Northeast Hoosier Conference Tournament

Northeast Hoosier Conference Tournament

Teams: Bellmont, Carroll, Columbia City, DeKalb, East Noble, Homestead, New Haven, Norwell

The Northeast Hoosier Conference (NHC) has annually been the best conference in the Northeast quarter of the state. The conference was especially successful last year, sending a total of fifteen wrestlers to the state finals. Bellmont returns two state placers from last year, Will Sheets (4th) at 130 and Tyler Baker (6th) at 152. East Noble returns Taylor March (3rd) at 135. Six different teams took multiple wrestlers to Conseco last year, and the conference looks to continue that history of success in the upcoming weeks.

NHC teams are split up into 4 different sectionals come tournament time. The NHC dominated those four sectionals last year, bringing home four titles and three runner-ups. The only team not to finish 1st or 2nd was Norwell, who was 3 points away from finishing 2nd at the Jay County Sectional to Bellmont.

In the dual portion of the season, Bellmont continued its' dominance in NHC Dual competition. Bellmont came into the season having only lost one dual meet (Nov '06 to Columbia City) since the conference formed in 1989. Bellmont swept through the competition with a 7-0 record. The Braves soundly defeated dual season runner-up Carroll 41-15 in December. BJ Faurote's squad got their toughest match from the Knights of East Noble at 40-23. With Bellmont being the clear favorite to secure their 19th NHC Tournament title in the last 20 years, Coach Faurote added, "I think it will probably be a race between us and Carroll for the top spot. Carroll is solid through most of the weight classes, with 6 guys seeded in one of the top two spots compared to seven for us." Head Coach of the host Norwell Knights John Heller agreed with Faurote, saying, "Carroll is more than likely second best in the conference. It is definitely one of the toughest conferences around." Heller pointed out an especially tough 130 weight class as a good example, "130 is really stacked. You've got a returning state placer (Will Sheets) as a number four seed, and he has been beaten by all three guys in front of him." Along with Bellmont and Carroll, Faurote predicted, "East Noble could be well represented in the final round with March and Krock, but they will really be hurt by losing Waring." Heller confirmed, saying, "East Noble will definitely be down without their 171." Both coaches were referring to #13 ranked Henry Waring from East Noble, who is out for the year because of a knee injury. Faurote and Heller also agreed that the teams finishing 3rd through 7th place in the dual portion of the schedule will be very competitive come Saturday. "Overall, it will be good entertainment and a good day of wrestling," said Heller.

Four wrestlers will be returning champions when they walk onto the mat in Ossian on Saturday. Andy Franklin of Homestead was the champion at 103 last year, Taylor March of East Noble was the champion at 125lbs, while a pair of Bakers from Bellmont, Tyler and Billy, took home titles at 145 and 189 respectively. Bellmont won the tournament with 233.5 points, besting New Haven's 174 points and Homestead's 150.

(All rankings quoted come from Indianamat. com)

103 lbs.

The #1 seed will be (15-2) Logan Ables from Carroll. Ables is currently ranked #8 in the Fort Wayne Semi-State. The #2 seed will be 16-5 Derek Kissinger from Columbia City. Andrew Bowman (HOM), Blake Adams (, and Tyler Miller (D) will also be in the mix for a spot in the finals.

112 lbs.

At 112, returning conference champ Andy Franklin, ranked 8th in the Semi-State, will be the #2 seed to Norwell's Brandon Tucker (21-4). Tucker spent most of the year at 119 before making the drop to 112. Faurote said of Tucker, "He has a good shot at making a run deep into the [state] tournament." Franklin was a match away from a ticket to the state finals, losing to eventual state runner-up Casey Kenney (Jay Co.) in the ticket round at the Coliseum last year. Look for Greg Sexton of DeKalb and Kalib Jackson of East Noble to battle for one of the top spots.

119 lbs.

Tommy Poynter of DeKalb will be the #1 seed at 119 lbs. Poynter won the seed by virtue of his 4-1 victory over promising freshman Brooks Faurote (20-6), son of the Bellmont Hall of Fame head coach.

125 lbs.

The 125 weight class is shaping up to be a battle between two wrestlers with stellar records. Tucker Smith of Homestead will be the #1 seed over (24-3) Tanner Bowman of Dekalb. Carlin Hormann of Bellmont may have something to say about that battle, as he lost a close match with Smith, 8-6, in the dual meet.

130 lbs.

130 promises to be worth the price of admission, even if the only matches you could see were between the top 4 seeds. Will Sheets is a three-time state qualifier, finishing 4th last year in a very good 125 pound class. Despite Sheets' past successes, he is seeded fourth for Saturday. Sheets comes in ranked 4th in the state at 125, where he will presumably drop after this weekend. The top seed will be #8 Brock Norton of Carroll, coming in with an unblemished record of 16-0. Coach Faurote said that he has been very impressed with Norton this year. "Norton has beaten some very quality kids already this year in Sheets and Egolf." Austin Egolf (CC) comes in at 11-1, losing only to Norton. Jimmy LaRowe (EN) will be the #3 seed after splitting matches with Sheets this year.

135 lbs.

#3 Taylor March (EN) will enter his fourth and final NHC conference tournament looking for his 4th conference championship. March has finished 2nd, 2nd, and 3rd at the state tournament the last three years and looks to be one of the favorites to stand at the top of the podium this year at Conseco. He will most definitely go down as one of the all-time NHC greats. Taylor has compiled an astounding 144-11 career record at East Noble. The #2 seed will be Nate Bloomfield (19-6) of New Haven. Look for Cody Ward (#5 in the SS) to challenge for a top spot.

140 lbs.

Bryce Krock (EN) will be the #1 seed at 140. Krock comes into the tournament with a record of 17-3. Reece Lefever of Carroll will be the #2 seed with a record of 11-3. Heller looks for one of his own, Justin Sprow, to make a solid run, "Sprow comes in unseeded, but only lost to the #1 seed 3-1 in the dual."

145 lbs.

Ryley Hankenson (17-6) of Bellmont will be the top seed at 145 lbs. Hankenson, a SS-Qualifier from a year ago as a freshman at 135, was unbeaten in conference action, including a 13-5 major decision of #2 seed Jon Timmerman (15-1) of Carroll. #4 Seed James Landis of Norwell was a SS-Qualifier a year ago.

152 lbs.

#10 Tyler Baker (22-3) of Bellmont comes in as a returning champion and three-time state qualifier, finishing 6th a year ago at 145. On the opposite side of the bracket, Wes Graves (16-4) of Columbia City will be the #2 seed.

160 lbs.

Bobby Natusch (H) will be the #1 seed with an 18-3 record. He is coming off a big win over previously state-ranked Trent Busse of Bellmont, who is the #3 seed. Busse was a match away from Conseco last year at 152. Busse has been out with an injury since that match, missing several matches for the Braves. Busse was also out for the dual meet against New Haven because of a death in the family. The Bulldogs' Matt Klemm picked up the #2 seed for Coach Barry Humble's squad.

171 lbs.

Presumed top seed Henry Waring (EN), ranked 13th in the state is out for the season with a knee injury. Replacing him in the top spot on the bracket will be Bellmont's Grant Melcher (20-6). Tyler Thomas (14-3) of Carroll will be the #2 seed.

189 lbs.

The conference will once again be missing a likely #1 seed as Bellmont's Andrew Bultemeier is out with an injury. Bultemeier defeated the #1 seed Kris Pappert (26-4) of New Haven in a very exciting match, at 285 nonetheless, 6-4 at the beginning of the year. Bellmont sub Travis Thatcher (9-2) has filled in nicely for Coach Faurote's Braves and will come in as the #2 seed.

215 lbs.

The state's top-ranked wrestler at 215 lbs. is Billy Baker (23-0) of Bellmont. Baker was a state qualifier two years ago at 189 and lost to eventual state champion Steve Stahl in the ticket round last year at the Coliseum. Baker is the favorite to go all the way this year, having already defeated three top-ranked wrestlers and this year's #1 seeded Heavyweight in the conference. The #2 seed will be Ben Russer of Carroll with a 14-3 record. Brad Mills (H) comes in rated 5th in the SS as the #3 seed. Shori Gerardot (CC) is also ranked in the SS (8th). He will be on Baker's half of the bracket as the #4 seed.

285 lbs.

The #1 seed at Heavyweight will be Trey Cahill of DeKalb. Cahill has a stellar 24-3 record, with one of those losses coming to #1 ranked (215) Billy Baker. Bellmont's Daniel Meyer, seemingly giving up weight to every opponent he faces, comes in as the #2 seed at 15-4. Meyer is coming off a big win over previously unbeaten #9 Dan Borkowski of Evansville Memorial.