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New Castle 2017: New blood at the top
Another grind of a regular season in central Indiana is in the record books, and 224 state-hopefuls will compete for coveted Golden Tickets in the Trojan Horse Thunderdome that is Chrysler Arena. Last year's team champs, Warren Central, will almost certainly be dethroned by one of the following teams: Carmel, Cathedral or Perry Meridian, who brings a semistate-high 12 athletes to the mat on Saturday. That number is 12 and not 13 due to the gruesome injury sustained by returning state placer Sammy Fair. The Falcons are still loaded and, along with the Irish, have to be considered the front-runners. Three nationally ranked studs will lace 'em up on Saturday: 132 lb standout Breyden Bailey (Cathedral)--3X state semifinalist, 195 lb Tristen Tonte (Warren Central)--2X state runner-up and 3X state qualifier, and all-world 220 lb Mason Parris (Lawrenceburg)--defending state champ and twice a high state placer. Aside from these three big names, there are fewer state-ranked athletes than in recent years, but that doesn't mean that each weight isn't pretty loaded. With the team parity at this year's semistate, each match could potentially have championship ramifications.