Zionsville Sectional Preview

The usual suspects are the favorites to advance from the Zionsville sectional. #14 Carmel, formerly ranked Westfield, Lebanon and Zionsville are loaded with highly seeded wrestlers. Carmel has 4 #1 seeds, 3 #2 seeds and 11 total Greyhounds seeded 1-4. Westfield has 2 #1 seeds, 3 #2 seeds and 9 total Shamrocks wrestlers seeded 1-4. Lebanon has 2 #1s, and 8 top-4 seeds. Zionsville has 8 top 4 seeds as well. Clinton Prairie, Clinton Central, Western Boone, Frankfort, Fishers, Rossville and Hamilton Southeastern all bring some talented individuals to Saturday's action, but none of those teams will figure in the team competition.  I think it's also safe to say that Sheridan won't be winning this sectional this year.

Carmel looks to be a notch above the rest, although that appeared to be the case last season and Westfield pulled the upset last year. It appears that Westfield is the only team with a strong chance to beat the Greyhounds this time around, but I'll still stick with Carmel to win, followed by Westfield, Lebanon and Zionsville, in that order. Carmel is coming off of a disappointing 2nd place MIC conference finish, finishing behind Lawrence North, a team they beat earlier in the season. I expect them to come out hungry and defend their seeds furiously.

A couple of returning state placers return this year: Carmel's Will Mascaro (7th at 130 last year, qualifier at 125 in '07) and Westfield's RV Peter (8th at 160 last year).

103 Favorite:  Clayton Campbell (Lebanon) 23-4, Probable regional qualifiers: Kaleb Taylor (Clinton Prairie) 27-5, Pat Parham (Carmel) 25-7, Jason Sipher (Fishers) 26-10

**Notes** None of the top seeds at 103 competed in last year's sectional. Look for a Parham/Campbell final. Campbell lost a fairly close regular decision to Cathedral's Brian Harvey, so he's pretty legit. Possible darkhorse: 5th seed Sparky Inman of Westfield--the record (26-15) isn't outstanding, but Westfield wrestles a treacherous schedule and Inman has had some nice wins in the past.

112 Favorite:  Josh Julien (Lebanon) 25-2, Probable regional qualifiers: Mike Devaney (Rossville) 23-2, Joseph Cremer (Carmel) 16-6, Adam Thomas (Clinton Central) 23-10

**Notes** Julien was sectional champ last year at 112 and finished 2nd at regionals. He has pinned Cathedral's Blake Roytek this year. In other words, he's a stud.  Devaney was sectional and regional champ last season at 103. Cremer finished 4th at 103 at last year's sectional. Look for a Julien/Devaney final. Possible darkhorse: 5th seed Ryan Mantel (10-7) of Zionsville--former sectional champ struggled this season, but he has ability and experience to make a postseason run.

119 Favorite:  Ben Sommers(Carmel) 26-8, Brady White (Westfield) 34-6, Probable regional qualifiers:  Brandon Gray(Fishers) 18-13, Brent Roman (Hamilton Southeastern) 14-9

**Notes** White finished 3rd at 112 last season. Roman finished 2nd at 103 last season. Look for Sommers and White to duke it out in the finals--should be a barnburner and either kid can win it.  Possible darkhorse: 4th seed Roman stepped up big last year at Zville, finishing 2nd despite a so-so record.

125 Favorites:  Chris Maxwell (Clinton Prairie) 31-2, Evan Ackerman (Carmel) 24-7, Probable regional qualifiers: Cameron VanCamp (Lebanon) 21-6, Will Mueller (Westfield) 23-9

**Notes** Maxwell has advanced to semi-state the past 2 years, despite finishing 3rd in the sectional both years. According to CP's coach Jeremy Corbin, it's been 12 years since a CP wrestler won a sectional title.  Standing in Maxwell's way is Evan Ackerman. Ackerman advanced to semistate last year and has faced some formidable opponents this season. These two will almost certainly meet in the finals and it should be one of the best matches of the day. Both kids are capable of making a run to Conseco.  Possible darkhorse: 4th seed Mueller has wrestled up a weight for much of the season. I don't see him upsetting Maxwell, but he could be a tough match for a #1 or #2 seed at regionals.

130 Favorites: #12  Nick Beattie (Western Boone) 29-0 Probable regional qualifiers:  Christian Morris (Carmel) 22-9, John Floor (Westfield) 20-5, Stachler (Zionsville) 20-14

**Notes** Beattie is one of the best kept secrets in the state.  A relative newcomer to the sport and a great natural athlete, he turned in a great performance at last year's sectional at 135 lb., finishing 2nd, above Carmel's Dan Frascella and Lebanon's Adam Skelton. Morris also stepped up last year, finishing 2nd at 119 despite a 11-10 record; he followed that up with a 2nd place finish at regionals, advancing to New Castle with a 13-12 record. Another 2nd place finisher last year is Floor, and he's very capable of knocking off Morris, as he also advanced to semi-state last year. Beattie should almost certainly win this weight, but who he faces in the final could be critical in the team race. Floor and Morris are both solid and both battle-tested.  Possible darkhorse: 5th seed sophomore Brayton Young of Lebanon kept pace with Beattie in one of their two matches this season, losing 12-10 in their first meeting.

135 Favorites: #4  Will Mascaro (Carmel) 31-0 Probable regional qualifiers:  Adam Skelton (Lebanon) 19-3, Drew Spriggs (Western Boone) 20-8, Drew Billman (Westfield) 16-24

**Notes** Mascaro should cruise to a sectional title again this year.  He's won it and the regional twice already, and finished 2nd in both as a freshman. Skelton is a 2X semi-state qualifier, despite finishing 4th and 3rd in the sectional the past 2 years, respectively, and will be the runner-up this year unless he can pull the huge upset of Mascaro. These 2 are a cut above the other wrestlers in the weight.  Possible darkhorse: 5th seed Brenton Morgan of Frankfort finished 3rd last year at 130 and could very possibly take out Billman to advance to North Montgomery next weekend.

140 Favorites: Joe Lile (Fishers) 33-3, Dustin Youngs (Zionsville) 24-6 Probable regional qualifiers: Harrison Coleman (Carmel) 11-6, Tyler Smith (Westfield) 21-18

**Notes** This is a very wide open weight. Lile finished 3rd last year at 125.  No one in this weight advanced past regionals last year, although Youngs was a semi-state qualifier the year before. Lile and Youngs should tussle for the title. Possible darkhorse: 3rd seed Coleman of Carmel has wrestled a much tougher schedule than Lile or Youngs, so his record could be misleading and he could be dangerous in this spot.

145 Favorites: Taylor Evans (Clinton Central) 31-2, Patrick Robinson (Hamilton Southeastern) 35-4, Jeff Sease (Zionsville) 22-5  Probable regional qualifiers:  Brandon Davis (Western Boone) 18-5, Curtis Anderson (Carmel) 27-6

**Notes** Interesting seeding here. This is another very wide open weight, and the deepest weight in the sectional. The depth is actually pretty impressive. Robinson and Sease were both semi-state advancers last year; Sease advanced to the semi-state the year before, too.  Any of the 3 favorites could win the sectional and/or the regional; it wouldn't be a shocker to see someone from this group advance to Conseco. The 5th seed Anderson owns a win over Lawrence North's 16th ranked Matt Goodwin. Possible darkhorse: 6th seed Drew Miller of Rossville sports a 20-5 record. Unfortunately for him, he'll have to get through grizzled veteran Sease to advance. This weight is worth the price of admission to Zionsville.

152 Favorites: #12 Drew Brogden (Zionsville) 33-1 Probable regional qualifiers:  Jake Evans (Clinton Central) 27-6, Kameryn Wright (Lebanon) 16-9, Nathan Ziems (Carmel) 10-6

**Notes** Brogden should have little difficulty picking up the 152 lb. championship, although Evans is a legit 2 seed. Evans won his conference this year as well. Possible darkhorses: 3rd seed Wright led Cathedral's Calvin Sullivan 12-8 after 2 periods and lost a close decision. 5th seed Brock Robinson of Westfield (31-8) is probably one of the better 5th seeds in any sectional. Strange seeding here. 6th seed Troy Hollings of Fishers is 24-8. After Brogden, it should be very, very interesting to see who advances. 

160 Favorites: #7 @171 RV Peter (Westfield) 21-2, #5 @160 Brad Farrell (Fishers) 35-2 Probable regional qualifiers:  Max Youngs (Zionsville) 22-11, Kyle VanCamp (Lebanon) 21-6

**Notes** Farrell (145) and Peter (160) were both sectional and regional champs last year and both advanced to semi-state the year before. Peter has wrestled most of the season up at 171 and has wrestled a tougher schedule than Farrell. Although it should be a good match, those 2 factors should put Peter on top when they meet. Youngs advanced to semi-state last year at 130 as a freshman with a 13-16 record. Possible darkhorses: 5th seed Josh Petty of Clinton Central (29-3) is one of only 4 Bulldogs in school history to win conference 4 times. He is very capable of beating VanCamp to advance.

171 Favorites: Nolan Karkowski (Carmel) 21-9, Spencer Reece (Hamilton Southeastern) 28-5 Probable regional qualifiers:  Jacob Howenstein (Zionsville) 23-7, Kansas Varner (Frankfort) 16-4

**Notes** Not a lot of results from last year with this group. Ferland advanced to regionals at 160 last year with a 12-17 record. Karkowski and Reece should battle it out for a title. My money is on Warren Central transfer Reece; he's had some nice wins this year. Possible darkhorses: 5th seed Kaleb Ferland (Fishers) 24-8 and 6th seed Wes Bankert (Westfield) 10-3 are very capable of advancing.

189 Favorites: #14 Patrick Lux (Fishers) 30-6, Robert Melby (Westfield) 32-5 Probable regional qualifiers:  Jason Pedigo (Zionsville) 24-12, Stephen Showalter (Lebanon) 19-10

**Notes** Melby was a sectional champ last year at 189 and finished 2nd at 189 the year before. Lux finished 2nd at 171. Lux has already beat Melby this year, but Melby seems to peak in the postseason. It won't be an upset if Melby wins. Possible darkhorses: 6th seed Spencer Morris of Carmel has a poor record (14-20), but this could be a situation ripe for an upset.

215  Favorites: #9 Paul Parsley (Westfield) 26-2 Probable regional qualifiers:  Josh Yoder (Carmel) 18-12, Zach Nichols (Frankfort) 25-4, Jesse Boley (Lebanon) 23-5

**Notes** Parsley should be a sectional and regional champ this year, although this weight isn't as clear-cut as it appears. He qualified for semi-state last year. Nichols has a great shot to beat Yoder for the 2nd spot. He finished above Parsley last year at sectionals and also qualified for semi-state. He should be the 2nd seed. Boley beat Cathedral's Jake Buchanan this year and could give Parsley a rough match. Possible darkhorses: 5th seed Andy Jacquet (Clinton Central) is 26-6 and won his conference title. Boley had better be prepared for Jacquet. Unseeded Scott Mason of Zionsville (9-11) has really struggled this year but he was a semi-state qualifier last year at HWT. Interesting. Injuries, maybe? Anyone know?

285  Favorites: Jesse Hollander (Carmel) 20-4 Probable regional qualifiers:  Sean McCarthy (Westfield) 14-13, Mitch Damm (Zionsville) 14-14, Ty Wilson (Frankfort) 13-8

**Notes** This weight looks to be all Hollander. The undersized sophomore Greyhound HWT is someone to look out for in the future. I think he has a great shot at making it to Conseco this year and will be a likely contender the next two years. Possible darkhorses: HSE's 5th seed Trevor Reece (21-15), 6th seed Stephen Killen of Western Boone (20-10) and unseeded Sheldon Paddack of Sheridan (18-11) could steal an advancement in this relatively weak weight class.