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2015 Evansville Semi-State Preview
Welcome to TripleB’s annual Evansville Semi-State Wrestling Preview Spectacular!!
 
Before we get into the good stuff, let’s cover what’s important:
 
TripleB presents the first ever Evansville Semi State Meet and Greet at The Gerst Haus, Friday night in Evansville at 8pm Evansville time. We’ll have 2 special guest as noted author and Evansville wrestling historian Hook and Half also known as John Johnson and incoming IHSWCA president Tskin himself, Tyson Skinner will be on hand to socialize with the Indiana wrestling community. This coincides with the Franklin Street Mardi Gras Pub Crawl. So come out and have a good time w/ The IndianaMat family!
 
This introduction and welcome to Evansville is brought to you by "literary titan and celebrated author Hook and Half”:
 
10,000 years after Paleo-Indians initially settled the "River City", wrestling fans will descend upon the Ford Center for what promises to be an outstanding day of semi state action.
 
When the Delaware Indians formally relinquished the Evansville area to General William Henry Harrison in 1805, they surely did not understand the value of the grappling space of which there were ceding!
 
Our 16th President grew up about 35 miles east of Evansville in Spencer County. One can ride a bicycle from his boyhood log cabin to Heritage Hills High School. Lincoln, who is honored in the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, was said to have lost only one match in nearly 300 bouts. The presence of the Great Emancipator will felt this Saturday.
 
Wow, thanks hook and half! How can I be expected to follow that?? We’ll preview all 14 weights. Each weight will feature:
 
The Charles Barkley “Turrible” Draws - ticket round matches that shouldn’t be happening in the ticket round!
 
The Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerkers - Best first round matches!
 
The Built Ford Tough Locks - The Pickers of the Round Table has been assembled. There were very few, but any weight class where the pick for champion was unanimous, makes it a Ford Tough Lock. Ford Tough Locks were hard to come by this year as only 4 were given out.
 
Ford Fab 4 - After picks were gathered, points distributed, and the dust settled, we’ll have the Ford Fab 4.
 
Also at the end we’ll feature Hooks Picks as Mr. Johnson brings you a travel guide for things to do and places to eat in Evansville, along with some insider knowledge into the Ford Center.
 
Without further ado...UNLEASH THE PREVIEW!!
 
 
106: It’s appropriate that we start with this weight class, as it could be labeled “The Future Stars” of Evansville Semi-State. But for these guys their time is Now. 14 of the 16 wrestlers are freshmen and all 10 SS ranked wrestlers are here.
 
Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - No real matches jump off here, all the kids are solid. Trips will go with SS ranked #7 Tony Mosconi of Indian Creek vs. SS 8th ranked Dalton Craig of Jennings County. Mosconi has put together a solid Freshman season for the Braves. Craig’s 8 losses are a bit deceiving, he’s dropped multiple matches to conference Rival Graham Rooks. expect the winner here to push Levi Miller of North Posey in the the ticket round.
 
Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - #1 Noah Hunt vs. #2 Mason Miranda...Whaaaaat?!? Triple B likes Miranda to win the match and the weight class Saturday! But the Pickers of the Round Table disagree.
 
Ford Fab 4 - The first committee vote featured 3 different favorites, but Frosh phenom Graham Rooks was the clear leader.
 
1st - Graham Rooks Columbus East, 2nd - Noah Hunt Bloomington South, 3rd - Tyler Mills Brownsburg, 4th - Levi Miller North Posey
 
 
113: The biggest questions at 113 - “Is he healthy enough?” “Is he gonna pull a Danny Williams?” Of course “he” is #1 ranked Paul Konrath and Konrath dominates this 113 discussion. After defaulting out at Regionals, questions have been flying. The P.O.T.R.T. say...he’s defaulting out to fourth. This weight is loaded with ticket round matches full of state worthy guys including state qualifiers Jacob Skaggs and Noah Franklin meeting up, as will former state qualifiers Kyle Luigs of Evansville Mater Dei and Hunter Fox of Cascade, and the high light might be Konrath and #4 Nick Weaver of Brownsburg.
 
Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - Don’t be late Saturday! Freshman Phenom Tristan Sellmer has knocked off state qualifier Noah Franklin the last 2 weekends and his reward is….returning State Runner-Up Paul Konrath. Speaking of this Konrath kid…
 
Charles Barkley Turrible Draw - #1 Paul Konrath and #4 Nick Weaver headline a spectacular ticket round session here at 113. Weaver might punch his ticket in any other quarterfinal, but this obstacle might be too big for the Bulldog.
 
Ford Fab 4 - The only thing of note here is that Konrath’s injury leaves the Pickers unsettled and because of that he is the first of five returning Semi-State champs to not get enough votes to be a Ford Tough Lock.
 
1st - Kyle Luigs Evansville Mater Dei, 2nd - Logan Dilbeck Gibson Southern, 3rd Jacob Skaggs Avon, 4th Paul Konrath Mt. Vernon
 
 
120: This weight class features dual winner for Curtain Jerker and Turrible Draw, 2 state qualifiers locking up first round does not make Sir Charles happy! Also of note, 120 features the second weight class where a returning semi state champ is not a Lock!
 
Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker/Charles Barkley Turrible Draw - Ben Davis Junior James Pritchett was a surprise state qualifier a year ago for the Giants. This year he will have his work cut out for him as he will have returning 5th place finisher Tyler Ferguson of Evansville Reitz. Zoinks….that’s a bad draw!
 
Ford Fab 4: I had to double check the registry….Brock Hudkins is not a FTL?!?!? Unrest in the South after Will Egli’s big win over Ferguson last week has cause some to convert!
 
1st - Brock Hudkins Danville, 2nd - Tyler Ferguson Reitz, 3rd - Will Egli Evansville Mater Dei, 4th Isaac Gomez Plainfield
 
126: 2 returning state qualifiers Elliott Molloy and Alex Johnson will hook up in one semi, while the other side will look to benefit from having those 2 on the other side. 126 will also feature the first tie as the Round Table couldn’t come to an agreement over Braedon Clopton of Castle and David Lewis of Terre Haute South.
 
Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - Trevor Reese of Franklin might have something to say about the Clopton/Lewis match as he looks to crash that party when him and Clopton go at it in the first round. Consider Reese a dark horse here and could punch his ticket also.
 
Charles Barkley Turrible Draw - Chayce Young of Madison and Brody Boles of Mooresville are both returning Semi State Qualifiers. It looked like Boles was possibly gonna punch his ticket a year ago before getting caught on his back late in his first round match and dropping a tough 8-6 decision to eventual SQ Austin Bethel. Young jumped out to an early 5-0 lead over Molloy in the ticket round before Molloy turned on his takedown machine and went to work. 2 questionable calls late in the match (I’m biased) cost Young his chance as he dropped a 10-8 OT decision. Now both seniors should put on the fireworks in their ticket round match...Charles can only shake his head….
 
Ford Fab 4: This was close on who wins Molloy/Johnson, but Molloy just pulled it out at the Table. Which could set up a nice revenge match in the finals w/ Young.
 
1st - Elliott Molloy Danville, 2nd Chayce Young Madison, 3rd Alex Johnson Evansville Mater Dei, 4th Winner of Clopton/Lewis.
 
132: Many people would expect this to be our first Ford Tough Lock….but stop the presses...Not So! You’ll have to skip ahead one weight class to see a Lee has our first FTL. The Hobbit from the North beLEEves in a Lee, but not the Wildcat. No he think’s Brayton Lee will shake Evansville to the core on Saturday.
 
Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerkers - Keep an eye on Tristin Dowell and Josh Elpers. Dowell has been a popular name on Indianamat this year, did New Albany just get the internet installed? Elpers has 13 losses, but wrestles in a tough area and could be ready to pull off a #4 over #1 come Saturday. Also Jaylen Lee vs. Cale McCoy. McCoy is a pick to get be Ford Fab 4 but Lee only has 3 losses and Ben Davis does not wrestle slouches. Could Jaylen Lee be this year’s James Pritchett?
 
Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - #2 Brayton Lee vs. #4 Austin Bethel, Freshman vs. State Qualifier. #1 Nick Lee vs. #5 Mitch Anderson. Bad draw’s abound here, all 4 of these guys are worthy of being SQ’s.
 
Ford Fab 4 - Once again the biggest shock is the Nick Lee is not a Ford Tough Lock, but we’ll see what happens come Saturday. Lee vs. Lee!!
 
1st - Nick Lee Evansville Mater Dei, 2nd - Brayton Lee Brownsburg, 3rd - Griffin Schermer Bloomington South, 4th - Cale McCoy Northview
 
 
138: It took 6 weight classes, but 138 gives us our first Ford Tough Lock - Evansville Mater Dei Freshman Joe Lee. There are some nice first round matches but overall it looks like the Castle Regional will reign supreme as projected top 3 all come from The Castle
 
Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - 2 matches both highlight the opening ceremonies at 138. Returning state qualifier Quinn Harris and Castle junior Austin Ramsey will both be looking to get to Bankers but first thing’s first… Also Franklin’s Shane Wilkerson and Gibson Southern’s Kyle Todrank will go at it. Wilkerson has been wrestling good as of late but is it enough to upend Todrank who is wanting a third match at Joe Lee
 
Charles Barkley Turrible Draw - No complaints here, all looks good!
 
Ford Tough Lock - Our first one, Joe Lee Evansville Mater Dei. Todrank has kept it close, but expect the same result this weekend.
 
Ford Fab 4 - 1st Joe Lee Evansville Mater Dei, 2nd - Kyle Todrank Gibson Southern, 3rd - Austin Ramsey Castle, 4th - Nick Weddle Ben Davis
145: This weight features our second Ford Tough Lock, and he’s also a Wildcat, Blake Jourdan joins teammate Joe Lee as being a Ford Tough Lock. The Pickers also project 2 upsets, in terms of SS rankings, at this weight as Ethan Herrin (#5) is favored over Thomas Dull (#2) and Brennan Barlow (#8) is favored over returning state qualifier Bryant Haynes (#4)
 
Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - Potential #4 over #1 Madison’s Trenton Dempler and Mooresville’s Christian Warren look to go. Expect this match to be all go and Dempler’s matches never seem to be boring.
 
Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - Herrin and Dull features a match where 2 kids that have been at the top all year is going home. Herrin’s come from behind win last week at regionals and Barlow finally catching Dull both show how close this match was from not happening, anything falls different and we are looking at different match ups here.
 
Ford Tough Lock - Blake Jourdan, Evansville Mater Dei
 
Ford Fab 4 - 1st - Blake Jourdan Evansville Mater Dei, 2nd - Patrick Schnell - Castle, Ethan Herrin Jennings County, Brennan Barlow Bloomington South
 
 
152: 3 weight classes in a row with a Ford Tough Lock. This one is also from Evansville but not from Mater Dei! Central’s Isaiah Kemper looks to bring the Bears another Semi-State Champ. The Mooresville Regional will have some chances to take some cracks at Kemper as 1 loss junior Elijah Dunn and 4 loss junior Cayden Whitaker look to punch their tickets
 
Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - Nothing really jumps off the page. Look for some seniors to give favorites tough first round matches. Heritage Hills’ Cordell Miller will battle Whitaker and Brownsburg senior Brandon Gay, who is relatively new to 152, might frustrate Kemper.
 
Charles Barkley Turrible Draw - #5 Tre Lynch finds himself in a tough spot after dropping some tough losses at Sectionals and Regionals, he now finds himself against #2 ranked Dunn in the ticket round. Does the Bulldog senior have what it takes?
 
Ford Tough Lock - Isaiah Kemper Evansville Central
 
Ford Fab 4 - 1st - Isaiah Kemper Evansville Central, 2nd - Cayden Whitaker Martinsville, 3rd Elijah Dunn Indian Creek, 4th - Jacob Farmer Castle
 
 
160: 160 features returning Semi-State Champ Gabe Koontz, but is he a lock, not according to the Round Table. Brendon Helm has an off season win over Koontz and some think he will win again come Saturday. Trips went against the grain and took Turner Lockyear in the upset, but he was voted down at the Table!
 
Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - #8 Nick Buedel of Evansville Mater Dei is described as a high intense wrestler and his first round opponent, Wes Ferguson of Jennings County has worked his way into the Panthers line up and has a stellar 21-2 record. Neither senior wants their season to end in the first round!
 
Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - #3 Tristan McDaniel vs #5 Ethan Runyan - Runyan is battle tested as he’s had a tough path through the state tourney, will the battle tested Runyan be able to knock off the Tecumseh senior? #2 Brendon Helm vs. #4 Turner Lockyear - these guys have a total of 5 losses between them. Both started the season at 170 and dropped to 160 midway through. Both are seniors...Who wins?!?!?!?
 
Ford Fab 4 - 1st - Gabe Koontz Edgewood, 2nd - Tristan McDaniel Tecumseh, 3rd - Brendon Helm Avon, 4th - Kody Caudle Danville
 
170: A returning state champ, and not the favorite, Franklins Jacob Stevenson has ran into rough competition w/ a bullseye. He took a loss last weekend to Ben Davis’ Dylan Lydy. Stevenson also got a late start and could still be feeling the effects of a football injury. With all of those factors the Pickers had to go with Lydy here.
 
Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerkers - #3 Nathan Walton vs. #4 Noah Huelsing, Cra-Cra…. The freshman from Brownsburg has been in behind Lydy and Stevenson...now that pays off with #4 Huelsing in a great opening round match. This will definitely be better than Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan at Wrestlemania 28 (worst curtain jerker ever).
 
Charles Barkley Turrible Draw - See above, the winner probably punches their ticket, but it’s a shame one of these guys are going home early.
 
Ford Fab 4 - 1st - Dylan Lydy Ben Davis, 2nd - Jacob Stevenson Franklin Community, 3rd Nathan Walton Brownsburg, 4th - Blake Jeffress Castle
 
182: Undefeated Super Sophomore Kyle Shaffer from South Putnam seemed like sure lock, but not this year. However it does seem like we’ll see another round of Shaffer vs. Elmore. Can the senior from Avon finally knock off Shaffer? Super sleeper, 2 loss frosh Ryan Hammond from Whiteland got some love from the Pickers, not enough to get into the Fab 4 but enough to take notice.
 
Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - 8th ranked Peyton Shepherd of Jennings County vs. the aforementioned Hammond. The winner will look to spoil Hunter Dalton’s ticket round.
 
Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - #2 Evan Elmore vs. #3 Sam Bassemeier. Why wasn’t Shaffer a lock you ask? Some believe that Bassemeier will crash the North’s party and skate out of the Ford Center as Semi State Champ. Bassemeier’s one loss was a 5-2 decision to Elmore at the Mater Dei Classic. Turrible says Charles….just Turrible
 
Ford Fab 4 - 1st - Kyle Shaffer South Putnam, 2nd - Evan Elmore Avon, 3rd - Matt Hayes Providence, 4th - Hunter Dalton Bloomington North
 
195: Randy Scott...need we say more? Well yes we do b/c Scott was not another victim of one of the pickers thinking he’s ripe for the upset this weekend. Scott had a big ticket round last year knocking off Dakota Thacker and rode that win to Semi-State runner up and 3rd place finish at state. Will Scott be the victim this year as he’ll likely face #2 Adam Lytle from Tecumseh in the ticket round.
 
Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - None of these first round matches really made Barry give himself a pat on the back. He wound up going w/ #7 Chase Thompson of Jeffersonville vs. #4 Garrison Lee of Monrovia. Sometimes styles clash, can Thompson keep the Red Devils state streak going?
 
Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - #1 vs. #2, #3 vs. #4….all in the ticket round. What’s up with that??? Jasper’s #3 Ian Songer vs. #4 Lee...The Table likes the upset here. #1 Scott vs. #2 Lytle Scott got the votes and was unanimous here. Sir Charles said that this weight was worse bad, just bad. He asked about going best of 7??
 
Ford Fab 4 - 1st - Randy Scott Mooresville, 2nd - Chase Anslinger Evansville Mater Dei, 3rd - Garrison Lee Monrovia, 4th - Quade Greiwe Columbus East
 
220: 220 was a mess at The Table. Pickers chose everybody, I think DJ Radnovich even got a vote. 8 different wrestlers got votes, the most by any weight class by far. At one point there were 2 ties, we had look for hanging chads and almost drew straws. The consensus was the winner of Gunnar Lason and Corey Klem is the favorite to win state.
 
Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerker - #9 Brady Shepherd vs. #7 Kurtis Wilderman Evansville Mater Dei. 2 young, athletic big boys are gonna get after it. I don’t think this match will go 6 minutes. The winner here hopes to knock off the senior state qualifier from Ben Davis, Kasha Wilder.
 
Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - Another #1 vs. #2 here as Gibson Southern’s Corey Klem was upended last weekend by La’Terrance Kyles, setting up this ticket round battle. The P.O.T.R.T. went with Larson here in a close one, however both guys were picked to win in all ballots. Another close one on the ballots was Kyles vs. #4 Martinsville Sophomore Clayton Scroggs. Trips likes Scroggs, but votes were close as Kyles ending getting the nod.
 
Ford Fab 4 - Due to the rare nature of Larson and Klem splitting votes, Larson ended up tying with Kasha Wilder. BBB gives Larson the nod and breaks the tie.
 
1st - Gunnar Larson Avon, 2nd - Kasha Wilder Ben Davis, 3rd - La’Terrance Kyles Evansville Harrison, 4th - winner of Tristin Choate and Dakota Short
 
285: The last of the weights features the last lock of the preview, Stormin’ Norman Ogelsby will look the gridiron in the fall with the Cincinatti Bearcats but hopes to finish up his season with a 3rd Semi-State title and push for a state title. This only the only weight that featured 4 locked picks as everybody agreed on the Ford Fab 4 here, but there were some disagreements on order.
 
Barry Horowitz Best Curtain Jerkers - #3 Bryce Biddle, Plainfield vs. 3 loss senior Colten Dossett of Tecumseh. Tough first round match, with the winner jumping right into a Turrible Draw match. #6 Adrian Butler Evansville Mater Dei vs. #8 Brett Henson Avon is another great first round match. Avon and EMD always bring their best stuff to the Ford Center, this one should be no different.
 
Charles Barkley Turrible Draws - Biddle vs. #2 Nathan Hayes Greensburg. Hayes hasn’t had the best of tournament runs and if the Pirate wants to finish his career in the Bank, he’ll need to knock off a game Biddle.
 
Ford Tough Lock - 3x Semi State champs are rare, and even rarer at HWT, but Norman Ogelsby should do just that Saturday in Evansville
 
Ford Fab 4 - 1st - Norman Ogelsby Ben Davis, 2nd - Quinn York Franklin Community, 3rd - Adrian Butler Evansville Mater Dei, 4th - Bryce Biddle Plainfield
 
 
 
We’ll end this article with Hook’s Picks:
 
· Dinner- Turoni's has two Evansville locations and a microbrewery. Their pizza is special. DiLegge's is a locally-owned Italian restaurant whose food is out of this world. Visit theHilltop Inn, recently voted the Manliest Bar in America. The adventurous should order a brain sandwich. Non-adventurers will be safe and happy with a bowl of Burgoo (trust me). Mrs. Hook loves their chicken livers. I am a Stromboli fiend, accordingly, I have eaten them everywhere. Nobody beats Pizza King for Stroms. Nobody. The Gerst Haus serves authentic German cuisine and has over 30 varieties of beer on tap. Get ready for a carbohydrate and protein load up!
· Franklin Street has a vibrant night life featuring restaurants, bars, taverns and a night club. Park your car, as the city offers shuttle service for the Mardi Gras pub crawl taking place this weekend.
· Get your ticket early. There is only one door to enter the Ford Center and it is going to be cold and windy on Saturday morning.
· Bring money. The Ford Center is one of Indiana's premier venues; it comes at a price. They get NBA-style prices for the concessions. Methinks that the good people of Castle should take over food duties...
· Bring a hoodie. An ice rink is beneath the mats. The place is fa-rosty.
· 70 years ago, 130,000 Americans hit Normandy's beaches, liberated Europe and altered the course of western civilization. Many of our boys caught a ride to the shoreline on the LST, built right here in Evans-Vegas. The LST 325 is downtown and available for tours. You will not regret it.
· John Reitz was a 19th-century lumber baron along the magnitude of a Bill Gates or Donald Trump. His son is the namesake of FJ Reitz High School and Reitz Memorial High School. The Reitz home is open for tours. The Mrs. and the kids will enjoy this.
· The Children's Museum of Evansville (CMOE) is within walking distance of the Ford Center and is a grand slam. When my three children--Hooksly, Hookticia and PowerHalf--were tikes, it was one of their favorite things to do.

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2015 Merrillville Semi-State Pick'ems
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2015 New Castle Semi-State Pick'ems
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2015 Evansville Semi-State Pick'ems
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2015 Fort Wayne Semi-State Pick'ems
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2015 New Castle Semi-State Preview
New Castle: The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat
 
A long, grinding season has transpired, leading a horde of battle-tested young men into the historic New Castle Chrysler Fieldhouse for what promises to be a very exciting (and stressful) day of competition. Not joining us are some of last year's non-graduated standouts, like Jake Ruberg (#5 pre-season) of Lawrenceburg (injury), Bryant White (#10 pre-season) of Anderson (concentration on football?), Chatard's (pre-season #5) Noah Schrader (top-50 in the country in rugby), Trevor Lonneman (ticket-rounder last year) of Milan (injury) and Matthew Penola (#10 pre-season) of Zionsville (injury)...Not to mention pre-season top-20's Chapman Luster of Franklin Central and Nick Brickens of New Palestine and ticket rounder Garrett Wilson of Perry Meridian. I mention these competitors just to illustrate how difficult it is to make it to the semistate level, much less the ticket round and beyond. Impressively, at least one New Castle competitor is ranked in the top-5 in every weight class. As usual, some weight classes are stronger than others, and some are dominated by standouts operating on a higher level than their opponents. Falling into this latter category are studs like Chad Red, Jr of New Palestine, the two-time reigning state champ, Blake Rypel, last year's runner-up denied a title by an eyelash, returning state champ Tommy Cash of Lawrence North and four-year standout Brandon James of Perry Meridian. Not surprisingly, three of these four forces of nature carry some seriously impressive national rankings. As usual, some truly excellent wrestlers will get clipped by the numbers game, leaving likely State place-winners at home for the State Finals. The team race should come down to Perry Meridian (13 entrants!!), Lawrence North (12), Warren Central (11), Cathedral, Hamilton Southeastern and possibly even New Palestine.
 
106
 
Five ranked wrestlers grace the field at 106, led by state #2 Klayton Anderson, a tough move-in from Missouri. Anderson's lone loss this year is up a weight class and he was in firm control during the first two rounds of the postseason. He is very long and is nasty on top. He wrestles with maturity and good mat-sense, although occasionally he can get a little high when riding. While he should be tested here (like a possible ticket match with PM's Sunny Nier), he appears to be at the head of the class. Who will join him is far less clear, as there are a handful of really tough opening round and ticket round matches that go in different directions. Cainan Schaefer has to get by a very dangerous Josh Vaughn to set up a ticket match with the surging Alexander Strueder. Cameron Diep avenged his lone loss of the season with a regional title, getting by Keyuan Murphy. Diep looks pretty well positioned to advance to Bankers Life, and he has a shot to do it as a #1 or #2 seed. If seeds hold, #7 David Bryant and #18 Keyuan Murphy should do battle for a coveted golden ticket. That could be one of the matches of the day.
 
Last year's champ: Breyden Bailey, Cathedral
 
Ranked wrestlers:
 
#2 Klayton Anderson, Hamilton Southeastern
#4 Cameron Diep, New Palestine
#7 David Bryant, Hamilton Heights
#17 Cainan Schaefer, South Dearborn
#18 Keyuan Murphy, Warren Central
 
Feature matchups:
 
#7 Bryant vs. #18 Murphy (Ticket round) – Two beastly juniors could meet up in a show-stopper. Bryant has a sterling W/L record and Murphy has wrestled the nightmarish schedule. Looking for an advantage? If it's not Murphy's tougher schedule, it might be Bryant's experience, as he wrestled in the ticket round last season for Pendleton Heights. Another possible edge? Bryant competed up at 113 quite a bit this season and is a healthy sized 106.
 
#17 Schaefer vs. Alexander Strueder, Fishers (Ticket round) – Like Bryant, Schaefer also has ticket round experience, as he lost by decision in his first attempt last year. Strueder isn't ranked and doesn't have a record that jumps out at you, but he passed the eye test at sectionals and regionals, and should be able to give Schaefer a difficult time of it.
 
#2 Anderson vs. Sunny Nier, Perry Meridian (Ticket round) – Anderson is a big favorite on paper, but Perry wrestlers know a thing or two about 'upsets' this time of year. It doesn't hurt that Diep is 31-4 against pretty rugged competition.
 
#2 Anderson vs. #4 Diep (Finals) – If these two favorites meet, it should make for a very interesting match. Both of these youngsters have state championship aspirations, and they should find quite a challenge in each other.
 
1st round picks:
Schaefer over Vaughn
Strueder over Young
Diep over Markley
Grino over Hobson
Bryant over Mennen
Murphy over Mantor
Anderson over Spinale
Nier over Deloney
 
Dingo's picks to advance, in order:
Anderson, Diep, Murphy, Schaefer
 
The Alpha Dog:
Klayton Anderson
 
113
 
Five more state-ranked wrestlers will lace 'em up at 113. Three top-7 wrestlers are favorites here to reach the semistate final four. #5 White, #6 Turner and #7 Holmes are all returning state place-winners, and it would be a massive upset if one of those three didn't walk away with the semistate title. If anyone has the ammo to pull it off, it's likely Beech Grove's Ethan Smiley, who has shown that he can hang with the big boys at this weight. Of the Big 3 at this weight, regional champ Holmes might have the roughest path to the semis, as he has #14 Owens lurking in the ticket round. This should be a very competitive class both at New Castle and at State.
 
Last year's champ: Cornelius Elliott, II, Perry Meridian
 
Ranked wrestlers:
 
#5 Alec White, New Palestine
#6 Skylour Turner, Cathedral
#7 Austin Holmes, Hamilton Southeastern
#10 Ethan Smiley, Beech Grove
#14 Erik Owens, Warren Central
 
Feature matchups:
 
#10 Smiley vs. Trevor Ragle, New Castle (Ticket round) – Assuming these two can avoid first round upsets, we should have a battle of two super-frosh competing for the all-important state berth. Smiley is ranked, but Ragle comes in as regional champ and Coach Peckinpaugh has produced more than his fair share of state qualifiers. Will the home-mat advantage tilt the edge in Ragle's favor?
 
#7 Holmes vs. #14 Owens (Ticket round) – Holmes was my pick to win the semistate last year and he fell short in the finals, but he made up for it with a strong run at State. Owens presents a formidable challenge, as he's wrestled a 'who's who' at 113 and won't be intimidated by Holmes.
 
#5 White vs. #6 Turner (Semifinal round) – Yikes! I'm sure these two were hoping to avoid each other until the finals, but here we are. Both have wrestled elite level schedules, and yet they have only 5 losses combined. This is close to a pick 'em, with White a very slight favorite.
 
#5 White/#6 Turner vs. #7 Holmes/#10 Smiley (Finals) – Clearly there is a lot of variability here, but let's go by rankings and seeds and say Holmes vs. White. Holmes owns a narrow win over his Dragon rival earlier this year, and this one could go down in OT. On nothing but a hunch, I'm taking Holmes.
 
1st round picks:
White over Unseld
Ellis over Black
Turner over Servies
Jerde over Walton
Ragle over Hutson
Smiley over Lowe
Holmes over Weber
Owens over Barrantes
 
Dingo's picks to advance, in order:
Holmes, White, Turner, Smiley
 
The Alpha Dog:
Austin Holmes
 
120
 
Despite having only 4 ranked wrestlers participating, partially due to the unfortunate absence of sectional champ Eugene Starks of New Palestine, this is no weak group at New Castle. Defending semistate champ Breyden Bailey leads a top-heavy field at 120. Bailey has managed to navigate the entire season unscathed, which is pretty remarkable considering Cathedral's schedule. However, the two closest matches for Bailey all season, including one that required OT, were against returning semistate champ Cornelious Elliott. Look for another donnybrook between these two in the finals, as any other outcome would be a monumental upset. Who will join them is a pretty wide-open topic, but Caleb Bocock looks nicely situated to return to Bankers Life, and Alston Jenkinson is a slight favorite to round out the quartet. Highly ranked (and deservedly so) Zach McCoy drew a very unfavorable path to the state Finals, as he must find a way to figure out the riddle that is Bailey in order to wrestle another weekend.
 
Last year's champ: Chad Red, Jr., New Palestine
 
Ranked wrestlers:
 
#1 Breyden Bailey, Cathedral
#3 Cornelious Elliott, II, Perry Meridian
#12 Zach McCoy, North Montgomery
#13 Caleb Bocock, Lebanon
Feature matchups:
 
#1 Bailey vs. #12 McCoy (Ticket round) – I don't think either wrestler is wild about this matchup. While Bailey has seamlessly transitioned to 120 from 106, McCoy has had a great season as well, and presents some physical obstacles for his foes with his long frame and tough defense on his feet. While Bailey is the obvious favorite as the state's current #1, McCoy is a senior and will fight tooth and nail to pull the upset.
 
Jack Eiteljorge, Carmel vs. Dameion Rutledge, Southport (Opening round) – While Eiteljorge's record doesn't stand out, a closer look at his results shows that he has gone toe-to-toe with his elite foes all season, and owns a win over McCoy, among others. Rutledge is a tough senior, coming off of an impressive run at regionals, but I wouldn't be astounded if Eiteljorge pulled a couple of upsets on Saturday. The Pendoski-led freshman is a solid darkhorse pick to work his way to Bankers Life.
 
#3 Elliott vs. Isaac Castro, Lawrence North (Ticket round) – Assuming the seeds hold, Elliott has a legitimate hurdle in Castro waiting for him in the ticket round. While they've met already this season, with Elliott winning by fall, Castro has faced some tough competition all year and will be a tough out for the Perry senior.
 
#1 Bailey vs. #3 Elliott (Finals) – If this match takes place, which it should, it should be one of the top 2 or 3 matches of the entire day. While Bailey has come out on top in their prior meetings this season, Elliott has a lengthy resume of big-time wins in pressure situations. When two wrestlers are so closely matched, it's very tough for the same wrestler to win over and over again. That said, I'll go with Bailey in an exciting squeaker, possibly OT.
 
1st round picks:
Bailey over Browning
McCoy over Culp
Jenkinson over Fetters
Eiteljorge over Rutledge
Bocock over McMillian
Surguy over Manns
Elliott over Crum
Castro over Plunkett
 
Dingo's picks to advance, in order:
Bailey, Elliott, Bocock, Jenkinson
 
The Alpha Dog:
Breyden Bailey
 
126
 
Like last year, there are 7 ranked wrestlers at this weight class in New Castle, even with #13 Dalton Hair of Franklin Central getting knocked out at regionals. While this is an extraordinarily deep and tough bracket, the #1 126er in the country rules this roost, to the chagrin of the others in the class. Chad Red is well on his way to cementing his status as one of Indiana's best of alltime, and he should be able to control the action again on Saturday. The real suspense is figuring out who will join him on the podium. Almost every match in every round features a pair of dangerous wrestlers, and the bracket could play out in many different ways. In short, your guess is as good as mine, past Red, that is.
 
Last year's champ: Jack Chastain, Hamilton Southeastern
 
Ranked wrestlers:
 
#1 Chad Red, Jr., New Palestine (Nationally, #1 in the USA @126 The Open Mat, #2 AWN, #3 Intermat)
#6 Ngun Uk, Perry Meridian
#7 Zach Melloh, Cathedral
#9 Joel McGhee, Warren Central
#14 Boone Welliever, Southmont
#15 Taylor Wright, Greenfield-Central
#17 Skyler Collins, Frankfort
 
Feature matchups:
 
#14 Welliever vs. #9 McGhee (Opening round) – Ouch! Whoever comes out of the top foursome in this bracket, which includes the tough Southmont soph and the dangerous Warrior junior, will have earned his spot, to say the least. While I don't believe these 2 have met this year, Welliever edged Wright, who edged McGhee....which means almost nothing. Grab yer popcorn.
 
#14 Welliever/#9 McGhee vs. Kylan Seats, North Central (Ticket round) – It just doesn't get any easier for the winner of Welliever and McGhee, as the likely ticket round opponent will be the surging senior Seats. Seats' record isn't flashy, but his postseason performance thus far is very impressive, and it's a pick 'em among these three. Take your favorite here and hold on to your seat.
 
Johnny Loos, Franklin County vs. Dakota Cole, Elwood (Opening round) – While these two don't get the state-wide accolades of some of the others in this group, each of these two competitors were ticket rounders last year. Cole impressively upset a regional champ en route to his ticket match, and Loos has one lone loss all season. The winner of this melee will likely be facing Uk to try to earn a state berth.
 
#15 Wright vs. #17 Collins (Opening round) – Another vicious opening round slobber-knocker here, as ranked opponents Wright and Collins meet up for the privilege of facing Melloh in the ticket round. Both have faced tough competition, with Wright possessing perhaps a couple more quality wins than Collins, but it's close...too close to call. This bracket is ludicrous.
 
#7 Melloh vs. #17 Collins/#15 Wright (Ticket round) – No rest for the weary, as the survivor of the Wright/Collins battle will have to get by the nasty Irish freshman Melloh. While Melloh is the likely favorite, both Collins and Wright have significant experience advantages over the freshman. Will the experience factor matter at all, or does Cathedral's rough schedule even the odds? Tune in.
 
1st round picks:
McGhee over Welliever
Seats over Bundy
Red over Pruitt
O'Neal over Phillips
Loos over Cole
Uk over Steele
Melloh over Handley
Wright over Collins
 
Dingo's picks to advance, in order:
Red, Uk, Melloh, McGhee
 
The Alpha Dog:
Chad Red, Jr.
 
132
 
A number of tough wrestlers populate this bracket, and, truthfully, up to a half-dozen wrestlers have a legitimate shot at catching fire and winning the weight. Obviously, this makes prognosticating very difficult, as there are very few obvious favorites in any round at this weight. Jack Chastain, a semistate champ a year ago, will have to get by the highest ranked wrestler in the bunch, Matt McKinney, just to punch his ticket. Fargo All-American Evan Eldred, who was 'gifted' Brandon James in his ticket match last year, has to get by a 2 loss Perry Meridian senior stud, Jordan Napier, again, just to punch his ticket. Top seed Nick Smith must get by seventh ranked Nick Ellis just to make it to the ticket round. This weight is among the most confounding and unpredictable, but no matter what, when the smoke clears, there will be four tough wrestlers advancing on to Bankers Life.
 
Last year's champ: Deondre Wilson, Warren Central
 
Ranked wrestlers:
 
#4 Matthew McKinney, Warren Central
#5 Jack Chastain, Hamilton Southeastern
#6 Evan Eldred, Westfield
#7 Nick Ellis, Roncalli
#9 Jordan Napier, Perry Meridian
#18 Jordan Vaughn, Franklin Central
 
Feature matchups:
 
#7 Ellis vs. Nick Smith, Lawrence North (Opening round) – Ellis has had a strong year, but he stumbled a bit in his regional, whereas Smith has had a slightly uneven season, missing time with injury and taking a little while to get into full beast mode. Smith made up for lost time by winning his regional, and comes into this bout with a lot of confidence. Smith was a ticket rounder last year, while Ellis dropped his opening semistate match to Chastain. This is one of many, many matches at New Castle that could go either way.
 
#18 Vaughn vs. David Kitko, Noblesville (Opening round) – Vaughn managed a 3rd place showing in a strong regional, while Kitko finished 2nd in a slightly weaker regional. Between the two, they have only 6 losses all year, and while Kitko has missed some time on the mat this year, he appears to be rounding into shape at the right time. Vaughn will be favored, but Kitko could surprise. Both are returning semistate qualifiers.
 
#9 Napier vs. #6 Eldred (Ticket round) – This is great for the fans at New Castle, but a bummer for the semistate in the overall, Bankers Life-scheme of things. These are truly excellent wrestlers who each deserve a crack at the State field. Unfortunately, it's Thunderdome time--two men enter, one man leaves. In recent years, Perry wrestlers have been awfully tough to beat in these 50/50 matchups at semistate, but Coach O'Neill's biggest gun is hungry to return to Bankers Life after missing out last year. This match's outcome could be a big factor in the overall seeding for the entire weight class entering the State meet.
 
#4 McKinney vs. #5 Chastain (Ticket round) – Fate is certainly fickle, as McKinney looked to be on the verge of a regional title. Within the span of a couple of seconds, the Central Indiana wrestling world was turned upside down by an unfortunate spladle, and we are both blessed and cursed with this unreal ticket round match. Chastain is a returning semistate champ and state placer, and very nearly knocked off super-stud Zach Davis at state. McKinney has been snake-bitten a little bit in his first three years, but has all the tools to make a deep run at state, if he can get by Chastain. Both are battle-tested, both are very talented and possess strong defensive abilities. This is as good or better than most of the potential finals matchups we will see at New Castle...but what a bummer for the loser.
 
1st round picks:
Smith over Ellis
Buck over Estes
Napier over Lazzara
Eldred over Pace
Chastain over Lane
McKinney over Stewart
Bowers over Douglass
Vaughn over Kitko
 
Dingo's picks to advance, in order:
Chastain, Eldred, Smith, Vaughn
 
The Alpha Dog:
Jack Chastain
 
138
 
While six ranked wrestlers are among the field on Saturday at 138, the spotlight will be on #1 Brandon James and defending semistate and state champion, #2 Tommy Cash. I don't know if there are any other potential #1 vs. #2 matchups at any of the other semistates, but this one is about as good as Indiana high school wrestling gets. In fact, there's a very good shot that we will see the match one more time, under the lights at Bankers Life. James, an Old Dominion recruit, is highly decorated nationally, while Cash has been clutch as clutch can be in-state. A little overshadowed by the massive specter of these two senior standouts is undefeated senior Keegan Stansberry. He has looked as strong as you would expect from someone who is 34-0 while wrestling the difficult Royals' schedule. Joining these three impressive seniors could be Nathan Boggs, who will have to get by either Connor Moore or Zach Simpson to advance and join the illustrious New Castle 138 State Club.
 
Last year's champ: Tommy Cash, Lawrence North
 
Ranked wrestlers:
 
#1 Brandon James, Perry Meridian (Nationally, #9 @138 Intermat, #9 AWN, #11 TOM)
#2 Tommy Cash, Lawrence North
#6 Keegan Stansberry, Hamilton Southeastern
#8 Adam Timberman, New Palestine
#15 Nathan Boggs, South Dearborn
 
Feature matchups:
 
#15 Boggs vs. Zach Simpson, Triton Central/Connor Moore, Southmont (Ticket round) – Boggs must first get by a 34-12 Tyler Hoel of Elwood. I'm sure Boggs hasn't forgotten that he was upset by an Elwood wrestler, Dakota Cole, in the opening round last year as a top seed. Assuming he does get by Hoel, he will have a tough ticket match with either the senior Simpson or the junior Moore. Boggs is a slight favorite over either of them, but this quartet could provide one of those 'surprise' state qualifiers.
 
#2 Cash vs. #9 Timberman (Ticket round) – Is it just me, or do the New Castle seeding gods seem especially vicious this year? While every year provides some exciting but painful ticket matches, this is one of what seems like an inordinate number of high-profile, borderline wasteful ticket round matches at New Castle. I know it's a random draw, but it seems like a lot of the very best kids in the semistate are doomed to be spectators at Bankers Life. Ok, I'm done ranting, but I think Cash has a little too much for the very tough Timberman. I will be shocked if anything prevents a Cash/James showdown in the finals.
 
#2 Cash vs. #1 James (Finals) – Fargo All-American and three-time state placer James is looking for gold this year, and it's hard to see anyone at 138 who can stop him....besides Tommy Cash. While James soundly beat Cash earlier this year, there's no doubt that Cash will be ready for the Perry standout in the finals. While each wants to win this weekend, they know that the biggest match is lurking a week later, and it's very possible it will be one of the most anticipated of all the state finals' matches. I give James a slight advantage, but I can see Cash closing the margin significantly.
 
1st round picks:
Boggs over Hoel
Moore over Simpson
Cash over Hawk
Timberman over Smith
James over Kern
Smith over Marsh
Stansberry over Waugh
White over Negangard
 
Dingo's picks to advance, in order:
James, Cash, Stansberry, Boggs
 
The Alpha Dog:
Brandon James
 
145
 
Two former state qualifiers, Smiley and Pruitt, lead a solid and deep group at 145. Like 132, there are a number of possible champions, including Pruitt, Smiley, Warren and Bane. Pruitt had a superior performance at last year's semistate: fall, fall, fall, loss to Cash by 1 point. It's that bit of history, plus his impressive regional title, that puts him at the top of the class for me. However, the freshman Warren seems to be peaking, Smiley has wrestled everyone and their mother for 4 years, and Bane and Oyler are wild-cards of a sort in this field. I'm often wrong, but I'll be surprised if the champ doesn't come out of the Perry Meridian regional.
 
Last year's champ: Cody LeCount, Perry Meridian
 
Ranked wrestlers:
 
#4 Evan Smiley, Beech Grove
#6 Trent Pruitt, Warren Central
#8 Noah Warren, Perry Meridian
#12 Adam Oyler, Lawrenceburg
#17 Mason Gaines, Fishers
#18 Alston Bane, Richmond
 
Feature matchups:
 
#6 Pruitt vs. Clayton Cowan, Hamilton Heights/Matt Kern, Zionsville (Ticket round) – While I expect Kern to be the matchup in this scenario, he's had a bit of an up and down senior year. When he's on, he's dangerous, and Pruitt would be well served not to overlook him in a potential ticket match.
 
#18 Bane vs. Stephen Kitko, Noblesville (Ticket round) – Kitko has to get by 28-6 Collin Strange, but if he pulls that off, he is a very tough out for the sophomore Bane. Kitko has been in this position before. In fact, last year, he was a ticket rounder. He will be desperate to cap his career with a state berth, so this match could provide an upset if Kitko is on his A game.
 
#17 Gaines vs. #8 Warren (Ticket round) – Yet another nasty ticket match, this time featuring a seasoned senior and a hungry freshman. Warren has more big wins this year, but Gaines has looked pretty dominant thus far in the postseason.
 
Derrick Motley, North Central vs. Wayne Highfield, Southmont (Opening round) – Motley appears to have hit the gas in the postseason, while Highfield was not at his best at regionals. Highfield has been in a lot of big matches during his four years, and is more than capable of pulling the 'upset' over Motley.
 
#4 Smiley vs. #12 Oyler (Opening round) – Smiley is a tough nut to crack, and isn't easy pickings for anyone at this weight. Oyler would've really benefitted from winning his regional, as, even if he can somehow get by Smiley, he still has Motley or Highfield waiting in the ticket round. Senior vs. senior, #12 vs. #4. I like Smiley by a close margin.
 
#6 Pruitt vs. #18 Bane (Semifinal round) – Assuming seeds hold, which admittedly is pretty risky, these two studs will meet to decide one finalist. Each youngster enters semistate with just 2 losses and at least 35 wins. Pruitt looked very comfortable here last year, while Bane came up just short of a scarce freshman state qualification in a middle weight. I think Pruitt's experience and superior schedule pays off against the coach's son Bane.
 
#4 Smiley vs. #8 Warren (Semifinal round) – Warren must get by the tough senior Gaines, and Smiley has two really tough obstacles to overcome to make this matchup a reality. Warren really seemed to handle Smiley last weekend, and the senior must bounce back with verve to pay Warren back.
 
#6 Pruitt/#18 Bane vs. #4 Smiley/#8 Warren – Yes, I know this weight class is getting ridiculous, with basically every other match a 'feature matchup'. However, a neutral observer would be forced to admit that this is an intriguing set of competitors and potential matchups. Personally, I think it will be Pruitt vs. Warren for the coveted #1 seed heading into Bankers Life. I think Pruitt finally gets his semistate crown, although it's not tough to envision the super-frosh making a statement and heading to state on a roll.
 
1st round picks:
Pruitt over Burelison
Kern over Cowan
Bane over Stocker
Kitko over Strange
Gaines over Shade
Warren over Lane
Motley over Highfield
Smiley over Oyler
 
Dingo's picks to advance, in order:
Pruitt, Warren, Smiley, Bane
 
The Alpha Dog:
Trent Pruitt
 
152
 
Just like last year, this is one of the most wide-open weight classes at New Castle. While there are five ranked wrestlers here (#17 Travis Gibson of Greenfield-Central was upset at regionals), there doesn't seem to be a clear-cut favorite, although in another weird New Castle twist, the two highest rated wrestlers would meet in the semis and not the finals. While the winner of Johnson/VanCamp would appear to be a substantial favorite in the finals, the other two qualification spots are pretty wide-open.
 
Last year's champ: Chance Brown, Southmont
 
Ranked wrestlers:
 
#5 Brett Johnson, Perry Meridian
#6 Kellen VanCamp, Lebanon
#14 Derek Noon, Noblesville
#19 Dominic Herrick, Warren Central
#20 Tanner Webster, North Montgomery
 
Feature matchups:
 
#5 Johnson vs. Isaiah Michaels, Centerville (Ticket round) – Obviously, Johnson is the favorite, with his single loss, state qualification experience and overall Perry Meridian pedigree, but Michaels is a very impressive 38-2. It would be understandable for Johnson to be looking ahead to a matchup with #6 VanCamp, but that could be dangerous against the Centerville junior.
 
#19 Herrick vs. #20 Webster (Opening round) – Deja vu, all over again. These two met last season in the opening round, with Webster the 2 seed and Herrick the 3 seed. Herrick came out on top by decision, but fell just short in his subsequent ticket match. It was close last year, and I expect it to be close again this year. The winner isn't through the woods, though, as one-loss Derek Noon awaits in the ticket round.
 
Tarpeh Walker, Pike vs. Corbin Gregg, Hamilton Southeastern (Opening round) – This isn't a match that jumps off the page, like some of the other matches featuring two opponents with gaudy W/L records. However, Walker was very competitive in the first two rounds of the postseason against some pretty tough customers, and Gregg is sneaky-good. The winner of this one could certainly pull a ticket round 'upset'.
 
#14 Noon vs. #19 Herrick/#20 Webster (Ticket round) – Two of these three ranked studs are going home, but in Noon's case, it's his last go-round. Will that senior desperation propel him to the breakthrough ticket win he's been working for?
 
Charlie Hill, Lawrenceburg vs. Walker/Gregg (Ticket round) – These 3 are pretty evenly matched, but Hill is a slight favorite with his past postseason success and his regional championship.
 
#5 Johnson vs. #6 VanCamp (Semifinal round) – This is clearly the biggest match of the entire bracket, and it's unfortunate that it should take place in the semis. Let's look at the numerous similarities: both have one loss, both are ranked in the top-6, both have been to Bankers Life, both have wrestled a tough schedule. As I see it, the one difference is Johnson has a few more high quality wins. The winner of this match should be the top seed heading into the State meet.
 
1st round picks:
VanCamp over Johnson
Carrender over Espedilla
Johnson over Frazee
Michaels over Bagwell
Noon over Doherty
Herrick over Webster
Hill over Steele
Gregg over Walker
 
Dingo's picks to advance, in order:
Johnson, Noon, VanCamp, Hill
 
The Alpha Dog:
Brett Johnson
 
160
 
Another weight class, another 5 ranked competitors. While there are a number of toss-up matches in other weight classes, there is a real sense of the unknown at this weight class, outside of the rock-steady Colton Gonzalez. 3 of the ranked wrestlers in this group lost their regionals to unranked opponents, with Briggeman and Archer finishing 3rd, and Young finishing a disappointing 4th. However, year in and out, we see wrestlers 'soil the proverbial bed' at regionals, and come back with a vengeance at semistate. While Gonzalez is as close to a lock as there is at this weight, the other 3 spots are very much up for grabs.
 
Last year's champ: Vinny Corsaro, Cathedral
 
Ranked wrestlers:
 
#4 Colton Gonzalez, Connersville
#8 Ethan Briggeman, Ritter
#14 Jesse Archer, North Montgomery
#16 Travis Gooding, Pendleton Heights
#19 DeRon Young, Franklin Central
 
Feature matchups:
 
#16 Gooding vs. #19 Young (Opening round) – The result of this match may depend on whether we see the sectional version of Young or the regional version of Young. That's not a knock on Gooding, who has impressed all season, and especially at regionals. This is a pick 'em.
 
#16 Gooding/#19 Young vs. #14 Archer/Jarrod Waterman, Eastern Hancock (Ticket round) – These 4 comprise a very tough, very competitive quadrant of the bracket. All but Waterman are seniors, all have at least 33 wins and no more than 5 losses. It's a question of who wants it the most and who is 'working their stuff' at the highest level on Saturday.
 
Dezmen Goddard, Warren Central/Mason Jones, Lawrence Central vs. Brandon Manning, South Dearborn/Nick Fox, Carmel (Ticket round) – This is another tough, very evenly matched foursome. Goddard is the hottest of the four, coming in with a hard-earned regional title, but each of the other three has the ability to win two matches on Saturday. Fox and Manning should be a dogfight, as Manning was ranked in the preseason and Fox is better than his record indicates.
 
Evan Stambaugh, Lebanon/Billy Decker, New Castle vs. Isaac Ray, Hamilton Heights/Garrett Milner, Perry Meridian (Ticket round) – There simply are no 'easy outs' in this bracket, as evidenced by this additional brutal group of four. Stambaugh looked great en route to his regional title, but he's been up and down at times this season. Milner beat the ranked Young at regionals, and finished above the ranked Briggeman. Decker comes from strong wrestling bloodlines and will have the home crowd in his favor. Isaac Ray has the best record of the four.
 
#4 Gonzalez vs. #8 Briggeman (Ticket round) – The unfortunate reality here is that a very highly ranked senior will go home. Briggeman has had a great career, but has been shut out of Bankers Life. Gonzalez, impressively a semistate runner-up and state placer last season at 170, might be too much for the Ritter standout to break that trend.
 
1st round picks:
Gooding over Young
Archer over Waterman
Goddard over Jones
Fox over Manning
Stambaugh over Decker
Milner over Ray
Gonzalez over Banks
Briggeman over Turner
 
Dingo's picks to advance, in order:
Gonzalez, Goddard, Archer, Milner
 
The Alpha Dog:
Colton Gonzalez
 
170
 
Ben Harvey and Cameron Jones appear to be the two to beat at 170. Three additional ranked wrestlers will attempt to do just that, including regional champs Cameron Nuckols and Zach Worm. While Harvey and Jones have state title pedigrees, it remains to be seen what the rest of the field is really capable of.
 
Last year's champ: Jeffery Scott, Clinton Central
 
Ranked wrestlers:
 
#2 Ben Harvey, Cathedral
#6 Cameron Jones, Lawrence North
#8 Cameron Nuckols, Greenfield-Central
#18 Alex Ragains, Frankfort
#19 Spencer Irick, Hamilton Southeastern
 
Feature matchups:
 
#8 Nuckols vs. #18 Ragains (Opening round) – Nuckols made the move down from 182 last season, which ended at semistate, and it seems to have paid off handsomely for him. The 8th-ranked senior has a tough opener against a fellow ranked 170 in Ragains. Nuckols is the favorite, but he'd better not overlook the Hot Dog junior, who has wins this season over Worm, Irick and Wray, among other notables.
 
#8 Nuckols/#18 Ragains vs. #6 Jones (Ticket round) – For whatever reason, this type of rough ticket match is the norm this year at New Castle. Assuming seeds play out, Nuckols and Jones will go toe-to-toe for the elusive Golden Ticket. For a meaningless bit of 'comparison', Jones beat Dillon Jackson and Jackson edged Nuckols earlier this year. This is essentially a pick 'em, and an unfortunate end to the season for two of these three.
 
#19 Irick vs. Anthony Bear, Triton Central (Ticket round) – Though not currently ranked, Bear has spent time on that list, and is a returning semistate qualifier. Irick has been a bit up and down, but has also been competing against some pretty tough competition the last few weeks. If Irick is on, he should win. If not, Bear may 'maul' him. Deep analysis, I know.
 
#2 Harvey vs. #6 Jones (Final round) – These two are thinking big picture--namely, seeding at Bankers Life the following weekend. Harvey is as consistent and well-rounded as they come. Only an upset loss on Friday night last year kept him from being on the brink of becoming a four-time state placer. Jones, on the other hand, has more peaks and valleys than Harvey. He is exceedingly dangerous, as Dillon Jackson can attest. He also lost a 2-1 match to top-ranked Dylan Lydy. Harvey has to be the favorite, but Jones is lurking and capable.
 
1st round picks:
Nuckols over Ragains
Jones over Grubb
Worm over Marion
Simmons over Bowling
Orcutt over Hertenstein
Irick over Bear
Harvey over Roach
Wray over Wilson
 
Dingo's picks to advance, in order:
Harvey, Jones, Irick, Worm
 
The Alpha Dog:
Ben Harvey
 
182
 
This, to me, is one of the most intriguing weight classes at New Castle. There are 3 undefeated wrestlers here (all regional champs, obviously), and the other regional champ is returning state placer Jonathan Morales. At the very least, 2 'O's' must go, and it could be 3 if Morales, Stewart or Manns catches fire. By another metric, this semistate features the #4, #5, #6, #7 and #8 wrestlers in the state. In case you're counting, that's 5 of the top-8. There are four spots open. Sigh, there are no easy roads to Bankers Life.
 
Last year's champ: Blake Rypel, Cathedral
 
Ranked wrestlers:
 
#4 Conner James, Roncalli
#5 Mason Parris, Lawrenceburg
#6 Jonathan Morales, Western Boone
#7 Robert Manns, Crawfordsville
#8 Spencer McCool, Pendleton Heights
#12 Ben Stewart, Cathedral
 
Feature matchups:
 
#8 McCool vs. #7 Manns (Opening round) – Last year at New Castle, McCool dropped a one point ticket round match and Manns a two point ticket round match. This year, only one will even get the opportunity to get to the ticket round, as they meet in another agonizing early round New Castle matchup. It's unfortunate that they're both seniors, but it is what it is, and I'm sure they will both come out guns blazing. The winner has a nice shot to advance to state.
 
#4 James vs. Griffin Steffy, Lebanon/Ricky Samuels, Lawrence North (Ticket round) – James was my top pick at New Castle's 152 last year and was upended in the ticket round in a big upset. I'm sure he's agonized over that loss all year, and will be trying to take care of business this year. He's been pretty dominant this season, even more so than last year, en route to a spotless 41-0 record. Moving up 30 pounds should allow him to be a little less impacted by weight cutting, which should improve his gastank compared with last season. Steffy is no pushover; despite a fair number of losses, he's a goer and a battler and is fully capable of giving James his first loss if he's not on his toes. The exact same is true of Samuels.
 
#5 Parris vs. #12 Stewart/Tanner Smith, South Vermillion (Ticket round) – Parris has been a revelation this year as a freshman, not only going undefeated thus far, but winning with bonus points and falls. The scary thing for the rest of the semistate is that he's only going to get better. He will have a large task waiting for him in the ticket round in the form of the Irish's Stewart, a ticket rounder last year or Smith, a semistate qualifier last season. Stewart especially will give a heat check for Parris. If he can win impressively over Stewart, he might take the title on Saturday.
 
#6 Morales/#8 McCool-#7 Manns vs. #4 James/#5 Parris-#12 Stewart (Finals) – This unique weight class, with literally half of the best 12 in the state, should provide some high quality matches in the semis and finals. It's really impossible to predict who comes out between McCool/Morales/Manns/Parris/James/Stewart, and all I've done is taken a wild stab at it.
 
1st round picks:
Morales over Trammell
Knox-Abbott over Orschell
McCool over Manns
Hoots over Clark
James over Bugni
Steffy over Samuels
Parris over Kaiser
Stewart over Smith
 
Dingo's picks to advance, in order:
James, McCool, Morales, Parris
 
The Alpha Dog:
Conner James
 
195
 
Junior Blake Rypel has been so successful thus far in his career, it seems like he's been around for 4 or 5 years. Unfortunately for his opponents, he has one more year to go after this one. A strong favorite to win it all at 195, Rypel should be in control at semistate. Rypel is very slick for a person his size, and he's been pinning his foes at a high rate this year. The race for 2nd is led by returning state qualifier Tristen Tonte, and the battles for spots 3 and 4 should be vicious and unpredictable.
 
Last year's champ: Brian Wagner, New Palestine
 
Ranked wrestlers:
 
#1 Blake Rypel, Cathedral (Nationally #10 @ 195 Intermat, #11 AWN)
#4 Tristen Tonte, Perry Meridian
#6 Jake Cavins, Milan
#10 Scott Fuller, Zionsville
#11 Sam Hipple, Carmel
#13 Justin Stone, Lawrence Central
 
Feature matchups:
 
#11 Hipple vs. #6 Cavins (Ticket round) – Both big men were semistate qualifiers a year ago, but fell just short of nabbing a ticket. Hipple, Ed Pendoski's big gun, is rock-solid with positioning and defense and will not beat himself. He has a solid gastank and has faced a tougher level of competition this year than Cavins. That said, Cavins is the higher ranked wrestler and is, therefore, technically favored. Cavins must first deal with returning semistate qualifier Josh Torres of Franklin Central.
 
Will Amberger, Batesville vs. #10 Fuller (Ticket round) – Amberger was a semistate qualifier last year, losing to Tonte in his opening match. Fuller is another in a very long line of studly Zionsville upperweights. Fuller looked better at sectional than he did at regional, but he may be due for a bounce-back effort against Amberger.
 
#4 Tonte vs. #13 Stone/Nick Schaeffer, Westfield (Ticket round) – Tonte was impressive as a freshman, making it all the way to Bankers Life. He's clearly taken a step forward this season, as evidenced by his near-spotless 37-1 record. Schaeffer has been a little bit up and down, but clearly has it within him to spring an upset over Stone, a returning semistate qualifier. Tonte should have enough for either eventuality.
 
1st round picks:
Rypel over Slavens
Burton over Guintini
Hipple over Mayfield
Cavins over Torres
Amberger over Smith
Fuller over Haire
Tonte over Mosley
Stone over Schaeffer
 
Dingo's picks to advance, in order:
Rypel, Tonte, Hipple, Fuller
 
The Alpha Dog:
Blake Rypel
 
220
 
Five of the top-20 are represented by this year's New Castle field at 220 (could've been six if not for the late-season injury to #11 Matthew Penola), led by #3 Courvoisie Morrow, who has wrestled a murderer's row at 220. There's some real parity after Morrow and Erik Hart, led by Grable, Cooper, Stephens and Guhl. As in past seasons, this is not among the very strongest weight classes at New Castle, although it is still plenty formidable.
 
Last year's champ: Dylan Faulkenburg, Ritter
 
Ranked wrestlers:
 
#3 Courvoisie Morrow, Warren Central
#13 Erik Hart, Lebanon
#15 Ryan Guhl, Cathedral
#17 Noah Grable, New Palestine
#19 Jacob Cooper, Triton Central
 
Feature matchups:
 
#19 Cooper vs. Josh Stephens, Pendleton Heights (Opening round) – This is a really tough match to handicap, as they have roughly similar records against roughly similar competition. Cooper came into New Castle last year as a 4 seed and upset a top seed, ultimately dropping a very close ticket match. The winner gets an even bigger test in the one-loss Hart.
 
#15 Guhl vs. Blake Schjoll, Perry Meridian (Opening round) – It's a little unusual to see a Perry wrestler with a 25-4 record and still unranked, but Schjoll was 4th best in his regional, whereas Guhl was regional champ. While Guhl is favored, Perry's staff is likely devising a plan to neutralize the Irish wrestler as we speak.
 
#13 Hart vs. #19 Cooper/Stephens (Ticket round) – Hart has been nearly flawless all season, save for one match against the now-injured Penola. While Hart will be favored against either senior wrestler, he will certainly have his work cut out for him.
 
#13 Hart vs. #3 Morrow (Finals) – Morrow has faced elite level competition all season long, and has managed to come out on top in all but two matches. Hart has a golden record, but he can't say he's faced the same sort of challenges. Hart will find out where he stands in the overall state picture after this match, if it takes place.
 
1st round picks:
Hart over Clouse
Cooper over Stephens
Miller over Reynolds
Grable over Ogorek
Guhl over Schjoll
Martin over Dishman
Morrow over Lucas
Ford over Neff
 
Dingo's picks to advance, in order:
Morrow, Hart, Guhl, Grable
 
The Alpha Dog:
Courvoisie Morrow
 
285
 
Returning state qualifier Nate Trawick is a solid favorite over the other 4 ranked wrestlers and the rest of the field at 285. The Richmond football standout has had a pretty dominating season thus far, dropping only one match and avenging that loss. He should win this weight, although he will be tested in the ticket round by IndianaMat Hoosier Preseason Open champion Chris Ridle of Perry Meridian. Jasion Brogan looks like a solid bet for 2nd, and the 3rd and 4th slots are pretty wide open.
 
Last year's champ: Wesley Bernard, Cathedral
 
Ranked wrestlers:
 
#3 Nate Trawick, Richmond
#8 Jasion Brogan, Warren Central
#11 Anthony Jackson, Pike
#14 Michael Smith, Lebanon
#19 Chris Ridle, Perry Meridian
 
Feature matchups:
 
#8 Brogan vs. Clark Minges, Union County/Zach Saylor, Anderson (Ticket round) – While Brogan has had the superior regular season, Minges was one win away from state last year as a freshman. He upset a favored, higher seeded opponent from Indianapolis. Hmm...Probably not this year. If it's Saylor, also a semistate qualifier last year as a sophomore, the chances are a little more remote of pulling the upset.
 
#19 Ridle vs. #3 Trawick (Ticket round) – This is a very intriguing ticket bout, but Trawick is just so physically dominant. He'll have to make a big mistake that Ridle capitalizes on in order to drop this one.
 
#11 Jackson vs. #14 Smith (Opening round) – Smith has had a fine season, but seems to have a matchup problem with Hobick. Jackson has also had a fine season, but has had the misfortune of facing Stormin' Norman Oglesby more than once. Smith is a very nimble heavy, and if he can avoid being put on his back, he could pull this one out with a superior gastank.
 
1st round picks:
Hobick over Ewers
Phifer over Smith
Brogan over Bean
Minges over Saylor
Trawick over Kessler
Ridle over Williams
Samuels over Selm
Smith over Jackson
 
Dingo's picks to advance, in order:
Trawick, Brogan, Hobick, Smith
 
The Alpha Dog:
Nate Trawick

7689 17
2015 Merrillville Semi-State Preview
By Chad Hollenbaugh
IndianaMat Senior Writer
 
From Lake Station to Logansport, from Lowell to LaVille, the northwest quadrant of the state’s finest wrestlers will congregate in the gym at Merrillville High School to determine the fifty-six athletes that will qualify for the big show. The team race should be dominated by Penn, Portage and Merrillville. Crown Point could add some spice into the team race if they have an outstanding day.
 
106
The bracket gods started off by playing a cruel joke on regional champ Kory Cavanaugh of Penn. The 15th ranked 106 pounder in the state got put in the same quarter bracket with #13 Collin Poynter of Portage and #11 Alex Bautista from Hanover Central. Poynter and Baustista meet right off the bat in the second match of the morning. The winner will likely have Cavanaugh in the the ticket round. Cavanaugh has a narrow win over Poynter but was handled by Bautista 10-1 earlier in the season. A brutal group of four no matter how you slice it.
The second set of four is also tough as nails. One loss Jon Anderson has piled up forty-four wins and a regional championship for Lafayette Jeff. He will be severely tested in the second round where he will likely face fourteenth ranked Ian Dembowski of Valparaiso.
The bottom half of the bracket will be low on ticket round drama but high on talent. Number one ranked Colton Cummings of Lowell and fifth ranked Tylor Triana of Hobart should cruise through the first two rounds and set up a semi final slugfest.
 
FIRST ROUND FISTICUFFS – Alex Bautista – Hanover Central (26-5) vs. Colin Poynter – Portage (32-6).
 
TOP TICKET ROUND TILT – Jon Anderson – Lafayette Jeff (44-1) vs. Ian Dembowki – Valpo (39-6).
 
FAB FOUR

Cummings – Lowell
Poynter – Portage
Triana – Hobart
Dembowski - Valpo

113
The top half of the 113 bracket also appears to hold the greatest amount of early round drama while the bottom half seems to be more settled. Third ranked and undefeated Drew Hildebrandt from Penn should cruise to finals and be marginally tested in the semis by Rickie Rodriguez of Hammond Morton. The Kingman pinned the Governor earlier in the season. The top half features some interesting early round matches. Munster’s Cody Crary, Culver Academy’s Adam Davis and Lafayette Jeff’s Dustin Miller will battle it out in the top quarter while Crown Point’s John Moran and Merrillville’s Michael DeLaPena will likely reprise their Duneland Conference rivalry in the ticket round.
 
FIRST ROUND FISTICUFFS – Cody Crary – Munster (38-7) vs. Adam Davis – Culver Academy (31-6). Two talented frosh meet for the right to battle Miller in the quarterfinals.
 
TOP TICKET ROUND TILT – Austin Line – Valpo (32-8) vs. Rickie Rodriguez – Hammond Morton (31-2). Two seasoned veterans look for spot in state finals.
 
FAB FOUR
Hildebrandt – Penn
DeLaPena – Merrillville
Rodriguez – Morton
Miller – Lafayette Jeff

120
This 120 class might be one of the most evenly matched and exciting to watch this Saturday. Great storylines, state ranked wrestlers and tough match ups are littered throughout this bracket. Returning state champ Jeremiah Reitz of Griffith finished second at his regional in one of this year’s best rivalries with Hobart’s Brendan Black. Reitz is the definition of a death draw to regional champ Jack Tolin of Chesterton. Returning state placer Kyle Hatch of Warsaw will have his hands full with Portage’s conference champion Miguel Prado. Hobart’s Brendan Black and South Bend Clay’s Jake Hartman will probably face off in the ticket round. The final ticket punched in this bracket is a real toss up with Rensselaer Central’s one loss regional champ Brady White squaring off with the winner of Mishawaka’s Ryan Hardesty and Crown Point’s Austin Torres.
 
FIRST ROUND FISTICUFFS – Ryan Hardesty – Mishawaka (29-7) vs. Austin Torres – Crown Point (25-7). Studs from two tradition rich programs should provide early fireworks.
 
TOP TICKET ROUND TILT – Brendan Black – Hobart (26-3) vs. Jake Hartman – South Bend Clay (43-1). Hartman suffered his first lost of the season at regionals and will be extra focused in his last attempt to wrestle in Indy.
 
FAB FOUR
Reitz – Griffith
Hartman – South Bend Clay
Hatch – Warsaw
Torres – Crown Point

126
The sale of Pepto Bismol reached an all time high last Saturday as upsets were occurring all over the place. This put the 126 bracket at Merrillville in jumbled mess. It is quite possible that no regional champs will move onto Bankers Life next week. Wawasee’s Tristan Ponsler got toppled at regional and now has a likely ticket round match with the red hot Branden Truver. In the second quarter bracket, Plymouth’s Cody Allmon is in a great situation to earn his second trip to state. On the bottom half of the slate, Rochester’s John Hunting got the death card dealt to him when Truver upset second ranked Gaige Torres of Portage. Munster’s talented Jason Crary is the clear favorite in final set of four and has a major decision win over regional champ and likely ticket round foe Tristan Dembowski.
 
FIRST ROUND FISTCUFFS – Zac Wells – LaPorte (23-9) vs. Tristan Ponsler – Wawasee (40-2). Ponsler looks to rebound and Wells is wrestling very well right now.
 
TOP TICKET ROUND TILT – Cody Allmon – Plymouth (30-8) vs. John Ragan – Delphi (31-9). Allmon looks to topple a fairly unheralded regional champ in Ragan.
 
FAB FOUR
Torres – Portage
Truver – Lake Central
Crary – Munster
Allmon – Plymouth

132
The 132 weight class lacks wrestlers with many state-wide credentials and that makes it very difficult to handicap. Tippy Valley’s Devin Childers has state experience but must get through the top ranked kid in the bracket. Crown Point’s Zach Donaldson. Benton Central regional champ Blake Strawsma has a great chance to break through to the state level. Portage’s Tyler Joseph must deal with the funky Austen Laughlin early on Saturday and will likely run into Bremen’s Joey Bailey in the semi finals.
 
FIRST ROUND FISTICUFFS – Tyler Joseph – Portage (25-6) vs. Austen Laughlin – South Bend Riley (42-6). The physical Joseph and the lanky Laughlin should present an interesting style match up.
 
TOP TICKET ROUND TILT – Devin Childers – Tippy Valley (39-2) vs. Zach Donaldson – Crown Point (33-2). Two senior studs meet up in the ticket round.
 
FAB FOUR
Donaldson – Crown Point
Joseph – Portage
Strawsma – Benton Central
Bailey - Bremen

138
Merrillville’s Clarence Johnson looks to be the front runner at 138 largely on strength of his major decision win over Riley Akers in the Duneland conference championship. Akers is the likely survivor of the second quarter bracket. Penn’s cagey Cameron Beam is the Jason Tsirtsis of this bracket. Three straight close wins put the Kingman in great shape to advance to Indy. The last quarter bracket has possibly the most compelling potential ticket round match where Logan champ Cole Lukaszka should square off with Culver Community’s Triston Rodriguez.
 
FIRST ROUND FISTICUFFS – Tarvis Evans – South Bend Adams (29-8) vs. Diego Lemley – Chesterton (30-8). The long and athletic Evans faces talented frosh Lemley in this battle of third(Lemley) and fifth(Evans) placers at the Al Smith.
 
TOP TICKET ROUND TILT – Cole Lukaszka – Benton Central (39-1) vs. Triston Rodriguez – Culver Community (35-2).
 
FAB FOUR
Johnson – Merrillville
Akers – Crown Point
Lukaszka – Benton Central
Beam - Penn

145
After looking over this bracket, it appears that there are pretty strong favorites in each of the quarter brackets. The fact that the first and third ranked kids in the state are from the same regional means that someone got the death draw and Logansport senior Ryan Schrock drew the short straw and will likely face Steven “Bam” Lawrence in the ticket round. Lawrence will likely face South Bend Adams talented Tavonte Malone in the semis. The other side of the bracket is dominated by Merrillville junior and last years state runner up, Jacob Covaciu. Crown Point’s Daylan Schurg will probably face South Bend Riley’s Kassius Breathitt in an entertaining ticket round match.
 
FIRST ROUND FISTICUFFS – Ryan Schrock – Logansport (37-3) vs. Dustin Hochstetler – Penn (25-13). Don’t let the thirteen losses by Hochstetler fool you, he will give regional champ Schrock all he wants.
 
TOP TICKET ROUND TILT – Daylan Schurg – Crown Point (33-5) vs. Kassius Breathitt – South Bend Riley (40-9). The contrast in styles should make for an exciting match. If the match is boring look for Breathitt’s dad giving a loud play by play account of the action.
 
FAB FOUR
Covaciu – Merrillville
Lawrence – Portage
Schurg – Crown Point
Malone – South Bend Adams

152
One young man clearly stands above the rest of the field at 152. Mishawaka’s Tommy Forte should cruise to a semi state crown on Saturday. The University of Buffalo bound senior is looking healthy and ready to win a second state title. The rest of the field contains four serious contenders for the remaining three tickets to Indy. Mike Krzyston will like make his second trip to Indy for the 59ers. Lake Central’s Kodie Christenson has wins over higher ranked kids in this bracket and a relatively easy quarter bracket to navigate. That leaves one spot left and it will likely be battled for by Lafayette Harrison’s Connor Armuth and Penn’s Jarrod Swank. Swank is ranked forth and has a slim overtime win over the ninth ranked Armuth five weeks ago on his ledger. It is the only loss on an otherwise spotless record for Armuth.
 
FIRST ROUND FISTICUFFS – Brendan Makowski – South Bend St. Joseph (20-14) vs. Oszkar Kasch – Crown Point (18-7).
 
TOP TICKET ROUND TILT – Jarod Swank – Penn (29-4) vs. Connor Armuth – Lafayette Harrison (50-1). The margin is razor thin for these two titans. This will be one of the very best ticket round battles.
 
FAB FOUR
Forte – Mishawaka
Swank – Penn
Christenson – Lake Central
Krzyton – Andrean

160
Scary. Anyone looking at the bottom half of the 160 bracket at Merrillville has to cringe at prospect of trying to survive and advance this group of eight. Five of the state’s top ten are in this bracket and four of them are located in the bottom half. In the top half of the bracket, Lowell’s Drew Hughes should make short work of his opponents on his way to his third semi state crown. The second set of four is wide open. Regional champ Parker Fritz of West Central must defeat dangerous foes if he wishes to return to the state finals. Now the bottom half has returning state runner up and third ranked Darden Schurg of Crown Point in a probable match up with Hobart hammer Scottie Sopko who is ranked fifth. The other quarter bracket is not much easier as seventh ranked Adam Dodson of John Glenn will go to war with ninth ranked Denzyl Prentice of Penn. Scary depth at this class.
 
FIRST ROUND FISTICUFFS – Evan Larsen – Hanover Central (35-6) vs. Parker Fritz – West Central (32-3). Larsen is a pinner and Fritz is an outstanding athlete. Look for lots of points scored in this one.
 
TOP TICKET ROUND TILT – Take your pick between the Schurg/Sopko or Prentice/Dodson matchups.
 
FAB FOUR
Hughes – Lowell
Prentice – Penn
Schurg – Crown Point
Goering – South Bend Riley

170
Three of the four quarter brackets look to have fairly strong frontrunners. Penn’s Joey Mammolenti is the top dog here. He is undefeated at this weight and has wins over many of the other contenders. Undefeated Hunter Mote will attempt to keep the streak of Delphi state qualifiers alive while Lowell’s third regional champ, Isaac James will look to qualify for the first time. Hammond Morton upstart Andrew Key won the Calumet regional but he will likely be tested by LaVille’s gritty Ben Norton.
 
FIRST ROUND FISTICUFFS – Ben Norton – LaVille (29-5) vs. Nate Spangle – Triton (35-4). Two small school studs will face off for the right to get to the ticket round.
 
TOP TICKET ROUND TILT – Isaac James – Lowell (31-4) vs. Ismael Cornejo – Portage (26-6). Expect a physical brawl in this matchup. This might be a preview of the championship next year.
 
FAB FOUR
Mammolenti – Penn
Mote – Delphi
James – Lowell
Norton – LaVille

182
Penn’s Chase Osborn has gone wire to wire so far as the state’s top ranked 182 wrestler. He has been tested a couple of time by fellow regional champs Andrew Davison of Chesterton and Jake Kleimola of Lake Central. A finals match between Osborn and Davison would be one of the highlights of day. The final spot in Indy will like come down to a ticket round match up between Winamac’s Gage Garpow and Portage’s Alex Guerrero. Garpow has a fine record but Guerrero wrestles one of the state’s toughest schedules.
 
FIRST ROUND FISTICUFFS – Jeremy Splix – Plymouth (31-6) vs. Daniel Wright – Lafayette Harrison (48-3). Wright is a returning state qualifier who was upset in the regional finals. Splix is a fast improving junior for Bob Read’s Rockies.
 
TOP TICKET ROUND TILT – Gage Garpow – Winamac (34-2) vs. Alex Guerrero – Portage (30-6). Will it be the Warrior or the Indian that comes out on top? Expect a tight low scoring six minuts.
 
FAB FOUR
Davison – Chesterton
Osborn – Penn
Kleimola – Lake Central
Guerrero – Portage

195
Upsets at regionals make the 195 class another one that is tough to predict. It also makes for many very interesting match ups in the first two rounds. The bracket gods continue to be nice Coach Vega and the Portage squad. Fourth place at regional has put senior Indian Matt Hedrick in a quarter bracket with a regional champ that he majored earlier in the year. Hedrick did injury default at regional so hopefully he gets healthy by Saturday. Calumet’s burly Nick Fowler has taken on all comers in the region and is still undefeated. One point separated Merrillville’s Jarius Perry and Mishawaka’s Tanner Bradley at the Al Smith so their ticket round battle is likely to be tight.
 
FIRST ROUND FISTICUFFS – John Bigbie – Lowell (31-7) vs. Matt Hedrick – Portage (23-6).
 
TOP TICKET ROUND TILT – Tanner Bradley – Mishawaka (23-3) vs. Jarius Perry – Merrillville (32-3). Bradley is wrestling with a lot of confidence after is first period pin of Wes Beck at regional.
 
FAB FOUR
Fowler – Calumet
Perry – Merrillville
Hedrick – Portage
Kidwell – West Lafayette

220
Gelen Robinson has graduated so this class is an open shot for new blood to rise to the top. The new king of hill will likely be either Penn’s Kobe Woods or Crown Point’s Morgan Kral. Woods has remain unscathed on the season and is the state’s top ranked grappler in this class. Kral is the fourth ranked wrestler and has a lone loss on his record. Duneland rivals Alex Kukurugya of Valpo and Brandon Majewski of Portage will be likely opponents in the top quarter bracket. Lafayette Harrison’s Seth Meyer looks to make his third trip to the big dance in the final quarter bracket.
 
FIRST ROUND FISTICUFFS – Jesus Lowe – Bishop Noll (35-4) vs. Andrew Brock – Warsaw (33-9). While either is unlikely to knock of Kral, this should be a nice battle.
 
TOP TICKET ROUND TILT – Alex Kukurugya – Valpo (38-9) vs. Brandon Majewski – Portage (28-6). Can Kukurugya solve the Majewski puzzle?
 
FAB FOUR
Woods – Penn
Kral – Crown Point
Majewski – Portage
Meyer – Lafayette Harrison

285
Merrillville’s top ranked Shawn Streck is head and shoulders above the rest of the heavyweight crowd. Nothing less than a state title will satisfy Big Purple. I expect the rest of the bracket to hold chalk with regional champs winning and punching their ticket to state. Valpo’s Ian Suttles is a little undersized but is a superior athlete. Mammoth Cody Christman from Penn will finalize the strong Kingmen crowd at state. The final slot should be manned by Lafayette Harrison strongman
 
FIRST ROUND FISTICUFFS – Andrew Hansen – John Glenn (28-6) vs. Brian Shaw – South Bend Riley (26-10). Riley wrestlers are always entertaining to watch and Shaw will work relentlessly to jack up big man Hansen and try to throw him.
 
TOP TICKET ROUND TILT – Michael Kern – Lafayette Harrison (47-4) vs. Jordan Shafer – Rochester (36-5). Will the athletic Shafer be able to withstand the pressure of the burly Kern.
 
FAB FOUR

Streck – Merrillville
Christman – Penn
Suttles – Valpo
Kern – Harrison

TEAM QUALIFIERS
Penn – 8
Portage – 7
Crown Point - 6
Merrillville – 5
Lowell – 3
Lake Central - 3
Benton Central – 2
Lafayette Harrison - 2
Valparaiso – 2
Bremen - 1
Calumet – 1
Chesterton - 1
Griffith – 1
Warsaw – 1
West Lafayette – 1
Hammond Morton – 1
South Bend Clay – 1
Hobart – 1
Lafayette Jeff – 1
Munster – 1
Plymouth – 1
South Bend Adams – 1
Andrean – 1
Delphi – 1
South Bend Riley – 1
LaVille – 1
Mishawaka - 1

4380
Carroll Regional Preview
Link to the brackets
http://www.trackwrestling.com/predefinedtournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=146555009
 
Team Race
This could be the easiest prediction of the whole regional, the host Chargers will keep the regional faceplate for the third straight year. They bring in 13 wrestlers with 11 of them having a higher “seed,” while the next biggest contingents are Leo and Huntington North with 9 and Columbia City and Snider with 8. Baring any catastrophic event the team race will be well and decided after the first round.
 
106lbs
SAC rivals Geoffrey Davis of Wayne and Ben Streeter of North Side are on a collision path once again. Davis won the SAC title match 13-6, but this one is more important as it will make the path to state a little easier. Get to the Carroll Fieldhouse early on Saturday as the 2 vs. 3 match-ups at this weight will be great with freshman Joe Just of Carroll going against sophomore gage Malott of Bishop Luers and a battle of freshmen between Leo’s Sam Richard and Garrett’s Brayden Shearer.
 
113lbs
Jack Franklin won a regional title last year at 106lbs and comes in with only one blemish on his record. He looks to be the favorite, while Carroll Sectional champion Joel Byman will need to navigate the rest of the field to meet him for the fifth time this year.
 
120lbs
This is probably the most anticipated weight class of the regional with three ranked wrestlers battling it out. Eddie Loraine, Hunter Langeloh, and Ben Cauffman all know the importance of being a regional champion in order to make the trip to the state finals. All three also are exciting and fun to watch, which will make for some high scoring matches. Dylan Demarco vs. Kyle Rothgeb will be a good first round match to keep your eye on.
 
126lbs
This is a weight you don’t want to miss either. Owen Doster is having a great season so far, but he cannot overlook solid opponents like Brandon Miller, Kobe Raypole, Drake Rhodes or Nik Hoot. Don’t be deceived by Rhodes’ 12 losses, he had a close 3-2 match with Doster just last week.
 
132llbs
This weight will be led by Columbia City senior Kyle Egolf. After having an injury shortened junior year, he has been on top of his game this year with only two losses. He could face a solid Ryan Shaffer of New Haven in the finals or another NHC nemesis Joel Arney of the host Chargers.
 
138lbs
While the Carroll sectional had a surprised 3 seed win the crown last week, at New Haven Isaac Eicher made quick work of his competition. He comes into the Carroll Fieldhouse without a loss for the second straight year. He will have some formidable foes looking to be the first to knock him off including super turtle Chase Downing and a pair of NHC rivals Nathan Smith of Columbia City and Joe Israbian of Carroll.
 
145lbs
Tanner Shipley is looking for his second regional title this year after finishing second as a junior. He will need to be on top of his game from the start. The bottom half of the bracket will be fun to watch as there should be good matches from the start of the day. Kyle Leland of Homestead has had a great second half of the season and North Side’s Logan Capps won a solid weight at the Carroll sectional last week.
 
152lbs
Carroll’s Josh Garman is looking for his second straight regional title at this weight and comes in without a loss. He could run into a solid Archer in Nate Garcia or NHC and sectional foe Cross Dietrich in the finals. Dietrich has a tough first round match against last year’s 145lbs regional runner-up Bailey Shockome of Huntington North.
 
160lbs
This weight is led by Bulldog Nick Potter who comes in battle tested. He will have to get through Carroll sectional champion Erick Loe if he wants to bring back a championship. One first round match to watch is Snider’s Jamison Stiebeling against Eastside’s Gage Delong. Don’t be surprised if the winner of this match ends up in the finals either.
 
170lbs
The Carroll sectional was stacked at this weight and it should show on Saturday. Cadet superstar Zach Davis comes in without a blemish on his record, but needed an extra stanza to get by Churubusco’s Caleb Partin. Don’t sleep on red hot Jacob Lay of Homestead who won sectional with a losing record out of the three seed.
 
182lbs
This will be one of the better weights to watch in the first round with three good matches that are all toss-ups. First Homestead’s Wyatt Clem cannot overlook Beck Davis of Garrett, who has shown he can battle with the better kids at the weight. Wally Grinager of Leo and Stephan Nix of Bishop Dwenger will square off in a match that is too close to call. Lastly, Russell Davies of Snider will battle Whitko’s Zach Baughman in the first round. If everything plays out by the seeds, you could see the 3rd match in four weeks between Carroll’s Kayne Duncan and Clem in the finals.
 
195lbs
The highlight of this weight could be Davis vs. Dunten III. So far Dunten has won two nailbiters in both the dual and sectional matches. However, neither can overlook the likes of returning state qualifier Tristin Anglin or guys like Mikey Rivera and Trevor Thomas.
 
220lbs
Blake Davis of Garrett seems to be the top wrestler here, but was pushed hard last week by Carroll’s Ammon Carr. This weight has many potential landmines as everyone comes in with solid records. Woodlan’s Edwin Barberena is a wildcard as he comes in relatively unknown with only three losses. Also you cannot overlook Layne Emery from Huntington North who won the New Haven sectional.
 
285lbs
The top three wrestlers at this weight come in with a combined 6 losses. This weight will feature a few size disadvantages as Columbia City’s Drew Cummings tips the scales at around 280lbs, while Bishop Luers’ Daemen Williams is around the 220 mark. Snider’s Matt Swartz is right in between and can wrestle with the best. This weight will be very interesting to watch as we will see the different styles and body types collide.

2826
Jay County Regional Preview
Jay County Regional spectators should be in for a day of top-notch wrestling as seventeen state ranked wrestlers toe the line this Saturday. Along with the seventeen ranked state ranked wrestlers, there are PLENTY more wrestlers ranked in the Fort Wayne Semi-State rankings.
 
106: The excitement starts early as the day should start off with two state ranked wrestlers toeing the line for the championship. South Adams freshman Wyatt Miller (#19) will face Yorktown’s freshman Christian Hunt (#8), there are only 3 losses between the two wrestlers. Other wrestlers looking to advance on are Adam Central’s Nick Liter, Union City’s Max Harris, and Muncie Central’s Brandon Wills.
 
113: Fans don’t have to wait to the finals for excitement in this weight class as there should be two great semi-final match ups. All eyes will be on Yorktown’s Josh Stephenson (#13) as he battles Bellmont’s Mason Mendez (#20). On the other side of the bracket we should see South Adams' Briar Goodwin battle Adams Central’s Anthony Mosser, who has been red hot lately. After that action expect more in an anticipated final.
 
120: South Adams' (#2) Sawyer Miller leads the field in yet another very competitive weight class. Expect a nail bitter in the semis as Jon Becker of Bellmont battles the powerful freshmen of Yorktown, Colt Rutter.
 
126: Only three points separated these two hammers last time they met up. Look for a finals match of Bellmont’s Daniel Gunsett and Yorktown’s Remington Hiestand. The next spots will be for whoever is on.
 
132: They’ve met twice, and they will probably meet again. Yorktown’s Jacob Stephenson (#16) will look to avenge two earlier losses to Delta’s Sage Coy (#14). My hopes are high for this one. Dallas Dudelston of Jay County will look to continue his hot streak and finish a strong third.
 
138: Wrestlers won’t be laughing after wrestling Brad Laughlin. The Tiger is currently ranked 7th in state. Laughlin not finishing first would be a GIANT upset, second through fourth is up for grabs.
 
145: Adam Central’s Bates has been atop the podium the past two weeks, but to get there again he will have his hands full, really, really full. The terrific Tiger Cael McCormick has only suffered one loss this season and is currently ranked 2nd in the state. Also look for an intense 3rd and 4th place match between two seniors, Bellmont’s Joe Becker and Southern Well’s Daniel Beeks.
 
152: This weight class could be as unpredictable as Indiana’s weather and as even as the number two. Yorktown’s Dru Berkebile, Bellmont’s Brad Busse, and the Raider’s TC Perry are all title competitors. Throw Jay County’s Tyler Leonard in the mix and you have an interesting weight class.
 
160: He is currently unbeaten, but Delta’s Jacob Gray (#13) will be tested, not once, but maybe twice this Saturday. Adams Central’s Luke Liter has shown he can score on the best and will battle Gray in the semis. The winner will take on 10th ranked Bryce Baumgartner of Bellmont.
 
170: Oh boy, thinking about this finals match already has me on the edge of my seat. A battle of two top ten ranked grapplers. Yorktown’s Dillon Jackson (#4) will look to avenge an early season loss to Adam Central’s Kaine Luginbill (#7). This is a match between two highly explosive wrestlers. Look for Bellmont’s Brett Baker to be in the mix.
 
182: Another weight class loaded with solid wrestlers, this weight class could simply come down to who is on this Saturday. At the head of the class is, Y-Town’s Hunter Hiestand, Jay County’s Andy Kohler. Close behind are Union City’s Charlie Baron, and Daleville’s Corbin Maddox.
 
195: Currently ranked 3rd in the state, if anyone scores a point on Yorktown’s Myron Howard-Anderson I will call that an upset. The next best are Bellmont’s Carter Friedt and Delta’s Scottie Evans.
 
220: Another highly competitive weight class, 220 should be a fun one. Lead by Winchester’s Dustyn Hangen, the senior only has a one loss on the season. Union City’s Jesus Ulloa and Yorktown’s Noah little (who isn’t very little) will look to give him all he can handle.
 
285: Spectators better make sure they don’t leave early, as some of the better heavies in the Fort Wayne Semi-State will battle it out. Currently ranked 19th in the state, Adam Central’s Isiah Bollenbacher will be tested by Yorktown’s small, but powerful Dax Hiestand. Bollenbacher will also be tested in the semi’s by Kaiser Phillips of Monroe Central, the senior is currently 29-4.

2081
North Montgomery Regional Preview (Dingo style)
North Montgomery Regional Preview

 
106
#2 Klayton Anderson (#9 pre-season regional Indianamat ranking) is a very large, very long lightweight. He uses his frame to brutalize his opponents when he's on top. At the Zionsville sectional, he rode a game Alexander Strueder for what seemed like the entire match. Picture a praying mantis toying with its prey. There doesn't appear to be anyone in this regional quite on his level, and he won't be truly tested until New Castle. The true battle is for second place, which should come down to Grino vs. Strueder. While Strueder was impressive at sectionals, Grino has wrestled some of the very best in the weight class, is a returning semistate qualifier, and ranked opponents account for 4 of his 5 losses. I give the edge to Grino, with Strueder battling the lanky Mennen for 3rd.
 
See ya in New Castle:
 
1. #2 Klayton Anderson, HSE
2. Alex Grino, Southmont
3. Alexander Strueder, Fishers
4. Colton Mennen, Clinton Central
 
Grab yer popcorn:
 
Grino vs. Strueder should be very competitive. While Grino has the superior record against possibly tougher competition, Strueder impressed at Zionsville and appears to be peaking at the right time.
 
Upset alert:
 
Colton Mennen has the size to neutralize some of Anderson's natural advantage. He also sports a pretty impressive W/L record. Anderson is the heavy favorite, and rightfully so, but crazy things happen this time of year. That said, with Anderson's signficant high-level experience, not to mention his impressive skills, it's hard to picture him losing this weekend.
113
 
#7 Austin Holmes (#2 pre-season regional Indianamat ranking) leads the field at 113. Last year's 4th place state finisher at 113, Holmes has battled a 'who's who' of opponents this year, which accounts for his 3 losses. While this is a solid group, there's no one here who can truly push him. Two weight classes in, the Royals will almost certainly have two #1 seeds heading into New Castle. The battle for the other three spots is much more interesting. 4th seed Reid Hutson is a returning semistate qualifier, and he's faced Hubble a couple of times this year, winning both matchups. Carmel's Jerde impresssed at Zionsville, upending a very tough returning semistate qualifier in Ellis of Zionsville en route to a 2nd place finish. Look for a Jerde/Holmes rematch in the regional finals.
 
See ya in New Castle:
 
1. #7 Austin Holmes, HSE
2. Adam Jerde, Carmel
3. Azariah Ellis, Zionsville
4. Reid Hutson, Westfield
 
Grab yer popcorn:
 
Hutson vs. top-seed Evan Hubble of Southmont in a tough opening round match. Hutson has an edge with his semistate experience, in addition to the head-to-head advantage this season. Both have faced very formidable competition all season, and this could go either way.
 
Upset alert:
 
Holmes is safe, but look for 4 seed Hutson to battle tooth and nail with 1 seed Hubble.
 
120
 
Here's where things get interesting and pretty wide-open. #12 Zach McCoy and #13 Caleb Bocock (#6 pre-season regional Indianamat ranking) lead the parade at 120, but there are some very solid kids just below the top two. McCoy and Bocock have split two decision matchups, and this potential third one has some pretty significant implications. The winner has a big advantage at New Castle. Crum, Eiteljorge and Bobeyn would love to advance, but no one wants to be a 4 seed at New Castle.
 
See ya in New Castle:
 
1. #13 Caleb Bocock, Lebanon
2. #12 Zach McCoy, North Montgomery
3. Jack Eiteljorge, Carmel
4. Skylar Crum, Crawfordsville
 
Grab yer popcorn:
 
Bocock and McCoy should meet in what could be the match of the day. They know each other well, they're both talented and very well-coached, and they know how crucial a regional title is for State aspirations. Additionally, McCoy will be looking for atonement for last year's upset as a top seed to a 4 seed in his opening match.
 
Upset alert:
 
Eiteljorge had better not overlook his opening round opponent, Tanner Henry of Attica. While Attica clearly doesn't wrestle Carmel's schedule, a 29-3 record is impressive, no matter how you slice it. Similarly, #2 seed Skylar Crum might see a so-so record for Zionsville's Sam Gobeyn, but he's wrestled a very tough schedule and looked sharp this past Saturday. Lastly, McCoy's opening round match is with a 30+ win wrestler from the tough Fishers program, Caleb Wright.
 
126
 
This is definitely one of the strongest weight classes of the regional, led by #14 Boone Weliever (#10 pre-season regional Indianamat ranking) of Southmont and #17 Skyler Collins of Frankfort. Between them, they have 5 losses, and all are to top-10 ranked opponents. Not too far behind these two are the always tough Zachary Steele of Westfield and Morgan Pruitt of Carmel, who have split matches with each other during the season. Look for Weliever to edge Collins in a thriller. Steele and Pruitt are equally well-matched; on a hunch, I'm going with Steele.
 
See ya in New Castle:
 
1. #14 Boone Weliever, Southmont
2. #17 Skyler Collins, Frankfort
3. Zachary Steele, Westfield
4. Morgan Pruitt, Carmel
 
Grab yer popcorn:
 
Weliever and Collins could be dynamite if it pans out. If seeds hold, Steele and Pruitt will meet yet again, and they are evenly matched and extremely well 'coached up'--a Pendoski vs. O'Neill battle.
 
Upset alert:
 
Weliever has to get by Steele, and Collins has to beat Pruitt to make the seeds hold. It's very possible that either Steele or Pruitt, or both, could put a wrinkle in those plans. Additionally, Weliever's opening opponent is a very tough Kody Wagner of Zionsville (28-9).
 
132
 
On the heels of a loaded weight class, comes 'the' loaded weight class at North Montgomery. Hamilton Southeastern's #5 Jack Chastain (#1 pre-season regional Indianamat ranking) and Westfield's #6 Evan Eldred (#4 pre-season regional Indianamat ranking) lead the field by a significant amount. It would be a monumental upset if they don't meet in the finals. If they do, it will be their fourth matchup, with Chastain leading the season series 3-1. Look for Attica's Hayden Estes and either Fisher's Noah Scott or C-ville's Cameron Douglass to join the two big dogs in New Castle.
 
See ya in New Castle:
 
1. #5 Jack Chastain, HSE
2. #6 Evan Eldred, Westfield
3. Hayden Estes, Attica
4. Noah Scott, Fishers
 
Grab yer popcorn:
 
Without a doubt, the feature matchup is last year's 5th place finisher Chastain, who very nearly upset Zach Davis, versus Fargo All-American Eldred. Both won regional titles last season, and each excels at wrestling his type of match. For the freestyle standout Eldred, that means pushing the action on his feet and trying to minimize Chastain's advantage on the mat. For Chastain, that means using his long body to excellent effect defensively on his feet, and making life difficult for opponents on the mat. While Chastain will be the favorite, Eldred has shown he can beat anyone, including Chastain.
 
Upset alert:
 
Estes could be tested by the 15-20 Cole Wilson of Zionsville, who is peaking despite his record.
 
138
 
#6 Keegan Stansberry is undefeated and will be a strong favorite to end Saturday with a still-spotless record. He is, seed-wise, most likely to face Southmont's Connor Moore, but don't overlook returning semistate qualifier Sam Kern of Zionsville, despite a mediocre W/L record. Jerrod Smith of Carmel and Alex Haddock of Fountain Central should be an interesting match to determine the fourth member of the New Castle quartet.
 
See ya in New Castle:
 
1. #6 Keegan Stansberry, HSE
2. Sam Kern, Zionsville
3. Connor Moore, Southmont
4. Jerrod Smith, Carmel
 
Grab yer popcorn:
 
Moore vs. Kern should be a great match. Moore sports a lofty 32-5 record against some pretty formidable opponents, while Kern has a 12-10 mark, also against some very tough competition. Smith vs. Haddock should be very interesting as well.
 
Upset alert:
 
Kern beating Moore would be an upset, although not a major one. Kern must first get by 27-5 Cody Parker of Attica, a senior who has been here before.
 
145
 
While lacking some of the heavy hitters of the previous few weight classes, 145 is a very tough weight from top to bottom. Leading the way, rankings-wise, is #17 Mason Gaines of Fishers. Awaiting Gaines in the semis, is the very tough Wayne Highfield of Southmont (29-3!!), and, on the other side of the bracket, a tough senior in Fountain Central's Collin Strange, the sectional champ.
 
See ya in New Castle:
 
1. #17 Mason Gaines, Fishers
2. Collin Strange, Fountain Central
3. Wayne Highfield, Southmont
4. Matt Kern, Zionsville
 
Grab yer popcorn:
 
There are several intriguing matchups at this weight. Gaines/Highfield could easily be a worth regional finals matchup. This matchup is a legitimate toss-up. The winner of that slugfest gets Strange, who must get by the tough Eagle senior Kern in the semis.
 
Upset alert:
 
You can't call Highfield over Gaines a real upset, but Kern is plenty capable of stealing the show and upsetting the top seed Strange en route to a finals berth.
 
152
 
The competition is tough and deep at 152, led by state #6 Kellen VanCamp (#5 pre-season regional Indianamat ranking) of Lebanon and #20 Tanner Webster of North Montgomery. However, the foursome of Nic Blondeel of Attica (27-6), Corbin Gregg of HSE (31-10), Fountain Central's Laine Frazee (35-3) and Carmel's Sam Bublick (17-11) should provide some formidable competition for the two favorites and each other.
 
See ya in New Castle:
 
1. #6 Kellen VanCamp, Lebanon
2. #20 Tanner Webster, North Montgomery
3. Corbin Gregg, HSE
4. Laine Frazee, FC
 
Grab yer popcorn:
 
Despite meeting already a couple of times this year, with the returning state qualifier VanCamp coming out on top, the Tiger senior and Webster aren't light years apart. Webster actually finished ahead of VanCamp at last year's regional. HSE's Gregg is peaking, and shouldn't be overlooked by anyone, including Webster.
 
Upset alert:
 
Despite a so-so record, Carmel's Sam Bublick is a Pendoski product and is capable of beating Frazee and moving on to New Castle.
 
160
 
#14 Jesse Archer of North Montgomery somehow competed at 195 last season and was successful. This year, he's 35-0 and on a roll. He appears to have a leg up on returning semistate qualifier Evan Stambaugh, as evidenced by his win by fall earlier this year. Similarly, Stambaugh appears to be a very solid 2nd best here, as he really controlled his opposition at the Zionsville sectional.
 
See ya in New Castle:
 
1. #14 Jesse Archer, North Montgomery
2. Evan Stambaugh, Lebanon
3. Nick Fox, Carmel
4. Jack Banks, Zionsville
 
Grab yer popcorn:
 
Although Archer is the clear favorite, it will be interesting to see how he handles Stambaugh in a rematch, as Stambaugh has shown that he steps it up in the postseason.
 
Upset alert:
 
Banks kept it very close with Stambaugh last weekend, and it's within the realm of possibility that he could knock off the 1 seed.
 
170
 
Two ranked wrestlers, #18 Alex Ragains of Frankfort and #19 Spencer Irick of HSE, join the always tough Zach Worm of Southmont and Drew Williamson of Zville to form an extremely tough quartet at North Montgomery. Of these top 4 studs, only Worm made it to New Castle last year. This year, however, Ragains and Irick have traded wins with each other, and they each own wins over Worm. Even more confusing, Williamson owns a win over Irick this year. In short, take your local favorite and call it a day in what appears to be a 'whoever is on their game' type of weight class.
 
See ya in New Castle:
 
1. #19 Spencer Irick, HSE
2. #18 Alex Ragains, Frankfort
3. Drew Williamson, Zionsville
4. Zach Worm, Southmont
 
Grab yer popcorn:
 
Great matchups abound in this weight class, starting with opening round tilts between Ragains and 30-5 senior Matthew McMasters of Fountain Central, as well as Williamson and 33-6 Koby Wray of North Montgomery. From there, it only gets hairier--Worm vs. Ragains, Williamson vs. Irick, capped off with the winners meeting in the finals...whoever wins this weight class will be battle-tested heading into New Castle.
 
Upset alert:
 
Despite an average W/L record, Westfield's Liam Jagow was extremely competitive against tough competition at Zionsville. He very nearly took out Williamson, and Worm had better be on his toes against the ever-improving 'Rocks sophomore.
 
182
 
From top to bottom, this is probably the best weight class overall at North Montgomery. Leading the way are state #6 Jonathan Morales (#3 pre-season regional Indianamat ranking) of WeBo, #7 Robert Manns (#7 pre-season regional Indianamat ranking) of Crawfordsville, 30-1 senior and returning semistate qualifier Tanner Smith of South Vermillion and returning semistate qualifier Griffin Steffy (#8 pre-season regional Indianamat ranking) of Lebanon. That doesn't even include the very tough Freedom Mak-Dawson of Fishers and 31-3 senior Austin Hoover of Sheridan. While returning state placer Morales is the favorite, there are landmines aplenty in this field, most notably Manns, who dropped down from 195 last season and has split wins with Morales this season.
 
See ya in New Castle:
 
1. #6 Jonathan Morales, Western Boone
2. #7 Robert Manns, Crawfordsville
3. Griffin Steffey, Lebanon
4. Tanner Smith, South Vermillion
 
Grab yer popcorn:
 
Almost every match falls into this category, but Manns vs. Morales is a special matchup of state-caliber studs.
 
Upset alert:
 
Freedom Mak-Dawson is an awfully tough opening match for Tanner Smith. I would put Hoover in the 'very dangerous' class against anyone but Manns or Morales. Smith is capable of giving Morales a tough match, and the same is true of Steffey vs. Manns.
 
195
 
#10 Scott Fuller of Zville and #11 Eric Hipple of Carmel lead the way at 195. Look for Westfield's Nick Schaeffer to join either North Mont's Cole Slavens or HSE's Kolby Ferris in advancing to New Castle.
 
See ya in New Castle:
 
1. #11 Eric Hipple, Carmel
2. #10 Scott Fuller, Zionsville
3. Nick Schaeffer, Westfield
4. Kolby Ferris, HSE
 
Grab yer popcorn:
 
Hipple vs. Fuller yet again...these two are very evenly matched and know each other well. Fuller didn't look especially sharp last weekend, but he still managed a solid second. Ferris vs. Slavens should be an old-fashioned slobber-knocker, with the top-seed sophomore Slavens battling the 4th seeded junior. Showing just how small the margin is between victory and defeat, Ferris lost two 1 point matches to finish 4th at Zionsville.
 
Upset alert:
 
By seeding, Ferris over Slavens is an upset. However, Ferris is legit and can go with about anyone in the regional. Fuller had better not overlook returning regional qualifier Austin Eup of South Vermillion, as he sports a sterling 28-4 record.
 
220
 
#13 Erik Hart of Lebanon is a pretty strong favorite here, with #11 Matthew Penola of Zville unable to participate in the postseason. Hart dominated his sectional, and has a good shot at doing it again at the regional level. Penola's backup, Grant Grayson, impressively finished 3rd at sectionals and has a legit shot at advancing to New Castle. Look for Jimmy Ford of HSE and Caleb Martin of Southmont to join Hart and Grayson at semistate.
 
See ya in New Castle:
1. #13 Erik Hart, Lebanon
2. Jimmy Ford, HSE
3. Caleb Martin, Southmont
4. Grant Grayson, Zionsville
 
Grab yer popcorn:
 
Ford vs. Martin should be a rugged battle: both are seniors, both are extremely battle-tested and each wrestled well last weekend.
 
Upset alert:
 
Grayson, despite being mostly a seasonal backup and sporting a sub-.500 record, has a very solid shot vs. Garrett Reynolds of Covington. Ford has a very tough opening match vs. South Vermillion's Evan Piper. Jacob Eidson of Sheridan was competitive the entire day at Zionsville and could give Martin a tough match.
 
285
 
#14 Michael Smith of Lebanon is the lone ranked heavyweight in the regional. However, Zionsville's Drew Hobick outlasted the Tigers' big man in OT to take the sectional title. Look for sectional champ Nathan Bean of C-ville and the peaking Deshawn Williams of Carmel to join the Boone County duo in qualifying for semistate.
 
See ya in New Castle:
1. #14 Michael Smith, Lebanon
2. Drew Hobick, Zionsville
3. Nathan Bean, Crawfordsville
4. Deshawn Williams, Carmel
 
Grab yer popcorn:
 
Smith and Hobick have split matches this year, and while they are quite friendly with each other before and after the match, they go at each other tooth and nail. I think it's Smith's turn to return the favor to Hobick. Bean could give Smith some troubles in the semis.
 
Upset alert:
 
Westfield's Austin Dollens upset the favored Chakiry of Fishers to make it out of sectionals, and has the ability to pull an upset over Bean.

1857
Castle Regional Preview
In the Evansville and Central sectionals, the big names rolled, while several upstarts made their presence known. The Castle regional--traditionally one of the toughest in the state--will feature a host of nail-biting first-round matches, semifinals and championship bouts.
106- Castle's Baxter Annakin bounded to a sectional title and is the favorite for a regional championship. In semifinal action, North Posey's Levi Miller will see the winner of the Harley Gorman (Mt. Vernon) and Kyler McKinney (Princeton) bout.
113- Southern Indiana wrestling fans breathed a sigh of relief when Mt. Vernon's Paul Konrath returned to action after a potential season-ending injury at the Big 8 championship. Konrath should see Mater Dei's Kyle Luigs in the semifinal. Logan Dilbeck of Gibson Southern will likely fill the other slot in the final. The trio also holds the top three rankings in the Evansville semi state. Don't be surprised to see them go at it again at the Ford Center.
120- After a two-month injury recovery, Reitz's Tyler Ferguson returned to action on Saturday. With only one match under his belt, Ferguson was sharp and mopped up the field. Mater Dei sophomore Will Egli has produced another stellar season and hopes to improve upon his fifth-place finish from the 2014 state tournament. Expect the duo to butt heads on the center mat.
126- Mater Dei's Alex Johnson looks to capture his third regional title. In order to do so, he will need to get past the winner of the Caleb Craig (Reitz) and Michael Polen (Gibson Southern) match. Craig and Polen are both very solid and will produce an interesting dust-up. The other side of the bracket will also be competitive, as Castle's 32-7 Braedon Clopton and North's 34-4 Nick Burke will meet for a title shot opportunity.
132- In his last six matches, Mater Dei's Nick Lee has spent less than six minutes on the mat. Ranked number-one in the state, expect Lee's rampage to continue. Mt. Vernon's Austin Bethel and Princeton's Chase Wilson should meet for a rematch of their Big 8 championship bout. The winner will meet Lee for the title.
138- A couple of weeks ago, southern Indiana 138-pounders began to re-think their weight class choice. There are five, top-shelf grapplers here; only four will advance. Gibson Southern's fifth-ranked Kyle Todrank will see Memorial's Johny Wargel in the first round. Both are seniors; one of them will see their high school career end here. Mater Dei's third-ranked freshman, Joe Lee, will likely meet Reitz's AJ Dixon in one semifinal. The Todrank/Wargel winner will meet Castle's ninth-ranked sectional champ, Austin Ramsey, in the other semifinal. Do not miss a match at 138!
145- Fifth-ranked Blake Jourdan of Mater Dei and Castle's tenth-ranked Patrick Schnell headline this very competitive weight class. Both are dynamic. Expect another exciting match. Memorial's Chance Williams, Central's Hunter McCormick and Mt. Vernon's Peyton Whoberry will fight it out to earn a semistate berth.
152- With a title this Saturday, Central's Isaiah Kemper will have earned three consecutive regional championships. Ranked second, Kemper will likely realize the accomplishment. On the other side of the bracket, Pike Central's Colton O'Neal and Castle's Jacob Farmer will meet. The winner gets Kemper in the final. Heritage Hills' Cordell Miller and Mater Dei's Mitch Lehman will also be in the medal hunt.
160- Populated by wrestlers who are defined by action, this class give the fans something for which to cheer. Castle's veteran senior Turner Lockyear has put up 37 wins on the season, in addition to SIAC and sectional titles. Lockyear's Warrick county rival, Tecumseh's Tristan McDaniel, scorched the field at Central. A senior, McDaniel looks poised for a post-season run. Do not overlook Tell City's Elliot Brown or Mater Dei's Nick Buedel, as both are capable of big wins and upsets.
170- 170 is a very balanced class, possessing three individuals with the potential to win. The toughest road belongs to Mater Dei's Ashton Forzley and Memorial's Noah Huelsing, as they will meet in the semifinal. Forzley, with a pair of state qualifications, is a big-match wrestler. Huelsing counters with a sizable gas tank and an early-season win over Forzley. Castle's Blake Jeffress, who finished second to Forzley at the SIAC meet, will inhabit the other slot in the final.
182- Mater Dei's 182-pound senior, Sam Bassemier, has wrestled a brutal schedule en route to a 26-1 record and continues to slide in the rankings, ending the season at 14th. On Saturday afternoon, expect to see him on the center mat. After this coming weekend, Tecumseh's Jeremy McKinley will no longer be off the radar. Expect him to give Mt. Vernon's Tyler DeKemper a very tough match. The winner earns a ticket to the final.
195- Beginning in the first round, when Central's Gabe Patterson meets the sectional champion, Jake LaMar of Castle, you will find many competitive matches at 195 pounds. Patterson, with his never-say-die attitude is likely the best fourth-place finisher in the field. Marcus Gahagen of Memorial will meet Tecumseh's Adam Lytle in another huge first round match. Gahagen has accumulated 21 wins against the backdrop of a tough schedule. Lytle suffered his first loss of the season at the Central sectional and will look for redemption. On the other side of the bracket, South Spencer's Keith Barclay will put his 38 wins against Vincennes Lincoln's Nic Dellion, the owner of 35 wins. The Barclay/Dellion winner will meet Mater Dei's Chase Anslinger in the semifinal. Try to pick 1-2-3-4!
220- If you have not seen Gibson Southern's Cory Klem, after Saturday, you will understand his sixth-ranking. Klem is up-tempo, strong and slick. He will be in the face off. Harrison's LaTerrance Kyles and Mater Dei's Kurtis Wilderman will dance in the bottom half of the bracket, in a rematch of their SIAC final. Mt. Vernon's Tristan Choate is formidable. He has spoiler potential and will look to maximize his regional performance.
285- Like 195, 285 has a number of potential champions. Mt. Vernon's Wade Ripple will square off with Tecumseh's Colton Dossett in the opening round. The duo has accounted for 53 wins against 12 losses. Pike Central's 24-2 Bryce Manning will meet Memorial's 27-11 Will Page, in another first-round barn burner. As sectional champs, Mater Dei's Adrian Butler and South Spencer's 42-7 RJ Shaw will also be in the hunt for a title.
Hook's Random Comments:
· Watch the Tecumseh fans. They are loud, rowdy and highly partisan. This tiny school provides the model of what wrestling fans should be!
· Hook's daugther, Hookticia, pointed out that Castle not only has huge slices of pizza, but offers baked potatoes "as big as your head."
· I love the intensity of Central's head coach, Mike Lapadat. How many calories does Lap burn on a typical Saturday? He is to coaching wrestling what James Brown was to show business.
· North Posey's coaches, Cody Moll and Sam Goebel, look lean and mean. I will wager, that with a week to cut, both could make weight.
I have been criticized for the fact that my previews are light on predictions. Since this is my last one of the year, I will go out on a limb.
These predictions are guaranteed.
· Mt Vernon's head coach, Tim Alcorn, will get very excited.
· At least once, in unison, the Mater Dei crowd will yell, "Two!"
· Castle will do an outstanding job of hosting.
· The Castle regional will produce a number of state placers...maybe a couple of champs.
· A Castle sectional vs. Central sectional post will be started on Indiana Mat.
 
"Your" welcome.

2188 4
Rochester Regional Preview
By Chad Hollenbaugh
IndianaMat Senior Writer
 
106
#15 Cavanaugh – Penn (24-7)
Kazmierczak –SBSt.Joseph (32-6)
Greene – Triton (29-7)
Zahl – SBAdams (22-8)
 
Records are deceiving here, at first glance this appears to be a balanced class of flyweights. Penn’s Kory Cavanaugh is the clear favorite due to the tough schedule that the Kingsmen wrestle. Cavanaugh is ranked 15th in the state and his losses are all to ranked kids. Triton’s Greene is intriguing because he wrestled 113 all season before a sectional cut to 106.
 
Rochester Royal Rumble (Match of the Day) – Malichi Greene vs. Joey Zahl – This battle looks to be even on paper and the winner will possible avoid an early morning date with Cummings or Triana next week.
 
113
Fans should be treated to a reunion of sorts in the finals at 113. Drew Hildebrandt is a clear front runner but fellow St. Joe County resident Adam Davis has quietly put together an outstanding frosh season for Culver Academy. The third ranked Hildebrandt should breeze here, he has too much experience for the young Eagle. Davis will be fun to follow as he continues his state series run.
 
Royal Rumble – Aaron Brooke vs. Bryton Goehring (South Bend Riley) – Brooke has the far better record but Riley’s Goering has wrestled a much better schedule. Should be an early morning donnybrook with the winner earning a trip to Merrillville.
 
#3 Hildebrandt – Penn (28-0)
Davis – CMA (29-5)
Brooke – Bremen (36-4)
DeVault – Plymouth (18-7)
 
120
#9 Hatch – Warsaw (36-1)
#10 Hartman – SBClay (41-0)
Hardesty – Mishawaka (27-6)
Tyler – SBWashington (20-5)
 
The finals at 120, should Warsaw’s #9 Kyle Hatch and Clay’s #10 Jake Hartman hold chalk, will be one of the marquee match ups of the day. With a combined record of 77-1, regional supremacy should be a whale of a match. Both are hammers in their top game so the margin might comedown to an escape, reversal or even an overtime scenario.
 
Royal Rumble – The potential 3rd/4th place match between Washington’s Tondrew Tyler and Mishawaka’s Ryan Hardesty should be filled with scoring as both these young men fight for the right not to face a regional champ next week.
 
126
After a promising freshman campaign, Wawasee’s Tristin Ponsler struggled last year and didn’t even qualify for regionals. Much like Austin Powers, Ponsler has found his mojo this season. He looked very sharp in the sectional finals where he defeated state ranked John Hunting of Rochester. These two should face off again this week.
 
Royal Rumble – Season survival will be on the line in the first round when Penn’s Jarrett Selis and Plymouth’s Cody Allmon do battle. The outcome between these to savvy vets should be very close in this deep weight class.
 
Ponsler – Wawasee (38-1)
#20 Hunting – Rochester (32-5)
Allmon - Plymouth (28-7)
Beaver – Mishawaka (18-13)
 
132
Another very deep and talented weight class with very little separation at the top. Valley’s Devin Childers has a state ranking and state experience. Riley’s Austen Laughlin has had an outstanding season with a conference and sectional title to add to his third place finish at Al Smith. Rishod Cotton of Clay has taken losses to both by the narrowest of margins. Throw in Bremen’s Joey Bailey, who wrestled most the season at 138, and you have a real meat grinder here.
 
Royal Rumble – Both semifinal matches should be wars. I love the talent in this class.
 
#15 Childers – Tippy Valley (37-1)
Laughlin – SBRiley (41-4)
Cotton – SBCotton (36-6)
Bailey – Bremen (35-3)
 
138
Wow! The great wrestling continues in this weight class where any of six grapplers have a legitimate shot at making the finals. Penn’s Cameron Beam was the titlist at Mishawaka and Culver’s Triston Rodriguez took the crown at Plymouth. Tippy Valley’s Wyatt Nelson is wrestling as well as I have ever seen him in his senior season. Rochester’s Josh Heckathorn and South Bend Adams’ Tarvis Evans are studs. Culver Academy’s young Miles Krintz will look to continue his season.
 
Royal Rumble – First round tilts featuring Nelson/Beam and Heckathorn/Evans would be the equal of final matches in many of the regionals around the state. Great weight class.
 
#17 Rodriguez – Culver Community (33-1)
Beam – Penn (9-0)
Krintz – CMA (28-9)
Evans – SBAdams (27-7)
 
145
A couple of super sophs headline the 145 class where Adams’ Tavonte Malone is the big dog. Not far behind is his conference rival Kassius Breathitt. Malone won by a single point in the sectional final. Rochester’s Justin Schroder had a disappointing Al Smith tourney but is wrestling lights out right now. He was very impressive in shutting out Culver Academy’s Noah Trevino last Saturday.
 
Royal Rumble – I’m keeping my eye on the semifinal matchup between Rochester’s Schroder and Riley’s Breathitt. It should be a doozy.
 
#14 Malone – SBAdams (29-2)
#20 Breathitt – SBRiley (28-8)
Schroder – Rochester (32-4)
Hochstetler – Penn (24-11)
 
152
This class is obviously top heavy with Tommy Forte and Jared Swank. They both have an excellent change to medal at state. Forte seems to be rounding into form as he stuck Swank last Saturday. Swank is a tough customer and will be back for more this week. Triton’s Stichter impressively beat Bremen’s Bollenbacher in the sectional final.
 
Royal Rumble – The finals match is state semifinal quality.
 
#1 Forte – Mishawaka (26-0)
#4 Swank – Penn (27-3)
Stichter – Triton (27-9)
Bollenbacher – Bremen (30-8)
 
160
Penn’s Denzyl Prentice has had an outstanding first full season in the Kingsman lineup as evidenced by his #9 state ranking. Triton’s Gage Waddle and St. Joe’s Norm Hezlip are not that far behind. The athleticism in this class will make many of the matches highly entertaining.
 
Royal Rumble – The potential semifinal matchup between Waddle and Hezlip will be epic. They matched up about six weeks ago in the same gym and Hezlip came away with an exciting one point victory.
 
#9 Prentice – Penn (26-2)
Waddle – Triton (26-6)
Hezlip – SBSt. Joseph (36-3)
Goering- SBRiley (33-8)
 
170
The Penn parade of champions will continue here as #3 ranked Joey Mammolenti should have little trouble with this field. Mishawaka’s Chase Deal had a nice upset win over James Malone of South Bend Riley last week. Triton’s Nate Spangle is the Plymouth sectionals best and looks to be the fourth Trojan to qualify for semistate.
 
Royal Rumble – A semifinal tilt between Caveman Deal and Triton’s Spangle has potential to be a good one. Deal is wrestling well at the right time and Spangle has a sterling record mostly fashioned at the 182 pound weight class.
 
#3 Mammolenti – Penn (29-2)
Deal – Mishawaka (24-9)
#20 Malone – SBRiley (36-9)
Spangle – Triton (33-3)
 
182
Penn’s top ranked Chase Osborn should dominate the field at 182. If he has to spend more than five minutes on the mat it would be surprising. That is not a knock on the rest of the field, it is a testament to how dominant Osborn has been this season. He should be tested again at semi state.
 
Royal Rumble – If the bracket holds, we should see a 3rd place matchup between Plymouth’s Jeremy Splix and Clay’s Mason Cao. These two battled in the semis of the McKee invite six week ago and Splix came away with a narrow one point win.
 
#1 Osborn – Penn (28-0)
Bell – Tippy Valley (35-2)
Splix – Plymouth (29-4)
Cao – SBClay (39-4)
 
195
The list of weight classes deep with talent is long at the Rochester regional this year and the 195 pound class is more evidence of the point. Wes Beck was dominating in the Plymouth sectional and Tanner Bradley battled to a slim one point victory Gabino Perez of South Bend Riley.
 
Royal Rumble – A semifinal matchup of Beck and Perez has great potential. Beck is a clear favorite but if he is looking past Perez he could find himself on the short end of a tight match.
 
#14 Beck – Rochester (36-3)
#16 Bradley – Mishawaka (20-3)
Perez – SBRiley (23-8)
Nolin – Warsaw (32-4)
 
220
#1 Woods – Penn (32-0)
Ernst – Mishawaka Marian (22-7)
Troxel – SBRiley (31-14)
Hess – Mishawaka (12-12)
 
Top ranked Kobe Woods is in much the same situation as his teammate Chase Osborn. He should dominate this field and not have to spend much time on the mat. Athletic, strong, experienced and technically sound, Woods is joy to watch on the mat. The battle here is for 2nd place.
 
Royal Rumble – I like the first round match up between big Andrew Brock of Warsaw and the .500 Caveman Jake Hess. Hess was able to clip him at the Al Smith Invite. He will have to repeat to continue his season.
 
285
Penn big man Cory Christman is a strong favorite to become the 7th Kingsman regional champion. His pin over Riley’s Brian Shaw makes me think he is peaking at the right time.
 
Royal Rumble – The semifinal matchup between Shaw and Jordan Shafer of Rochester is probably the most compelling contest in this bracket. Both are athletic heavyweights who like to score.
 
#9 Christman – Penn (27-3)
Shaw – SBRiley (24-9)
Shafer – Rochester (34-4)
Koebel – SBSt. Joseph (25-13)

2721
Evansville Central Sectional Preview
Regarded as one of the tougher sectionals in Hoosier land, the 2015 Central sectional will provide spectators with exciting match-ups, colorful coaches...and the inevitable upsets. Cobbling together pieces of five counties and four conferences, the Evansville Central sectional produces first-time match-ups and seeding anomalies.
 
Gibson Southern, fresh off another PAC team title while claiming six individual champions, looks to challenge Greg Schaefer's Mater Dei Wildcats for supremacy on the North side.
 
106- North Posey's first-year coach, Cody Moll, is charged with reviving the Viking program. In Poseyville, they are excited about their number-one seed, freshman Levi Miller (SS#7). On the other side of the bracket, Princeton's Kyler McKinney is riding high after a Big 8 title he earned last Saturday. Look for an exciting semifinal match between McKinney and Mater Dei's SIAC runner-up, Nolan Weidner. The winner should see Miller in the final.
 
113- 113 is loaded! Princeton's Luke Dunn wrestled a brutal schedule, won the Big 8 and did not receive a seed. Dunn's quarterfinal match with Central's Carson Willis should be fun to watch. Should Willis get by Dunn, he will likely meet Mater Dei's Kyle Luigs in the semifinal, their third meeting of the year. Excitement punctuated their SIAC title match; this one could be very good, as well. Gibson Southern's Logan Dilbeck will put his 33 wins against Pike Central's Dylan Jones, in the other semifinal.
 
120- Mater Dei's one-seed, Will Egli, is clear to the semis, where he should meet Tecumseh's Zach Graham. At the bottom half of the bracket, Gibson Southern's Christian Pellacer, the PAC champion, will face North's Dawson Matherly in a very competitive race. The winner will likely meet Egli for all the marbles on First Avenue.
 
126- Mater Dei senior Alex Johnson has a third sectional title in his sights. To do so, he will need a win in the semis against Central's Connor Willis or Gibson Southern's PAC champion, Michael Polen. Two-seed Nick Burke of North has put up 31 wins on the year and will battle Dalton Ashby of Wood Memorial for the other spot in the final.
 
132- Mater Dei's #1-ranked sophomore, Nick Lee, will continue to terrorize his opponents at the Central sectional. Gibson Southern's Hunter Baehl (#6SS) counts this sectional as his fourth; he should be in the medal mix. Princeton's Chase Wilson will meet the two-seed, North's Josh Elpers, in the other semifinal.
 
138- Third-ranked freshman, Joe Lee, should dance with fifth-ranked Kyle Todrank of Gibson Southern in the marquee match of the 2015 Central sectional. These two are very familiar with one another; if you like this match-up, you are in luck...you may see it three or four more times. You can guarantee that Greg Schaefer and Blake Maurer's respective brain trusts are working overtime on this one!
 
145- Mater Dei one-seed, junior Blake Jourdan, was upset in the championship match of the 2014 sectional. The remembrance of that loss will sharpen his focus for the week ahead. Central's two-seed, Hunter McCormick, will face PAC champ, Gibson Southern's Kaleb Greenwell, for the other slot in the final.
 
152- Central's Isaiah Kemper sent shockwaves throughout the Indiana wrestling community when he dropped to 152. Currently ranked second, Kemper anticipates a deep run in the state tournament. Following graduated senior's Brendon Kelly's state title, Central coach Mike Lapadat may be coaching under the lights again in February.
 
Graham Dougan, Princeton's freshly-crowned Big 8 champ, will square off with Pike Central's Colton O'Neal in the bottom of the bracket for a shot at the title. Mater Dei's Mitch Lehman and North's Logan Matherly will also contend for a high vantage point on the podium.
 
160- Top-seeded Tristan McDaniel of Tecumseh has been a cornerstone of coach Aaron Chambers' line-up, which landed a 2015 Team State bid. Mater Dei senior Nick Buedel is 22-4 and should meet McDaniel in the final. Proceed with caution, as Julius Malone of Vincennes Lincoln was the Big 8 champ, while Pike Central's Jaylon Owens has 31 wins on the season. Malone and Owens would love to be spoilers.
 
170- Mater Dei's Ashton Forzley, a 2x state qualifier, has strung together another great season and earned the top-seed. In the bracket's lower half, North's Justin Naylor and Wood Memorial's Louis Hoover will compete in what should be an exciting semifinal. The winner will meet Forzley for bragging rights.
 
182- Outside the glare of the spotlight on Mater Dei's light and middle weights, underrated senior Sam Bassemier has compiled a 23-1 record and intends to garner his second sectional bracket board. Tecumseh's Jeremy McKinley has piled up 38 wins and won the PAC tourney last Saturday. He will match up with North's Ty Winchell for the right to wrestle Bassemier.
 
195- Who can beat Tecumseh's 11th-ranked Adam Lytle? So far, no one. However, do not be fooled by the ten losses on Central's Gabe Patterson's record. Patterson is tough and should give Lytle a tussle in the semifinal. Senior Chase Anslinger is riding high in his maiden varsity season at Mater Dei. He should meet Vincennes Lincoln's very solid Nic Dellion in the bottom bracket's semifinal.
 
220- Question: Who trains daily with the most successful sibling duo in Indiana history? Answer: Gibson Southern's sixth-ranked Cory Klem. With only three prep losses, four state titles and a third-place finish between Blake and Dane Maurer, you can wager that Klem has been stress-tested.
 
Second question: Name a quarterback that wrestles and competes in the 220-pound division.
 
Answer: The only one I know of is Mater Dei's Kurtis Wilderman. Wilderman has turned in a rock-solid season against tough competition and has won some big matches for the Wildcats. You will get your money's worth out of a Klem/Wilderman final. Look for Central's Caleb Hart to also find high ground on the podium.
 
285- Boasting a 34-1 record, Tecumseh's Colton Dossett gets the top-seed in the big boy division. Mater Dei's SIAC champ, Adrian Butler, will face the two-seed, Pike Central's Bryce Manning, for the right to tangle with Dossett in the final. Central's Jordan Libby will also figure into the medal race.
 
Best Quarterfinal Match- 126: Gibson Southern's Michael Polen vs. Central's Connor Willis. Both have significant skills and are looking to gather some momentum. Each views this as a big match.
 
Best Semifinal Matches- 132: Josh Elpers of North vs. Chase Wilson of Princeton. Wilson has a Bo Henry title and 35 wins next to his name. Elpers counters with a formidable offense that will be on display against Wilson. 145: Central's Hunter McCormick vs. Gibson Southern's Kaleb Greenwell. Both are 4-year starters and have center mat experience. This bout has regional and semi state implications; expect a superb effort. 195: Vincennes Lincoln's Nic Dellion vs. Mater Dei's Chase Anslinger. Dellion beat Anslinger on December 27. Anslinger returned the favor on December 28. Either would relish an opportunity to be the first to put a blemish on Lytle's record. In order to do so, one has to win the semifinal match.
 
Best Championship Matches- 113: No doubt exists that Mater Dei's Will Egli has warned his classmate, the fourth-ranked Kyle Luigs, about Gibson Southern's 12th-ranked junior, Logan Dilbeck. In 2014, Egli escaped with a hard-fought, 3-1, sectional victory over Dilbeck. Dilbeck and Luigs are athletic and flashy; this one should be a slobber knocker. 160: Tecumseh's Tristan McDaniel vs. Mater Dei's Nick Buedel. Buedel is very tall, strong and believes in scoring a lot of points. McDaniel is very tall, strong and believes in scoring a lot of points. See where this is going?
 
Team- Folks in Fort Branch are thrilled with coach Blake Maurer's elevation of the Gibson Southern program. The Titans qualified for Team State and, if things go well, will have a couple of grapplers on the podium at Banker's Life. However, Gibson Southern is compelled to share sectional mats with the Mater Dei Wildcats. Look for the 1300 Harmony Way crew to take home their 39th consecutive sectional championship. The 13-4 Central Bears also see opportunity. Properly motivated, the Bears have a shot at knocking Gibson Southern out of the bridesmaid position. The Tecumseh Braves and DG Asay's North Huskies have veteran teams; they will also look for a high finish.
 
Hook's Recommendations
· Get up early and have breakfast at the Pie Pan. After your omelet, have a piece of pumpkin or pecan pie...that's what it is there for!
· After wrestling is complete, head about a mile north for a protein download at Wolf's Bar-B-Q buffet. Los Bravos is a great choice for family Mexican fare. If you like sushi or hibachi, Fujiyama offers the best value for Japanese cuisine in the city. It is Mrs. Hook's favorite place to eat. Banzai!
· Watch out for parking lot scourges. Three years ago, someone backed into my HUV (Hook Utility Vehicle) and damaged it. No note!
· Founded in 1854, Evansville Central It is the oldest high school in continuous operation west of the Allegheny Mountains. Revel in the history!

1535
SIAC Preview
The youth movement is real in the SIAC as five favorites are freshmen or sophomores. 15 wrestlers in the field boast state rankings and an additional 12 hold semi state rankings.
 
106- Freshman sensation Baxter Annakin has thrilled the folks in Paradise with his 12th state ranking and number one seed in the SIAC tourney. Annakin seems likely to begin the post-season with an SIAC title. In his path is Mater Dei's two-seed, Nolan Weidner.
 
113- Mater Dei's sophomore Kyle Luigs is no longer under radar. Beating three ranked opponents at team state vaulted Luigs to a state ranking of fourth. Memorial's Seth Horty and Central's Carson Willis should battle it out for the other slot in the final.
 
120- Luig's classmate, Will Egli, begins his post season quest looking for a second SIAC championship. Ranked seventh, Egli has another year of seasoning under his belt and looks to be the best in the field. Kyle McBride (6th SS) and North's Dawson Matherly will lock horns for the other spot in the final.
 
126- The "Nick Lee Effect" is on display at 126. A 2014 SSQ, Central's Conner Willis could muster no better than a fourth-seed in this deep class. This has the attention of Mater Dei's top-seed, senior Alex Johnson. Willis always wrestles Johnson tough and will do so again in the semi final. Last Saturday, Castle's Braedon Clopton and Reitz's Caleb Craig had a barnburner; expect a semifinal of the same magnitude on January 24.
 
132- Mater Dei's top-ranked sophomore, Nick Lee, has not been scored upon this year and brings his 18-0 record to the table. Expect him to meet North's Josh Elpers in the final.
 
138- Joe Lee gets the other end of big brother's effect, competing in the deepest weight class in the field. Leading Mater Dei in takedowns, Lee has built an impressive freshman portfolio, culminating with the top SIAC seed. Memorial's Johny Wargel has drifted in and out of the state rankings and should meet Lee in the semi final. Reitz's AJ Dixon and Castle's Austin Ramsey went to war last Saturday; seven days later, they will do it again in Paradise. The winner gets a slot in the final.
 
145- Returning SIAC champ, junior Blake Jourdan, is midway through a tremendous junior season with a 15-2 record. Bosse's four-seed, Nigel Buchannan meets Reitz's Tyler Kloenhamer in an interesting first-round bout. The winner will get Jourdan in the semi final. On the other side of the bracket is Castle senior Patrick Schnell and Central senior, Hunter McCormick. Schnell is the favorite to prevail in his semi final match-up with McCormick. Schnell is a proven veteran and is bent on evening the score after dropping an early-season decision to Jourdan.
 
152- Starting at running back last fall, Central's Isaiah Kemper ran the ball over 50 times against Reitz's vaunted defense. One-on-one on the wrestling mat is no big deal; Kemper will be in the final. Only a sophomore, Castle's Jacob Farmer (5th SS) is already a tested veteran. He will have a showdown with Mater Dei junior Mitch Lehman (7th SS) in the semifinal for the right to face Kemper for an SIAC title.
 
160- Turner Lockyear has met expectations and delivered a stellar senior campaign, rolling up 30 wins against only two setbacks. Mater Dei's Nick Buedel is a first-year starter. At the end of the day, expect Buedel and Lockyear to mix it up on the center mat.
 
170- Castle's Blake Jeffress has quietly put together at 22-win season resulting in his top seed. A 2x state qualifier, Mater Dei's Ashton Forzley should meet him in the final. This is my pick for the second-best championship match. North's Justin Naylor meets Memorial's Chris Voegel in the first round, in what should be a good race.
 
182- Mater Dei senior Sam Bassemier returns to this weight class and looks to a likely rematch of last year's final with Castle's Evan Dowell. This should be a humdinger as Bassemier puts his 12th state ranking on the line against Dowell's 4th SS ranking.
 
195- Chase Anslinger get the nod for the top-seed at 195. The Mater Dei senior will likely meet Memorial's Marcus Gahagen or Castle's Jake Lamar in the final. Lamar will need to be on his toes the first round. Reitz's Blake Huggins knows how to control the tempo and presents a formidable opponent.
 
220- LaTerrance Kyles is this year's standard-bearer for Coach Mark Mastison's Harrison Warriors. Kyles leads the entire field in wins with 43. Reitz's Adam Auten and North's Cody Smith will meet in the first round for a very competitive bout. Look for Mater Dei's Kurtis Wilderman to compete with Kyles for the top spot on the podium, my pick for the third-best final.
 
285- Mater Dei's Adrian Butler (7th SS) get the nod for the top-seed. Danger lurks, as Butler will likely meet Memorial's Will Page in the semi final. Page is very solid and quite capable of an upset. Central's Jordan Libby and Castle's Jake Kough will meet in the other semifinal in what should also be a very good match.
 
Best First Round Matches: 113 pounds, Reitz's Alec McNeely vs. Castle's Bailey Anderson. McNeely is better than his 13-15 record reflects and is capable of an upset. 145 pounds, Nigel Buchannan of Bosse vs. Tyler Kloenhamer of Reitz. Buchannan has put together a solid season, defeating Reitz's Jacob Pace before he moved to 152. Buchannan/Pace should be a good one!
 
Best Semifinal Match: 120 pounds, Castle's Kyle McBride vs. North's Dawson Matherly. McBride has put together a solid freshman campaign and seems poised for a break-out performance. Matherly brings a lot of athleticism, 28 wins and an early-season, 2-0 win over McBride. This one is a coin toss.
 
Best Final: 160 will be a study in contrast. Castle's Turner Lockyear is calculating and rock-solid.
Mater Dei's Nick Buedel is unpredictable and can be wild. Look for a high-scoring, very entertaining affair.
 
Team- Mater Dei will place a large percentage of their roster en route to a team title, followed closely by Castle. Central and Memorial will battle for third. Reitz is in a position for some upsets. If they perform, they can crack the top four.
 
Hook and Half's Recommendations: #1- Castle's parking lot can be cold and windy, so park on the south side of the building. It is a short walk to an entrance door. #2- Castle gets an A plus for serving up pizza slices as big as your face. #3- Thank the Castle folks for hosting. They know what they are doing and keep things moving. #4- If you are a Reitz, Central, Mater Dei or North fan, do not be at the intersection of Highway 41 and the Lloyd. I realize it is Saturday; do not chance it. #5- Find WrestleMan or BlueBolt and engage them in an insane wrestling conversation. No, wait. I recommend that you DO NOT do that.

2722
Manchester Black and Gold capture SMC title
NORTH MANCHESTER, IND. – Paced by four individual weight class champions, Manchester University gave the home crowd at the 2015 Spartan Mat Classic plenty to cheer about Saturday, Jan. 10.
Freshman 125-pounder Ruben Rodriguez, Jr., (Hammond, Ind.) and junior 141-pounderJosh Juarez (South Bend, Ind.) rolled through their round-robins with unblemished marks. Sophomore 174-pounder Dylan Lauffer (Fairfield, Ohio) and junior heavyweight Dustin Kult (Lafayette, Ind.) each worked their way through traditional brackets for championships.
The Spartans posted 131 points, besting the five team field competing inside Stauffer-Wolfe Arena by 43.5 points. Wabash College placed second (87.5 points), and Ohio Northern University was close behind in third (72 points).
Lauffer, en route to Outstanding Wrestler honors, picked up his team-leading eighth fall in the semifinals after registering a 7-0 shutout in the first round. In the championship, against Heidelberg College of Ohio's Patrick Brown, he led from the start, piling up 10 points as part of a 10-4 decision. The three wins moved his season record to 17-11. Kult, also capturing three victories, registered a major decision and fall to match up with Ohio Northern's Greg Biben in the final. After working to a 2-2 tie over the regulation seven minutes, Kult, improving to 8-5, brought the MU crowd to its feet with an overtime takedown on the edge of the mat for a 4-2 victory, marking his second invitational title of the season. Rodriguez, Jr., marching towards leveling his season record (8-9), pieced together a decision, fall and injury default, while Juarez, moving over .500 (8-7), reeled off a technical fall, major decision and decision.
MU continues traditional tournament competition Saturday, Jan. 17. They travel to Elmhurst College of Illinois for the Al Hanke Invitational.
NOTES: Freshmen Chase Wilson and Matt Ruddick just missed adding to the home squad's individual champion total. Wilson, a native of Peru, Ind., went 3-1 in the 133-pound robin, with a hard-fought 4-2 loss to Wabash's Jacob Cottey sending him to second. Ruddick, a native of Seymour, Ind., and the second seed at 165, roared into the finals with a fall and major decision before Heidelberg's Myles Wright caught him for a first period pin.

2006
Thunder Split on Final Day of Budd Whitehill Duals
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa.-- Trine split a pair of duals to finish 14th in the Budd Whitehill Duals, hosted by Lycoming College.
The Thunder defeated Case Western Reserve, 28-21, before dropping their final match of the tournament to Rochester Institute of Technology, 39-9. Michael Conner (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsvile) won both of his matches to finish the weekend a perfect 5-0. David Moore(Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion), Jeffrey Helm (Westfield, Ind./Westfield), Cody Konieczki(Jackson, Mich./Michigan Center) and Jaycee Jensen (Burns Harbor, Ind./Chesterton) added wins. Trine concluded their performance in the tournament 1-4. The Thunder are now 2-7 in duals this season.
Conner earned a convincing win by major decision, and prevailed 10-9 in a hotly-contested match over RIT's Jake Swearingen to wrap up an undefeated weekend. The junior is now 17-6 on the season. His performance in the Budd Whitehill Duals included four wins by decision, and one by major decision.
Helm and Jensen each added pins. Helm's performance in the Budd Whitehill Duals included two wins. Jensen's pin was the first of his collegiate career, and came shortly into the second period.
Moore and Konieczki each picked up victories. Moore's win came by 12-6 decision, while Konieczki controlled the entirety his match with a 7-0 decision.
Trine returns to action to action next Saturday, Jan. 17 at Elmhurst College's Al Hanke Invitational.
Box scores from both of today's matches can be found below.
Trine 28, Case Western Reserve 21
125- David Moore (TRINE) over Nate Lee, Dec. 12-6
133- Josh Hall (CWR) won by forfeit
141- Jeffrey Helm (TRINE) over Travis Alexander, Fall 5:24
149- Cody Konieczki (TRINE) over Kenny Gironda, Dec. 7-0
157- Adam Boles (TRINE) won by forfeit
165- Jaycee Jensen (TRINE) over Nick Tommas, Fall 3:22
174- Nick Lees (CWR) over Kerry Raab, Fall 1:35
184- Ahmid Katib (CWR) won by forfeit
197- Michael Conner (TRINE) over Cito Balsells, Maj. 10-2
285- Nate Lewis (CWR) over Tyler Prater, Dec. 7-3
Rochester Institute of Technology 39, Trine 9
125- David Moore (TRINE) won by forfeit
133- Kevin Palmeri (RIT) won by forfeit
141- Jake Sepor (RIT) over Jeffrey Helm, Dec. 8-4
149- Brad Maybille (RIT) over Cody Konieczki, Fall 1:18
157- Wonsik Kim (RIT) over Adam Boles, Dec. 10-4
165- Nicholas Greenquist (RIT) over Jaycee Jensen, TF 19-4
174- Tory Cain (RIT) over Kerry Raab, Fall, 1:56
184- Nick Fisk (RIT) won by forfeit
197- Michael Conner (TRINE) over Jake Swearingen, Dec. 10-9
285- Sam Weinger (RIT) over Tyler Prater, Maj. 8-0

1313
Thunder Swept on Day One of Budd Whitehill Duals
WILLIAMSPORT, Pa.-- Trine dropped three matches on the opening day of the Budd Whitehill Duals, hosted by Lycoming College.
The Thunder were defeated by the 30th-ranked College of New Jersey 41-9, fell to Thiel 37-12 and concluded the day with a 42-3 defeat at the hands of SUNY-Oswego. Michael Conner (Zionsville, Ind./Zionsville) provided a bright spot for Trine by winning all three of his matches at 197-lbs. Jeffrey Helm (Westfield, Ind./Westfield) added a victory in the 141-lb class. Trine falls to 1-6 in duals this season.
All three of Conner's victories were by decision. The junior started his day with a 3-2 win over Sigala Fosam (TCNJ), earned a 5-0 victory over Ryan Kenski (Thiel) and closed out with a 6-5 victory over Joe Gorusch (SUNY-Oswego). Conner improved his record to 15-6 on the season.
Helm added a convincing victory over Thiel's Nick Hart by a 9-2 decision. Helm now has nine wins in his freshman campaign.
The Budd Whitehill Duals will wrap up tomorrow. Trine's opponents will be determined when matches conclude today.
Box scores of all three matches can be found below.
The College of New Jersey 41, Trine 9
125- David Corrigan (TCNJ) over David Moore, Dec. 8-1
133- James Goldschmidt (TCNJ) won by forfeit
141- Ryan Budzek (TCNJ) over Jeffrey Helm, Maj. 9-0
149- Dylan Thorsen (TCNJ) over Cody Konieczki, Fall 4:53
157- Antonio Mancella (TCNJ) over Adam Boles, Fall 2:08
165- Kellen Whitney (TCNJ) over Jaycee Jensen, Maj. 14-4
174- Zach Zotollo (TCNJ) over Kerry Raab, Fall 1:07
184- Brandon Simon (TCNJ) won by forfeit
197- Michael Conner (Trine) over Sigala Fosam, Dec. 3-2
285- Lazarus Conley (Trine) won by forfeit
Thiel 37, Trine 12
125- David Moore (Trine) won by forfeit
133- Lance Waters (Thiel) won by forfeit
141- Jeffrey Helm (Trine) over Nick Hart, Dec. 9-2
149- Nick Sutton (Thiel) over Cody Konieczki, Maj. 12-4
157- Chris Nuss (Thiel) over Adam Boles, Dec. 9-3
165- Brandon Collins (Thiel) over Jaycee Jensen, Fall 3:34
174- Jordan Powell (Thiel) over Kerry Raab, Fall 2:36
184- Jerrold Roosa (Thiel) won by forfeit
197- Michael Conner (Trine) over Ryan Kenski, Dec. 5-0
285- Blake Heim (Thiel) over Lazarus Conley, Fall 0:21
SUNY-Oswego 42, Trine 3
125- James Ronca (SUNY-O) over David Moore, Maj. 11-3
133- Kevin Ramkishun (SUNY-O) won by forfeit
141- David Almaiva (SUNY-O) over Jeffreh Helm, Tech Fall 19-2
149- Mark Milisci (SUNY-O) over Cody Konieczki, Dec. 4-3
157- Abubakarr Sow (SUNY-O) over Adam Boles, Fall 3:22
165- Tyler Silverthorn (SUNY-O) over Jaycee Jensen, Tech Fall 19-3
174- Sean Maloney (SUNY-O) over Kerry Raab, Maj. 14-5
184- Scott Bova (SUNY-O) won by forfeit
197- Michael Conner (Trine) over Joe Gorusch (SUNY-O), Dec. 6-5
285- Dillon Hudson (SUNY-O) over Tyler Prater, Dec. 3-2

2289
Wabash Fourth At National Duals, Second at Manchester
By Brent Harris
 
Wabash captured fourth place on the final day of the 2015 National Duals, while the remainder of the Little Giant team took second place at Saturday's Spartan Mat Classic.

Wabash advanced to Saturday's showdown of nationally-ranked Division III teams in the semifinals and finals of the National Wrestling Coaches Association's showcase event at the Allen County War Memorial. The Little Giants, ranked third in the latest NWCA poll, lost to second-ranked Wartburg 34-9 in the semifinals. Fourth-ranked Concordia-Moorhead edged Wabash in the finals 21-19 to take third place. Wartburg went on to defeat number-one ranked Wisconsin-Whitewater 20-13 to claim its fourth consecutive Duals title and ninth championship overall.
 
Wabash scored three decisions against Wartburg in Saturday's semifinals, with all three wins coming from the Lefever brothers. Reece Lefever, ranked fifth at 157 pounds by the NWCA, fought to a 4-3 victory over fourth-ranked Drew Wagenhoffer in their second meeting of the season. Wagenhoffer scored a 9-6 win earlier this season against Lefever at the Concordia Open.

"It's nice to avenge my only loss to another Division III competitor from earlier in the season," Lefever said. "Defeating Wagenhoffer shows I'm improving and doing the right things every day."

Twin brother Conner Lefever, ranked second at 174 pounds, scored an equally impressive win with a 7-6 decision against fifth-ranked Brandon Welter. Younger brother Riley Lefever scored a 6-3 win against Devin Peterson at 184 pounds.

The Little Giants battled back and forth against Concordia-Moorhead in the finals before the deciding final bout. The Cobbers opened with three consecutive wins before Nick Bova scored a pin at 2:31 of his 149-pound bout against Yonas Gebreab. Reece Lefever added four more team points to the score with an 11-1 major decision at 157 pounds versus Ben Cousins. Conner Lefever's 5-3 victory against Sebastian Gardner at 174 pounds put Wabash up a point at 13-12. Riley Lefever scored six points for the Little Giants when his opponent at 184 pounds, Dane Ringquist, was unable to continue their match due to an injury. However, the Cobbers scored nine points in the final two bouts to take the two-point victory and third place overall.

"I always look forward to wrestling talented competition, and every team at the National Duals is tough," Riley Lefever said. "I don't necessarily know each and every opponent I wrestle or their ranking, but I step on the mat with the same mindset --- to beat my opponent physically and mentally in order to score as many points possible. Looking back, you can always learn things from any match, but you learn more when you wrestle tougher opponents."

"While we would have preferred placing higher, we're happy to have improved from our fifth-place finish last year," Conner Lefever said. "All of the teams here are top-notch. We lost against two of the best teams in the nation. We look to get better so we can avenge these losses later in the season."

Wabash head coach Brian Anderson echoed his senior wrestler's comments.

"We learned quite a bit from last year's fifth-place finish and used that to perform better this year. While it's nice to know this year's team produced the highest finish in Wabash history at the National Duals, I know we are not satisfied with the overall result.

"This was a big weekend for many reasons but most important was putting these guys in the toughest situation possible to know exactly where we are at as a team. We know our weaknesses and our strengths after the last two days of battle which we will use to keep building toward our goals in March as individuals and as a team. Several different individuals stepped up in each of the duals, however all three Lefevers showed why they will be contending for individual national titles at the end of the year."

While several of the Wabash wrestlers competed at the National Duals in Fort Wayne, another portion of the Little Giant team wrestled at the Spartan Mat Classic at Manchester University. The Spartans won their home tournament with a total of 131 points, while Wabash took second with 87.5 points in the five-team event.

Pat Parham won the 149-pound individual title with a 3-0 record, opening with a pin at 2:04 against Manchester's Ryan Gossett. Parham fought to a 2-1 victory against Luis Godines from Mount St. Joseph University in round two before defeating teammate Mack Neal in the final by a score of 8-3. Neal took second with a 12-2 major decision over Paul Mikesell from Manchester before his loss to Parham in the finals. Jeremy Chen scored a 12-0 major decision against Gossett in the finals to take fifth place.

Christian Rodriguez won the 157-pound weight class with a 9-2 win over Alex Arney from Manchester before picking up a 5-4 victory over fellow Wabash wrestler Chance Brown in the finals. Brown advanced to the finals after scoring a 5-4 victory against teammate Jeff Mucha in the semifinals. Mucah took fifth place, scoring a pin a at 48 seconds in first match of the day against Joe Kammerer from Mount St. Joseph before adding a pin at 2:35 in the final versus Arney.

Jacob Cottey won a round-robin matchup at 133 pounds with three victories. He scored an opening round 4-2 decision over Chase Wilson from Manchester, followed by a pin at 4:48 versus Brennen Storey of Manchester in round three. A final pin round five gave Cottey the first place finish. Robbie Carter posted a pair of wins in the weight class to finish fourth overall. He pinned Storey at 3:45 in the second round before handing Cottey his only loss by a score of 5-2 in round four.

Mak Maldonado earned a third-place finish at 174 pounds, opening the tournament draw with a pin at 3:21 versus Taylor Ferrill from Manchester. After a two-point loss in the semifinals, Maldonado rallied for a 16-1 technical fall against Jack Knoll of Heidelberg before a forfeit by teammate Luke Davis provided the final victory. Davis advanced to the finals after a 9-5 win against Ferrill and an 8-6 decision over teammate Grant Gough in the consolation semifinals. Gough won his opening bout by a major decision of 13-2 against Knoll, then defeated him for a second time in the finals by a score of 7-0 to finish fifth.

Corey Hawk added a third-place finish in the round robin 141-pound weight class after scoring an 18-1 technical fall in the opening round versus Clayton Capes from Manchester. Nolan Fenwick won 7-6 in the consolation semifinals at 197 pounds on the way to a fourth-place finish.

The Little Giants return to action Saturday when Wabash will serve as host for the annual Max Servies Duals. Competition begins at 9 a.m. at Chadwick Court.

1424
#6 Indiana Tech Finishes 7th
Zach Shore | @INTech_SID88
 
RESULTS | FORT WAYNE, Ind. – For the second straight year, the sixth-ranked Indiana Tech wrestling team took seventh place at the NWCA National Duals Championships with a 39-14 win over No. 10 Missouri Valley in Expos Center III at the Allen Country War Memorial Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.
 
For the first time in three matches at the event, senior 125-pounder, Kristopher McKinley took a 6-5 loss to begin the dual, but top-ranked 133-pounder, Mitchell Pawlak, returned from yesterday's loss with a fall in 1:08 to take a 6-3 lead. A pair of forfeits by the Vikings sandwiched a tech fall by MVC to give Tech an 18-8 lead.
 
Eighth-ranked 165-pounder, Jacob Johnson, recorded his fourth fall in five matches for another six points and junior Tyler Goldman followed with a 9-2 decision to make it 27-8 Warriors. Sixth-ranked 184-pounder, Darryl Grayson, and sophomore 197-pounder, Brandon Sunday, both recorded first period falls to seal the win.
 
The Warriors return to action next weekend, Jan. 16-17, when they travel to Marshall, Mo. to compete in the Missouri Valley Invitational.
 
To stay up-to-date on all things Indiana Tech, be sure and follow the Warriors on Facebook and Twitter. You can also get updates sent directly to your phone by registering for SMS updates.
 
Wrestling Contact: Zachary Shore | 260-422-5561 Ext. 2492 | zrshore@indianatech.edu
Tech Athletics: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram
Wrestling: Twitter | Facebook

4133
Penn graduate Sarah Hildebrandt taking a shot at wrestling in 2016 Rio Olympics
By Steve Krah
 
FORT WAYNE — Olympic hopeful Sarah Hildebrandt has a big decision to make in the upcoming months.
 
The Penn High School graduate and King University senior has to choose whether she will pursue her goal of making the U.S. women's wrestling team for the 2016 Rio Games by training at home in Granger or at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.
 
"The two options are very even right now," Hildebrandt said Saturday, Jan. 10, while helping King to a second straight title at the National Wrestling Coaches Association Duals at Memorial Coliseum. "I kind of have to come to a decision within the next two months.
 
Read more at
http://www.elkharttruth.com/sports/high-school/wrestling/2015/01/12/Penn-graduate-Sarah-Hildebrandt-taking-a-shot-at-wrestling-in-2016-Rio-Olympics.html

2807
Hildebrandt facing training decision
By Tim Creason Tribune Correspondent
Over the years, tremendous athletes have trained in the wrestling room at Penn High School.
State champs. National champs.
 
But a contender for the U.S. Olympic Team?
Kingsman coach Brad Harper says, “Why not?”
Sarah Hildebrandt, a senior at King University in Tennessee, has to make her decision in the next couple months.
The defending women’s collegiate wrestling champion in the 123-pound weight class, Hildebrandt is going all-out to make the U.S. Olympic Women’s Wrestling Team in 2016.
It’s not a pipe dream. Hildebrandt, a 2011 Penn graduate, is ranked No. 2 in the nation in the 55-kilogram (121-pound) weight class by USA Wrestling. She’s a member of Team USA, and will be leaving for St. Petersburg, Russia, to compete in the World Cup this March.
Read more at
http://www.southbendtribune.com/sports/college/hildebrandt-facing-training-decision/article_c8c1d43b-241b-5dde-bbca-0845349b483c.html

1395
Heart-warming end to senior night
By Kassie Barroquillo
k.barroquillo@gmail.com
 
KENDALLVILLE — Despite losing to Columbia City, 40-29, Wednesday, East Noble ended its senior night with a cheering crowd, a trophy, and an excited team — all thanks to a wrestler who has become the heart of the squad.
 
Senior John Herron pinned fellow senior Jake Weimer in an exhibition match immediately following the end of the Knights’ varsity meet. He has been on the wrestling team for three years. Herron has been the recipient of the team spirit award for the past two years; he is always one of the loudest people cheering for his teammates; and he has Down Syndrome.
 
Read More at
http://www.kpcnews.com/sports/article_01fa4fec-8297-5031-ac0b-4846fba9fb8e.html

2165 14
2014 Mooresville Classic Preview
By Chad Hollenbaugh
IndianaMat Senior Writer
 
The holiday season has been known in the prep wrestling world as a time for high school teams to travel and seek out great competition. Sometimes this competition is close to home, and sometimes squads will travel to other parts of the state. Connersville and the Mishawaka Al Smith Invitational both have a statewide reputation for attracting teams from all over the state. The Mater Dei Holiday meet has a more regional draw but its line up of teams is very strong.
In recent years, a new player on the holiday tournament scene has developed south of Indianapolis. The Mooresville tournament now is at the level where it will attract both high school teams and fans throughout the state. Mooresville is now attracting teams from three of the four semi-states and may provide the top holiday individual match-up if Indianapolis Cathedral’s Blake Rypel and Mooresville’s Randy Scott make their way to the finals at Mooresville. This would be a battle between the #1 and #2 ranked 195 pounders. Both are Fargo All Americans and exciting, dynamic performers.
Yorktown is the clear frontrunner for team honors but the defending state champions, Indianapolis Cathedral should test the Tigers. Castle’s veteran coach, Bob Harmon, is not doubt interested to see how his young and talented Knights match up against some of the state’s best and don’t sleep on the Panthers from Jennings County.
 
106
The little guys will bring excitement as state ranked grapplers from three semi states will battle it out for top honors at Mooresville. Hamilton Heights fifth ranked junior David Bryant is the pre meet favorite but he will likely be challenged by Castle freshman Baxter Annakin, who is ranked 12th and fourteenth ranked Christian Hunt of Yorktown. Will the Husky veteran be able to navigate against wrestlers from two of the better programs in the state?
 
113
Returning state placer Skylour Turner of Indianapolis Cathedral is the big dog in the 113 class. The Cathedral sophomore placed eighth at state last year. A couple of ticket round 106ers from last season will make the trip south from the Fort Wayne semi state looking to test themselves. 15th ranked Josh Stephenson of Yorktown and junior Jack Franklin of Homestead should both challenge Turner. Thirteenth ranked Carson Willis of Evansville Central adds depth to this class.
 
120
The 120 pound class looks like it might provide some fireworks due to both the strength at the top and the depth throughout the bracket. Cathedral has another returning state placer here with Breyden Bailey. Bailey was one of the state’s elite 106 pounders last year when he placed 3rd in the state. He is up two weight classes this year and might run into fourteenth ranked Isaac Gomez from Plainfield. Several semi state ranked grapplers led by Gibson Southern’s Christian Pellacer.
 
126
Hamilton Height Husky Trezdon O’Neal and Evansville Central sophomore Conner Willis are the state ranked wrestlers at this weight. O’Neal comes into the Mooresville Invite ranked 14th in the state and Willis is currently slotted at number 12. Cathedral’s Zach Melloh and Yorktown’s Remo Hiestand are two wrestlers from tough programs that will push O’Neal and Willis. Terre Haute South’s David Lewis is the most likely Brave to perform well at Mooresville.
 
 
132
The Shamrocks of Westfield travel south of Indy for a nice warm up before wrestling in the team state duals. Their top wrestler, Evan Eldred will be the likely #1 seed at 132. He is currently ranked sixth in the state, was a Fargo All-American this past summer, and has a notable win over state placer Jack Chastain of Hamilton Southeastern. Looking to battle Eldred for Mooresville supremacy will be Yorktown senior Jacob Stephenson, currently ranked 11th in the state.
 
138
This class might be in the running for being the most competitive of the day. Hometown boy Mitch Anderson is a returning state qualifier that has yet to crack the state rankings this season.
The grappler he defeated to earn his trip to Bankers Life, Kyle Todrank of Gibson Southern is currently ranked sixth in the state. The fifth ranked Brad Laughlin of Yorktown will give the bracket a taste of the Tiger. Finally, Castle has yet another contender with semi state qualifier Austin Ramsey who comes in ranked thirteenth.
 
145
The top-heavy 145 class features two-time state placer Cael McCormick from Yorktown. McCormick keeps growing but still keeps winning and the Tiger is currently ranked third in the state. Ticket rounder Ethan Herrin of Jennings County is Hall of Fame coach T. Howard Jones top gun. Herrin is currently ranked fifth in the state. Castle’s Patrick Schnell qualified for state last year at 138 and is currently ranked #12.
 
152
The 152 class has the least amount of established talent in the bracket so it might just be the most unpredictable and interesting to keep an eye on. Jacob Farmer of Castle is the only state ranked wrestler in this bracket. He may have to face Martinsville Cayden Whitaker in the finals. This match-up might be a preview for the semi-state in February.
160
A highlight weight class at the Mooresville Invite, the 160 division could feature a finals match-up that will be repeated at the Evansville semi-state and state finals. Second ranked Gabe Koontz of Edgewood will make the short trip north to battle at Mooresville. Koontz was third in the state last year. His likely finals opponent is Isaiah Kemper of Evansville Central. Kemper is a two time state qualifier. Excellent depth in this weight class is provided by Hamilton Heights Isaac Ray, Martinsville’s Ethan Runyan, Castle’s Turner Lockyear and Jennings County’s Cole Chandler.
 
170
Not much depth here but the top two seeds could provide fireworks in the finals. Cathedral’s Ben Harvey had a disappointing state finals last year but is rolling through this season with possibly the state’s best win, a 4-2 decision over defending state champion, Jacob Stevenson of Franklin. Yorktown’s Dillon Jackson surprised many with his run to the semifinals last year at state and finished with a third place medal. Jackson has hit a couple of speed bumps this season and will look to get back on track with a win over Harvey.
 
182
The 182 weight class could be dominated by Yorktown’s Myron Howard-Anderson. He is currently ranked 2nd in the state and finished fourth at this weight class last in the state meet. He, however, has not been very active this season and might be dealing with injury. If that’s the case, this weight class is wide open with Bloomington North’s Hunter Dalton, Castle’s Evan Dowell, Jennings County Peyton Shepard and Homestead’s Wyatt Clem as contenders for the crown.
 
195
If there is one spotlight finals match-up that the entire state will keep an eye on, it is at 195. Top ranked Blake Rypel was a state runner-up last year, was a Fargo and Super 32 All American and currently is ranked 8th in the state by Flo and 11th by Intermat. His likely finals opponent will be hometown favorite Randy Scott. Scott finished third in the state last year and is also a former Fargo All American. On a busy day of wrestling state-wide, everyone will want to know the results of this brawl.
 
220
What the 220 class lacks in top end state level talent, it makes up for it with outstanding depth. Gibson Southern’s junior Cody Klem lost a narrow ticket round match to Franklin stud Conner Talley. Klem might be under ranked at 8th. Martinsville sophomore big man Clayton Scroggs is currently ranked tenth in the state. Depth is provided by Cathedral’s Ryan Guhl, Jennings County’s Brady Shepherd, Westfield’s Daryn Milton and Yorktown’s Noah Little.
 
285
The heavyweights have a trio of state ranked grapplers that will contend for top honors at Mooresville. The Quaker’s of Plainfield have a sophomore stud in seventh ranked Bryce Biddle. Greenwood will likely counter on the other side of the bracket with number 13 Gavin Fuqua. The top end of Jenniings County’s line up is in good hands with 16th ranked Brenden Sutton. Yorktown’s Dax Hiestand provides balance for the Tigers.

4105 28
2014 Al Smith Preview
By Chad Hollenbaugh
IndianaMat Senior Writer
 
The Al Smith Invite is considered the toughest regular season tournament in the state of Indiana and the 2014 edition should continue that tradition. Last year, the Penn Kingsmen were clicking on all cylinders and ran away with the crown by nearly 90 points. Penn placed in 13 of the 14 weight classes and were never seriously challenged. Five other programs in the IndianaMat Power Poll will be among those trying to topple the Kingsmen.
This year the Kingsmen are still considered the favorite but sickness and injuries have plagued Brad Harper’s squad and this fact might open the door to contenders like Merrillville, Warren Central, Lawrence North, and Bellmont.
Six champs from last years meet return this year and seven of the states top ranked wrestlers will be in action on the 30th and 31st. Number 1 headliners include Colton Cummings of Lowell at 106, Merrillville’s Jacob Covaciu at 145, hometown boy Tommy Forte at 152, Lowell’s Drew Hughes at 160, Penn’s Chase Osborn and Kobe Woods at 182 and 220 respectively, and finally Merrillville big man Shawn Streck at 285. This tournament is so nasty that a state champ is neither top ranked nor a defending champion. (Tommy Cash)
106
Top ranked Colton Cummings of Lowell appears to be on a collision course with #3 Tylor Triana of Hobart. Graham Rooks of Columbus East and Keyuan Murphy of Warren Central bring strength from the south. Tanner Demein of Northwood and Kyle Mockenstrum of Prairie Heights are potential dark horses.
113
Drew Hildebrandt of Penn is the likely number one see here. He has the resume to be considered the clear favorite. Keep an eye on Michael DeLaPena of Merrillville, he is possibly flying under the states radar but is no doubt improving daily in the Pirate room.
120
The states seventh ranked 120 pounder, Brenden Black of Hobart, returns to the same weight class after finishing fourth last year. He will be the likely number 1 seed. State placer, Kyle Hatch of Warsaw, will probably be on the other side of the bracket. Chesterton’s Jack Tolin, Penn’s Austin Slates, and Elkhart Memorial’s Marcus Meija add depth to this class. A possible spoiler might be junior Issac Castro of Lawrence North.
126
Munster’s third ranked Jason Crary is, in my mind, the clear favorite at 126. He was the champion last year at 113, appears to be healthy and has yet to be tested. A host of contenders will attempt to prove me wrong. #4 Elliot Malloy of Danville, #8 Branden Truver, and #10 Joel McGhee return as place winners in the same weight class. Bellmont mat men always seem to perform at Mishawaka and #11 Jon Becker is dangerous here.
132
A two-man race appears to be brewing at 132. Merrillville’s Clarence Johnson and Warren Central’s Matthew McKinney have nearly identical resumes and seeding them might come down to a flip of the coin. A second tier of contenders includes Daniel Gunsett of Bellmont and NIC rivals Daniel Olsen (SB Adams), Austen Laughlin (SB Riley) and Jarrett Selis (Penn). Those looking for a spoiler might keep an eye on Fernando Luevano of West Noble.
138
Defending state champion Tommy Cash of Lawrence North is the lead dog here. He should cruise to an Al Smith Title unless promising frosh Zach Fattore of Hobart shows he is ready for the big time. Jimtown senior Jay Franko wrestled in the finals last year at 126 and is the probable #2 seed.
145
Another top ranked wrestler, Merrillville’s Jacob Covaciu, headlines the 145 pound class. He is not, however, the clear favorite here. Fellow junior, Trent Pruitt of Warren Central defeated the purple Pirate at last year’s event. Pruitt enters with a state ranking of fifth. Elkhart Memorial’s dangerous Tony Vaughn adds depth to this class.
 
 
152 and 160
Both of these weight classes should be dominated by top ranked Tommy Forte at 152 and Drew Hughes at 160. Forte is a former state champ and Hughes has wrestled under the lights at Bankers Life. Both of these studs have an extensive national resume to back up their state credentials. At 152, Lake Central’s Kody Christenson and Penn’s Jarod Swank will try to find a chink in the Forte armor. Forte will be attempting to make history by becoming only the second wrestler to be a four time champ. (Bellmont’s Randy Baker) At 160, Bellmont’s Bryce Baumgartner appears to have the best shot a meeting Hughes in the finals.
170
If everything goes according to Hoyle, the 170 class might have the best finals match of the entire day. Scottie Sopko of Hobart and Joey Mammolenti of Penn have both been on the state’s radar for a number of years but neither has achieved their ultimate goals. These two warriors met three weeks ago and Sopko came away with a narrow 3-1 victory at the Harvest Classic. Whomever is the #2 seed had better not look too far ahead because Lawrence North junior Cameron Jones has the tools to knock of either of the two big dogs.
182
Penn’s top ranked Chase Osborn seems like he has been around for the past decade. That is a testament to the impact he has had on the Kingsmen program since his freshman year. He is a clear favorite here if he is healthy. Chesterton super sophomore Andrew Davison could make a huge splash with an upset here. He already has a convincing win over last year’s fifth place finisher at this weight, Jonathan Morales of Western Boone.
195
Five state ranked wrestlers will sprinkle the bracket at 195 but none of the five has separated themselves from the crowd. This might me the most wide open and unpredictable weight class in the meet. Sixth ranked Nick Fowler of Calumet is unbeaten on the season and eighth ranked Bo Davis of Garrett was a state qualifier last year. Three sport stud Tanner Bradley of Mishawaka will look to give the hometown fans something to cheer about.
220
Penn’s second top ranked wrestler, Kobe Woods, will likely earn the top seen at 220. He will be challenged by fourth ranked Courvoiser Morrow of Warren Central and Northern Lakes Conference rivals Kaleb Summers of Elkhart Memorial and Derek Paz of Goshen. Woods is the man to beat here.
285
Merrillville junior Shawn Streck has wrestled in the finals both years he has competed in the Al Smith. He was runner-up during his freshman campaign but dominated the field last year. Look for more of the same out of the big Pirate. Eighth ranked Cory Christman of Penn probably has the best chance of slowing down the Purple Hulk.

4116
Top 10 Stories of 2014
By Chad Hollenbaugh
IndianaMat Senior Writer
Super 32 Kicks of 2014-15 Prep Season – New Palestine’s Chad Red led a strong contingent of Hoosier wrestlers with his championship performance at the premier pre-season tournament in the country. Red’s domination of the field at 126 has led to his current Flo ranking of #2 in the country. He is only the third Indiana product to win this event, joining Indian Creek’s Ethan Raley and Warsaw’s Jared Brooks. Red’s club teammate and fellow junior Blake Rypel finished a strong third at 182. The Cathedral product moved up to 195 for the high school season and is still dominant. He currently holds the # 8 ranking in the country at 195. East Noble’s Garrett Pepple and Lowell’s Drew Hughes also finished on the podium with fourth place finishes at 113 and 152 respectively.
Three Cadet champs, Team Finishes 5th at Fargo – Late July always brings exciting wrestling news from the always beautiful Fargo, North Dakota. The Fargodome, on the campus of North Dakota state annually hosts the Cadet and Junior level freestyle and Greco national championship. The Indiana Cadet team had one of the finest performances in the states history as three Hoosiers won national freestyle titles. Mt. Vernon’s Paul Konrath followed up his high school runner-up performance with a freestyle national crown. Konrath’s victory vaulted him onto the national map. Perhaps no Indiana wrestler had a better 2014 than Chad Red. Red added a national championship in freestyle to his long list of accolades by winning the 126 pound class. The third Hoosier champ was Evansville Mater Dei’s Nick Lee. Lee dominated the field in Fargo in route to his championship. Penn’s Kobe Woods was a national runner-up and Westfield’s Evan Eldred placed 7th to help Indiana to a 5th place team placement.
University of Indianapolis has Highest ever National Finish – Regional Coach of the Year Jason Warthen took seven Greyhound grapplers to Cleveland after winning their super regional for the first time in school history. After two days in Cleveland, UIndy returned to the Circle City with four All-Americans and the programs highest ever national finish.(8th) Scoring for the Greyhounds were Jeff Weiss who was 3rd at 165, Evan Wooding placed 5th at 285, Cameryn Brady garnered his third All-American honor with a 6th place finish and Evansville Reitz product Alex Johns placed 7th at the 125 pound class. Warthen has built the Greyhounds into a national power at the Division 2 level and while they will miss the fab four seniors, don’t expect the Greyhounds to be down for long.
Lefever becomes first National Champ in Wabash’s History – When Fort Wayne Carroll’s Riley Lefever made his choice to follow his brothers and wrestle for the Little Giants of Wabash, Head Coach Brian Anderson knew he was getting an outstanding student-athlete. He probably had no idea that Lefever would run the table, finish 41-0, and become Wabash’s first ever National Champion. With a takedown at the edge in the first overtime period, Lefever defeated two time national finalist Brian Broderick of The College of New Jersey to claim the championship, 3-1. The future is very bright for Lefever as he contines to develop and mature as a wrestler. The humble Lefever thanked his older twin brother in typically humorous way when he stated, after winning the title, “without them beating the crap out of me every single day I wouldn’t be here right now.”
Northwestern Jason Tsirtsis wins D1 Crown at 149 – Cardiac kid, Jason Tsirtsis, held his poise through three straight overtime victories in the 2014 NCAA national championships to become the first Northwestern freshman to ever claim the national crown. Tsirtsis used a nice trip on a single leg and worked to secure the ankle of Oklahoma State’s Josh Kindig in the first period of overtime to seal the victory. On his way to the top of the podium, the Crown Point product had to defeat a defending national champion in Kendrick Maple of Oklahoma as well as the number one seed, Drake Houdashelt of Missouri. The Houdashelt win avenged a defeat earlier in the season. Now a sophomore, Tsirtsis has picked up where he left off. He is ranked first in the country and is undefeated heading into the Midlands tournament.
Indianapolis Cathedral Claims First IHSAA Wrestling State Championship – One of the most storied wrestling programs in the state earned its first state championship in school history. Cathedral rode the broad shoulders of state champion heavyweight Wesley Bernard and runner-up performances from Vinny Corsaro and Blake Rypel to earn that elusive first title. The Irish overcame a disappointing first round loss by Ben Harvey but got a third place finish from Breyden Bailey and seventh from Skylour Turner to add points to Cathedral’s total. With Rypel, Harvey, Bailey and Turner returning, the Irish will be in the hunt again in 2015.
Yorktown Goes Back to Back, Franklin and Churubusco Win First Team Titles – Yorktown turned in a devastating performance to win its second straight team state dual title. The Tigers went 34-8 as individuals in route to defeating Lebanon, New Prairie and North Montgomery. Franklin Community Grizzly Cubs defeated Warren Central in round one and then edged defending team state champs Perry Meridian by one slim point before finishing the deal with a narrow three point victory over Evansville Mater Dei in the finals. The small school crown was claimed by the Sam Riesen led Churubusco Eagles. After defeating Bremen in round one, the Eagles built up a big lead on South Putnam and coasted to a victory. The state crown made the trip back to Turtletown when ‘Busco used a pin in the last match to break a tie against defending champ Adams Central.
Hanover Central Produces another 3 time State Champion – Ten years ago, Hanover Central legend Andrew Howe was on his way to becoming a three time state champion for the Wildcats. A decade later, Stevan Micic matched Howe’s accomplishment when he bested Penn’s Zach Davis, 10-5. The Northwestern recruit became just the 33rd grappler in state history to win three or more titles. Micic was a perfect 137-0 in his final three seasons for Hanover Central.
Robinson, LeCount, Wilson and Red Repeat as State Champs – Lake Central’s Gelen Robinson capped a 2nd straight undefeated season with his 2nd state championship. An impressive accomplishment that was just part of an amazing athletic career for this three sport stud. Perry Meridan’s Cody LeCount quietly put the cap on an amazing high school career with his second state title. LeCount won in his junior and senior seasons after finishing second during his sophomore year. Warren Central’s Deondre Wilson also won a second straight title when he bested Perry Meridian’s Brandon James. His junior year, Wilson bested Lowell’s Drew Hughes. The final two time champ was also the youngest. New Palestine’s Chad Red followed up his title at 106 in his freshmen year with a 6-2 win in his sophomore campaign at 120.
Indiana Legend Andrew Howe Completes Outstanding College Career – In a college career that spanned six years, former Hanover Central great Andrew Howe capped an outstanding run by finishing second in the 2014 national championship last March in Oklahoma City. The runner-up finish matched his 2nd place finish during his freshman year when he competed for Wisconsin. Howe won the national title in his sophomore campaign with the Badgers and added a third place his junior year before transferring to Oklahoma.