Merrillville Bracketology 120

[Silvertone1696]

I absolutely can't wait to see this weight class Saturday and some good wrestlers will be leaving empty handed. Here's my take

 

Mat 1

#6 Jack Tolin (23-3) Chesterton Vs

Tondrew Tyler (21-7) SB Washington

 

Ty Watson (31-14) Delphi Vs

#1 Jeremiah Reitz (27-2) Griffith

 

Well nothing like having the 106 pound 2014 state champ in your bracket as a TWO seed, and Tolin will likely face the angry Griffith wrestler who lost a heated regional final in Calumet 8-4 after winning the sectional against Brendan Black of Hobart. A valiant effort will be needed by any of these wrestlers to unseat Reitz but I still think we will see Reitz on to the semis from this group. Reitz has bested Tolin once already this year with a 17-2 tech fall victory.

 

Mat 2

#3 Kyle Hatch (39-1) Warsaw Vs

Zach Galvan (22-16) Lowell

 

#8 Miguel Prado (26-7) Portage Vs

Justin Porter (36-5) Logansport

 

Rochester champ Kyle Hatch leads the way in this group as we have a couple matches that have ranked favorites. Prado finished 3rd in a rough regional that included Black and Reitz and gets and interesting opponent with a good record in Porter who has knocked off Avery Grimes of Lafayette Jeff 7-1 so that should be a good 1st round battle. Hatch gave SB Clay stud Jake Hartman his first loss of the year 6-4 in the regional championship. I like Hatch to take the group and advance to the semis with a win over Prado.

 

Mat 3

#2 Brendan Black (26-3) Hobart Vs

#10 Avery Grimes (31-6) Lafayette Jefferson

 

Lucas Major (20-16) New Prairie Vs

#4 Jake Hartman (43-1) SB Clay

 

This is what we would call an unfortunate draw. Hartman and Calumet champ Black should be nothing short of a blowout. Grimes is probably the strongest four seed of the weight class but Black is a stud with losses only to rival Reitz. I think Hartman wrestles valiantly but ultimately I still think the finals of 120 will be Black v Reitz part 6 and that would of course mean a defeat for Hartman. A shame since Hartman does have a 6-2 win over Logan champ Brady White of Rensselaer Central.

 

Mat 4

#7 Brady White (36-1) Rensselaer Central Vs

Tristin Pappas (22-15) Lake Central

 

#5 Ryan Hardesty (29-7) Mishawaka Vs

Austin Torres (25-7) Crown Point

 

Logan champ Brady White, a 6-3 winner for that title over Porter is probably fully aware of how deep this weight is as his one loss record has netted him just a 7th spot in the local rankings. He will likely face Hardesty, who was a victim of a tough Rochester regional that included Hartman and Hatch. His first opponent is no picnic however in Torres who lost a close 6-3 battle with Tolin for the CP title. Hardesty did suffer a loss via pin to Black earlier in the season and while White doesn't have many common opponents I will take the RC wrestler in this group.

 

Mat 1 v 2 and 3 v 4 semis

 

My four state berths

 

1. Reitz

2. Black

3. Hatch

4. White

 

Well I could certainly eat my words here as I think any of the top three could take home the hardware. Hard to judge this completely as Hatch's only loss came to state #2 Sawyer Miller of South Adams by a margin of 4-3 and without and matches between Hatch and Reitz/Black. Looking forward to this group.

[Silvertone1696]

A 126 pound reply! Five wrestlers reside in the top 20 for state so this SS is really pulling its weight. Here's my take...

 

Mat 1

 

#3 Branden Truver (26-9) Lake Central Vs

Colton Cooley (30-8) North White

 

#4 Tristin Ponsler (40-2) Wawasee Vs

Zach Wells (23-9) LaPorte

 

Calumet champ Branden Truver seems to be a high #3 with nine losses but regular season losses are nothing but a memory when you catch fire in the post season. An incredible regional effort had Truver knocking out top ranked and 2nd state ranked Gaige Torres of Portage out in the semis 8-5 and finishing off Crary 4-2. Talk about battle tested! He will likely face off with Ponsler who lost a tough semifinal Rochester matchup with Plymouth stud Cody Allmon. Ponsler will be tested however by Zach Wells who lost 4-3 to Valparaiso's Tristan Dembowski. Ill take Truver in a nail biter for this group.

 

Mat 2

Johnathan Ragan (31-9) Delphi Vs

#10 Chris Diaz (28-8) Hammond Clark

 

#7 Chris Trent (33-8) New Prairie Vs

#8 Cody Allmon (30-8) Plymouth

 

Logan champ Johnathan Ragan faces an interesting dynamic in this group, he's the only wrestler not ranked. I've seen in the forums as this being a trendy pick for a 4-1 upset, and why not I give Diaz the nod he came from a tough regional so it's hard to gauge this match. Cody Allmon is wrestling well right now and is my pick to win the group, although Trent and Diaz will both present challenges. Allmon lost 3-2 for the Rochester title to hometown kid John Hunting but did best Ponsler 6-3 in the semis, avenging two previous losses to the Northern Lakes conference rival.

 

Mat 3

#6 John Hunting (35-5) Rochester Vs

Bryce Niewoehner (15-9) Kankakee Valley

 

#1 Gaige Torres (30-2) Portage Vs

Austin McGreevey (34-11) Lafayette Jeff

 

Rochester champ John Hunting gets a tough draw in this group, as he will likely face off with an understandably ferocious Torres after the Portage star finished 3rd at Calumet. Niewoehner and McGreevey will need their best effort and then some to contend with these favorites but that's why we wrestle the matches. Torres is my pick here to get back on track but Hunting could give him fits. Hunting did have a close 6-4 defeat to Truver earlier in the season so he's close.

 

Mat 4

#5 Tristan Dembowski (34-9) Valparaiso Vs

Deven Beaver (19-15) Mishawaka

 

Jacob Wade (40-11) Harrison West Lafayette Vs

#2 Jason Crary (30-2) Munster

 

CP champ Tristan Dembowski finds himself with a tough road to the semis with a likely matchup with Crary, who defeated Dembowski 15-3 earlier in the season. I don't see much changing this time around but we will see if the Valparaiso wrestler has other plans.

 

Mat 1 v 2 and 3 v 4 semis

 

My four state berths

1. Gaige Torres

2. Branden Truver

3. Jason Crary

4. Cody Allmon

 

I just think the region has this weight class but I like Torres to regain his form and best Truver for the title. I think Ponsler could easily bust this bracket however and get all the way to face Torres and Crary/Torres will be a good battle. Allmon Vs Truver/Ponsler will also be a good one.