-
Articles
Manage articlesGorilla Radio729IndianaMat Gorilla Radio Episode 142
Joe and Mike talk about the Ironman and how it will affect Indiana wrestling going forward. Lots of great information and insight into this event. They also touch on a few other subjects within the wrestling work.
Gorilla Radio937 1High School Wrestling Weekly Season 4 Episode 6
Rex Brewer and Dane Fuelling talk all things wrestling, and are joined this week by guests: Tanner Boman, coach for DeKalb, and Jason DeLois from ISWA.
High School News2113Bulldog Breakdown: Brownsburg’s December Gauntlet Continues Following Walsh Ironman
By Anna Kayser
Following a weekend at one of the most difficult high school wrestling tournaments in the nation, the consensus among Brownsburg’s wrestling staff and athletes is likely what one would expect: That was one tough tournament, but the lessons taken from it and how individuals move forward will prepare them for their biggest test come February.
On Saturday, the Bulldogs saw their two bookends each place at the Walsh Ironman Invitational in Ohio, representing Indiana along with Crown Point as the first teams from Indiana to compete in the gauntlet. With three losses each, 106-pound Revin Dickman (8th) and heavyweight Leighton Jones (6th) took to the podium in success stories of one weekend of incredible wrestling.
“It was impressive, very humbling throughout most of the tournament,” Brownsburg head coach Darrick Snyder said. “The competition is incredible; I’ve never been in a tournament where I’ve seen so many guys knock off nationally ranked dudes and then the next round they’re getting knocked off. These dudes are big. It was incredible competition and definitely made us question some of the things we’re doing and what we need to do right. It was a fun tournament, just incredible wrestling.”
Along with Dickman and Jones, wrestlers from Brownsburg to make the trip included Preston Haines (113), Jake Hockaday (120), Brady Ison (132), Parker Reynolds (138), Caden Brewer (175) and Gunner Henry (190).
And when they say the tournament is tough – they mean it. Among the second-ranked team in 4A, Jones (No. 5 seed) was the lone wrestler with a single-digit seed in Ironman, with only Preston Haines (10) joining him in the top 10.
“The competition is super, super tough, a bunch of ranked kids,” Dickman said. “Coming into this I was kind of nervous with how I was going to do and stuff, and I feel like I competed pretty well.”
Following a technical fall and pin in his first two consolation matches after being booted from the championship bracket by No. 2 seed Ayden Smith from Notre Dame, Pa., the No. 14-seeded Dickman slotted himself into a placement with a 1-0 win over Stillwater, Okla.’s Ayden Thomas.
For Dickman – and all the representatives from Brownsburg and Crown Point – competing at the Ironman was a chance to not only level up individually, but to showcase what programs from Indiana are capable of.
“It just put Indiana wrestling on the map,” Dickman said. “We’re not really looked at for wrestling, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Dickman, Haines, Hockaday, Ison, Henry and Jones all won their first matches on the day, with Jones pinning his first opponent in less than one minute.
For Jones, this tournament is a good measuring stick to how he is able to compete at this point in the season. Due to his football schedule and opponents not being prepared to wrestle him in the opening weeks of the season, it’s been a slow start to the 2022-23 season for Brownsburg’s heavyweight.
“My goal right now is just to get more in shape. I think I had five matches and less than 20 practices [coming into this weekend], which wasn’t ideal. I just want to get in shape and get a lot better, win Brecksville, win team state and everything in between.”
Jones’ largest match of the weekend – not seeding-wise, but in terms of what lies ahead for the heavyweight and Brownsburg – came for a bid to the consolation semifinals. In a battle of Indiana heavyweights, Jones defeated Crown Point’s Paul Clark by a 5-1 decision. It was his third full-length match of the tournament after winning by two sub-minute puns and a medical forfeit.
“It went really well. I came in with expectations just to get better and then I ended up placing,” Jones said. “It’s obviously a pretty prestigious tournament, I came in here and wanted to place and I’m pretty happy with that, even though I took three losses.”
A pair of Jones’ losses came against Richard Thomas, the No. 12 heavyweight seed from Oklahoma. After earning a 6-3 decision to bump Jones to the consolation bracket, Thomas turned Jones for a first-period fall in his final match of the tournament.
So far this season, Brownsburg has run through its opponents with very few wounds suffered by some of its best wrestlers. If anything, the Ironman gave a chance for those wrestlers to measure up to some of the best in the country and learn how to get better and move forward from losses.
“[A tournament like this] gives you some things to work on,” Snyder said. “We know our guys are battle tested and are going to continue to be, but we also have to make sure they don’t get down on themselves. Some of these guys are not used to going to a tournament and not placing and being done a few hours into it.”
And for Jones specifically, being able to test his endurance was important as Brownsburg gets into some of its biggest competition this year.
“It’ll benefit me probably for the rest of my life,” Jones said. “Most of the dual tournaments we go to, people forfeit against me which is kind of annoying. I came into this tournament with five matches, none of them going past a minute. It was definitely a difference.”
Shining the spotlight on athletes this early in the season has indications for where they’ll be come February and the state series. Snyder has built Brownsburg’s schedule with that in mind – to get better, each and every day, working toward their end goals this season.
This upcoming weekend, the Bulldogs travel to the Crown Point Invitational to continue a month of hard-fought wrestling and impressive competition. To round out the 2022 calendar just before New Years, another big tournament across state lines.
“If you look at our next month, next week we go to Crown Point and there’s nine nationally ranked teams there, then we go to Brecksville and I think that’s got 40-some teams, multiple nationally ranked teams,” Snyder said. “We hope after that month of a gauntlet that it’s going to help us make a run during the postseason, but we’ve got a lot of guys taking a lot of losses.”
Feature Articles2029#MondayMatness with Steve Krah: Concord’s Koltookian raising mat profile at end of prep career
By STEVE KRAH
stvkrh905@gmail.com
Many wrestlers who enjoy success on the Indiana high school scene can look back at many years of training and competition.
Some have been known to start even before they begin kindergarten.
Such is not the case with Concord High School’s Armen Koltookian.
His mat career began after he quit the freshmen boys basketball team.
The athletic Koltookian got into the Minutemen’s varsity lineup in 2019-20 and posted a 7-4 record. He went 20-12 and was a Goshen Regional runner-up at 182 pounds as a sophomore in 2020-21 then really broke out.
Stepping into the circle at 195, Koltookian won 37 of 43 bouts while earning second place to Mishawaka’s Christian Chavez at the Northern Lakes Conference meet and earning Elkhart Sectional, Goshen Regional and Fort Wayne Semistate titles as a junior in 2021-22.
“He caught a lot of people by surprise last year,” says first-year Concord head coach Anthony Snyder. “He’s a great kid and a great leader. He comes in every single day with a positive attitude and wants to learn.”
Koltookian was edged 3-2 by eventual eighth-placer Samuel Saunders of Terre Haute North Vigo in the first round of the IHSAA State Finals.
Improvement on the mat came through open-room training at Mishawaka and Jimtown and made a few visits to Midwest Xtreme Wrestling in Mishawaka and Midwest Regional Training Center in New Carlisle.
With the help of Concord’s Fitness and Performance Center director Scott Pherson, Koltookian got stronger by increasing his weight room numbers in the deadlift and clean-and-jerk.
After another standout football season for the Craig Koehler-coached Minutemen in the fall (he was named all-NLC), NCAA Division II Hillsdale (Mich.) College gridiron verbal commit Koltookian opened the 2022-23 wrestling season at 5-1 with four pins at 195 then moved up to 220. In the Raider Invitational at Northridge Saturday, Dec. 10, he went 4-1 and is 9-2 on the season.
“Wrestling definitely helped me improve as a football player, physically and mentally,” says Koltookian, a standout linebacker who also shined at H-back on offense. “I got tougher and I got a whole lot better with my hand-eye coordination and hand-fighting through the line.
“I saw numerous things that improved from wrestling football. So I'd recommend any football player that's thinking about it to get out and try it.”
Both grueling sports, wrestling and football require mental toughness.
How does Koltookian deal with this?
“I always like to remember that I've got bigger things in my life going on,” says Koltookian. “I always focus on the future and the success that comes with grinding through these times.
“It also helps a lot to have a lot of teammates that support me — Lance Army (Class of 2023) being one of them. He's our heavyweight and he always supports me and is there to wrestle with me, push me and keep me mentally in-check.”
Armen, who carries a grade-point average of 3.96 on a 4.0 scale, is the son of Aram and Shelley Koltookian and the younger brother of Zaven Koltookian, a 2022 Concord graduate now on the football team at Colgate University in Hamilton, N.Y.
Snyder, a 2008 Mishawaka graduate, leads the Concord program after spending the past five seasons guiding Bremen. The Lions won one dual meet in 2017-18 and 13 in 2021-22.
Snyder’s staff include Concord alum and veteran wrestling coach Brian Pfeil (the 1991 graduate went 97-18 and placed fifth at 189 as a senior) as well as Brandon Barcus, Andrew Cortez, Tyler Norment and Bryce Track. Barcus was with Snyder at Bremen.
“I’ve surrounded myself with people who I though could help me build what I view this program can be,” says Snyder. “They all have the same vision as I do.”
Snyder made the move for a few reasons.
“It’s a better opportunity,” says Snyder. “It’s closer to home. It’s on my way to and from work (as a production leader at Lippert Components in Goshen). There’s a lot of support from the administration.
“It’s just nice to be at a big school that wants wrestling to succeed and get to that next level. I feel like we can make it into a contender in the northern part of Indiana if not the state.”
Before Bremen, Anthony was on Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Famer Mark Kerrn’s staff at Jimtown.
Uncle and IHSWCA Hall of Famer Darrick Snyder (currently the head coach at Brownsburg) was Anthony's coach at Mishawaka.
Snyder helped establish the Concord Wrestling Club which around 45 members. The Concord Junior High School team has begun practices with more than 60 participants.
At the high school level, the Minutemen’s next meet is a dual Tuesday, Dec. 14 at Mishawaka. Not in the Al Smith Classic at Mishawaka this year, Concord is part of the 16-team McKee Memorial Invitational at Rochester Saturday, Dec. 17. The NLC meet is Jan. 14 at Wawasee with the Elkhart Sectional Jan. 28, Goshen Regional Feb. 4, Fort Wayne Semistate Feb. 11 and IHSAA State Finals Feb. 17-18 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
High School News952 42022 Ironman Interviews
Talking with Brownsburg and Crown Point coaches and wrestlers
College News2128 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 Radio1621IndianaMat 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 Articles1945 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 News1812 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 News1540 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 Articles2310 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 Articles2984 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 Radio1890High 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.