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Manage articlesHigh School News901 42022 Ironman Interviews
Talking with Brownsburg and Crown Point coaches and wrestlers
College News1935 4Indiana Little State Recap + More
By Blaze Lowery
Indianapolis continues to dominate the Little State tournament with five champions and eight finalists. Wabash, Marian, and Indiana Tech each having two champions, respectively. Trine continues to show glimmers of success and Manchester remains in rebuild mode. Year after year, this tournament gets stronger, and it is always good to see where Indiana’s universities in the state lineup against each other.
125 –
Wabash freshman #7 James Day defeats Aidan Sprague in a close 6-5 decision by a riding point. James Day comes to the Hoosier state from New Jersey and is fitting in well with the Little Giants. Having only a single loss this season, he could be a key component to this Wabash lineup, especially come tournament time.
133 –
Indiana Tech’s, #4 Matt Gimson, earned a takedown in sudden victory to defeat #6 Blake Mulkey of Marian. It felt like everyone at the tournament had their eyes on this match with Mulkey’s early takedown earned in the first period. Gimson will see Mulkey again in their dual in January but could see him again even sooner at NWCA National Duals.
141 –
UIndy’s Ray Rioux and Brayden Lowery share the Little State title for the greyhounds after both win their sides of the bracket. Being college roommates and wrestling each other in the state finals a few years prior, they decided it would be best to conserve their energy for the infamous Midwest Classic. The two will wrestle-off for the spot in the coming week.
Lowery knocks off the one-seed, #5 Logan Wagner, who has recently been making noise in the NAIA scene, in a 6-4 decision. Rioux defeats Aundre Beatty with an uncontested 12-0 major decision. Both these hounds cannot run away from each other for too much longer with the 141-pound spot up for grabs.
149 –
#8 Nick Gates defeats Nathan Conley by 3-1 decision in the Little State finals for the second year in a row. Gates also defeats Asa Garcia in a 7-1 decision in the semis. Gates is a proven guy and is on his way to placement at the NAIA National Championships, after not placing in last year’s tournament.
157 –
UIndy’s #3 Logan Bailey obliterates the competition with three falls and takes the title by injury default in the finals over Tyson Nisley. After moving up from 149, Bailey has filled into the weight class nicely and rolls into the Midwest Classic with six falls on the season.
165 –
Owen Zablocki secures another title for the Greyhounds with a fall by spladle over Sam York of Indiana Tech. #6 Jack Eiteljorge injury defaults out of the tournament and allows Zablocki to win his last wrestling tournament ever, as he graduates at semester.
174 –
#4 Elliott Rodgers pins his way to a Little State title after he misses weight for 165lbs. Rodgers pins #11 Raymond Arebalo, who was seeded first this tournament. It is safe to say Rodgers is dangerous no matter what weight he ends up at.
184 –
#3 Sam Osho wins Marian’s first Little State title of the day with a 13-6 decision over Aidan Petersen of UIndy. Osho did not give up a single takedown this whole tournament and continues to be a great leader for the Knights.
197 –
#2 Derek Blubaugh gets his revenge with a 3-0 decision over Marian’s #7 Jack Servies. After falling to Servies at last season’s Little State tournament, Blubaugh was excited to make up for it. Blubaugh will roll into the Midwest Classic where he will more than likely see Dalton Abney of Central Oklahoma who beat him at the 2022 NCAA DII National Champions.
285 –
Wabash’s #3 Jack Heldt makes himself the third wrestler this tournament to pin his way through the tournament with a fall over Mayes-Butler of Indiana Tech, who had all falls as well going into the finals. Heldt stays undefeated on the season for the Little Giants.
D1 Significant Results:
#2 Mason Parris (Michigan) defeats #5 Lucas Davison (Northwestern) at CKLV by 6-4 decision
#18 Silas Allred (Nebraska) wins by 5-2 decision over #15 Gavin Hoffman (Ohio State) at CKLV
Graham Calhoun (Wisconsin) wins Jim Kock Open
Upcoming Events this Weekend:
Dec 10th – Wabash @ Luther College (Triple Dual)
Dec 11th – IU @ Cleveland State Open
Dec 11th – Marian & Indiana Tech @ NAIA Challenge Duals
Gorilla Radio1537IndianaMat Gorilla Radio Episode 141
Special guest Quinn Harris joins Joe to talk about 1A wrestling and much, MUCH more on this episode of Gorilla Radio.
Feature Articles1795 1#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Hamilton Heights is poised to shock the state
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
Hamilton Heights coach Gary Myers doesn’t feel like his wrestling team is getting the respect and state-wide attention they deserve. He’s OK with that.
“I got to tell you, I’d rather not be ranked,” Myers said. “I was ranked No. 1 my whole senior year and that just put a target on my back and wore me out. When these kids aren’t ranked, I don’t even care. They will just go out and prove it. I know I have 10 kids that should be in the mix. Maybe not top 10, but top 15 to 18 for sure. But rankings are just opinions, that’s why everyone wrestles on the mat.”
Myers reminds his squad constantly that nothing will be given to them. He tells the story of his own career, where he finished in the top four at state as a junior. Then, as a senior, he entered semistate undefeated and ranked No. 1, but he lost in the first round.
“There are no guarantees in this sport,” he said. “We had four guys in the ticket round last year. This year we want more but they are going to have to work to get there.
The Huskies have lofty goals this season. They want to win the team state title, send 12 wrestlers to regional and semistate and six or seven to state.
Currently only one Husky wrestler is ranked in the state poll. Senior Evan Tilton is ranked No. 3 at 195. He could possibly wrestle 182 come tournament time.
“Our decision now is what to do with Evan,” Myers said. “I think we’ll let him make his debut at 182. We were going to take him to 170. I asked him if he could win semistate at 182 and he said yes.
“Evan is a funky wrestler. He can be in a bad spot and somehow, he always comes out on top. He’s hard to coach. He doesn’t do anything orthodox. He doesn’t even know where’s going to end up. He just finds ways to win.”
According to Myers, this Husky team is the best he has ever coached. In fact, Myers believes this is the best team in school history.
“We are a solid team at every weight,” Myers said. “We are going to be a problem for anyone. I used to have teams with seven good wrestlers. Teams could move people around against our lineup. You can’t do that now. You have to go heads up with us. Anywhere you move someone you’re going to get a good wrestler.”
Currently the Huskies are ranked No. 6 in Class 2A.
“When I saw that, I thought, this is unbelievable,” Myers said. “Our team is tough. We are going to shock some people. We are going to embarrass a few. We are going in hoping to win team state. I’ll never have this team again. This year we are going all in. The rankings just give us that feeling that we were slighted and we want to prove some people wrong.”
Kendall Moe, a freshman, will be the team’s 106 pounder this year. She was an All-American at Fargo and is ranked No. 5 at that weight in the girls’ state rankings.
Junior Jeylen Pugh will wrestle 126 for the Huskies. Last year Pugh wrestled at 132 pounds. Pugh has 11 siblings, and they have all wrestled for coach Myers. His sister, Zoe, is ranked 7th in the state for female wrestlers.
Isaac Kuhn will be the team’s 132 pounder. Kuhn is one of the team captains along with Tilton.
“People overlook Isaac,” Myers said. “He’s been in the ticket round at semistate two years in a row. He wrestles every offseason. He always shows up. He doesn’t miss practice. He’s very, very quiet. Once and a while you need the hard workers to show the others how to put in the time.”
Junior Alex Furst has been a nice surprise, according to Myers. He will wrestle at 138 this year and is currently 6-0 on the year.
Junior Carson Fettig will wrestle at 145 this season.
“Carson has wrestled against high schoolers since he was in seventh grade,” Myers said. “He would beat them a lot of times. We are hoping for a good season out of him.”
Michael Cain, a sophomore, will either be 152 or 160 this season for the Huskies.
“He’s a very good wrestler and he’s going to be a problem for everyone,” Myers said.
Senior Jimmy Lacey will be the team’s 170 pounder and classmate Josh Brown will wrestle at 220. Brown was a ticket-rounder last year.
Mason Moran will round out the lineup for the Huskies at heavyweight.
Myers wrestled with tenacity when he was younger. In fact, he did pay per view mixed martial arts fights well into his 40s. Through that he earned the nickname Iron Bear.
“My mom gave me the name bear when I was two,” Myers said. “But I wrestled in Russia in 1990 and I had an overtime match against a Soviet champion (Alexandir Markov). I didn’t quit wrestling and the Russian press started calling me the Iron Bear. I almost caused an International incident that day. They called me that because I refused to give up.”
That mentality is something the Hamilton Heights wrestlers will have this year, according to Myers. They won’t give up and they are going to turn some heads.
High School News1725 3Bulldog Breakdown: Rout vs. Avon Rolls Brownsburg Into Ironman
By Anna Kayser
As the rumble of the crowd simmered following a palm to the mat in favor of acting 126-pounder Jake Hockaday on Tuesday night, the usual boom of speakers announcing 132-pound No. 4 Brady Ison took the tone of another.
With nine points already on the board in favor of those joining him in the purple and white singlets, the smoke cleared to reveal freshman Tommy Gibbs – winner of Brownsburg’s coveted “pin chain” following last week’s dual vs. Westfield as he boasted the second of three consecutive falls by the Bulldog lineup.
“It was a big confidence booster,” Gibbs said of his season-opening win by fall. “I thought I was going to win, but I didn’t think I was going to win that fast and make a statement.”
Facing Avon’s No. 11 Seth Syra, Gibbs’ confidence rolled him to a 6-1 win via decision.
“Tommy’s a coach’s dream, he just does everything right – in the hallways, in the classroom, and then in his approach,” head coach Darrick Snyder said. “He doesn’t care about rankings… or anything like that. He’s just trained so hard that he can wrestle the entire match and he feels even better in the third period than he does in the first.”
Behind Gibbs’ standout win, a gritty 3-1 decision by No. 2 Revin Dickman over No. 4 Nathan Rioux and five pins, the Bulldogs clinched their seventh consecutive victory over the Orioles, 62-3, continuing the tone they have set and elevated to a now 7-0 record through the first week of official competition.
Dickman’s 3-1 decision put an exclamation point on a strong dual performance in which Brownsburg took 13 of 14 bouts for their second-largest victory over Avon since Snyder’s coaching career with the Bulldogs began, second only to last season’s 65-3 win. Since losing to Avon, 28-26, in Snyder’s first year as a coach, the Bulldogs have outscored the Orioles in regular-season duals, 326-91.
“They’ve wrestled 100 times and they’re both really talented,” Snyder said. “Revin’s always been able to kind of gain the advantage – he did get away from Revin, and not many people can get away from him so I know that bothered him.
“Fortunately or unfortunately, I think we’re going to see that match several more times throughout the year.”
Brownsburg’s lone loss on the evening came from the weightiest battle of the dual at 138 pounds, featuring No. 4 Parker Reynolds against No. 3 Cheany Schoeff, freshman against a senior.
Reynolds kept his pace with Schoeff, dropping the match by a 5-2 decision.
“We told him, he’s going to come out and bully you,” Snyder said. “Parker gave up that early takedown and then did a nice job battling for positions. I liked how he responded – that kid’s going to get some more mat time in high school varsity matches so we’re going to try to correct some things, but I liked his energy and effort.”
Rolling through the dual with falls were Hockaday, 145-pound Mason Day, 170-pound Tyler Jones, 182-pound Caden Brewer and 113-pound Kye Callahan. The Bulldogs put up bonus points in nine total matches, including a forfeit at heavyweight against Leighton Jones.
This weekend, eight representatives from Brownsburg’s lineup will take on arguably their biggest competition this season at the nationally recognized Ironman Invitational in Ohio. With representatives joining the gauntlet from across state lines, the highly-ranked Bulldogs are set to battle some of the best high school wrestlers in the nation.
High School News1484 2 2Bulldog Breakdown: Dominant Opening Performances Propel Brownsburg to Avon, Ironman
By Anna Kayser
As the clocked ticked down toward the end of November into the beginning of December and the temperature dropped below freezing, the heat of the 2022-23 IHSAA wrestling season was cranked to high and since, the Brownsburg Bulldogs have surged.
No match of which, in the first official varsity competition, was more indicative of that than No. 9 Mason Day’s electric, overtime win over No. 6 Ike O’Neill – a senior and 2022 state qualifier at 138 pounds – with the entire gymnasium on its feet last Wednesday.
Sandwiching a quartet of pins by No. 11 Landon Haines (126), Tommy Gibbs (132), No. 138 Parker Reynolds (138) and No. 20 Jesse Derringer (152), Day gritted his way through a season-opening victory. After opening the match with a takedown late in the first period, he found himself in a one-point deficit in the waning seconds of the third until an escape in the waning seconds forced overtime.
“We went into overtime, and I could see that he was tired,” Day said. “I kind of looked over at my coaches and smiled. I was ready to work.”
With an escape forcing a number of overtime periods and his entire team, coaching staff and fanbase behind him as he clung to O’Neill’s leg to avoid a point scored against him, he raised his hand in triumph for his first varsity victory after the ultimate ride out.
“We felt pretty good going into overtime because Mason’s a tough kid,” head coach Darrick Snyder said. “He’s only a sophomore, but the kid’s been wrestling his entire life. He’s been in dozens and dozens of overtime matches, so I would just think his mentality [was the biggest part].”
And without a number of prominent, ranked wrestlers on the mat, Brownsburg kicked off its season in a frenzy, defeating the Westfield Shamrocks, 60-13.
“I thought we competed well, and I was really excited,” Snyder said. “We had some young kids – some backups –perform really, really well. Overall, I thought it was good considering it was our first meet.”
Most notably missing from the Bulldogs’ Wednesday night lineup were No. 1 Preston Haines (113), No. 2 Jake Hockaday (120) and No. 2 Leighton Jones (285), but as the week came to a close, those three made their presence known.
In Harrison, OH at the William Henry Harrison Invitational, the Bulldogs continued their dominant opening to the season with a perfect 5-0 record in duals against Oak Hills, Miamisburg, Lebanon, East Central and Harrison. Leading the squad were nine undefeated wrestlers donning purple singlets – Revin Dickman, Kyle Callahan, Preston Haines, Hockaday, Landon Haines, Gibbs, Brady Ison, Gunner Henry and Jones.
As the campaign – and winter cold and flu season – progresses and the Bulldogs lineup shifts due to injury and illness, having a stacked lineup of wrestlers who can compete at a high level brings advantages not only to team success, but individual success as well.
“You can’t replace their experience and success,” head coach Darrick Snyder said. “I think when you’re competing for a team state championship, when you have all your guns and you have some of the dudes we have, it leaves a little room for error.
“I think it allows everyone to relax a little more, wrestle free because they know they’ve got some friends that can pick up the slack if they have an off match or a tough tournament.”
After getting into the weeds on how the Bulldog wrestling program – now rated No. 2 in the IndianaMat State Power Poll behind Crown Point – was built from the ground up with Snyder at the helm over nearly a decade, now we look forward.
Snyder isn’t shy about building his schedule to make the athletes better in their quest to reach the podium at Gainbridge Fieldhouse come February.
Tonight, Brownsburg opens its home schedule to take on Avon before heading to – arguably – its biggest non-championship event of the season: the Walsh Jesuit Ironman Invitational.
Dickman, Preston Haines, Hockaday, Ison, Reynolds, Caden Brewer, Henry and Jones will take the mat in the nationally recognized tournament to kick the season into full gear, especially with the lack of matches leading up to the tournament from Dec. 9-10.
“We’re hoping everyone gets at least four or five matches just because the way I [put together] our season, we don’t compete early because I think it takes a lot of time to get into wrestling shape,” Snyder said. “We’re not going to have a lot of opportunities to compete before Ironman, so we’re trying to get as many matches as we can this weekend.”
Of the Bulldogs’ eight representatives at Ironman this weekend, four are returning placers at IHSAA state last season and are anchors to a lineup that is hard to score points against: Hockaday, who became the first freshman to win a state title in team history; Preston Haines, runner-up at 113; Henry, third-place at 182 and Jones, who is entering his senior season with a drive for a title after placing third at heavyweight.
Following this weekend, the schedule doesn’t slow until the holiday break approaches. On Dec. 17, Brownsburg travels to the Crown Point Invitational, hosted by the team’s main competitive rival following a second-place team finish in the state tournament last year.
Even as the level of competition rises, one of the main focuses of Bulldog wrestlers is keeping an even mentality, despite what might have occurred – good or bad – in the last match.
“I wouldn’t say [my win against Westfield] really changes anything. I go into every match thinking the same – that I need to win it no matter what,” Day said. “You’ve got to keep a good, good, good head. You’ve got to stay clear minded and just work for your goals.”
Feature Articles2137 1 2#MondayMatness with Steve Krah: With mantra of ‘hold the rope,’ Delta wrestlers keep on winning
By STEVE KRAH
stvkrh905@gmail.com
Delta High School has a history of wrestling success.
The Eagles have piled up victories and titles over the years.
From 1980-81 to 1984-85, Delta won five straight IHSAA team championships.
There have also been eight semistates, 15 regionals, 19 sectionals,12 conference titles and numerous champions and state placers.
Cody LeCount is in his second season as Eagles head coach in 2022-23 and working to keep Delta among the elite programs in Indiana.
LeCount is a 2014 graduate of Perry Meridian High School in Indianapolis where he went 184-2 and was a two-time IHSAA state champion (2013 at 132 pounds and 2014 at 145) and one-time state runner-up (2012 at 126). He was the Indianapolis Star’s Wrestler of the Year in 2014.
He grappled for two years at Central Michigan University and spent two years at Marian University in Indianapolis.
LeCount began his coaching career as an assistant for three years at Carmel High School before moving to Delta, where he is also a special education teacher.
He got to work with Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Famer Jim Tonte as well as Matt Schoettle at Perry Meridian, National Wrestling Hall of Fame Michigan Chapter member Tom Borelli at Central Michigan, IHSWCA Hall of Famer Steven Bradley at Marian and IHSWCA Hall of Famer Ed Pendoski at Carmel.
“Growing up around wrestling my whole life I’ve been around really, really good coaches,” says LeCount, who competed for . “I’ve learned a lot of things from a coaching standpoint on how to train, how to get in shape and get through the grinding season.”
In LeCount’s first season at Delta, the Eagles went 14-5, won a sectional title and were Class 2A IHSWCA State Duals qualifiers. The only senior on that team was Dillon Tuttle (who placed eight at the state meet at 138).
So far in 2021-22, Delta is 7-0 and has outscored foes 475-78. The Eagles beat Tri, Lapel, Alexandria-Monroe, Frankton and Greenfield-Central at the Rex Leavitt Elwood Invitational Nov. 19 and earned dual wins against Muncie Central Nov. 29 and South Adams Dec. 1.
Seven individuals are 7-0. Five are state-ranked — Ayden Bollinger (Class of 2025) No. 3 at 106), Neal Mosier (Class of 2024) No. 7 at 120, Braxton Russell (Class of 2024) No. 13 at 170, Kolten Rhone’s (Class of 2024) No. 14 at 145 and Kaeb Stebbins (Class of 2025) No. 16 at 152.
On a roster of 31, there are four seniors with two in the varsity lineup — Garrett Clay (160) and Heath Sprague (195).
Borrowing from a locker room speech give by Susquehanna Township (Pa.) High School football coach Joe Headen, LeCount and his assistants — Austin Crouch, Jacob Gray (No. 3 on Delta’s all-time win list and a state champion at 182 in 2017), David Locke (No. 7 on the win list and a state champion at 145 in 1984) and Keith Rhonemus — have Delta wrestlers learning how to “hold the rope.”
“When we’re the climbing the mountain everybody’s got to hold on to that rope,” says LeCount.
“If one guy slips he might make everybody else fall. It’s our job to hold on to the rope and it’s also our job to help everybody else stay on the rope.”
It’s about teamwork and accountability.
“If I do my job, everybody else can continue to do their job,” says LeCount. “Don’t let that guy slack off in practice. Don’t let this guy give up an extra two points in a dual meet.
“These kids have bought into that kind of system.”
LeCount has gotten his athletes to “do everything to their full potential and just trust the process.”
“If they do everything right they can get to where they want to be,” says LeCount. “They know that there are days when they’re going to be really tired. There are going to be days that are really hard. They might lose a match. They might win a big match.
“It’s knowing the ups and downs of the season, how to train and compete and just love each other.”
High school wrestling presents the opportunity to compete in an individual sport in a group setting.
“Wrestling is 1 v 1 out there,” says LeCount. “You mess up it’s one you. The team aspect of things makes it even greater.
“I might be biased, but it’s the greatest sport there is. There’s nothing else out there like it. It makes you have to depend on yourself to win your match and help your team.”
So many wrestlers come off the mat after a loss in a six-minute match in tears because they gave it their all.
And it’s as much mental as physical.
“That internal drive, mental toughness and voice in your head, it all has to come from within,” says LeCount. “You can always do so much more than what your mind’s telling you.”
2A No. 2 Delta goes to Jay County Tuesday, Dec. 6 for a double-dual. The Eagles grappled with Winchester at 6 p.m., followed by 2A No. 1 Jay County. Yorktown will also wrestle Winchester.
Delta goes to Class 2A IHSWCA State Duals at Jay County Jan. 7. The Hoosier Heritage Conference at Pendleton Heights meet is Jan. 14. Then comes the IHSAA state tournament series — Delta Sectional Jan. 28, Jay County Regional Feb. 4, Fort Wayne Semistate Feb. 11 and State Finals Feb. 17-18 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Feature Articles2815 4#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Purdue Polytechnic ready for their first full season
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
After five years of watching others compete in Indiana’s wrestling state tournament, Purdue Polytechnic will finally get its chance to participate.
Polytechnic started six years ago but this is the first year the school is fully sanctioned to compete in the Indiana High School Athletic Association tournaments.
The Techies are hoping to find quick success on the mat this season.
“This year we have some kids that we think will do pretty well in the state tourney,” Polytechnic coach Cory Graham said. “We want to get into team state and eventually work toward a team state title.”
The school has just over 500 students. The wrestling team has 42 grapplers and fills every weight class.
“If you look at most high schools, the kids come from the same location,” Graham said. “Here we have kids traveling from all over the Indianapolis area. We have kids from Greenwood, the west side and all over the city. We are a very diverse school, but we come together and work toward a common goal.”
Although there are a good number of wrestlers on the team, the Techies are very inexperienced on the mats compared to other schools they will compete with.
“We started with 16 kids when we started the program,” Graham said. “We’ve grown every year. I only have a couple of kids that come with some decent experience. We started a middle school program, but we only have six kids that have come up from that.”
Currently the Techies have 22 freshmen and 12 sophomores on the team. They have just four seniors, two male and two female.
“I’m excited about that,” Graham said. “This is a great opportunity for these kids to get experience and learn.”
The only ranked wrestler in the program currently is sophomore Silas Foster. Foster is ranked No. 18 at 138 pounds.
“My personal goal is to get a state title,” Foster said. “I want to wrap up our schools first state championship and then I want to go out and get two more in my junior and senior seasons.”
Foster has gone to the New Castle semistate as a spectator several times. He has witnessed the emotion of the ticket-round matches and the thrill of the champions being crowned.
There are seven female wrestlers on the Techie squad. Seniors Katelynn Hernandez is ranked No. 3 in the girls’ polls at 132 pounds. Her senior classmate, Carmen Castillo, is ranked No. 10 at 182.
“I’ve had three girls that have been runners-up in the girls state tournament,” Graham said. “I’ve had six placers at girls state. We have four kids wrestling in college right now.”
On the boys side, senior 152-pounder Canaan Miller is the team’s leader.
“In the room he’s really vocal and he works well with the young guys,” Graham said. “He has wrestled all four years for us. He’s pretty tough. We bumped him up against Daleville to wrestle the NO. 9-ranked kid at 160 and he wrestled him pretty well. He’ll scrap with anyone in the state.”
Although the wrestlers on the team come from all different parts of the Indy area, they have been able to bond.
“We’re a very positive, upbeat team,” Graham said. “All the kids are super funny. They cool part of this team is that a lot of them played football together and they have like a brotherhood mentality. We are really close. It’s like a family but we can flip the switch when it comes time to practice and compete.”
The Techies are hoping to build on whatever success they have this year, and in the near future they are hoping to become a strong wrestling program with multiple accolades.
“It has been a long process to go through to become sanctioned by the IHSAA,” Graham said. “After fighting the battle for five years, we finally got in. A lot of our kids didn’t understand how the tournament even worked, especially my new kids. They are excited to be a part of this and to learn from it.”
Gorilla Radio1853High School Wrestling Weekly Season 4 Episode 5
Rex Brewer and Dane Fuelling look back at the past week of wrestling, and are joined by special guests Brandon Razo, FW Dwenger Coach John Tone, and South Adams Coach Jesse Gaskill.
Gorilla Radio510IndianaMat Gorilla Radio Episode 140
Mike and Joe are back previewing a big week of wrestling along with recapping the past week's action.
College News1016 4Thanksgiving D1 Rundown
By Blaze Lowery
Is IU better than we thought?
Unranked Indiana defeats #23 Princeton, pushing the Tigers out of the rankings. Although Princeton was without #2 Pat Glory, the Hoosiers dominate them with a 22 – 13 upset. IU has continued to show improvement since last season’s dissatisfactory finish.
#19 D.J. Washington then goes on to wins Army’s, Black Knight Open at 174lbs, beating #21 Benjamin Pasiuk of Army. Keeping his undefeated record in-tact, the Portage native is proving himself week after week since shifting to a lower weight class this season. Longtime teammate, Jacob Moran was runner-up and the Rooks’ brothers both captured a third place wins for the Hoosiers. Indiana is starting their season off much stronger than they left off last season and could make some sparks as they roll into the Garden State Grapple on December 4th.
Are the Boilermaker Duals a good indication of Purdue’s success?
Coming off a surprising dual loss to Rider University on their home turf, Purdue turned their performance around and defeated Cleveland State, Northern Illinois, and Chattanooga at the Boilermaker Duals. Having a younger squad this season, the Boilermakers are struggling to make the same mark at the start of their season as they have in their previous season. At this point in their schedule, it is too early to say if the Boilermakers are a tough to beat dual team, but it is safe to say that the competition at the Boilermaker Duals tournament means little to none when competing in the Big Ten. We look for the Boilermakers to start ramping up as we get closer to the middle of the season.
With that being said, the future looks bright for Purdue wrestling as this young roster will make for some depth in the coming years and the recruiting class coming in will be one to keep an eye on. It is exciting to see guys like Macartney Parkinson, Jaden Reynolds, and Hayden Filipovich really getting their feet wet with some serious mat time. Time will tell if the Boilermakers can show us what is behind the curtains as they compete in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on December 2nd – 3rd.
Recent Out-of-State Wrestler D1 Results:
#3 Mason Parris (Michigan) wins by fall in both duals against UNC and Columbia.
#5 Brayton Lee (Minnesota) clinches Binghamton dual by major decision.
#6 Lucas Davison (Northwestern) with a dominant 6-0 decision in Virginia Dual.
#12 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) pushes Joey Melendez out of the rankings with a pin.
#19 Silas Allred (Nebraska) wins Navy Classic.
Feature Articles2310#MondayMatness with Steve Krah: Brady relishes leadership role for Garrett Railroaders
By STEVE KRAH
stvkrh905@gmail.com
A can’t-quit attitude has helped Hayden Brady amass impressive numbers as part of a decorated wrestling program at Garrett High School.
With a 9-1 start to the 2022-23 season at Goshen’s RedHawk Super Duals, 5-foot-10 1/2, 126-pound senior Brady is now 102-17 for his career (including 35-6 as a 106-pound freshman state qualifer, 27-4 as a 113-pound sophomore state qualifier and 31-6 as a 120-pound junior fourth-place finisher at the IHSAA State Finals).
He moved past Andrew Wertman (98-65), Trevor Moe (100-31), Beau Schendel (100-19) and Brayden Moreau (100-29) on the Railroaders’ all-time win list.
The Garrett victory call is topped by Brayden Shearer (152-37), followed by Clayton Fielden (141-26), Bryce Schendel (133-25), Beck Davis (127-38), Dylan Demarco (125-46), Zac McCray (125-29), Lance Moe (119-31), Bo Davis (116-39), Hayden Lee (114-7), Blake Davis (112-24) and Chandler Shearer (106-35).
Tenth-year Railroaders head coach Nick Kraus says Brady has the chance to finish his prep mat career as high as No. 3 on the victory list and No. 2 in winning percentage.
Brady has amassed 63 career pins. The school record — held by Fielden — is 84.
“I don’t pay attention to any of that,” says Brady. “I just go out and do my job.”
Kraus was introduced to Brady’s tenacity in the grappler’s first season at Garrett. The coach recalls Brady placing third a Mishawaka’s Al Smith Classic as a freshman.
“He had some technique, but it was mostly heart,” says Kraus. “His only loss that year was to (Crown Point’s) Sam Goin (who went on to place fifth at 106, fourth at 126 and first at 152 in the past three State Finals).”
On the second day of the 32-team tournament, Brady earned victories in double overtime and ultimate tiebreaker.
Says Brady, “It was two back-to-back matches that it took me a lot of heart to win.
“He was just fighting and landing on top,” says Kraus. “He is a student so his wrestling has come a long way.
“He was always pretty good when he was in the top position, but neutral (was not special) and he’s recognized that and really, really tried getting better at it. That’s what makes him him.”
Where does he get the drive?
“I’m very, very competitive and just motivated and always striving for better,” says Brady. “I never want to settle for anything less than what I can achieve.”
Kraus encourages Brady to use multiple moves if the match situation allows it.
“If it’s a pretty winnable match — and a lot of them are pretty winnable for Hayden — we might say ‘why don’t you work on this for this match?’ or ‘why don’t you try doing this takedown?’”
This is done so when Brady is in a spot that he won’t be predictable for those scouting his tendencies.
SETL are letters that are associated with Garrett wrestling.
It’s the acronym for a motto that came from Bill Kraus who died when his son was 16 and wrestling in high school.
“My dad had a pretty distinctive voice,” says Nick Kraus. “He’d say ‘Show ‘Em The Lights’ and you knew it was his voice.
Looking for something to brand to program with something of meaning, Nick — who was a Garrett assistant for two years before becoming head coach — adopted SETL.
“It’s kind of funny because my technique wasn’t the best when I was younger,” says Kraus. “I thought you had to pin somebody in wrestling. Beating somebody by points wasn’t much of an option. If I got off the mat and I didn’t win by pin I was kind of disappointed.”
Kraus racked up 31 pins his senior year.
“That’s what we did — ‘Show ‘Em The Lights,’” says Kraus, who counts Mike Poppe, Alex Arney, Tyler Lanning, Josh Buuck and Carlos Aguirre as assistant coaches in 2022-23. “It’s a big part of our culture. In town, people know what it means. It’s printed on shirts. Some kids have SETL tattoos once they’ve graduated.”
Hayden Brady was first shown the mat by his father — former Churubusco wrestler Dennis Brady — and began competing as a middle schooler.
“I thought I’d give it a shot,” says Hayden. “Over the course of the year I kind of fell in love with the sport and started wrestling more and more.”
He was involved in other sports, but gave those up to concentrate on his new love.
Wrestling has given him the opportunity to compete all over the country.
“I’ve been on both coasts several times,” says Brady. “And several other places.”
Hayden was at Churubusco in seventh grade and Central Noble in eighth grade before starting high school at Garrett.
Hayden’s mother — Cassie Phillips — lives in Colorado. Older brother Harrison is in Montana and serving in the U.S. Air Force.
Sister Lillie is a Garrett sophomore and a wrestling manager.
After graduating from Garrett, Brady wants to wrestle in college and pursue an Aviation degree.
Kraus teaches middle school Physical Education and Health at Garrett.
He’s also coached football, helped out with youth baseball and taught high schoolers.
“Middle school is my favorite,” says Kraus. “Some people think that those kids are difficult to work with. I enjoy it. I’m able to get kids to come out and wrestle. P.E. is a pretty fun job. You get to play basketball, football, baseball — whatever — all day.”
He was also an MMA fighter for 11 years.
Kraus admires Brady for his character.
Looking for volunteers to coach at a junior varsity tournament on Nov. 19 at West Noble, Kraus saw Brady give up a free Saturday and don a coaching shirt and help out.
“He was amped up about it and enjoyed coaching,” says Kraus. “He didn’t have to come to that. He chose to wake up super early.
“He is willing to do that for his teammates.”
Brady, who is a team captain, has also taken the time to work with other less-skilled wrestlers and drilled with them in the practice room.
“He’s truly a team player,” says Kraus.
Says Brady, “It’s a leadership thing. I was just showing up for my teammates. Even though they may not be the varsity kids they are the future of our program.”
It’s that kind of attitude that has allowed Garrett to enjoy so much recent team success. The Railroaders won a Class 2A Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Team Duals title in 2021 and were IHSWCA 2A Team Duals runners-up in 2018 and 2020 as well as IHSAA sectional and regional champions in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Garrett also reigned in the Allen County Athletic Conference in 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2019 and the Northeast Corner Conference in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
The 2023 2A IHSWCA State Duals at Jay County is Jan. 7.
There’s also the Al Smith Classic Dec. 29-30, Garrett Invitational Jan. 14 and the NECC Tournament at Eastside Jan. 21 with the Carroll Sectional Jan. 28, Carroll Regional Feb. 4, Fort Wayne Semistate Feb. 11 and State Finals Feb. 17-18 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Garrett’s next competition is a home dual at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30 against DeKalb.
“If you get a quality dual meet, you can’t beat the atmosphere and what it does for fans,” says Kraus. “We’re renewing that rivalry. (The Barons) should be pretty good this year and I think we’re pretty good.
“Wednesday night should be fun.”
Feature Articles3735 5#WrestlingWednesday with Jeremy Hines: Cascade ready for year two under Harris
By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
The story seems familiar. Big city guy, through fate, ends up in a small town and falls in love with the community. Although Christmas is fast approaching, this isn’t a Hallmark movie script. It’s the real-life journey of Quinn Harris and his Cascade wrestling team.
Harris is a 2015 graduate of Avon High School. Avon’s enrollment is close to 3,000 students. After high school he helped coach at Avon, then coached at Ben Davis, which also has close to 3,000 students. Last year he took the head coaching job at Cascade, a tiny high school in Clayton, IN with an enrollment of under 500.
“There isn’t a whole lot to do here,” Harris said. “It’s a small farm town. 4H and agriculture are huge around here. A lot of kids live and work on the farm. They own pigs. They show pigs. The kids go hunting and fishing. It’s a much different culture than what I’m used to.”
The wrestlers on his Cadet squad like to tease him a little bit about his city-guy life.
“They tease me all the time,” Harris said. “They talk about how my jeans are a little tighter than the other guys.”
The relationship has worked. Last year, in his first season at the helm of the Cadets, Harris led the team to a spot in the team state championship. The Cadets finished sixth at team state, won the Indiana Crossroads Conference for the first time, won a New Castle invitational and had a sectional champion for the first time since 2016.
“All around, I couldn’t have been happier with the year,” Harris said.
Early in the season Harris learned just how close the Cascade wrestling family was.
“Last year, before I accepted the job, they lost a teammate to a disease,” Harris said. “Kadeo Lewis was his name. He would have been a senior last year. It was a big loss for their team. He was a captain as a junior. So, senior night they called it Kadeo Lewis night. We all wore orange in his honor. Orange Cascade shirts when the normal colors are Carolina blue. But the entire crowd was in orange, and it was a big crowd. We sold over 100 shirts that night. It was just a cool thing. Kids that had never went to a wrestling meet before came there. It really showed me that Cascade is a family, for sure.”
Last year Harris was getting to know the team. This year he’s hoping to lead them to the 1A state title. He’s got a nucleus of seven highly talented seniors along with some key underclassmen that could push Cascade to the school’s best season in history.
“This year we have an extremely motivated attitude,” Harris said. “There is a difference in practices. This year they are believing it on their own. They have expectations. Other than cheerleading and cross country, there has never been a team at Cascade that had been to a state championship. The kids are starting to believe it’s possible to win it.”
The Cadets are led by four-ranked seniors. Liam Farmer (182), Michael Hutchison (160) and Dominic McFeeley (126) are all ranked No. 10 in their respective weight classes. Logan Bickel comes in ranked No. 8 at 113 pounds. Walker VanNess isn’t ranked, but he finished the year with a 31-9 record last year at 220 pounds.
“This is a tough senior class,” Harris said. “Five of the seven had over 30 wins last year. Three were semistate guys and one a state qualifier. They are the reason we will have so much success. They are 100 percent leaders. They are our five captains. All five did a lot of off-season wrestling. They went out and competed at Virginia Beach and at Disney.”
Bickel reached the 100-win mark at the end of the season last year. He is a three-time semistate qualifier. He was also the first Fargo All-American from Cascade.
“He’s a big move kind of guy,” Harris said. “He has a lot of fire and passion. He’s a very cool kid and he didn’t even start wrestling until seventh grade. He’s very strong and athletic. I’m looking forward to seeing how far he can go.”
McFeeley was the lone state qualifier from Cascade last year.
“In some people’s eyes that was a big surprise,” Harris said. “He took out a returning 4th place finisher in semistate. He’s one of the hardest workers in our room. He leads day in and day out and he’s very humble. He does things the right way. He really likes working with the younger kids as well.”
Hutchison is another team leader that likes to stay and help the younger kids at practice. He has a brother, Carter, that is the team’s 145 pounder as a sophomore.
Farmer is more of the vocal leader on the team. He was a football phenom this past season as well.
“Liam is a stud on the football field,” Harris said. “He broke our single game rushing record this year. He had a game with seven touchdowns and somewhere around 375 rushing yards. He was in the top 10 in the state for rushing yards.”
Farmer broke his leg in the first round of sectional but is expected to be able to return to the mat sometime in December.
The Cadets expect big contributions this season from Carter Hutchison and fellow sophomore Brayden Burelison as well. Burelison was a conference champion last year and Hutchison was a conference runner-up. Both had over 25 wins as freshmen.
A few other key contributors to this year’s squad will be heavyweight Kyle Sullivan and 106-pound junior Logan Schnarr. Last year Schnarr only had one win going into team state, but he pinned all four of the opponents he faced in the tournament and was named the team MVP.
Harris believes the team state aspect has really helped sell the kids in the sport. It gives them something to be motivated by.
“The kids have really bought into this,” Harris said. “The community really backs the team as well. I think last year we sold around 200 team state T-shirts. When I was at Avon we went to team state, but I didn’t realize how much it meant to the small schools. The fans travel so well in these small communities. It’s extremely cool to see how much this means to them.”
Harris believes because of his young age he has really been able to relate to the kids and help keep them motivated.
“I was just in their shoes not too long ago,” Harris said. “I don’t know exactly what they are going through, but I know what it was like being a kid in high school. I think I’ve built a really good relationship with them on a personal level. Wrestling is about building character for the days after wrestling is over, and I’m glad to be a part of that here.”
The city guy in the small town is learning to adapt. In fact, although he’s never been hunting or fishing before, he’s going to give it a try. The team has been wanting to take him out and teach him some of the small-town ways.
“I’m interested in just about anything, and I’m going to give it a try,” Harris said.
But for now, Harris and the Cascade Cadets have goals to meet on the mat.