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209 articles in this category
1339#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Confidence grows for Southport's Nathan Smith after an impressive offseason
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
Southport senior Nathan Smith is the sports editor of his school newspaper. With the success he had on the wrestling mat during the offseason, his own name might be the biggest news on his sports section this year.
Smith competed at Virginia Beach, Fargo, Tulsa and various Indiana tournaments. He placed second in the Junior Men’s Freestyle Nationals at Fargo. In Tulsa he went 7-0 in freestyle wrestling and 5-2 in Greco-Roman. He won the USAW Brian Keck Memorial Preseason Nationals in Iowa. He also won the John Hurrle Memorial Invitational in Indianapolis and placed second at the IndianaMat Hoosier Preseason Open.
“Nathan kind of punched some tickets this offseason,” Southport coach Nick Skinner said. “He had not been in a national final yet and he went to Fargo and finished second. That gave him confidence and let him know that he belongs at the top of the podium.”
For Smith, it was the Fargo tournament that really boosted his confidence.
“The finals made me realize I can get to anywhere I want to if I put in the work,” Smith said.
Now Smith is hoping to bring some championships home in the Indiana state tournament. He has never won a title in the state tournament. He is a three-time regional qualifier, a two-time semistate qualifier and last year he placed seventh overall at the state meet.
“I want to win state,” Smith said. “That’s the goal. I also think I’m about 36 wins off of the Southport all-time wins record. That’s something I think would be super nice to get, that all-time record. I have yet to win a county tournament, sectional, regional or semistate title. If I could get a win in all of those my senior year that would be really nice.”
The Southport sectional has had some hammers in the 106-pound class – the only class Smith has competed in during his career.
Perry Meridian’s Alex Cottey won the sectional in Smith’s freshman season. Cotton went on to finish second in the state meet.
In Smith’s sophomore year, Roncalli’s Bryce Lowery won the sectional with Cardinal Ritter’s Joshua Johnson placing second and Smith third. Lowery went on to place fourth at state and Johnson placed seventh.
Last year Smith lost to Perry Meridian’s Toby Billerman in the sectional final. There were only three wrestlers in the sectional bracket, but Billerman went on to place third at state and Smith finished seventh.
Smith isn’t the type of wrestler that is always on the attack. He likes to feel his opponent out and learn from his style, then use the moves he feels will be the most effective.
“I’m definitely a counter wrestler,” Smith said. “I don’t take a million shots right off the rip. As far back as I can remember I have never been one to go and shoot a lot. I like to feel my opponents out for a minute or two and then go from there.”
According to Smith, he was able to make solid improvements this offseason as well.
“I had a habit of sitting the corner, which is a unique defense,” he said. “It won me a lot of matches, but also got me into trouble. I’ve improved with my down blocking and I’ve been working on a more traditional defense.”
After high school Smith hopes to wrestle at the University of Indianapolis and study exercise science. He is considering minoring in journalism as well.
“I love journalism,” he said. “I’ve been on our journal staff for three years now. I was a sportswriter for two years and now I’m the sports editor.”
For fun, Smith mostly enjoys wrestling and hanging out with his dad.
“I just wrestle a bunch for fun,” Smith said. “In the summer, it’s kind of nerdy, but I love to go hang out with my dad (Greg Smith). We do all sorts of things. We watch football, go birding, biking or just walking. I don’t even know if I like things like birding, I think I just really like to be out in nature hanging out with my dad.”
Coach Skinner says that Smith is a leader on and off the mat and a “really fun kid to coach.”
“He’s just a good kid,” Skinner said. “He is intelligent, funny and he takes care of business on the mat and in the classroom. He gets the work done and that rubs off on everyone around him.”
Smith is currently ranked third in the state at 106 pounds.
2323 2#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Cougars read for first taste of Team State
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
Ed Hamant loved everything about the team state tournament. The longtime Greenfield-Central assistant coach never got to see one of his team’s compete in team state. He tragically passed away last year.
Hamant coached the Cougars for 40 years. During that time Greenfield never made it to team state. This year the Cougars were the vote-in team for class 3A.
“For us, getting here has been a long, long time coming,” Greenfield coach Josh Holden said. “The big thing on our mind is that this is something Ed Hamant loved. Ed coached for 40 years at Greenfield. He loved the individual state tournament but the team state really had a special place in his heart. He always dreamed of taking a team to it but never got to. When we were selected to compete a lot of people got really excited because they knew Ed would have loved to see this.”
Greenfield is a bit of a mystery team, according to the rankings and the team state selections. The Cougars are ranked No. 3 in 3A, but they were the last team to get selected to the field in team state.
“We are in an interesting situation,” Holden said. “Are we the eighth best team or are we one of the top three that can go in and make some noise? We have to look at ourselves as one of the top teams. We are excited to be there. We feel blessed and humbled and even honored that people would vote us in and we just want to compete and showcase what we can do.”
The Cougars aren’t one of those squads loaded with ranked wrestlers. In fact, Greenfield has just two individuals ranked at all.
Junior Clay Guenin is ranked No. 3 at 170 pounds. He’s the top ranked grappler at that weight in the New Castle semistate.
“Clay is about 6’4,” Holden said. “Our whole team looks like basketball players. Clay hates to lose. He’s probably the most intense kid in our room. He does basic things on the mat, but he does them very well. He’s so aggressive and hard-nosed that you can’t wear him down. He’s an arm bar kid. He’s old school and he pins almost everyone he goes up against.
“Clay is also a 4.1 student. He’s an all-around great kid. We have an entire group of outstanding men and women on this team.”
The only other ranked grappler on the Cougar squad is Isaiah Holden, the coach’s son. Isaiah, a senior, is ranked No. 18 at 152 pounds.
For Isaiah, wrestling is not his only focus. He is very involved with choir. He’s in show choir. He was the lead in a school musical last year. He also is known around Hancock County as the Greenfield Spider-Man. He dresses up as Spider-Man and performs at birthday parties.
“Isaiah is just one of those special kids that has his hands in a little bit of everything,” coach Holden said. “He’s the best teammate I’ve ever been around. I don’t say that because he’s my son, I just truly believe that. If he had the choice between winning state himself or one of his teammates winning, I am sure he would pick for his teammate to win all day, every day.”
Holden has coached at Greenfield for 20 years and he believes this is the best team Greenfield has had during that span.
“I don’t know what the difference is, exactly,” Holden said. “We’ve had good teams in the past. We only have two ranked wrestlers and I have five freshmen in my lineup. I really thought we would struggle this year. But this is such a fantastic group of wrestlers. They make good decisions and work hard. If you asked my team right now how many of them get up in the morning and make their bed, I would bet 99 percent of them do. Everything they do is the right way.”
Holden also says this is the most fun he’s had coaching.
“I told my kids at the beginning of the season that I don’t know what my future holds, but I want to make this a special year,” Holden said. “And we’re doing that. We’re getting ready for team state for the first time ever. We’re going to the Connersville tournament and we’re hoping to win that. There are all kinds of first that we’re trying to get. This has been the most fun year I’ve had coaching.”
Nobody in the Cougar lineup has ever qualified for state. Two years ago Greenfield advanced seven wrestlers to regional, but a Covid spread caused the school to close down all activities and prohibited the Cougars from competing from that point.
The decision was disappointing to the wrestlers, but it also taught them a lesson.
“We know now that you’re never promised tomorrow,” Holden said. “You can’t look to next year or next week. You have to be ready. You don’t always have as much time as you think. You never know when it will be your last match so you have to go out and treat everyone as if it could be.”
2545 6#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Cowboy up! Edgewood's Cash Turner has a unique off-season training regimen
Photo by David Hughes/ BeltBucklePhotos.com
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
Cash Turner doesn’t get his strength from lifting weights. His muscles are built by moving over 500 hay bales a year, splitting wood and working on his family’s 100-acre farm. He doesn’t get his grip from the gym either – that comes from holding on for dear life while trying to ride a massive bull for as long as possible. And, that fearless attitude those around him say he has – that comes from growing up with a father that was a phenomenal wrestler and then went on to become an all-around champion in the rodeo world.
The Edgewood junior is certainly not your typical wrestler. He’s the Rocky Balboa in Rocky IV vs. the Ivan Drago’s of the world. His training isn’t conventional, but it works.
“Cash is training without training, and he’s doing it a lot,” Edgewood coach Greg Ratliff said. “I remember one time he went to his grandpa’s place in Kentucky instead of going to workouts. I asked him what he did while he was there, and he told us he and his grandpa spent the week just digging post holes. Somehow, I knew he would get more out of that then he ever would by hitting our weight room.”
Turner knows two things well – rodeo and wrestling. When he’s not in wrestling season, he’s working on his rodeo skills. His only break from the rodeo is when he’s wrestling. Coach Ratliff believes the work Turner is putting in on his rodeo is only benefiting him on the mat.
“We talk a lot about multi-sport athletes,” Ratliff said. “There are a lot of crossovers. The will, the drive, and the determination he uses in bull riding carries over to wrestling. There isn’t as much footwork and agility, but all the toughness that comes with it is a big plus. I think, in a day and age where coaches are asked to do more and more and more, and wrestlers are told they need to wrestle every weekend – but the best wrestler in your room is like – I have this going on. It’s refreshing. You can do other things and still get good. As long as they are training in something, that’s going to help make them better wrestlers.”
For Cash, part of the allure of the rodeo is facing fears and overcoming them.
“The hardest thing in my life is probably trying new things,” Turner said. “I was always an avid bull rider, but my dad asked if I would want to try saddle bronc riding and bareback riding – which is basically riding wild horses. I was the most scared I’ve ever been in my life. I was going to get on a giant horse that wants to throw me off. But I did it. I overcame that fear.”
That bravery has helped Cash excel in the rodeo. He qualified for the High School Nationals in Nebraska where each state brings four representatives to compete.
“The rodeo definitely makes me tougher in wrestling,” Turner said. “I know if I can do that, I can probably put a kid my size on his back on the mat.”
Although Turner’s dad, Toby, was a very good bull rider and wrestler. He didn’t want to push those things on Cash.
“Toby placed second in state in wrestling, twice,” Ratliff said. “In the rodeo he was on the PBR circuit and was a National Champion. It’s really cool to watch their interactions with each other in the wrestling room (Toby is an assistant coach). They are both so stubborn, but his dad really didn’t want to push wrestling or rodeo on his son. As it turns out, those are Cash’s biggest passions. Cash just loves them both.”
Turner found success early in his high school wrestling career. He won the Bloomington North sectional at 106 pounds his freshman season. He then went on to claim the regional title at Bloomington South and advanced to state by placing third in the Evansville semistate. In that semistate, Turner had his favorite match in his career up until this point.
“It was the match after my ticket-round win,” Turner said. “I faced a kid that I had never beaten before, and we had wrestled many times – probably around a dozen or so. I just knew this time would be the time. I wrestled how I wrestle and ended up hitting a lat drop on him and scored a few points, then hit another funky move and ended up winning by quite a few points. So far, that was my favorite match. I was getting over an obstacle.”
Coach Ratliff remembers that match well.
“I remember it because the young man he was wrestling’s dad yelled out ‘watch out for the spladle’,” Ratliff said. “I don’t know if Cash heard it or not, but he immediately hit the spladle. He went up five points. That was an exciting match.”
Turner proceeded to place seventh in state that freshman season.
He did not make it back to state as a sophomore. He won sectional and regional for the second time in his young career, but fell short in the ticket round of semistate, losing in the ticket round to Brownsburg’s Brady Isom. Isom went on to place third in state at 126 that season.
“Last year was tough,” Turner said. “I went up from 106 my freshman year to 126 as a sophomore. That was a big jump. I knew people were going to be a little stronger than me. I went as far as I could. The ticket round loss was a tough loss, but he was a really good opponent. I took what I could from it and I’m trying to work this year at getting back to state. That’s my goal.
“I think when you’re a junior you start to get a sense of urgency you didn’t have before. When you’re a freshman and sophomore you look at wrestling and you’re like, I still have three…or two more years. Now you realize it’s coming fast and pretty soon I’ll just be done. I only have one year after this.”
Turner is coming into the season slightly hobbled. He broke his elbow in September riding a bull.
“Funny story about that,” Cash said. “I had a duck hunting trip planned with a few friends. It was going to be a few days after the rodeo. I went to the rodeo and ended up hurting my elbow. I didn’t know I broke it. I finished my events and even won some events. When we went home, I didn’t think much about it, but I put it in a sling and went to school the next day. I couldn’t bend it at all.
“I showed our athletic trainer and he looked at it and said it was definitely broken. I went to the doctor, and they put a cast from my wrist to my elbow. The first thing I told my mom was I had to see if I could shoot a shotgun with one arm. I went out and tried to shoot a few times. It was hard, but I could do it. I went on the hunting trip and even killed a few birds there. It was an interesting experience.”
Going hunting with a broken elbow, while your entire arm is wrapped in a hard plastic cast shows just how stubborn Turner is.
“He’s the kid that is always stubborn,” Ratliff said. “For example – we do a drill in practice where we set it up like it’s an overtime match. First takedown wins. He might get taken down, because his practice partner is really good at takedowns, but Cash will argue and argue about whether something was a takedown or not. He just doesn’t give up. He’s going to keep wrestling from there. The ref has to really think about it. He will tell you ‘That wasn’t a takedown, I still had a hold of his toe’.”
Turner has several plans after high school. He is currently involved in a fire science and fire safety vocational school and would eventually like to be a firefighter. He said he would like to go to college somewhere that has a fire science education program where he can get a degree in that field. He also wants to pursue the rodeo out west, where there are more opportunities in the sport.
For now, however, he’s focused on getting back to the state finals.
“That’s my ultimate goal,” Turner said. “It was great to go as a freshman and I want to get back there.”
2516 5#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Critchfield ready for one last go in Indiana
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
Nathan Critchfield was down – but he sure as heck won’t allow himself to be counted out.
Critchfield wrestles through pain each and every day. He doesn’t complain. It has become a way of life for the Evansville Mater Dei senior.
Critchfield wrestled his first three years of high school in Illinois. His best finish was third in the state meet in 2020. Then he got the news that would ultimately change his life – he had a tumor on his spine.
“My back was hurting all year and moving into freestyle season I got it checked out that May,” Critchfield said. “They just did a physical exam and I kept at it and kept wrestling. Then, in August of 2020 I was still in pain and I got checked out again. They told me I had a tumor on the inside of my spinal cord.”
The news rocked Critchfield. He knew he was going to have to endure a grueling surgery and a long road to recovery. They wouldn’t know if the tumor was cancerous until after the surgery. The diagnosis was devastating – both physically and mentally for Critchfield.
“Hearing about the tumor was shocking, to say the least,” Critchfield said. “It came at a time that was so crucial in my life. I was going into my senior year. That’s an important time in your social life and in your academics. Then hearing that you’re probably not ever going to wrestle again, that was a big hit.”
Critchfield ended up sitting out his entire senior year to deal with his medical issues. He would have graduated in 2021 but will now graduate in 2022.
His first back surgery was a 12-hour ordeal. The next week he ended up getting a MRSA infection in the incision that required another surgery. He wasn’t out of the woods yet. The first surgery had caused his legs to not work properly. That required yet another surgery.
“Between my legs and my back, I couldn’t walk for a few months,” Critchfield said.
Critchfield tried to do a little drilling in wrestling in February, even though he says he wasn’t supposed to. His legs still weren’t working the way they were supposed to work In April he had another surgery to relieve the pressure in both of his legs.
In the end, the tumor was not cancerous. And, although he’s still in pain, it’s something he has learned to live with.
“This whole ordeal has made me a different kind of person,” Critchfield said. “I have really grown in my faith. I get reminded of it all every day when I go to practice. Both of my legs hurt and my back hurts. Wrestling really sucks with the pain – but I love doing it. I put myself through it because I don’t know what else I would do.”
Critchfield doesn’t care if his opponents on the mat know about his bad back, or his issues with his legs.
“People tell me not to let others know I’m hurting,” Critchfield said. “They say to not let your opponents know you’re not feeling your best. I don’t think that would give them an edge on me though. I think it gives me a little edge, actually. They are going to wrestle a guy knowing he’s going to feel like crap and he’s still not scared. They are about to wrestle a guy that has went through hell but is still out there ready to go. That’s got to mess with them more than it does with me.”
Critchfield is currently ranked No. 2 in the state at 220 pounds. He joins a Mater Dei team that is loaded with ranked wrestlers this season.
Mater Dei has two wrestlers currently ranked No. 1 in their weight classes, both are returning state champs in Brody Baumann and Gabe Sollars. Crtichfield is No. 2 at 220. Hunter May is No. 3 at 152 pounds. Isaiah Schaefer is No. 4 at 106. Evan Seng is No. 5 at 113 pounds, Ashton Hayhurst is NO. 8 at 145 and Reed Egli is No. 13 at 120 pounds.
“This is my first year at Mater Dei and it’s been pretty fun,” Critchfield said. “It’s an interesting atmosphere and it’s a lot different than other schools. They put a lot of emphasis on wrestling for your school instead of for yourself. They have built a program and the whole community gets behind it. When you hear about the culture at Mater Dei, you never imagine how it really is until you’re a part of it.”
Mater Dei coach Greg Schaefer is glad to have Critchfield on the squad.
“Nathan is just a genuine, hard-working, hard-nosed kid,” Schaefer said. “He’s one of those guys that will be hard to outwork. He has a great attitude and seems to be extremely grateful doing what he’s doing.”
Schaefer said a lot of the kids in the Mater Dei program don’t even know what all Critchfield has been through.
“You wouldn’t even know that there was anything going on with him,” Schaefer said. “He doesn’t talk about it, and he doesn’t act like there’s any issues. It’s pretty incredible to think about what he’s been through and that he still maintains the attitude and desire to chase after his dream.”
As far as Critchfield’s wrestling abilities, Schaefer describes him as a big guy with the skill set of a little man.
“He’s very skillful,” Schaefer said. “He’s not like some of the guys that are just big bruisers. He’s more technical than most big guys. He wrestles more like a little guy.”
Critchfield has wrestled for Mauer Coughlin since he was very young. He parents used to drive him to the practices over an hour away, three times a week. There he made friends with a lot of the guys on the team and a lot of Indiana wrestlers throughout the state.
This year his goal is to go out on top. He’s seen the Indiana state finals and wants nothing more than to wrestle under the spotlight.
“My No. 1 goal is to win a state title,” Critchfield said. “I like to go as hard as I can and put it on people. I keep the pace up and make people want to quit. I make them tired, and I ride hard. I’m real tough on top – but nobody holds me down either. And I don’t quit. That’s my biggest strength. I will not ever quit.”
1782#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Farmer brothers enjoying success together
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
Kelton Farmer is a massive high school junior. He’s ranked No. 5 in the state at 220 pounds. He’s the tackle on Evansville Memorial’s football team and he bench presses over 300 pounds. Yet, senior Aiden Farmer refers to him as his little brother.
“Kelton is friggin huge,” Aiden said. “He got really big in the offseason. I put a lot of hours in the weight room, and I can tell you, he lifts more than anyone we know, by far. He even missed his own birthday because he was at the gym. We were supposed to eat cake and he didn’t show up and we had to reschedule.”
Kelton said he lifts weights five days a week, for two to three hours a day even during wrestling season.
“Weight lifting is relaxing and it’s a way to push myself,” Kelton said. “I know I make myself better.”
The Farmer brothers are 15 months apart. Aiden is an 18-year-old senior and Kelton is a 17-year-old junior. Both are ranked fifth in their weight classes in wrestling. Aiden wrestles at 170 pounds.
“I let him know, a lot, that I’m bigger than him,” Kelton said. “I think I outgrew him when I was six or seven. That’s when I started getting taller.”
Last year the brothers qualified for the state tournament. The oldest Farmer brother, Jacob, had just missed going to state twice. He lost to Gleason Mappes 4-2 in the ticket round in 2015 and then lost to Gleason again in 2016 in the ticket round 8-7 in an ultimate tie breaker.
“Qualifying for state was really cool for my family,” Aiden said. “My older brother wrestled for Castle and came so close to going. But I think I was more nervous and excited when Kelton won his ticket round match than I was when I won mine.
“I get super excited and anxious for his matches – especially the big ones. I have a lot of faith in him, and I know he’ll do great, but I do get nervous for him.”
The brothers line up next to each other on the defensive line for the Evansville Memorial football team. Aiden was an all-state defensive end on the team this year that reached semistate.
Both would love to either wrestle or play football in college.
On the wrestling mat, Aiden excels in the top position. He uses his length to keep his opponent down and he can get takedowns from multiple angles in the neutral position.
Kelton’s style is to use his brut strength to wear down his opponents.
“They are only a year apart, but they are very different people,” Evansville Memorial coach Larry Mattingly said. “It’s fun to watch how they interact with each other and how they encourage one another. Bot are very unselfish and are great teammates.
“Kelton has a lot of speed and strength, especially for his size. Aiden is very hard to score on. He doesn’t do anything flashy, and his closes are usually pretty close. He’s like a good pitcher. He’s just hard to score on. They are also both very cerebral wrestlers. They understand the sport well. They expect a lot out of each other.”
The Farmer brothers are excited about competing today in the Evansville Mater Dei Holiday Tournament. Both wrestlers will have ranked opponents in their weight classes and it’s a great test for the upcoming state tournament.
“I have Brody Baummann and Codei Khawaja in my class,’ Aiden said. “They are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in the state. Kelton has Nathan Critchfield in his class, and he’s ranked No. 2.”
There are two other Memorial wrestlers ranked in the state this season. Freshman Landon Horning is at No. 12 in the 126-pound class and junior Keegan Williams is No. 14 at 132.
“That tournament is a tough tournament,” Mattingly said. “It’s right there in our back yard and it gives us a chance to go bang heads with the best of them.”
The Farmer brothers both hope to get on the podium this year in the state tournament. Aiden wrote that as a goal going into the season. Last year his goal was to get to state, and he accomplished that. This year he’s upping the ante.
“Their dad, Eric is very involved with them in wrestling and he’s been a big influence on them,” Mattingly said. “But he will tell you that they get their real competitive fire and toughness from their mom, Jessica Parsons. She played college volleyball.”
1944 1 1#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Feeler's ready for one last ride
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
No matter what happens in the next couple of weeks, Brandon and Donnie Feeler are going to end a journey the same way they started it – together.
Donnie Feeler is a senior 106-pounder from Crawford County. Brandon is his father and the only coach he has ever had.
“Our situation is a little unique,” Brandon said. “I’ve coached him since he was five years old. We’ve been on this journey for many, many years. It means a lot to both of us, to say the least.”
Brandon still remembers the day Donnie came home from school, waving a flyer about wrestling around and begging to be able to be part of it.
“Donnie was a big fan of WWF wrestling back then,” Brandon said. “He would constantly watch it on TV. At the time we lived in Scottsburg and he brought home this flyer about wrestling – thinking it was going to be jumping off the ropes like they did in WWF. I explained to him what it was, and he was still really eager to go.”
So, Donnie joined wrestling and Brandon started coaching the sport. Brandon had a background in grappling, but he was learning wrestling at the same time he was teaching it to Donnie.
The two dived headfirst into the sport. Brandon would drive Donnie to tournaments across the country. They would have hours together in the car, in the hotels and in the restaurants. They formed a strong bond through the sport.
“Me and my dad, we’ve had our differences,” Donnie said. “But the sport has really grown us closer. It’s not just me out there. It’s him too. We go through the same emotion and the same stress. It’s not easy being a coach of a son. There are times when I just don’t want to train. But it’s good to have a coach that keeps after me and keeps me going.”
Last year Donnie did something that no other kid in the history of his school has accomplished. He qualified for the state tournament.
“There were a lot of emotions when he won his ticket round match,” Brandon said. “He punched his ticket. That was just a real proud moment.”
Qualifying for state put a new fire in Donnie. He didn’t win his Friday night match, but he started working harder than ever before. He and his dad went to tournament after tournament last summer. They hit the mat hard and pushed like never before. The problem was all that wrestling started to burn Donnie out. He questioned whether he wanted to go on.
“I was just burnt out,” Donnie said. “I was exhausted from the off-season wrestling. I just didn’t want to do it anymore.”
Qualifying for state also came with some high expectations for Donnie. His focus seemed to change, according to his dad.
“To some degree he was wrestling for all the wrong reasons,” Brandon said. “He was trying to be the best wrestler for an audience, not for himself. He contemplated whether he even wanted to wrestle his senior year. He did some soul searching and came back with some confidence. He was ready to unlock his potential.”
Donnie said that renewed vigor came from having some talks with his dad.
“That relationship with my father, and just speaking with him and listening to what he had to say – that really helped me regain my focus,” Donnie said.
This year Donnie is coming off a regional championship. He is Crawford County’s first regional champion, and now he’s a two-time champ. He’s ranked No. 12 at 106 pounds and currently has an unblemished 20-0 record. His goal ultimate goal is to be his school’s first-ever state placer in wrestling.
Crawford County has just a handful of wrestlers on the team. In practice Donnie’s only choice is to go up against guys weighing 120-152. But that’s OK. He embraces the David vs. Goliath philosophy. He likes being the underdog. He likes coming from a small school and wrestling the big programs. He likes being counted out.
“I want to win it all,” Feeler said. “But no matter what happens I’m going to give it my all. If all else fails, we gave it a good run and had a fun four years.”
For Brandon, the next few weeks will mark the end of a journey.
“We started his career together and we’re going to finish it together,” Brandon said. “It’s going to be an emotional time, for sure. But we’ve had a heck of a ride.”
1792 1#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Hamilton Heights is poised to shock the state
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
Hamilton Heights coach Gary Myers doesn’t feel like his wrestling team is getting the respect and state-wide attention they deserve. He’s OK with that.
“I got to tell you, I’d rather not be ranked,” Myers said. “I was ranked No. 1 my whole senior year and that just put a target on my back and wore me out. When these kids aren’t ranked, I don’t even care. They will just go out and prove it. I know I have 10 kids that should be in the mix. Maybe not top 10, but top 15 to 18 for sure. But rankings are just opinions, that’s why everyone wrestles on the mat.”
Myers reminds his squad constantly that nothing will be given to them. He tells the story of his own career, where he finished in the top four at state as a junior. Then, as a senior, he entered semistate undefeated and ranked No. 1, but he lost in the first round.
“There are no guarantees in this sport,” he said. “We had four guys in the ticket round last year. This year we want more but they are going to have to work to get there.
The Huskies have lofty goals this season. They want to win the team state title, send 12 wrestlers to regional and semistate and six or seven to state.
Currently only one Husky wrestler is ranked in the state poll. Senior Evan Tilton is ranked No. 3 at 195. He could possibly wrestle 182 come tournament time.
“Our decision now is what to do with Evan,” Myers said. “I think we’ll let him make his debut at 182. We were going to take him to 170. I asked him if he could win semistate at 182 and he said yes.
“Evan is a funky wrestler. He can be in a bad spot and somehow, he always comes out on top. He’s hard to coach. He doesn’t do anything orthodox. He doesn’t even know where’s going to end up. He just finds ways to win.”
According to Myers, this Husky team is the best he has ever coached. In fact, Myers believes this is the best team in school history.
“We are a solid team at every weight,” Myers said. “We are going to be a problem for anyone. I used to have teams with seven good wrestlers. Teams could move people around against our lineup. You can’t do that now. You have to go heads up with us. Anywhere you move someone you’re going to get a good wrestler.”
Currently the Huskies are ranked No. 6 in Class 2A.
“When I saw that, I thought, this is unbelievable,” Myers said. “Our team is tough. We are going to shock some people. We are going to embarrass a few. We are going in hoping to win team state. I’ll never have this team again. This year we are going all in. The rankings just give us that feeling that we were slighted and we want to prove some people wrong.”
Kendall Moe, a freshman, will be the team’s 106 pounder this year. She was an All-American at Fargo and is ranked No. 5 at that weight in the girls’ state rankings.
Junior Jeylen Pugh will wrestle 126 for the Huskies. Last year Pugh wrestled at 132 pounds. Pugh has 11 siblings, and they have all wrestled for coach Myers. His sister, Zoe, is ranked 7th in the state for female wrestlers.
Isaac Kuhn will be the team’s 132 pounder. Kuhn is one of the team captains along with Tilton.
“People overlook Isaac,” Myers said. “He’s been in the ticket round at semistate two years in a row. He wrestles every offseason. He always shows up. He doesn’t miss practice. He’s very, very quiet. Once and a while you need the hard workers to show the others how to put in the time.”
Junior Alex Furst has been a nice surprise, according to Myers. He will wrestle at 138 this year and is currently 6-0 on the year.
Junior Carson Fettig will wrestle at 145 this season.
“Carson has wrestled against high schoolers since he was in seventh grade,” Myers said. “He would beat them a lot of times. We are hoping for a good season out of him.”
Michael Cain, a sophomore, will either be 152 or 160 this season for the Huskies.
“He’s a very good wrestler and he’s going to be a problem for everyone,” Myers said.
Senior Jimmy Lacey will be the team’s 170 pounder and classmate Josh Brown will wrestle at 220. Brown was a ticket-rounder last year.
Mason Moran will round out the lineup for the Huskies at heavyweight.
Myers wrestled with tenacity when he was younger. In fact, he did pay per view mixed martial arts fights well into his 40s. Through that he earned the nickname Iron Bear.
“My mom gave me the name bear when I was two,” Myers said. “But I wrestled in Russia in 1990 and I had an overtime match against a Soviet champion (Alexandir Markov). I didn’t quit wrestling and the Russian press started calling me the Iron Bear. I almost caused an International incident that day. They called me that because I refused to give up.”
That mentality is something the Hamilton Heights wrestlers will have this year, according to Myers. They won’t give up and they are going to turn some heads.
2340 2 2#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Hot Diggity Dog Elijah Anthony focused on a state medal
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
Elijah Anthony is hoping the fourth time is the charm.
Anthony, a senior wrestler at Frankfort High School, has qualified for state three years in a row. Each time, he’s fallen just short in his Friday night round. He has not placed yet at the state meet.
“He has got to be one of the best state qualifiers that has never placed,” Frankfort coach Steve Cook said. “He has probably had the toughest draw on Friday night, three years in a row. He’s wrestled someone that has placed in the top three of the finals every single year.”
Anthony didn’t have high expectations during his freshman campaign at state. He was wrestling with a broken hand. He drew Mater Dei’s Alec Freeman in the Friday night match. Freeman won 9-1 and went on to place third in the weight class.
“From the get-go I’ve expected to place every year at state,” Anthony said. “My freshman year I had a broken hand, and I knew it would be really tough to place. But my sophomore and junior years I really felt like my coaches took me to a different level, and when I didn’t place it really got in my mind.”
Anthony drew Avon’s Cheaney Schoeff for the Friday night round of state in 2020. It was a close match, with Schoeff escaping with a 7-5 victory. Schoeff then went on to finish second in the weight class.
Last season Anthony drew Brownsburg’s Brady Isom on Friday night. The two battled for six minutes, with Isom emerging with a 1-point victory, 3-2. Isom ended up placing third, and yet again, Anthony went home without placing.
This season Anthony is hoping his fortune starts to change.
“I’ve really tried to focus on all the little things this year,” Anthony said. “I focus on every single match. I work hard in every single practice. I’m just ultra-focused right now.”
Cook can see that focus every day in the Frankfort wrestling room.
“I’ve never met anyone like Elijah,” Cook said. “When he sets his mind to something, he’s going after it. Wrestling is his life.”
Anthony says he’s consumed with wrestling these days.
“All of my time is devoted to wrestling,” he said. “After practice I go help with the middle school team. When I get home, I study film. My whole life is wrestling right now.”
A month ago, Anthony got a scare that he thought might end his wrestling season. He was driving and he lost control of his vehicle. He ended up jumping a curb, knocking down a few trees and coming very close to hitting a telephone pole.
“I seriously had no idea if I was going to wrestle again after that,” Anthony said. “I remember just thinking what if this is the end of my season. I was super nervous about that.”
As it turned out, Anthony did not have any serious injuries from the wreck. He was hoping to wrestle that same weekend, but due to the circumstances he didn’t make weight for that meet. He was back on the mat the next week.
Currently Anthony is 30-0 on the season and ranked No. 6 in the 132-pound class.
Anthony wrestles at the Central Indiana Academy of Wrestling. There, his usual practice partner is the No. 1-ranked grappler in the 132-pound class – Zeke Seltzer.
“I might have to wrestle Zeke in semistate. I really can’t wait to wrestle him.”
Anthony’s wrestling style is like a pit bull that just never stops attacking. He’s aggressive, takes lots of shots and keeps his foot on the gas the entire match. He has learned to stay in better position when attacking as well.
“He’s very aggressive,” Cook said. “He’s non-stop from the whistle. He’s always on the attack, for sure.”
After high school Anthony would like to wrestle in college. He wants to study education and become a high school math teacher. He said his ultimate goal is to coach wrestling.
Anthony started wrestling when he was four but didn’t like it at first. He ended up quitting for a while. He took the sport back up in fourth grade and has been hooked ever since.
“I was in fourth grade and I started going to watch the state finals matches every year,” he said. “I watched Chad Red and Nick Lee, and all those big matches. When I made it there myself, I thought that was the coolest thing. Now, it’s all about business. If I get back to state, I’m there to win it. That’s my mentality.
“I really love wrestling. In this sport there is always something more. You accomplish one goal, and there is another one that comes up. I love that challenge.”
3207 3 5#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Johnson peaking at the right time
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
Brandon Johnson is proof that it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish that counts.
As a freshman 220-pounder, Johnson’s start certainly wasn’t pretty. The Lawrence North grappler entered sectionals with a 4-9 record, with three of his wins coming via forfeits. There were only five wrestlers total in his weight class that year in the Arsenal Tech sectional. Johnson was the only one not to advance to regional. In the two matches he wrestled, he was pinned twice.
Johnson’s miserable first high school season could have broken most athletes. To go on the mat time and time again and to lose almost every match starts to mess with one’s psyche.
Johnson isn’t like some athletes, however. He didn’t put his head down and throw in the towel. He became obsessed with getting better.
“After his freshman year Brandon absolutely worked his tail off,” Lawrence North coach Jacob Aven said. “He went to every tournament possible. He went to CIA. He did ever extra club practice he could.”
That work led to some improvement by his sophomore season. Johnson finished the year with a 17-18 record. He lost in the first round of regional.
As a junior, Johnson has had more success than failure. It’s his first year with a winning record. He placed third in sectional, then followed that up with a third-place finish in the Pendleton Heights regional. For the first time in his career, Johnson qualified for semistate. Going into semistate Johnson was 36-4 on the year and actually climbed his way up to a No. 10 ranking spot.
Then came the greatest weekend of wrestling in Johnson’s career. He shocked many in attendance Saturday by not only qualifying for state, but by winning the New Castle semistate.
“He was just locked in all day,” Aven said. “It’s hard to imagine, thinking back to that freshman year that he would be going into the state tournament as a semistate champion. But he has things you can’t coach. He has heart and he clearly wanted to get better.”
Johnson is proof that in wrestling, hard work can pay off. He dedicated himself to the sport. When he lost, he learned. When he won, he studied what made him successful.
“I’ve practiced a whole lot,” Johnson said. “I’ve went to camps and tournaments. I’ve trained as hard as I can. I’ve always made sure I’ve wrestled kids that are better than me. I’ve wrestled my coaches. It’s been a very difficult journey. The only thing I do is wrestle.”
Johnson’s semistate performance started with a 16-1 technical fall victory over North Vermillion junior Aidan Hinchee. In the ticket round Johnson beat Franklin Central’s Talan Humphrey 17-7.
That set up a semifinal match against No. 4-ranked Austin Hastings of Noblesville. Hastings had already beaten Johnson twice this season – and in convincing fashion. The first meeting Hastings pinned the Wildcat in just 28 seconds. The second time the two wrestled Hastings won by major decision, 14-6.
This time, however, Johnson was different. He was having the tournament of his life and he would not be denied a trip to the championship. Johnson won the match 9-2.
That set up a finals showdown against Mt. Vernon’s Devin Kendrex. Like Hastings, the No. 7-ranked Kendrex had beaten Johnson twice already this season.
“After Brandon qualified for state I told him the job wasn’t over,” Aven said. “I told him that my junior year I qualified for state and then after that I was just happy to be there and I ended up placing fourth. I pulled him aside and said hey, the job’s not finished. If you want to do something at state it’s going to be a lot easier if you go in as a semistate champion. We said to wrestle hard, and to keep moving forward.”
Johnson was ready to finish the job. He did just that. He defeated Kendrex 5-3 to claim the semistate title.
“I think this weekend was a real eye opener to where he can be,” Aven said. “I’m hoping he has a deep run in the tournament and then puts the same work back in next year. We will get to see how great he can really be.”
Johnson’s journey hasn’t been easy. There have been a lot of road blocks in the way. But he didn’t give up and now he has a semistate championship to show for it.
“During practice you have those little moments where you don’t know if you want to go on,” Johnson said. “But you do. You power through. You feel like you want to give up but you just keep going. That’s wrestling. Wrestling has given me that mentality. You truly can accomplish something if you put in the work.”
1586 3#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Leighton Jones wrestling with diabetes
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
“This will only make the ride harder, but don’t let it stop you from reaching your goals.”
Those words have been etched into the mind of Brownsburg junior Leighton Jones since his life took an unexpected twist at a doctor’s office around midnight his sixth-grade year.
That night, as he was coming home from a spring break vacation, he just didn’t feel right. He had spent the whole day sleeping. He felt dehydrated. He went to the bathroom five times in an hour. He knew something was wrong.
His dad, Marshall Jones, had a suspicion what might be going on. He checked his young son’s blood pressure and immediately called his doctor. The doctor met with Leighton at 11 p.m. that same night. He was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.
“I was scared to death,” Leighton said. “I hated needles. I didn’t know what was going to happen. That’s when mom told me that this will only make the ride harder, but don’t let it stop you from reaching your goals. That meant a lot. That has helped me move on and still reach for what I want to accomplish.”
Those words came back to Jones after a devastating defeat in the state meet last year. He had been rolling in the tournament. He pinned his way through sectional, regional and semistate before losing in overtime, one win from the championship match in the state meet.
“I was as down as you could be after that loss,” Jones said. “I went up the huge elevator and coach (Darrick) Snyder was waiting for me. He hugged me and I cried on his shoulders. I never wanted to feel like that again.”
So, like his mom told him – when things get difficult he can’t let that stop him. Jones went out and won the third-place match by an impressive margin, 14-1. And from there he decided he was going to do everything in his power to claim the state title this year for himself, and to help Brownsburg win the team title.
“He’s a one-of-a-kind heavyweight wrestler,” Brownsburg assistant coach Eric Lynn said. “He moves like a little guy. He doesn’t move like a heavyweight. And he’s really motivated right now. From his freshman year until now he’s improved in all aspects of wrestling. He’s well rounded. He wants to learn. He asks questions and he’s always ready to do whatever we ask.”
Jones is a good student, an outstanding football player and a top-tier wrestler. That combination has led him to be one of the most highly recruited athletes in the state. He has already made visits to most of the schools in the Big Ten conference. He is keeping his options open at this point as to where he wants to go and what sport he wants to compete in.
“I joke around about how great it would be to be in Leighton’s shoes,” Snyder said. “He has so much interest from Division 1 football and wrestling schools. It would be cool to be sitting in his shoes with all that interest he’s getting. There aren’t many days that go by that some college coach isn’t wanting to watch him work out or wanting to talk about him.”
Although Jones has had an excellent wrestling career so far, the diabetes has certainly made it a bit more of a challenge. He must constantly monitor his blood sugar levels. He gives himself insulin injections five to six times a day. His coaches help monitor him and his parents are alerted when his levels are off as well.
“If you’re stressed or if you get anxiety, your levels raise,” Jones said. “You go through practice, and you start feeling nauseous and get dizzy. You have to eat a really clean diet. You eat a lot of protein. You have to stay between the numbers, and often times that’s not likely. You take medicine if you get too low and feel light-headed. The medicine has side effects, too.”
This year Jones has learned to keep his diabetes in a more controllable state – which has helped him in practice and in matches.
“He has had to fight through some really tough times with diabetes,” Lynn said. “He does really well with it now.”
Brownsburg is an absolutely loaded team this year. The Bulldogs have 12 wrestlers ranked in the top 20 of the state, 11 in the top 10 and eight in the top five. Freshman Jake Hockaday, senior Logan Miller and Jones are ranked No. 1 in their respective weight classes. Sophomore Brady Ison is ranked No. 2 at 132 with classmates Preston Haines ranked No. 3 at 113 and Gavin Garcia No. 4 at 138.
“This is a fun year for Indiana wrestling,” Snyder said. “We have three teams ranked in the top 25 in the country – and then you throw in Center Grove, who should be ranked. Our goal is to win a dual state title and an IHSAA state title.”
Jones has taken on a leadership role on the team and hopes his influence can be beneficial toward the lofty team goals.
“Leighton is definitely one of my more special heavyweights I’ve ever coached,” Lynn said. “He’s a motivated kid. He is really driven this year and it’s helping everyone in the program.”
3018 1 3#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Luke x2 lead the Bears into the post season
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
It would be hard to find anyone as similar as a pair of Evansville Central seniors. They have so much in common that they even share a first name.
The duo are both excellent students. They are wrestling practice partners. They are both looking to punch their ticket to state for the first time. Both of their dads are wrestling coaches. And, coincidentally, they are both named Luke.
Luke Robards and Luke Kemper have been captains of the Bear wrestling team for three seasons. Robards is 29-2 this season and is currently ranked No. 12 at 145 pounds. Kemper is 28-2 and is ranked No. 5 at 160 pounds.
“The team refers to Luke Kemper as Luke and Luke Robards as Robards,” Evansville Central head coach Brandon Robards (Luke’s dad) said. “It’s Luke, and it’s Robards. But it got a little more confusing this year because my younger sound Beau is on the team too. We told him, dude, you’re Beau, not Robards.”
The two have been practice partners since elementary school. It’s a relationship that has helped the grapplers tremendously.
“They have been practice partners since fourth grade,” Robards said. “They battle every day in practice. They push each other to be their best and they are also each other’s biggest fans. It’s been fun to see them really beat up on each other in the room and then be each other’s biggest cheerleader in the matches.”
The Lukes are similar in many things, but their wrestling styles are quite different.
“Robards wrestles like a little fly,” Kemper said. “I don’t mean that in a mean way. He just buzzes around from side to side and then as quick as he can he gets a leg and he’s driving you to the mat.”
Kemper has a more direct style of attack.
“He’s the polar opposite of me,” the younger Robards said. “He moves forward all the time with his hands up. It’s like wrestling a complete opposite of my style.”
According to coach Robards, the two have different mentalities as well.
“Luke Robards is really focused,” the coach said. “He can be intense in the wrestling room. Luke Kemper is pretty layed back. He’s very coachable and he’s a lot of fun to have in the room.”
Kemper’s dad, Jason, is one of the assistant coaches on the squad. Jason went to state as a wrestler and his other sons, Matt and Isaiah were also state qualifiers.
“Winning a state title has always been my goal,” Kemper said. “Both of my brothers and my dad went to state. I would sit in my room and imagine myself winning a title.”
Kemper had a setback his sophomore year. After just a few matches that season, he tore his ACL. He tried to wrestle through the pain for the next few meets, but soon realized he needed to take time to recover. He didn’t wrestle again that season.
“The recovery was long and rough,” Kemper said. “There was a lot of food involved. I got up to about 185 pounds and that doesn’t bode well on a 5-7 guy.”
Now the two wrestlers have their sites set on making the state tournament. When asked how it would feel if one punched their ticket to state but the other didn’t.
“It would be heartbreaking if one of us made it and the other didn’t,” Luke Robards said. “We have been in this together since elementary. We want to finish this together.”
As far as coaching their sons, or being coached by their dads go – the system they have in place has worked out well for all of them.
“It’s been fun coaching my sons,” coach Robards said. “It’s had its challenges. It’s not easy coaching your kids. Jason and I balance it well. We do a good job of knowing when to step in and coach the other guy’s kid. It’s a good balance.”
Luke Robards agrees.
“It’s an interesting dynamic, that’s for sure,” Luke Robards said. “They have been around us our whole lives. They know how we operate, and they get us. They know where we need to improve. And, when we go home, they know when to still talk with us about things or when to back off.”
Both grapplers are looking to wrestle in college. They aren’t sure where they want to go yet. Robards wants to study pre-law and Kemper wants to go into exercise science. They know there may come a time in the future where they won’t be wrestling with each other.
“It’s a unique situation because we’ve pushed each other pretty hard since we were babies,” Luke Robards said. “It will be weird, for sure, not having each other as partners in college. I’ll miss him. But, I’m sure we will still wrestle each other in the offseason and still push each other to get better.”
2012 2#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: More than a team, Franklin Central comes together to help each other
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
The Franklin Central wrestling team needed more than a coach. They needed someone to share the enormous burden of grief, someone to cry to, and someone to help them cope with pain no high school kid should ever have to endure. As it turned out, coach Kevin Moore needed the team just as much as they needed him.
“It’s almost like I was meant to come here,” Moore said.
This is Moore’s fifth season at the helm of the Flashes. There have been five deaths in the wrestling family during that span – a statistic that nobody wants to keep.
“We have literally lost a person every year I’ve been here,” Moore said.
Senior Johnny Weisheit’s mother was murdered. Sophomore Gauge Clark’s sister was murdered. Former semistate qualifier Charlie Harp committed suicide in 2018 and just this November senior Ayden Harper died. Harper was one of the team captains and always led the warmups before matches.
While Moore has tried to be there for the wrestlers during their grieving, he faced tragedy of his own. His wife, Mariah, was hit and killed by an impaired driver.
“If it wasn’t for this community, I would have left a long time ago,” Moore said. “I’ve never seen people come together like they have here. When my wife passed, I didn’t have to do laundry, cook, or even pay for the funeral. The community did that for me. It was the same with Ayden – they paid for his funeral as well. Everyone is checking in on me all the time – and I know people are checking in with Ayden’s family and the other guys on this team as well.”
In the midst of tragedy, the team has found solace on the wrestling mat. It’s their escape from reality, if only for a few hours a day.
“Wrestling is tough,” Moore said. “It’s hard. It’s painful. But it gives you something you can control. There are a lot of things happening to these guys that they can’t control – but they can control what happens on the mat. Losing these people that we have lost, it completely sucks. But you can’t live life with those emotions. You have to find a way to move on.”
Each wrestler on the Franklin Central roster is dealing with pain. The tragic journey has made them closer than brothers.
“My teammates, they are my brothers,” junior Aataeveon Jordan said. “We aren’t blood, but we are. We have each other’s back. You mess with one of us, the rest of the lineup has their back even if we’re in the wrong.”
And, the pillar of the team, is coach Moore. He’s their rock – a responsibility he believes is one he must shoulder.
“There are certain people that are meant to handle these types of situations,” Moore said. “There are people that are built for it. Unfortunately, I’ve lost my wife and my kids lost their mother. In an unfortunate circumstance you have to lead by example. A lot of these young men don’t know that it’s OK to cry. They don’t’ know it’s OK to show that they are hurt. It’s OK to show emotion.
“I would never want to say I’m like a father-figure – but we just have a different kind of bond going through all of this. To be effective as a coach, at times I have to be like their dad and at times I have to be like an older brother.
When Mariah was in the hospital, the team was there with the coach almost daily. He had been their rock through their turmoil and then it was their turn to be his.
“They really helped me get through it,” Moore said.
The Flashes are hoping to turn their pain into success on the mat. The goal is to win the school’s first wrestling sectional since 1995. For some of the wrestlers, like Jordan, the individual goal is a state title.
“My goal is to get that blue ring,” he said. “That blue ring has been calling my name.”
Jordan is one of three ranked wrestlers on the Franklin Central team. Jordan is ranked No. 15 at 195 pounds. Last season he placed 8th at 220. Clark is currently ranked No. 17 at 106 pounds and senior Cayden Shelton is No. 17 at 138.
“We also have Ashton Brandon, who didn’t have a chance to finish the season last year, but I think he will surprise a lot of people,” Moore said. “He’s our 132-pound senior. He’s a hands-on, in your face, gritty wrestler. He puts his hands on you for six minutes and he doesn’t wear down. He’s also a big-time leader.”
Moore has helped build the Franklin Central program from when he started.
“There were 13 kids in the room when I started,” he said. “I spent all pre-season recruiting, and that’s what we got. Now we have a middle school room of about 40-50 kids and the high school team started out with about 70. I’m impressed with the culture shift I have seen. I think what these kids have gone through, and persevered is unique and amazing.”
The Flashes only were able to send a few wrestlers to the Marion County tournament because of illness. But, when the team is at full strength, Moore has high hopes. Win or lose, he’s in their corner and they are in his. They’ve been in the valley for a while, and now they are ready to climb out.
“Coach Moore has really been our shoulder to cry on, and we are his,” Jordan said. “I think the one thing we can all take from this is that, on this team, ain’t nobody ever alone. We all have each other.”
2608#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: O'Neill thrives in new role
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
Ike O’Neill spent his first year of high school wrestling competing at the junior varsity level. He wasn’t overly strong or fast and his technique was average. There weren’t any real indicators that O’Neill would be a stellar grappler.
O’Neill may not have had many believers that freshman season, but he would soon change that. O’Neill would prove that wrestling was no different than everything else he did in his life. O’Neill has a worker’s mentality and was willing to do more than anyone else to get the results he wanted.
That attitude has led him to be a stellar student. His grade point average is 4.3. It also led him to become an Eagle Scout. O’Neill has proven time and time again that whatever he sets his mind to, he masters.
“Ike is every wrestling coach’s dream, to be honest,” Westfield coach Phil Smith said. “He is a phenomenal student. He’s an Eagle Scout. He’s a phenomenal leader. He’s one of those kids where everything about him is work ethic and being tough.”
As a sophomore O’Neill cracked the Westfield varsity lineup and eventually qualified for semistate. According to Smith, that’s when they knew that O’Neill could be special.
Last season, as a junior, O’Neill qualified for state. It was a bittersweet moment for the Shamrock. While Ike wrestled on mat 4 in the ticket round of the New Castle semistate his older brother Thadeus was wrestling on mat 3. As Ike was wrestling, he could hear the crowd’s reaction and knew his brother had lost his match. So, when Ike won, it just didn’t feel right. He cared about his brother and knew what he was going through.
Thadeus has been able to push Ike to get better in a lot of things. Mainly because the brothers are insanely competitive with each other. Thadeus was going for his Eagle Scout award, so Ike wanted to try and get his first.
“Thadeus and I were always on the same sports teams growing up,” Ike said. “We did everything together. Naturally we started to compete with each other. If he beat me at wrestling, I wanted to go home and beat him at ping-pong or pool. It has developed into competing in everything.”
On the mat Ike has a toughness that some people might not expect.
“My teammates like to poke a little fun at me,” Ike said. “They say I look unathletic in a singlet. I’ve heard it a lot in high school. My friends say I’m the most unathletic kid to ever qualify for state. I just laugh it off.”
Coach Smith says that a lot of people are surprised by Ike’s physicality and strength.
“From his freshman year, on the surface, we didn’t know what he could do,” Smith said. “But we think every kid is capable if they put in work. With Ike, he didn’t have flashes of pure wrestling technique that really inspired us – but I think we always knew with him, it was a toughness thing.
“He’s not the most flashy guy. But after he wrestled someone, his opponents usually come off the mat shaking their heads and thinking, wow, he’s a lot stronger than I thought.”
Ike’s dad, Terry, was the longtime coach at Westfield. In fact, he was Smith’s high school coach. But Terry never forced Ike into wrestling.
“He always gave us the option to wrestle,” Ike said. “Now, he says that, but if we stopped, I’m not sure how kindly he would have taken it. But he never wanted us to burn out in middle school. He let us control the pace that we developed.”
Currently O’Neill is ranked No. 6 in the 145-pound class. His goal this season is to place at state.
“Where Ike was at and where he is now is amazing,” Smith said. “He’s not the most gifted athlete but he certainly outworks everyone around him and his wrestling technique has really responded. That’s a testament to the kind of kid he is. He’s a no-mess around guy. He’s always there. He’s always trying to improve. He’s been our captain for two years now. He’s found his rhythm and it’s fun to sit back and see how good he can get.”
2666 4#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Owen Valley striving for 2A excellence
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
The Owen Valley High School wrestling team has one main goal – to make the Class 2A Team state tournament. On Sunday the Patriots will find out if they get invited to the tourney.
“Last year getting to team state was our goal,” Patriot coach Steven Spicer said. “Nothing’s changed for this year. We have talked about it all offseason. The guys know what the goal is. They have bought in. If we get in, it will be huge for our program.”
Last season was the first time Owen Valley’s wrestling team was ever ranked in Class 2A. Spicer felt it would come down to a dual meet between the Patriots and Monrovia for the final spot in the team state field. In that dual meet Monrovia won by three points, and got in.
“I would make a case for our team by saying that we haven’t lost to a 2A school this season,” Spicer said. “We are undefeated in our class. Our community is behind us as well. Right now our wrestling ticket gate is higher than our basketball. The team is already very motivated, and if they get in, they will just be on fire.”
Currently the Patriots are 11-2. Their losses come at the hands of Terre Haute South and Cascade.
The heart and soul of the Patriot squad is junior Branson Weaver. He is currently ranked No. 11 at 138 pounds.
“The kid is a mat rat,” Spicer said. “He loves wrestling. He wrestles year around. He went to Fargo. He’s our leader both vocally and by example. He runs our warmups. When he talks, the team listens.
“On the mat Branson is a freak athlete. He’s explosive, strong, fast and incredibly flexible. His wrestling IQ is very high. He’s always wanting to learn and he asks every coach questions, daily.”
Senior Eli Hinshaw is the highest ranked grappler on the Patriot squad. He is currently ranked No. 10 at 220. Coach Spicer said Hinshaw is a quiet leader on the team. Hinshaw was named All-State in football this season.
Sophomore Emery Jackson is ranked No. 18 at 126 pounds and senior Bryce Mills is currently ranked No. 7 in the Evansville semistate at heavyweight.
Hinshaw is the only wrestler on the team with any wrestling experience before Spicer took over the program five years ago.
“Everyone else on the team started after I took over,” Spicer said. “Bryce started wrestling as a freshman. Eli Hinshaw started as an 8th grader. Jackson started in seventh grade.
“But they have all bought into the offseason,” Spicer said. “They are competing against guys that have wrestled their whole lives. We’ve started doing some sort of wrestling year around and we are always looking for opportunities to get on the mat. We are lucky here that the coaches in other sports are all on board. We are a smaller school, and we all know we have to share athletes.”
When Spicer started with the team there were five wrestlers. Now they have 24. This year he talks about how, for the first time, he has flexibility with the lineup and how that makes a big difference in dual meets.
“Last year we were really solid, but there was no room for us to bump anyone around,” Spicer said. “We couldn’t manipulate our lineup. This year it’s been nice to have some freedom with the lineup.”
Individually, the Patriots are hoping to have several wrestlers punch their ticket to state. Spicer believes a few of the guys can compete for a state title.
But right now the goal is to get into team state. That’s the focus.
“The guys deserve it,” Spicer said. “We went to the Midwest Classic. We went to Disney. We competed as a team and we don’t take anyone that’s not on our team. We could have. We could have been a little tougher that way. But we wanted only Owen Valley guys.
“I truly believe that has made us more competitive this year. In reality, with our guys, we can put up points against any team in the state. I feel we can be competitive with anyone. We are not the most experienced team and we know that. But we want to be the better athletes. We want to be in the best shape and we have to be the toughest team out there. We are athletic, we are in great shape and we are tough and I hope we get to prove that at team state.”
1884 4#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Pacers ready to take the next step
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
David Wolf was surprised to learn a few years back that Switzerland County High School even had a wrestling program. Now, in addition to being the Chief of Police in Vevay, the county seat, he’s also the wrestling coach.
His goal with both jobs is to make a difference in his community. He’s certainly doing just that.
Before Wolf, the Pacers had never had a single wrestling sectional champion. This year the team had three. Two of those wrestlers went on to win the school’s first regional championships. Wolf is hoping the success keeps coming.
“It feels awesome to see what these guys are accomplishing,” Wolf said. “I don’t do this to praise myself. I do it for the kids. To see them reach their goal is amazing. We sent six kids to regional this year. We had never had more than two go before. It’s just awesome.”
Wolf’s strategy has been simple. Make the team a family. He coached his own twin sons, who went on to be the first two Pacer wrestlers to ever qualify for semistate. Now three of the four coaches on the staff have kids that wrestle on the team.
“Our number one thing is that we want to create that family culture,” Wolf said. “We want to be positive figures to the team. I want to be a positive influence and we want to look out for each other.”
This season the Pacers have four wrestlers qualify for the Evansville semistate. Freshman Peyton Richards goes in as a regional champ at 120 pounds.
Peyton’s mental mindset is on a whole new level,” Wolf said. “His drive, his will to work, it’s hard to match. I haven’t seen anyone that mentally prepares the way he does. He wakes up at 5:30 every morning and practices in his basement. He leads by example.”
Sophomore Gabe Rose won regional at 138 pounds.
“Game is a little bulldog,” Wolf said. “He is mentally prepared. He is physically prepared. The kid doesn’t like losing and it drives him to do better. He lost to a kid earlier in the season and since then they have wrestled two more times and Gabe won in the first period. He is on a mission.”
Freshman Ethan Rose (Gabe’s brother) finished second in regional to qualify for semistate.
“Ethan is an animal,” Wolf said. “If he ever makes it to 106 pounds he can be a state contender. He walks around at about 96 pounds and eats everything he wants. He has to drink two bottles of water to qualify. He’s outsized, bad, but he’s a fighter.”
Sophomore Dakota Fields placed third at 113 pounds in the Jeffersonville regional.
“Dakota quit wrestling for a few years and just came back this year,” Wolf said. “He didn’t wrestle as a freshman. He came back and has been a huge asset to this team. He’s a hard worker and he’s an all-around great kid.”
Part of the reason for the Pacers’ success is the youth program in the area.
“We are finally getting kids in high school that have come up through our youth programs,” Wolf said. “My assistant coaches started the youth programs and it has helped us tremendously.”
The Pacers are a very young team and Wolf has hopes that in the next couple of years the team can qualify for 1A Team State.
“We don’t lose anybody after this year,” Wolf said. “We are a freshman and sophomore led team.”
The team’s success has not gone unnoticed in the community.
“With this success the recognition is really growing,” Wolf said. “People keep coming up to me in town and they talk about how awesome our team is doing. The community is growing and recognizing our success. More and more people are coming to our home meets.”
Before this year, Switzerland County had never had a winning season in wrestling. They finished this season with a dual meet record of 24-6.
As the Chief of Police, Wolf deals with a lot of problems on a daily basis. In the short time it took to interview for this article multiple people in the community came up asking for his help with things related to his job as a policeman. He tries to handle each issue in a positive manner and be a good influence on the community, just like he does with his team. He learned from the former police chief, James Richards. Richards was the Chief of Police for 16 years. Now he’s an assistant wrestling coach for Wolf.
“We want to be positive figures to these kids,” Wolf said. “I’m excited for these guys. I’m excited for the future of the program. My coaches invest 100 percent in this program. We really think we are going to turn some heads in the next few years.”
3463 1 4#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Prechtel working finish on top
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
Jeb Prechtel was the first Jasper wrestler to call the school’s new coach, Alex Lee last season. He wanted to see who would be teaching him for the next few years.
So, Prechtel gave Lee a call and asked if they could practice together.
“I kind of wanted to see if I could beat up on him,” Prechtel joked.
The coach and the student wrestled that first day and Lee scored a few takedowns on the young grappler. Prechtel wanted to learn how he got those takedowns and how he could stop them in the future.
“He called me that night and was asking what he was doing wrong and what he needed to do better,” Lee said. “He expects to beat everyone. He doesn’t care if you’re the coach or Jordan Burroughs. He expects to win. I knew right then this was a special wrestler. It bothered him that he didn’t know some things and he stayed up trying to figure them out. Once you tell him, you don’t have to tell him again. He’s is a very good learner.
Prechtel is currently ranked No. 3 in the state at 160 pounds. The senior is undefeated at 30-0. And, almost shockingly, he is coming off of his very first sectional championship last week.
Prechtel is almost the poster child for bad tournament luck throughout his career.
In his freshman season he ran into a very talented Gavinn Alstott in the Southridge sectional final. He fell to Alstott and then, for the next two seasons, he lost to eventual state champion J Conway in the sectional finals.
“Winning a sectional actually felt really good,” Prechtel said. “Having J Conway in sectional the last two years has really be a learning experience for me. I have learned how to take losses early in the post season. Now I’m wrestling with a lot more confidence.”
Prechtel has one goal this year – a state title.
“Jeb is determined,” Lee said. “He works tirelessly. I’m fully confident that he will reach his goal. I really expect to see him wrestling under the lights.”
According to Lee, Prechtel is a student of the sport. He soaks up as much wrestling knowledge as he possibly can and he’s a relentless worker.
Despite his work ethic and hunger for wrestling knowledge, Prechtel had a weakness he didn’t know how to overcome. He almost feared close matches.
“I’ve dealt with a lot of mental battles in my wrestling career,” Prechtel said. “I lost in semistate one year by one point. I was always scared of one-point matches. That was something I’ve tried very hard to overcome. It was a mental block with me.”
So Prechtel talked with his coaches in high school and his coaches at Maurer Coughlin Wrestling Club. He desperately sought answers to how he could overcome his mental block with those one-point matches.
“I told them, I just don’t know how to fix this,” Prechtel said. “I’ve lost my two most important matches of my career by a point. I don’t know how to overcome this.
“So they told me that I’m going to have one point matches. They said I have to go out there and just know that I trained harder than the other guy and I worked harder than he did. I have to have the confidence in those close matches that I am the better wrestler and I am going to win.”
So, this year he’s had that mindset in every match he’s wrestled. He said he treats every match as if it’s the state championship.
“Every match I’m zero and zero and I’m wrestling for a championship,” he said. “This year I have a totally different mindset. It started at the end of the offseason. I’m more confident. In my mind, I know I outwork anyone. I can push myself further than I have before.”
Lee knows that the sky is the limit for Prechtel because of the amount of work he is willing to put in.
“He’s been a captain of this team for three years,” Lee said. “He’s an awesome leader. He leads verbally. He leads by example. He works harder than anyone I have ever coached.”
When he’s not wrestling, Prechtel enjoys hunting, fishing and snow skiing. He plans to wrestle in college and study business management, but he is currently undecided on where he will go.
2813 4#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Purdue Polytechnic ready for their first full season
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
After five years of watching others compete in Indiana’s wrestling state tournament, Purdue Polytechnic will finally get its chance to participate.
Polytechnic started six years ago but this is the first year the school is fully sanctioned to compete in the Indiana High School Athletic Association tournaments.
The Techies are hoping to find quick success on the mat this season.
“This year we have some kids that we think will do pretty well in the state tourney,” Polytechnic coach Cory Graham said. “We want to get into team state and eventually work toward a team state title.”
The school has just over 500 students. The wrestling team has 42 grapplers and fills every weight class.
“If you look at most high schools, the kids come from the same location,” Graham said. “Here we have kids traveling from all over the Indianapolis area. We have kids from Greenwood, the west side and all over the city. We are a very diverse school, but we come together and work toward a common goal.”
Although there are a good number of wrestlers on the team, the Techies are very inexperienced on the mats compared to other schools they will compete with.
“We started with 16 kids when we started the program,” Graham said. “We’ve grown every year. I only have a couple of kids that come with some decent experience. We started a middle school program, but we only have six kids that have come up from that.”
Currently the Techies have 22 freshmen and 12 sophomores on the team. They have just four seniors, two male and two female.
“I’m excited about that,” Graham said. “This is a great opportunity for these kids to get experience and learn.”
The only ranked wrestler in the program currently is sophomore Silas Foster. Foster is ranked No. 18 at 138 pounds.
“My personal goal is to get a state title,” Foster said. “I want to wrap up our schools first state championship and then I want to go out and get two more in my junior and senior seasons.”
Foster has gone to the New Castle semistate as a spectator several times. He has witnessed the emotion of the ticket-round matches and the thrill of the champions being crowned.
There are seven female wrestlers on the Techie squad. Seniors Katelynn Hernandez is ranked No. 3 in the girls’ polls at 132 pounds. Her senior classmate, Carmen Castillo, is ranked No. 10 at 182.
“I’ve had three girls that have been runners-up in the girls state tournament,” Graham said. “I’ve had six placers at girls state. We have four kids wrestling in college right now.”
On the boys side, senior 152-pounder Canaan Miller is the team’s leader.
“In the room he’s really vocal and he works well with the young guys,” Graham said. “He has wrestled all four years for us. He’s pretty tough. We bumped him up against Daleville to wrestle the NO. 9-ranked kid at 160 and he wrestled him pretty well. He’ll scrap with anyone in the state.”
Although the wrestlers on the team come from all different parts of the Indy area, they have been able to bond.
“We’re a very positive, upbeat team,” Graham said. “All the kids are super funny. They cool part of this team is that a lot of them played football together and they have like a brotherhood mentality. We are really close. It’s like a family but we can flip the switch when it comes time to practice and compete.”
The Techies are hoping to build on whatever success they have this year, and in the near future they are hoping to become a strong wrestling program with multiple accolades.
“It has been a long process to go through to become sanctioned by the IHSAA,” Graham said. “After fighting the battle for five years, we finally got in. A lot of our kids didn’t understand how the tournament even worked, especially my new kids. They are excited to be a part of this and to learn from it.”
1487#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Ruhlman motivated to be under the lights again
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
Delaney Ruhlman doesn’t let things get to him. That’s part of who he is. So, last year when he lost to Indiana legend-in-the-making, Jesse Mendez in the state championship match, Ruhlman didn’t sulk.
Sure, the loss hurt. It hurt badly. He could have been the first state champion his coach, Mike Runyon had ever had in his 15 years at Bloomington South. But Ruhlman knew he had to pick himself up and go support his older brother, Tristan who was wrestling for the title at 220 pounds.
“I needed to be completely there for him even after I lost,” Delaney said. “I was so excited to watch him wrestle.”
As it turns out, the older Ruhlman dominated the finals. He won the championship in convincing fashion, 10-2. He became Runyon’s first champion. He finished the season 27-0, and his biggest supporter couldn’t have been happier.
“Just knowing my brother and I were going to the finals together was one of the best feelings I’ve ever felt,” Delaney said.
This season Delaney is ranked No. 3 at 152 pounds, behind Crown Point’s Sam Goin and Zionsville freshman Anthony Rinehart.
“At any given day it could be a different result with any of those top four or five guys in the weight class,” Runyon said. “It is a matter of who is on their game coming up through the tournament series. It depends a lot on the draw and that sort of thing. It’s going to be a really interesting year at that weight class.”
Delaney says he is more motivated than ever to get back under the lights.
“Last year, I feel that just motivated me more,” Delaney said. “It made me push myself more. I want to become a state champ this year. I have to keep putting gin the work and my chances will be pretty good as long as I stick to what I need to improve on.”
Runyon describes Delaney as an explosive wrestler, but slightly different than Tristan on the mat.
“Delaney will wait to strike, and when he goes, he goes hard,” Runyon said. “Delaney is explosive, but he picks his spots to be. Tristan was just explosive all the time.”
Delaney is uncertain what he wants to do after high school, but he did go on an official visit to Purdue recently. Tristan wrestles for Purdue. Delaney wants to go into the medical field.
“Delaney is just very laid back,” Runyon said. “he’s a great kid. He handles adversity like nobody’s business. If there is anything that comes up out of the ordinary, he just brushes it off. He does that with losses too. I think he’s upset with himself, but it’s like, hey, let’s just go to the next step and get over this.”
When he’s not wrestling, Delaney enjoys hunting and fishing and working out.
1680 3#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Thornton ready for another trip to state
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
Columbus North junior Justice Thornton is a patient person. In his view, patience is a key to success.
Thornton uses his patience when competing against his family in his favorite board game, Monopoly. He learns what his opponents are trying to do, then he figures out a way to counter their strategy. He’s got a pretty good success rate against his older brother and his two sisters.
But Thornton is not just patient on family game night. He uses the same approach on the wrestling mat where he is a three-time Conference Indiana champion as well as three time sectional and regional champion.
“Monopoly is a game about thinking,” Thornton said. “You have to figure out how you’re going to play. It really correlates to wrestling. In wrestling, you have to figure out what your opponent does and you have to use that against them.”
According to Columbus North coach Matt Joyce, Thornton uses his smarts to be successful on the mat.
“He is extremely competitive, in a good way,” Joyce said. “He really enjoys wrestling. He’s a really smart wrestler. He knows where he can wrestle well. He’s really broadened his technique too as he’s gotten older.”
Thornton agrees.
“There are some wrestlers that are really fast and athletic,” he said. “There are some guys that are just absolute powerhouses. I like to think my strength is in my technique. I’m not the fastest or the strongest, but I win with technique.
Justice qualified for state last year. He did not advance past the Friday night round. This year he’s hoping to change that. He has his sights set on standing on top of the podium.
Last season Justice was wrestling in semistate against Brady Ison. It was a close match. Ison went for a front headlock and it ended up causing Justice to black out for 30 seconds. He then had to injury default to fourth place.
“We had to take Justice to the hospital to get checked out,” Joyce said. “He was OK, but that set him up for a tough Friday night, drawing a No. 1 semistate champ in the first round. This year he’s going out there and trying to take care of business.”
Thornton is one of nine Columbus North wrestlers competing in the Evansville semistate Saturday. Thornton, Cohen Long and Asher Ratliff all enter the competition as regional champions. Thornton is currently 31-1 on the year at 138 pounds. Long, a freshman, is 28-8 at 132 and Ratliff, a sophomore, is ranked No. 9 at 157 with a 35-2 record.
“Asher is the starting quarterback for the football team and just broke the school’s single season take-down record,” Joyce said.
Nolan Riley, Josiah Green, Luke Spurgeon, Evan Saevre, Keller DeSpain and Jose Ramirez will also be competing at the semistate for Columbus North.
Last season Thornton was the lone Bulldog to advance to state.
“I really hope I have some teammates with me this year,” Thornton said. “Asher has a decent draw for semistate. Cohen wrestles a kid he lost to earlier in the season but we’re going to help him prepare for that. Luke is someone I practice with a lot. I hope some of these guys have a great day Saturday.”
As for his own goal, Thornton isn’t satisfied with just making it to state.
“My goal is to win the ticket round on Saturday,” he said. “Then I want to go into that championship match. It will be close, but hopefully I can get my hand raised there. Then I’ll go ahead and win on Friday night of the state finals and then on Saturday I want to be the one standing on top of the podium when it’s all over.”
1784 2 1#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Thrines making this year memorable
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
Brevan and Tylin Thrine know this is it. This is the only chance they will get in high school to wrestle together. The New Castle brothers are hoping to make this a year to remember.
Brevan is a senior and Tylin a freshman. They are the heart and soul of a rejuvenated New Castle team. Both wrestlers just took home championships in the annual Connersville Spartan Classic.
Brevan (145 pounds) won his first two bouts by technical fall before beating Columbus North’s Asher Ratliff 11-2 in the semifinal and cruising to an 8-2 victory over Wester Boone’s Mason Adams in the championship.
Tylin wrestled in the 126 pound class. In the field was undefeated, No. 14-ranked Jesus Aquino-Morales from Union County and No. 7-ranked Griffin Ingalls of Fishers. Ingalls was a state qualifier in the weight class last season.
Tylin, who is ranked No. 12, put on his most dominating performance of the season. He pinned his first two opponents setting up a battle with potential regional opponent Aquino-Moral. Tylin pinned the Patriot junior in just 39 seconds.
That set up a finals match against Ingalls, a senior. Thrine dominated the final, winning 15-7.
“It was pretty cool winning that,” Brevan said. “I heard we might be the first brothers to do it in the same year. Ty wrestled great. He is so naturally athletic. In my head I knew how tough his opponents were but I also knew he could win it.”
The Thrine brothers are quite different with how they approach matches. Brevan tends to get nervous before matches and approaches them all with a strategy in mind.
“Brevan is a great wrestler,” New Castle coach Gary Black said. “He’s a strategist. He’s cautious at times and he’s smart.”
Brevan is 5-4. At 145 pounds he’s constantly facing opponents that have a length advantage on him.
“I really am working at staying more consistent,” Brevan said. “I have to stop taking cross shots. I’m built well. I’m strong enough to compete at 145 but I have to stay physical and fast because of my height.”
Being physical and fast are two of the traits Tylin brings to the table. He’s less cautious than Brevan. He is incredibly athletic and tends to be ultra aggressive on the mat.
“He’s just a freak athlete,” Brevan said of his brother.
“Tylin is super explosive,” Black said. “He’s probably the most athletic wrestler I’ve ever been around. They are both athletic, but Tylin wrestled with no fear at all. He’s not afraid to get after it with anyone.”
The brothers both have a goal this year of placing at state. Last year Brevan qualified for state but lost 12-8 to Center Grove’s Wyatt Kresja in the first round. In his sophomore season Thrine took on Warren Central’s David Pierson in the ticket round of the New Castle semistate. In the first minute Thrine attacked the leg and appeared to get a takedown, but the move was determined to be an illegal slam. Pierson could not continue and therefore was declared the winner. Pierson went on to win the New Castle semistate that day.
“That match broke me a little bit,” Brevan said. “I wasn’t trying to do anything illegal. I had a leg, picked it up and came down and they said he landed before my knee touched. It was hard having my season end that way, but it has helped motivate me.”
Brevan is New Castle’s captain this season. Coach Black said Brevan is the team leader verbally and by example.
“Brevan is just a really great kid,” Black said. “Recently we were at the ECIC tournament and Brevan, on his own, went up to the Jay County coaches and asked if he would be able to wrestle a handicap wrestler they have on the team in an exhibition match. He gave that kid a great memory. I was more impressed with that than I was with anything else he did that day.”
In that tournament Brevan pinned Jay County’s No. 4-ranked Cameron Clark.
Brevan is ranked No. 17 at 138 pounds. He has wrestled 145 all season and is not certain what weight he will compete at come tournament time.
After high school Brevan wants to be a lineman, working on power lines. He has already went to camps and had training for the job.
Tylin doesn’t wrestle year around. He was a state qualifier in middle school in several events in track. He’s a talented football player in the fall and he wrestled in the winter. In the past he has relied on athleticism to help him win his matches. Now that he’s in high school, he’s dedicating more time to the sport and getting better technique.
“I want to place in state all four years,” Tylin said. “I want to keep getting better. It helps that I get to wrestle with Brevan a lot in practice. He’s strong and fast. He’s hard to go against him. You don’t see many people built like him and he presents a lot of challenges for me. So that helps me get better.”
Coach Black believes the brothers will both punch their tickets to state this season.
“I think they will both make it to state,” Black said. “It’s rare for brothers to go there together and they want to make that happen.”
2070 4#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Volz rewriting Eastern Hancock record books
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
Eastern Hancock senior Cameron Volz isn’t looking for attention. But, when you climb the state wrestling rankings, lose by one point to a returning state champion and have the opportunity to do something no other wrestler in his school has accomplished in 22 years, you can’t hide from the spotlight.
Volz was asked if there was anything about him that would be interesting to readers. He thought for a second, then asked his mom.
“Well, you broke the school record for career wins,” his mom said.
But Volz didn’t want to talk about that.
“No mom, not that. I don’t care about that,” he said. “That’s not what I want people to know.”
After thinking for a moment, Volz came up with his answer.
“I really just want people to know that I have a big heart,” he said. “I want to leave a footprint in people’s lives.”
He’s certainly leaving his mark on Royal wrestling. Volz is currently ranked 14th in the 132-pound class. He’s ranked No. 2 in the New Castle semistate. He owns the school record for wins, but he’s not even sure how many he has (somewhere around 140 he estimates). He is also vying to become the first Eastern Hancock wrestler to place in the state tournament since 2002.
“Cameron is a hard worker,” Eastern Hancock coach Sam Pfaff said. “You have to be in order to become the level of wrestler Cameron is. He’s got a great mind set. He’s like a true student of the game. He’s always watching film, learning, and asking questions.”
That studying helped Volz close a gap with New Castle’s Tylin Thrine – the returning state champion and the No. 2 ranked grappler in the weight class. During the regular season Thrine handled Volz, winning 5-1. But in the Centerville sectional final the match was much closer.
Volz scored a first-period takedown in the match. In the end, Thrine prevailed by a single point, 4-3.
“We went into this one with a little bit of a different attitude,” Pfaff said. “We said, you’re the underdog here – you have nothing to lose. Throw everything you have at him. I told him he can’t be afraid, and to let it all fly. We spent all week working in different positions and trying to iron some things out. In the match we got the early takedown, but Tylin in his freakish athletic fashion, got right back to his feet.”
Volz doesn’t believe in moral victories. According to him, he hates losing. But he knows matches like he has had with Thrine can only help him in the future.
“I’m grateful for those opportunities,” Volz said. “Those opportunities make me better and hopefully I make him better as well.”
Volz brings a vast skillset to the mat.
“Cameron is incredibly athletic and very fast,” Pfaff said. “He has incredible technique. He has to wrestle with confidence though. Going back to the Thrine match, he showed he is a better wrestler when he goes out there without fear and doesn’t worry about the end result. When he does that, he’s really, really solid and can hang with just about anyone.”
Cameron’s freshman brother, Bradyn, won the 113-pound weight class in sectional. Cameron loves working with Bradyn on the mat, as well as with the Eastern Hancock youth program.
“I like coaching,” Volz said. “I feel like I’m pretty good at it. I know a lot about wrestling and I try to show that to the younger guys.”
In his personal life, Volz has dealt with a lot of adversity. The adversity isn’t something he wanted to delve into for this article, but Pfaff said it’s something that shaped Volz into who he is today.
“He’s had some personal stuff in his life that he’s had to overcome,” Pfaff said. “That has really figured into the mindset he brings to wrestling. There are some things he’s had to experience in life that have shaped his view. That’s helped him in a way. He’s experienced adversity in his personal life and he’s able to bring that to the mat. When things get tough, he knows how to push through and gut them out.”
The last Eastern Hancock wrestler to place in state was Keith Oliver in 2002.
“I definitely want to change that this year,” Volz said. “But if I can’t, hopefully my brother can. He’s my project and I love seeing him succeed.”
Volz will wrestle Saturday in the Richmond regional.
1752#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Watson and Buchanan lead a young Trojan squad
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
The key to good leadership is making everyone around you better. Center Grove seniors Hayden Watson and Drake Buchanan do just that.
Both Watson and Buchanan seniors. Both are ranked No. 1 in their weight classes. Both finished runner-up last year in the state finals. They also both have worked extremely hard to not only make themselves better, but to make their team one of the elite ones in the state.
Center Grove has a ranked wrestler in all 14 weight classes.
“They have been captains since their sophomore year,” Center Grove coach Maurice Swain said. “They lead by example. They lead by poise. They do everything right on and off the mat. The younger guys really look up to them.”
They are also great listeners.
Buchanan was upset that he didn’t make it to state as a freshman, wrestling 138 pounds. So, he went to his coaches and asked what he needed to do. He was given a bit of unusual advice.
“I think a lot of people expected me to go to state as a freshman, and I did too,” Buchanan said. “I knew I could get down in the dumps and pout that I didn’t make it, or I could figure out how to get better and improve. I asked coach how I could get better. He suggested I make the jump to 182 pounds.”
So, Buchanan started working out. He also ate “a lot”. He wasn’t sure how moving up five weight classes was going to help him, but he trusted his coaches.
“It was kind of fun, actually,” Buchanan said. “I was eating burgers while others were cutting weight. It was a cool thing, and, I had a lot more energy and I was a lot more motivated.”
Swain also wasn’t sure what to think of his advice on the weight gain. Just a couple of matches into Buchanan’s sophomore season, he knew he made the right call.
“We could tell that Drake had a long frame and with his body type he had the potential to be big,” Swain said. “In just a few months after the season he was at 160. He went to Fargo and placed at Cadet 160. Then, after football he was in his mid-170s. We thought, why cut weight when he can lift and get bigger and stronger. We felt that 182 was a weight he could be at for a few years. We were looking at the future and we didn’t think we needed to add extra stress of weight cutting on him.
“I’d say when we saw him in the first few meets at 182 his sophomore year it was a surprise. We didn’t know before that how he would look. When we saw him compete, we were like, yeah, this is going to work.”
Buchanan placed sixth in state as a sophomore and last year was a state runner-up.
“I feel like I’ve really improved my cardio and my hand-fighting,” Buchanan said. “I’ve been able to already wrestle the No. 2 and No. 3 ranked guys in my weight class this year and was able to win. My goal is absolutely to win a state title and I want our team to win a title as well.”
Buchanan defeated No. 2-ranked Orlando Cruz 13-5 and pinned No. 3-ranked De’Alcapon Veazy.
Watson wanted to use the heartache of losing a close match in the state championship to drive him to improve in the offseason. However, a knee injury took away his summer training opportunities. He returned to wrestling one week before the Indiana Hoosier Preseason Open. He still managed to place third in that tournament.
His goal is also to win a state title and he knows to do that he has to become more of an offensive wrestler.
“There is a picture that someone has of me after losing in the spotlight where I’m down on my knees,” Watson said. “That picture means a lot to me. Knowing how I felt in that moment, and how devastated I was after having the lead and losing. I never want to feel that way again.”
Buchanan said Watson is a very technical wrestler.
“Hayden is such a great leader,” Buchanan said. “He’s so technical. If you have any questions about anything technique-wise, he’s got it. Even if he can’t explain it in words, he can show you. He’s been at a high level for longer than I have. We wrestle together a lot in practice and it really helps both of us.”
Watson also takes his leadership role very personal.
“With the team so young, the big thing is the seniors have to be role models,” Watson said. “I feel like I’m responsible for the whole team. I make sure they aren’t doing anything stupid at meets and at practice. I make sure they show up, and if they don’t, I’m calling them to find out where they are. Our younger guys are really good and once Drake and I leave, I can already tell who will be the next leaders. The team is in good hands.”
In addition to Watson and Buchanan, seniors Michael Thorpe and Bryce Crump are also ranked for the Trojans. There are two ranked juniors on the team in Royce Deckard III and Andre Merritt. Center Grove has six ranked sophomores in Charlie Larocca, Noah Clouser, Reese Courtney, Wyatt Kresja, Drew Mills and Nate Johnson. Freshmen Eddie Goss and Julian Weens are also ranked.
“We have a big sophomore, freshman and junior class,” Swain said. “Our future can be bright if we continue to do the things we've been doing. But we also want to enjoy this season and this group. We don’t want to work ahead of ourselves. We want to enjoy the time we have with these seniors. They are a special group.”
Buchanan will wrestle with the Air Force Academy next season and Watson will wrestle for Citadel.
2635#WrestlingWednesday: Alara Boyd Aiming for Gold
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
Alara Boyd firmly believes that she can compete with any female wrestler in the world. That confidence has Boyd, a sophomore at Yorktown High School, setting her sights on winning a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
“I for sure feel I’m there, skill-wise, with anyone in the world,†Boyd said. “I want to be a world champion. But more than that, I want to win the Olympics in 2020. I know what I have to do to get there. I have to keep working. I have to keep practicing and I have to keep improving.â€
The idea of Boyd wrestling in the Olympics is not a far-fetched one by any means. Boyd recently earned a bronze medal at the World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia. Her lone loss came at the hands of Japanese gold medalist Atena Kodama, who tech-falled her opponent in the gold medal match.
“I took a few shots I shouldn’t have taken against Japan,†Boyd said. “They put me on the shot clock and I started to get a little anxious. That really hurt me.â€
Boyd bounced back to win the bronze medal, defeating Canada’s Kirti Saxena 8-1.
“My family and friends were super excited for me,†Boyd said. “When I got back they were all telling me how proud they were of me. I thought I wrestled well, but I want to win the world championships next time.â€
Boyd is a first-year cadet. She has two more years in the division.
Boyd began wrestling when she was 4-years-old. She fell in love with the sport right off. Her dad, Jimmy Boyd, was her coach.
As with most female wrestlers in Indiana, the majority of Boyd’s opponents are boys. Her practice partners are all seasoned veterans. Yorktown’s Christian Hunt, Josh Stephenson and Alex Barr all take turns wrestling Boyd at practice.
Boyd has had success against the guys. Last year, as a freshman, she posted a winning record for the Tigers. She wrestled at 132, 138 and even 145 in some meets.
In 2015 Boyd won the ISWA Freestyle and Greco Roman state championships, wrestling against a field of all male competitors.
“Alara is very, very physical, even by the boys’ standard,†Yorktown assistant coach Kenny O’Brien said. “She’s very strong. She’s fantastic from an underhook. Her physicality is overwhelming at times. She’s extremely good on top in freestyle and she has one of the best leg laces in the world.â€
O’Brien also attributes some of Boyd’s success to her fight. It doesn’t matter who is in front of her, she will fight for the victory.
“Her toughness and her fight are her best attributes,†O’Brien said. “If a girl or a guy hits her, she’s hitting back. She doesn’t back down from anyone. She’ll never back down from anyone. She’ll get right in their face and hit them back if they mess with her.â€
Boyd’s trip to Tblisi, Georgia was her first endeavor outside of the United States.
“Things were a lot different there,†she said. “The people were overall pretty friendly. They live a lot differently than we do here. They don’t have all the luxuries we have, but it was neat to experience their culture. You see what they have went through, and you see all of the hard working people over there. It was neat to experience.â€
Boyd is currently undecided on whether she will wrestle for Yorktown during the high school season or concentrate more on training for the Olympics. She said she will most likely still wrestle for the school.
In addition to be an Olympic hopeful, Boyd also wants to wrestle in college. Although she’s undecided on what she wants to study. Currently she’s leaning toward dentistry.
2356 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.â€
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.â€
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.â€
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.â€
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.â€
The Purdue Boilermakers are hoping that is true. White will wrestle for Purdue next season.
3376 2#WrestlingWednesday: Avon's Band of Brothers leading the way
By JEREMY HINES
thehines7@gmail.com
The Avon wrestling team knows exactly where to look for inspiration as the season winds down and the state tournament draws near. The Orioles look to their own past.
Avon has learned first hand how wild and unpredictable the tournament can be. Wrestlers on the team have proven that it doesn’t matter if you win sectional, or regional. It doesn’t matter if you take some losses during the regular season. What matters most is surviving and advancing.
Avon senior Asa Garcia has epitomized that philosophy in his stellar career.
As a freshman Garcia lost to Ty Mills of rival Brownsburg in the sectional championship. Mills went on to beat him again in the regional, and then handed him a 5-0 loss in the semistate final. At state, however, Garcia was the one standing at the end. Mills lost to Warren Central’s Keyuan Murphy 9-2 in the semifinal round. Garcia pinned Murphy in the state championship to claim his first title.
Garcia had a fantastic sophomore year - winning sectional, regional and semistate, but he fell just short of his goal of back-to-back state titles, losing to eventual champion Alex Viduya in the state semifinal round. Garcia finished third that season.
As a junior Garcia again lost to Mills in sectional (2-0) and regional (5-1). In the semistate Columbus East’s Cayden Rooks handed Mills a semifinal defeat (1-0) and then dealt Garcia a loss in the semistate championship (3-1). But, like his freshman year, Garcia learned from his losses.
In the state finals Garcia ran through an absolute gauntlet of wrestling phenoms. He took out Beech Grove’s Ethan Smiley. He then faced Mills, who had dealt him so many previous losses. This time Garcia came out victorious 8-1.
In the championship, Garcia would once again take on Rooks - who had just beat him the week before. This time Garcia won the match 3-2 to claim his second title.
“Asa is really the heart and soul of our team,” Avon coach Zach Errett said. “As he goes, so does the team. He’s not afraid of losing. That’s really a quality that a lot of our guys have. You have to learn from your losses, and Asa has really shown he can do that.”
This year Avon has seven state-ranked wrestlers in the lineup. Garcia is No. 1 at 132 pounds this season and senior teammate Carson Brewer is ranked No. 1 at 182 pounds.
Asa’s younger brother, Blaze, a freshman, is currently ranked No. 12 at 106 for the Orioles. Sophomore Tyler Conley is ranked No. 10 at 120 and his older brother Nathan Conley (12) is ranked No. 4 at 152.
Junior Raymond Rioux is currently ranked No. 7 at 126. Sophomore Jaden Reynolds rounds out the ranked wrestlers for Avon, at No. 10 in he 138 pound weight class.
“Asa, Nathan and Carson really lead the way for us,” Errett said. “They are great leaders and they work hard. That shows the other kids what’s expected and what needs to be done in order to have success.”
Avon has three sets of brothers on the team in the Garcias, the Conleys and Jaden and Trae Reynolds. Trae, a senior, is injured and will miss the remainder of the season.
“Trae had been ranked for most of the year,” Errett said. “Then at team state he dislocated his elbow and is out for the year. I feel terrible for him. The type of kid he is, he will probably be first team academic all-state. He had either the highest or the second highest GPA in all of the juniors and seniors last year. He’s a phenomenal young man. He’s a hard worker. His senior year ended in the wrong way, but he still comes in the room and helps coach. He’s trying to help his teammates anyway he can. He’s been an awesome kid.”
For the last few years Avon has finished just behind Brownsburg in sectional and regional standings. The Orioles are hoping this year they can pull off the upset.
“Our goal is to win the IHSAA state title,” Errett said. “We know in order to do that we have to have a lot of things go right for us. In this sport, that’s unpredictable. But, we really feel we have a chance if everyone is wrestling their best.”
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