want to improve from last year when I got seventh (at the IHSAA State Finals),” Brayden Curtis said. “I just want to be satisfied with what I do.”
      Getting people talking about the sport is never a bad thing, but there’s more to it than that.
      “It’s always nice to see your name in lights, a little recognition for the work you’ve put in,” McCormick said. “(Being ranked) doesn’t mean anything when you step on the mat. You’ve got to take care of business.”
      But Yorktown wrestling, which was IHSAA state runners-up in 2010 and 2013 and third in 2014, is not only about the business of wrestling.
      McCormick and his coaching staff wants their young Tigers to go on to be productive members of society.
      “We try to use wrestling to instill life skills into our kids,” McCormick said. “We talk about these things all the time — say please and thank you, don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty, do good things in life. don’t always make the easy choice, make the right choice. It’s all those things that kids need to hear these days.”

      2395

      #WrestlingWednesday: Penola makes his mark after impressive Al Smith

      By JEREMY HINES
      Thehines7@gmail.com
       
      Two years ago Thomas Penola didn’t crack Zionsville’s varsity lineup. Last year he had a mediocre season, going 24-13. A week ago he entered the prestigious Al Smith Classic as an unranked, unseeded junior competing in arguably the toughest weight class in the tournament.
       
      Now, just a week later, Penola’s career has taken a drastic turn. He won the Al Smith at 170 pounds, beating four ranked wrestlers in the process. When the new state rankings came out this week, Penola had one of the biggest jumps in the ranking’s history. He went from not being in the top 16, to his current rank of No. 3.
       
      “I was really surprised when I saw the rankings,” Penola said. “I didn’t know what to expect. I had beaten some good guys at the Al Smith, but I generally don’t even look at rankings. I just listen to my coaches and go out and wrestle.”
       
      Penola’s coaches are perhaps the ones surprised the least about his sudden rise into the state’s wrestling spotlight.
       
      “Thomas has had a great year,” Zionsville coach Jared Williams said. “We knew going into the Al Smith, with the competition that was going to be there at that weight, that we’d have a chance to see where he stood. I thought he could win it. I really thought that, going in, he’s there with anyone.”
       
      Penola knocked off No. 16 ranked Jordan Rader (14-2) in the opening round of the Al Smith. He later defeated Mike Edwards (10-5), No. 10 ranked Jared Swank (19-2), No. 9 ranked Tavonte Malone (24-1) and No. 5-ranked Zack Fattore (15-2) to win the championship.
       
      Penola is currently 20-1 on the season. Both he, and his coaches, point to his vigorous off-season training as the reason for his success this season.
       
      “For me, the biggest difference was that I stopped playing football and focused on wrestling,” Penola said. “The coaches I have been working with are great. They helped me focus on working on my feet. I went to camps, I worked out at CIA. I got to wrestle some guys that have really pushed me. Before this summer my weakness was wrestling on my feet. Now, I’d say, it’s my biggest strength.”
       
      Coach Williams credits Penola’s work ethic and desire for the turnaround.
       
      “I really thought last year that he would make a big jump,” Williams said. “I don’t think quitting football really had anything to do with it other than he came into our season healthy. He had one of his knees worked on last year and missed all of freestyle and folkstyle season. He felt behind and really wanted to focus on wrestling during the fall. I wouldn’t encourage anyone to stop playing football. If you want to make a big jump, it can happen in the spring and summer.
       
      “Thomas is hyper focused, and that’s why he is where he is today.”
       
      This year Penola’s goal is to place high at the state meet. He acknowledged that it won’t come easy. He is focusing on each match he wrestles and knows he can’t get to the point where he overlooks anyone.
       
      “I see what happens with him in the room,” Williams said. “I can feel it when I wrestle with him. He’s up there with anyone. He has that state-placing potential. But we’ve talked, and he has a lot of things that have to improve for him to be in a state title conversation. But he’s going the things he needs to do.
       
      “He’s as coachable as any person I’ve ever had. He takes in everything we, as a coaching staff, tell him. If we say we need something to happen, he’ll do everything in his power to make it happen. He does everything right, from nutrition, to rest to working hard in the weight room. He’s a leader for our team. And, the reason he loves wrestling is because he knows it’s a sport that rewards those that work the hardest.”
       
      Penola also credits having teammates that push him in the room as a reason for his success.
       
      “Guys like Sam Gobeyn, Matt Wertz and Josue Hill all have the same mind set and are improving because of their work and the way they push each other,” Williams said.
       
      Outside of wrestling Penola loves to hang out with his family, which includes two sisters and five brothers. He enjoys watching football and wrestling. And, he says, he loves eating when it isn’t wrestling season.

      2245 1

      #MondayMatness: Lowell 126-pounder Cummings latest 'face of the program'

      By STEVE KRAH
      stvkrh905@gmail.com
      Tested regularly by the best from the Calumet Region and the state, Colton Cummings has become Lowell High School wrestling’s latest “face of the program.”
      Cummings has gotten plenty of attention as a two-time IHSAA state champion (at 106 pounds as a sophomore in 2015 and 113 as a junior in 2016) and three-time State Finals performer (he was a qualifier at 106 as a freshman in 2014).
      “I’m a fighter,” Cummings said. “I’ll just keep coming at you no matter what. I’ve been taught that if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best.”
      He knows that he came into the 2016-17 season with the proverbial target on his back and he does not back down from that.
      “If you’re on top, you’ve always got to have a target,” Cummings said. “If you don’t have a target, you’re not doing your job correctly.”
      His off-season training included sessions with CIA and Region wrestling academies.
      “You’ve got to put in the work,” Cummings said. “The Region’s pretty solid.”
      Now a 126-pounder and a verbal commit to West Point, Cummings spent the early portions of this season ranked No. 1 in Indiana. Among his wins are a pin of Prairie Heights senior Riley Rasler and a decision against Bellmont senior Jon Becker.
      Cummings dropped to No. 3 after losing 4-2 to Columbus East junior Graham Rooks in the finals of Mishawaka’s Al Smith Classic. Cummings was trying to become the fourth four-time Al Smith champion in 40 years after 2016 Lowell graduate Drew Hughes became the third four-time winner a year ago.
      Hughes, now a Michigan State University, was a four-time state placer for the Lowell Red Devils (second at 120 in 2013, fifth at 138 in 2014, first at 160 in 2015 and first at 170 in 2016).
      “We have been very, very fortunate in our program for the last five years now to have Hughes come through and have Colton come through,” Lowell head coach Bobby Howard said. “I talk to the kids all the time about how much they need to take advantage of that. They get to be around him everyday and watch how he practices, watch how he goes about his business at tournaments. That’s huge.”
      Wanting to get the most out of his wrestlers, Howard aims for them to peak at the right time. As the postseason approaches, Lowell workouts are intense but short. The focus is placed on rest, recovery and nutrition.
      “I’ve been fortunate enough the last couple years to hit the peak at a good time,” Howard said. “I don’t know if there’s some luck involved, but we’re going to continue doing what we have been doing.”
      Howard, who enjoyed plenty of mat success himself (winning three national titles by age 8, two Al Smith Classic crowns, placing fifth at senior nationals and finishing fifth at 112 and first at 119 in the IHSAA State Finals for Lowell in 1999 and 2000), said with hard work and following the instruction of the coaching staff, his up-and-coming Red Devils could be the next Hughes or Cummings.
      “That’s the carrot we dangle,” Howard, a coach for 11 years, said. “That’s what we tell them, ‘who’s going to be next?’ ‘Who’s going to be the next face of this program?
      “Right now it’s Colton.”
      Cummings is sure someone is up for the challenge. Perhaps sophomore Andres Moreno or freshman Shawn Hollis or a non-ranked Red Devil?
      “We have a great team this year,” Cummings said. “We have plenty of people who could come up and take Drew and my spot easily.”
      Like many wrestlers, Cummings came to the sport as a young kid.
      It didn’t go that smoothly for him.
      “I was so small I wrestled up like five weight classes and I was getting creamed,” Cummings said. “I said, ‘I’m done.’ I got talked back into it in sixth grade. I’ve been going from there.”
      What makes Cummings so good?
      “He’s just an all-around tough kid,” Howard said. “When he was younger he wrestled with older kids. They didn’t take it easy on him.
      “He’s got a motor that very few people can keep up with.”
      Cummings regularly works out with assistant coach Cameryn Brady, a two-time Division II All-American at the University of Indianapolis. Brady is about 40 pounds heavier than Cummings.
      Growing up in the woods around Lowell, Cummings said he would like to study biology and environmental science in college. It looks like he will be doing that on the “Banks of the Hudson” in New York at the United States Military Academy (West Point).
      “It’s one of the more prestigious schools in the country,” Cummings said. “It’s kind of an honor to go there.”

      2354 2

      #WrestlingWednesday: Alec White embraces changes

      By JEREMY HINES
      Thehines7@gmail.com
       
      A lot has changed in the wrestling room at New Palestine High School over the course of a year. The Dragons have a new coach and a lot younger team. But one thing remains the same – Alec White is still a hammer in the New Pal lineup.
       
      White, a senior, is a three-time state qualifier. He placed fourth as a freshman at 106 pounds. As a sophomore he qualified for state at 113 pounds and then returned as a junior in the same weight class and took sixth. This year White is the No. 5-ranked grappler at 126.
       
      “Alec is just cool,” first-year New Palestine wrestling coach Alex Johns said. “If I were to describe him, that’s the first thing you notice. He’s cool. This year he has taken a different approach. He’s very intelligent and he has a game plan for each match. He’s more laid back this year than he has been in the past. He’s enjoying the ride instead of worrying about the results.”
       
      Last season New Palestine was loaded with talent. At the top of that list was Chad Red Jr., who finished his high school career as one of the most decorated wrestlers in Indiana history. Red was undefeated in high school, winning four state titles in the process.
       
      Red wasn’t the only talented senior on last year’s squad. Jared Timberman was ranked in the top three most of the year at 145 pounds. Cameron Diep and Eugene Starks were also very good wrestlers for the Dragons.
       
      In addition to losing those quality seniors, coach Chad Red Sr., also resigned at the end of the season.
       
      This year New Palestine has a young lineup and a first-year coach.
       
      “Last year we always expected to win, team-wise” White said. “This year we’re looking at it as a long process. Each and every person on the team has to trust the process and continue to get better. Obviously we have individual goals as well. Mine are set very high. Other people on the team have different goals that are attainable.”
       
      Coach Johns is enjoying his first season at the helm of the Dragons. He wrestled for the University of Indianapolis and was later a graduate assistant there. He hopes to instill some of the core values of a college wrestler into his high school team.
       
      “We are young and inexperienced this year,” Johns said. “But the future looks bright for us for the next several years.”
       
      White was very disappointed with his sixth-place finish last season. White lost to Warren Central’s Skylour Turner in the Shelbyville sectional final 2-1, but then reversed that decision a week later in regional action, beating Turner 5-3 in the final. White and Turner were on opposite sides of the bracket at the New Castle semistate, but Cathedral’s Jordan Slivka beat Turner 7-3. White then beat Slivka 4-3 to win the semistate championship.
       
      White won his first round at state, but lost the next round 6-2 to Geoffery Davis. Davis then lost to Slivka in the third-fourth place match. White lost to his tourney nemesis, Turner, 3-2 in the fifth and sixth place match.
       
      “I was upset with my finish,” White said. “I thought I had a great opportunity to get under the lights. The draw didn’t matter to me. I felt like I was one of the best in the weight class, but someone beat me. That happens in wrestling. I’ve turned the page. I don’t like focusing on last year. I’m a different wrestler now.
       
      “I’ve been chasing a state title ever since I can remember. That’s been my goal ever since I first saw a state finals when I was about three years old. I saw two kids wrestling under the lights and everyone watching them. I knew someday I wanted that to be me.”
       
      White feels he has improved over the course of the year.
       
      “I’ve improved in every aspect,” he said. “My mental toughness, my wrestling ability and my knowledge has really improved. And I hope I continue to improve. I don’t think I’ve peaked. My best days are certainly ahead of me.”
       
      The Purdue Boilermakers are hoping that is true. White will wrestle for Purdue next season.

      2590

      #MondayMatness: Carroll's Byman setting an example on and off the mat

      By STEVE KRAH
      stvkrh905@gmail.com
       
      Joel Byman is an example for current and future wrestlers at Carroll High School in Fort Wayne.
       
      Not only is the senior 126-pounder a fine grappler for the Tim Sloffer-coached “Super Chargers,” he is ranked No. 1 in a class of about 500 and has been accepted to Harvard University.
       
      Byman has never gotten a B in his life.
       
      “I once got an A-minus,” Byman said. “Calculus is a lot of fun and I enjoy (Advanced Placement) Spanish.”
       
      He looks forward to the rigorous academics of the Ivy League.
       
      “It opens so many doors for the future,” Byman said. “I’ll probably study economics. I want to get a degree I can use to get into another country. My ultimate goal is to be a missionary or pastor overseas.”
       
      While he is not planning to wrestle at Harvard at this point, Byman does not rule out continuing his mat career should it become an option.
       
      When he’s not wrestling or helping a teammate with his studies, Byman might be playing the trumpet in the Carroll jazz band or the piano at church.
       
      Sloffer, who is in his first season as Carroll head coach but involved with the program since his elementary school days, is proud to say that Chargers wrestling is “sending good characters, good men out into the world” and Byman is a prime example.
       
      “He’s a leader in everything he does,” Sloffer said. “He leads by example. He excels in everything that he does.
       
      “I would never bet against him.”
       
      While they all won’t be at the top of their class or go on to Harvard, Sloffer said Byman is leaving a legacy for his younger teammates and future Chargers.
       
      “I think the kids see that,” Sloffer said. “Our juniors (who will be seniors next year) will remember what these seniors did and Joel’s the biggest part of that. We have a group of seniors (including Stone Davidson, Lucas Hook, Jessie Lawson, Tristan Lerch, Tyler McKeever and Travis Sloffer ) which have done a nice job this year.
       
      What does Byman do best on the mat?
       
      “I’m pretty good on top with keeping control, especially in tight matches,” Byman said. “I’ve got to give all the credit to my Savior, Jesus Christ. I wouldn’t be anywhere without Him. Also, my family and my teammates (junior Grant Byman is also a Carroll wrestler), the way they encourage me is just awesome.”
       
      Byman was one of 11 Carroll wrestlers to qualify for the 2016 Fort Wayne Semistate and got better in the off-season at the Disney Duals in Florida.
       
      He’s having a solid senior season for a squad which spent the Christmas holiday break by placing eighth in Class 3A at the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association State Duals in Fort Wayne (up from 12th the year before) and fifth at the 32-team Al Smith Classic in Mishawaka (up from 10th).
       
      “We’ve progressed each year,” Byman said. “We want to take our team to another level and set an example for future years.”
       
      Coach Sloffer agrees with that assessment.
       
      “Things are really starting to look up for us,” Sloffer said of a high school program which is supported by the Carroll Wrestling Club, which includes grapplers from Arcola, Cedar Canyon, Eel River, Hickory Center, Huntertown, Oak View and Perry Hill elementaries as well as Carroll and Maple Creek middle schools plus high schoolers. “It’s just been a big effort from a lot of people, really for generations.
       
      “We’re just trying to make a better program and get the parents involved.”
       
      Carroll, who counts Sloffer, Joe Caprino, Kyle Wood, Logan Lee and Justin Smith on the coaching staff, has earned six straight sectional and four consecutive regional championships and is seeking its first semistate team crown.
       
      Crowds at Fort Wayne’s Memorial Coliseum Expo Center and Mishawaka’s “Cave” impressed Byman.
       
      “It’s crazy to see how many people are supporting wrestling and are excited about it,” Byman said. “It’s awesome.”
       
      Byman said a typical Carroll practice includes plenty of live wrestling.
       
      “That’s really helped us get in shape,” Byman said.
       
      Sloffer said Byman was attracted to wrestling as a Carroll Middle School eighth grader because of the challenge it presented.
       
      “Wrestling is the toughest sport there is,” Sloffer said. “Even if he has a loss, he’s not one you have to worry about. He’s going to come back and get re-focused.
       
      “Wrestling will be a part of who he is.”

      5406 5

      #WrestlingWednesday: Ruberg has overcome more than opponents on the mat

      By JEREMY HINES
      Thehines7@gmail.com
       
      Lawrenceburg’s Jake Ruberg has battled some of Indiana’s best wrestlers, and more often than not has emerged victorious. But Ruberg’s true adversary isn’t an opponent standing across from him on the mat. No, for Ruberg, the demons he has wrestled in his own mind are far more vicious and formidable than any opponent could ever be.
       
      Ruberg emerged on the state scene four years ago. He was a little-known freshman wrestling for a small school a stone’s throw away from the Ohio state line. He won sectional and regional that year and eventually advanced to state. He lost just twice as a freshman, once to eventual champion Tommy Cash 2-1 in semistate, and then to Jacob Covaciu in the first round of state.
       
      Ruberg had sat at the table of the state’s wrestling elite. He developed a taste for that success and became obsessed with getting back there. He stepped on the mat 10 times that sophomore season, and all 10 times he emerged victorious. He was well on his way back to Indiana’s pinnacle – the state finals.
       
      Ruberg injured his shoulder during football, and thought he would be able to wrestle. But wrestling can be a cruel mistress at times. Ruberg realized that his shoulder needed more time to heal, and that he would have to stop wrestling for the remainder of the season. That injury led to a dark time for Ruberg, one where he would eventually be hospitalized because of a deep depression.
       
      “I’ve had to deal with some pretty tough stuff,” Ruberg said. “I became very depressed after my shoulder injury and I was in the hospital for a while. It was at the same time that Shenandoah’s Levi Black committed suicide after dealing with a mental illness. I was shocked to see that another kid was having some of the same issues I was having. I knew I had to come out of it.”
       
      Ruberg made the decision to talk about his issues. He went to therapy. He talked to Levi’s parents and brother (Shenandoah head coach Gary Black). By talking about it, he was starting to get better. He also realized that there might be other kids out there going through similar struggles. So, he made himself available to talk to them.
       
      “I wanted to make sure I was there for people,” Ruberg said. “Nobody should battle that alone. Mental illnesses are tough. I’ve been dealing with them since I was little. It’s something you have to work out. You can’t just fix yourself in a day. You have to have outlets and people you can talk to. My outlet is wrestling and working out. If I’m feeling bad, I go lift or work out on the mat. Everyone has to find their own outlet to get their mind clear.”
       
      Ruberg didn’t advance to state as a junior. He lost in the ticket round to Noah Warren in the New Castle semistate. The loss hurt, but Ruberg has learned to deal with the negative emotions and turn them into a positive.
       
      That was evident this football season. The Tigers advanced to the state championship game, eventually getting second. Ruberg was named the Class 3A Mental Attitude Award winner.
       
      “Jake is a born leader,” Lawrenceburg coach Mark Kirchgassner said. “He’s been a leader on our wrestling team for four years. He’s a leader on the football field. He’s just a leader in everything he does.
       
      “With Jake there have been ups and downs. But he has really taken positive steps. He’s done vigils with people battling depression. He’s taken kids under his wings. He helps people along the process and he’s been very open with it to other kids. It takes a lot of courage for a high school guy to tell people that he battles depression.”
       
      Ruberg is hoping this senior campaign ends with him on the podium at the state meet. He is currently ranked No. 10 at 170 pounds. He has a lost twice this year, once to No. 2-ranked Tanner Webster 3-2, and the other time he was pinned by No. 9-ranked Kameron Fuller.
       
      “My goal is to win state, and I expect to be in the top three at least,” Ruberg said.
       
      Ruberg has the luxury of being in the same room with three other highly skilled wrestlers in the upper weights. Nationally ranked Mason Parris is at 220. Jonah Rolfes (ranked No. 5 in the New Castle semistate) is at 182 pounds and Sam Tibbets is at 195 pounds.
       
      “We are fortunate for a small school to have four guys of that caliber that can battle every day in practice,” Kirchgassner said. “They are really able to push each other.”
       
      Ruberg loves the success his small school has had recently in wrestling.
       
      “People try and tell me how much better the Ohio tournament is,” Ruberg said. “I know they have great wrestlers. But we have a tournament where a school of 600 people gets to compete against a school of 6,000. Your ability really shines. You know you are one of the top 16 when you make it to state. If you win, there is no doubt that you are the best. I do wish we had wrestle backs though.”
       
      After high school Ruberg will wrestle for the University of Indianapolis. He chose Indianapolis because he wanted to remain close to home, and he really liked the coaching staff.
       
      “Their coach is very down to earth,” Ruberg said. “He will talk to you about anything. He’ll check up with you on the weekends and see how you’re doing. I just really like their program.”
       
      Ruberg plans to go into nursing. He had people help him when he was at his lowest point, and now he wants to make a career out of helping others.
       
      “My advice to anyone that might be struggling is to find someone that will listen to you,” Ruberg said. “Find someone you can open up to. Always keep going. There might be bad times, but something greater is always right around the corner.”

      6424 5

      #MondayMatness: Merrillville is more than about creating championships

      By STEVE KRAH
      stvkrh905@gmail.com
       
      Merrillville High School has enjoyed many championships in David Maldonado's 15 years as head wrestling coach.
       
      Since that first season in 2002-03, the Pirates have appeared in the IHSAA Team State Finals three times (2006, 2007 and 2008) and won 12 sectionals, seven regionals and four semistates as a team.
       
      Merrillville has had three top-three places for the Coaches Cup (team score at individual state tournament) on Maldonado's watch with a third in 2005, second in 2006 and third in 2007.
       
      There have been nine individual state title-takers ” junior Wesley English at 145 in 2005, senior Javier Salas at 119 in 2006, senior Dexter Latimore at heavyweight in 2006, senior Jamal Lawrence at 145 in 2007, sophomore Bobby Stevenson at 170 in 2013, junior Jacob Covaciu at 145 in 2015, junior Shawn Streck at heavyweight in 2015, senior Jacob Covaciu at 160 in 2016 and senior Shawn Streck at heavyweight in 2016.
       
      Latimore (heavyweight) and Lawrence (145) were senior national champions in 2006 and 2007, respectively.
       
      Streck (Purdue) and Covaciu (Wisconsin) moved on the college wrestling.
       
      The number of state qualifiers during Maldonado's time at Merrillville is 68.
       
      Including his time at Noll, Maldonado went into the 2016-17 season with a dual-meet record of 301-86, including 261-46 with the Pirates.
       
      But that's not the only way to define success for Maldonado, himself a state champion at 130 as a junior in 1993 and state runner-up at 135 as a senior in 1994 at East Chicago Central.
       
      David Maldonado, a member of the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Fame as an individual (along with brother Billy) and as part of the famed Maldonado family (six of David's uncles and several cousins, sons and nephews have been or are wrestlers), gets as much satisfaction for the relationships built and life lessons taught as the crisply-executed headlocks and underhooks.
       
      For the Merrillville coaching staff, which also features Gene Bierman, Bobby Joe Maldonado, Paul Maldonado, Tim Maldonado, Joe Atria and Tom Kelly, wrestling does not only build character, it reveals it.
       
      We work every match to get better, Maldonado said. That's all the matters. As long as we do that, everything else will take care of itself. The medals, awards stand, all that stuff takes care of itself.
       
      For some kids, it happens sooner. For some kids, it happens later.
       
      Years ago, Maldonado got into the habit of addressing each of his wrestlers immediately after their match.
       
      It could be a high-five, a word of encouragement or a constructive criticism. He wants the wrestler ” and the wrestler's parents ” to know that he cares.
       
      A son to parents born in Mexico who teaches Spanish at Merrillville, Maldonado also builds these relationships in the classroom.
       
      We're all in this together, Maldonado said. Let's communicate. Some coaches and teachers are afraid to call home and talk to parents. I'm not.
       
      Maldonado, who was also a folkstyle senior nationals champion as a high schooler and then placed third twice and second once in the Big 12 Conference while grappling for Iowa State University and placing second at two more freestyle nationals, takes time every week to talk with parents.
       
      It's a lesson he learned from his coach at Iowa State ” Bobby Douglas, a former NCAA champion and Olympian.
       
      Those little things that coaches do to help, Maldonado said. More than anything else, you need to build that relationship with kids. I always feel like we had a successful season because of those relationships and getting better.
       
      It's about being better at everything ” a better athlete, a better wrestler, a better person.
       
      Maldonado knows that teenagers can see right through you if you are not genuine. But show that genuine caring and by season's end, they'll be willing to run through a wall for you.
       
      But the relationships start long high school for many wrestlers. Maldonado is there at kids wrestling club practices and meets and knows them long before they put on a purple singlet for MHS.
       
      Maldonado also tries to enjoy the ride and wants those around him to do the same.
       
      He knows that wrestling season can be a grind and it's easy to get caught up in the heat of the moment.
       
      We need to just be grateful for having the opportunity and cherish it no matter how it turns out, Maldonado said. At the end of the year, there's only going to be one happy kid per weight class or one happy coach.
       
      At the end of the day, you've still got to be able to look at yourself in the mirror.

      3054 2

      #WrestlingWednesday: Jacob Gray focusing on the basics to get to the top

      By JEREMY HINES
      Thehines7@gmail.com
       
      There is an episode of ‘Malcom In the Middle’ where a few teenagers pick on an elderly man and then run away from him. As they run, they taunt the man – knowing they are much younger and faster than he is. The old man is persistent though. He never stops moving forward. Eventually, much to the surprise of the teens, he catches up to them and beats the tar out of them.
       
      Delta’s Jacob Gray is a lot like that old man. He’s not slow, by any means, but he is relentless. He’s always pressing forward. Every time an opponent looks up, Gray’s massive 182 pound frame is right in front of them.
       
      “Jacob is a meat and potatoes kind of wrestler,” Delta coach Gary Schleissman said. “He’s not fancy. He doesn’t do funk. He’s straight forward and relentless. He sticks to the basics, and he does them very well. He wrestles smart and doesn’t waste any movement. He’s always been that way.”
       
      Gray has 141 varsity victories and only 11 losses. As a freshman he lost in the ticket round at semistate. His sophomore year he lost just twice, both in the state finals. He ended up placing sixth that year. Last year Gray went 37-3 and lost Friday night at state.
       
      This season Gray is 28-2. Both of his losses came at the hands of the state’s No. 1-ranked 182 pounder, Nathan Walton. The first time the two wrestled Walton won 5-2. Gray narrowed the gap the next time they squared off – losing by just one point, 1-0.
       
      “Those losses have made me want to work harder,” Gray said. “You just think of how close the matches have been, and how a takedown, a reversal or something could have changed the outcome.”
       
      Gray, who has never been pinned in high school, has made it a point this season to attack more.
       
      “I am pressing the action a lot more,” Gray said. “I started noticing how in harder matches I was getting a little fatigued. Now that I’m trying to put up more points, I’m not getting as tired. I feel like it has helped me get in better shape.”
       
      One of Gray’s physical attributes that has helped him on the mat is his ridiculous hand strength.
       
      “His hand strength is absolutely crazy,” Schleissman said. “When I wrestle around with him in the room, it really hit me how strong his hands were last season. He’d grab a hold of my wrist and – holy crap”
       
      Gray is fueled by competing at a school with a rich wrestling history. Delta is fourth on Indiana’s all-time team state championships list with five. The school, located on the outskirts of Muncie, has had 13 individual champions. The list of individual champs include: Tim Klingensmith (1970), Chris Campbell (1981), Don Heintzelman (1981), Greg Gadbury (1981), David Palmer (1981, 1982), John Ginther (1983, 1984), Ron Riggin (1984), David Locke (1984), Craig Campbell (1985), Trent McCormick (1986), Jeff Tuttle (1987), Craig Locke (1990) and Eric Kerkhof (1994, 1996).
       
      “I want to be one of those guys you think about when you think of Delta wrestling,” Gray said. “Our coaches, teachers and a lot of people in our community talk about how good we were. All of my friends’ dads talk about the glory days. I see the pictures on the wall every day of all of our state champions, and I know I can be our next one.”
       
      Gray got his wrestling start at the Muncie Pal Club. According to coach Schleissman, the Pal Club was a place where “a bunch of rough neck kids would go in and beat the crap out of each other every day.”
       
      Bryce Baumgartner, Sage Coy, Luke Schleissman and Gray were a few of the wrestlers that emerged from the Pal Club.
       
      Despite his success on the mat, Gray isn’t one to brag on himself.
       
      “Jacob is just a great kid,” Schleissman said. “He’s very humble and very quiet. He’s polite and everyone respects him. I have watched him wrestle since he was very young. He’s my go to kid in practice. After this year, I’m really going to miss him.”
       
      After high school he plans to wrestle in college, but has not decided where he wants to go or what he wants to study. Right now he’s focusing on getting to the top rung of the podium at Banker’s Life in February. Jacob wants to go out on top – like all senior wrestlers.

      3292 2

      #MondayMatness: Hobart's Black persists through adversity

      By STEVE KRAH
      stvkrh905@gmail.com
      Brendan Black has learned to deal with adversity during his many years on the mat and it’s made him a better wrestler.
      Now a Hobart High School senior, Black was introduced to the sport at 3.
      In his third season of competition, he made it to the freestyle state finals.
      “I completely got my butt whipped,” Black, the Indiana University verbal commit, said. “It was bad.”
      By third grade, Black placed third at the same tournament and has ascended from there.
      Even the rare setbacks have helped him.
      “Every time I’ve gotten a bad loss, it’s made me want to work harder and get better,” Black said. “When I lost to (Griffith’s) Jeremiah Reitz my sophomore year, I can tell that every time I lost to him, I was back in the gym right after the tournament. I did not take a break. I was so mad at myself.”
      So Black got back at it, drilling his moves, lifting weights and building up his cardiovascular system.
      “As long as I’m getting something in, I feel that is bettering me,” Black said. “As a senior, I’ve gotten a lot stronger and I’ve just been putting in the work. If I lose right now it’s not going to affect me. It’ll show me where I need to put work in.”
      A two-time freestyle state champion, Black said that kind of wrestling has made him better in positioning.
      “(Freestyle) helps me on my feet,” Black said. “I’ve always been a good wrestler on top and bottom. On my feet was my downfall.
      “In freestyle, if you don’t turn them within 10 seconds, they put you right up to your feet.”
      The athlete who has added muscle definition since last winter has already been on the IHSAA State Finals mats three times, placing third at 132 at a junior in 2016, qualifying at 120 as a sophomore in 2015 and finishing eighth at 120 as a freshman in 2014.
      Among his key wins in 2016-17 are a pin of Merrillville junior Griggs and decisions against Bloomington South sophomore Derek Blubaugh and Portage junior Kris Rumph.
      Black went into Mishawaka’s Al Smith Classic ranked No. 1 in Indiana at 138. An injury caused him to forfeit in the semifinals and he was held out of the recent Lake County Tournament at Hanover Central. He is expected to be back for the Brickies in the postseason.
      Hobart head coach Alex Ramos, an Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Famer, sees Black as both tenacious and savvy as a wrestler.
      “He never gives up,” Ramos said. “He goes out there knowing he’s going to be in a six-minute fight and he treats it like that every time.
      “I don’t think he undervalues any opponent. He’s always got his head in the right place.”
      Scrapping in practice each day with teammates and coaches up to 170 pounds, Black has stood up to many mat challenges.
      “Getting beat down does make you better,” Ramos said. “You’ve got to see where your limit is and figure out how to push past it. I think (Brendan) tries that every day.
      “He pushes himself to that limit so he can become a better wrestler, a better person.”
      Black, an honor roll student, is still searching for a college. He wants to pursue a degree in construction management with the goal of owning his own construction company.
      He has served as an apprentice to his uncle and is currently interning on the construction crew at Hobart Middle School.
      “I can’t sit behind a desk all day,” Black said. “I want to work with my hands and out doing something. Construction’s the way to go for me.”
      The current Hobart High team is built from a foundation started in the Hobart Wrestling Club — annually one of the biggest wrestling organization in Indiana — around second or third grade.
      “They figure it out early,” Ramos said. “They don’t come back if they don’t enjoy it. So we find those wrestlers that really love the sport.
      “There’s excitement. We started elementary duals this year.”
      A psychology teacher at Hobart, Ramos believes that he and his assistants should serve as role models for their wrestlers and wants his young athletes to learn life lessons.
      “If I can learn from the classroom and take it out on the mat, I will,” Ramos said. “I can promise you that.”
      Ramos, who takes over the lead roll on the Hobart coaching staff from IHSWCA Hall of Famer Steve Balash, was a two-time state champion (119 in 1999 and 125 in 2000) for the Brickies and held school records for pins (143) and wins (148) at the start of 2016-17. Ramos wrestled two seasons at Purdue University.
      Expectations are always set high at Hobart — higher than the athlete even thinks they can achieve.
      “One thing we always preach in our program that it’s not just about on the mat,” Ramos said. “Wrestling is one of the most transferable sports. What you learn in the room — to never give up, find your breaking point and push past it.”

      2466 3

      #WrestlingWednesday: Sellmer looking to punch his ticket to state

      By JEREMY HINES
      Thehines7@gmail.com
       
      Tristan Sellmer is a wrestling junkie.
       
      When Sellmer isn’t training on the physical aspects of the sport, the Floyd Central junior is learning the mental side. He spends time each day watching film or studying new moves. He is hoping his knowledge of the sport, and his strong work ethic, will help him reach the Indiana High School state finals this season.
       
      “Tristan Sellmer eats and breathes wrestling,” Floyd Central coach Brandon Sisson said. “He loves it. He’s always studying film. He also seeks out the best wrestlers and wants to go against them.”
       
      Sellmer has had a lot of success in his high school career. To date, he is a three-time sectional champion and two-time regional champ. His tournament trail has ended the last two years at the Evansville semistate.
       
      As a freshman Sellmer won regional, but then received an unfortunate draw when Paul Konrath injury defaulted in the Castle regional. Sellmer then had to face Konrath in the first round, and lost 12-2.
       
      Sellmer was close to punching his ticket to state as a sophomore. He won his first round semistate matchup, but then lost a heart breaker to Avon’s Nathan Conley 3-2.
       
      “Not making it to state eats at me every single day,” Sellmer said. “It makes me train more and more. Every chance I get I am training or watching technique videos. I stay occupied completely with wrestling now.”
       
      Sellmer doesn’t play any other sports, and he says he doesn’t have a hobby. Wrestling and his grades are his only passions right now.
       
      This season Sellmer has faced five of the top 15-ranked grapplers in his 138-pound weight class. He’s won all but one of those matches. Sellmer, ranked No. 4 currently, lost to No. 3-ranked Kris Rumph 3-2 in overtime. He has beaten No. 2-ranked Zach Melloh, No. 5-ranked Conley, No. 8-ranked Jake Schoenegge and No. 14-ranked Derek Blubaugh.
       
      Sellmer’s Floyd Central team claimed its 28th sectional title this season. The school has won sectional 28 out of its 49 years in existence. The Highlanders had 13 advance to regional with five sectional champions.
       
      Johnathan Kervin, Devon Stikes, Ty Sorg, Bradley Philpot and Sellmer were the sectional title winners.
       
      “This is one of my more talented teams,” Sisson said. “But they are also one of the most fun and coachable teams I have had. There isn’t any negative energy in the room.”
       
      Sellmer is one of the kids that pushes his teammates to get better. He has put a lot of work in during the offseason. He’s went to several national tournaments and feels that’s really what has helped him get to the level he is wrestling at today.
       
      After high school Selmer would like to wrestle in college and eventually get a degree in accounting. He loves numbers, and they come easy for him he says. Right now he has not decided where he will attend.

      4016 1

      #MondayMatness: Central Noble making presence known as small-school mat program

      By STEVE KRAH
      stvkrh905@gmail.com
      Mighty in achievement if not mighty in size.
      That describes Central Noble High School’s wrestling program. The Cougars went 15-8 in 2016-17 dual meets and earned the school’s first sectional runner-up finish, trailing perennial powerhouse Prairie Heights at Westview while sending 10 to the Goshen Regional, where the squad finished 10th and advanced two to the Feb. 11 Fort Wayne Semistate.
      In December, Central Noble placed eighth in the Indiana High School Wrestling Association Team State Duals. The school was there for the second time in three seasons. If not for a disappointing day at the 2015 sectional, the Cougars might have gone three straight years.
      “(Team State Duals) gives us a chance as smaller schools to showcase ourselves. Getting 10 underclassmen to regional (in 2016-17), we’re in pretty good shape to go back again,” says Central Noble head coach Chuck Fleshman, the 1989 CNHS graduate who has served in various capacities in the program for 27 years (among those he’s coached are current Center Grove head coach Cale Hoover). “We talk about that. I’m an honest coach. We don’t have a state champion on our team. We’re not at that level. But I’ve got a couple who might medal (at the State Finals) if they put that work in.”
      Watching his wrestlers at the high school and junior high at the past few years, Fleshman knew the Cougars could be pretty good.
      “We’ve been seeing this coming,” says Fleshman. “I’ve got a lot of kids that put in the time in the off-season.
      “That’s a positive.”
      Instead of just one or two, about a half dozen wrestlers spent last summer at tournaments and in training. This at a small school where eight of 21 wrestlers are three-sport athletes.
      “It’s hard to focus on wrestling like some of the bigger schools,” says Fleshman, who counts Josh Dull, Randy Handshoe, Jonathan Pearson, Andrew Pyle and Tyler Rimmel as assistant coaches. “I’ve got a good group. They’re buying into what we’re coaching and teaching.”
      It’s all about the discipline to make weight through Thanksgiving and Christmas and beyond and all the grueling workouts in Central Noble’s three-tiered converted cafeteria of a wrestling room that make the Cougars a success inside the circle.
      When you are among the smaller schools on the scene, depth is a rarity.
      Even schools with a considerably higher enrollment than the just over 400 of Central Noble struggles to fill all 14 weight classes.
      While the Cougars did not have a 106-pounder for most of the season, there was plenty of competition in the wrestling room for many other varsity spots.
      “This is first year I’ve ever had 21 kids,” says Fleshman. “Some of these older kids better watch out, they’ve got freshmen there to push them.
      “We’ve got a group of kids who have worked and want to work.”
      Those grapplers include:
      • Sophomore Tanner Schoeff (sectional champion, third at regional and a semistate qualifier at 113).
      • Junior Ray Clay (third in sectional and regional qualifier at 120).
      • Junior Austin Moore (sectional and regional champion and a semistate qualifier at 132).
      • Sophomore Jadon Crisp (sectional runner-up and regional qualifier at 138).
      • Junior Tadd Owen (third in sectional and regional qualifier at 152).
      • Junior Connor Mooney (sectional runner-up and regional qualifier at 160).
      • Freshman Austin McCullough (fourth in sectional and regional qualifier at 170).
      • Junior Jordan Winebrenner (fourth in sectional regional qualifier at 195).
      • Sophomore Levi Leffers (sectional runner-up and regional qualifier at 220).
      • Junior Jesse Sade (fourth in sectional and regional qualifier at 285).
      Sophomore Giran Kunkel might well have been in the mix after going 33-4 as a freshman, but he suffered an ACL injury before the season and did not get to compete.



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