blueandgold Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 Who are some guys who you always knew had potential and were touted to be very good early on, but didn’t really hit their stride until their junior or senior year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrodyHardcastle Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 Thomas Penola didn’t arrive on the scene until his junior year at Al Smith. MUSKEEWRESTLER, Coach Moore, FCFIGHTER170 and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jleising Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 Evan Schaffer of Connersville busted up the HWT class his senior year. Just if he started to wrestle sooner in life. Great kid, great family. btk111 and FCFIGHTER170 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paycheck141 Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 1 hour ago, bigballerb said: Thomas Penola didn’t arrive on the scene until his junior year at Al Smith. His match with Lucas Davison at State his senior year was insane BrodyHardcastle, wrestler32, FCFIGHTER170 and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brickfor6 Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 2 hours ago, bigballerb said: Thomas Penola didn’t arrive on the scene until his junior year at Al Smith. I think you could say Thomas Penola and Zack Fattore in the same sentence. Zack had 1 career loss going into junior year, but never wrestled in a state series due to injuries. These 2 hammers met in the Al Smith finals as the 8 and 9 seed I believe. Match went into OT with Penola winning on a stall call in between 3rd period and OT. For Hobart: Rafael Montez, was behind Eric Galka for most of his career, until his senior year, he broke onto the scene and took 3rd at state. Another guy I always think of is Grant Martsolf who made the finals at state his senior year in his first ever state appearance. FCFIGHTER170, BrodyHardcastle and MUSKEEWRESTLER 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jstephenson1356 Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 I’d say this goes with the late bloomers topic. Joey Cline came in as a freshman having never wrestled and was our starting 106 weighing 84 lbs he won like 3 matches that year. Now as a senior he’s ranked 20th at 113 Coachmom, FCFIGHTER170, blueandgold and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
base Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 The most well-known case I can think of is 2013 State Champion Deondre Wilson from Warren Central. It was only his 3rd year of the sport when he achieved his undefeated season and championship. Amazing story! blueandgold, Coplen187, Holden and 6 others 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coplen187 Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 Marshall Fishback went 11-17 his first year of wrestling, his sophomore year, and came in 5th at the Peru sectional (2020). Two years later (2022) he would become Rochester's first state champion. richyy253, Hirsej01, ddurham883 and 13 others 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silence Dogood Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 Anthony Lapsely FCFIGHTER170 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Ayersman Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 Dorian Keys at Brownsburg. First two years at Ben Davis he didn't wrestle. Came to us a junior and won a title that year plus a 3rd place finish. His first match against Westfield, he almost was DQ'ed for locking his hands too many times. FCFIGHTER170, base and Jayruss 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody LeCount Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 Braxton Russell from Delta Freshman year went 17-12 and was a regional qualifier at 160lbs Sophomore year wrestled first tournament of year…. Found out he had two stress fractures in his back and probably wasn’t going to wrestle the rest of the year… had a remarkable recovery was able to come back in January and made a run during tournament series and became a IHSAA State Qualifier at 170lbs (lost Friday night to guy who got 5th) and finished season 21-6. Now as a junior is 14-1 (loss is to the #3 ranked guy) and is currently ranked #13 at 170 richyy253, MUSKEEWRESTLER, blueandgold and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swain358 Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 Nick Borta North Montgomery. Unheard of kid who possibly had a losing record freshmen year (I can’t remember). Made it to semi state that year and had a controversial loss. Senior year finished 6th, giving the eventual state champion his only two losses of the season. FCFIGHTER170, CoachJoyce, Jstephenson1356 and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busstogate Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 8 hours ago, brickfor6 said: I think you could say Thomas Penola and Zack Fattore in the same sentence. Zack had 1 career loss going into junior year, but never wrestled in a state series due to injuries. These 2 hammers met in the Al Smith finals as the 8 and 9 seed I believe. Match went into OT with Penola winning on a stall call in between 3rd period and OT. For Hobart: Rafael Montez, was behind Eric Galka for most of his career, until his senior year, he broke onto the scene and took 3rd at state. Another guy I always think of is Grant Martsolf who made the finals at state his senior year in his first ever state appearance. Montez was solid. I remember him from my first year of coaching. I remember Fattore having rough goes his first two years despite being well regarded. Total scholar through, ending up at U. of Chicago. His Hobart class with Colza and Black was a good one. Martsolf was one heck of a grinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Cooper Posted December 20, 2022 Share Posted December 20, 2022 Sean Galligar, Columbus East, started wrestling in 9th grade, no experience whatsoever. Didn’t win a single match his freshman year at the JV level. Placed 3rd as a Senior 285 lber. MUSKEEWRESTLER, CoachZ6281, CoachM and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RASSLER4LIFE Posted December 21, 2022 Share Posted December 21, 2022 Got to bring Jack Taylor from New Castle into this topic, in combined 2 seasons, spent about 8 months on the mat, capped by a 5th place finish at State his senior year. Just imagine had he started as a freshman when he first moved here from Mississippi. MUSKEEWRESTLER, blueandgold, Jstephenson1356 and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GenHeavierHandz Posted December 21, 2022 Share Posted December 21, 2022 21 hours ago, Kyle Ayersman said: Dorian Keys at Brownsburg. First two years at Ben Davis he didn't wrestle. Came to us a junior and won a title that year plus a 3rd place finish. His first match against Westfield, he almost was DQ'ed for locking his hands too many times. Well that's just on the coaching then. hook and half 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braxton Vest Posted December 23, 2022 Share Posted December 23, 2022 I personally didn’t break the 100 pound mark until my sophomore year… then shot up during quarantine gsmith58, blueandgold, Lawdiggity and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade McClurg Posted December 27, 2022 Share Posted December 27, 2022 On 12/23/2022 at 10:28 AM, Braxton Vest said: I personally didn’t break the 100 pound mark until my sophomore year… then shot up during quarantine And you’re still flourishing as an Indiana Tech Warrior New Palestine Wrestling, IndianaWrestlingGuy1 and navy80 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsmith58 Posted December 27, 2022 Share Posted December 27, 2022 8 hours ago, Wade McClurg said: And you’re still flourishing as an Indiana Tech Warrior And by flourishing you mean 'growing like a weed' into new weight classes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wade McClurg Posted December 27, 2022 Share Posted December 27, 2022 Sam Hansen - Roncalli Class of 2018 First two years: 35-24 record, at least half of these 59 matches were jv matches. Frosh Year- 152lbs. Didn’t make the varsity lineup until late in the season. Lost in the first round of sectionals. Did not place in any season tournaments. Soph Year- 152lbs. Lost an early season wrestle off, but gained a starting lineup position mid season. Did not place in any season tournaments. Lost in the first round of the Marion County Tournament by technical fall. Placed third in the sectional, and lost first round of regionals. Final Two years: 79-8 record Junior Year- 182lbs. 38-5. Marion County Champion. Connersville Spartan Classic runner-up. Conference Champion. Sectional champion. Regional runner-up. Lost in the ticket round to eventual state placer Evan Stambaugh, Lebanon by the score of 5-3. Senior Year- 195lbs. 41-3. Marion County Champion. Connersville Spartan Classic champion. Conference champion. Sectional champion. Regional champion. Semi state runner-up. State runner-up. Senior year losses to D1 wrestlers – Thomas Penola 2X , Lucas Davison in finals. HornetSloan, busstogate, blueandgold and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GenHeavierHandz Posted December 27, 2022 Share Posted December 27, 2022 Riley lefever went from a ss qualifier to a state runner up to 2nd at fargo and then 4x d3 champ. Lawdiggity, purdue02, navy80 and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2CJ41 Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 13 hours ago, GenHeavierHandz said: Riley lefever went from a ss qualifier to a state runner up to 2nd at fargo and then 4x d3 champ. Amazing how much he flourished after he ditched that practice partner from Brush Prairie. Coplen187 and Bulldog89 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galagore Posted December 28, 2022 Share Posted December 28, 2022 Jeremiah Harvey: Sixth grade: First year wrestler, broke leg two weeks into season Seventh grade: No wrestling Eighth grade: No wrestling Frosh: No wrestling Soph: No wrestling, stepped on scale in late January, got intrigued again by Wrestling Junior: Regional qualifier wrestler who was pinned first round Senior: Conference runner-up, sectional third place, Regional champ, Semi-State champ, State champ Definitely a candidate for most exciting run ever. All but one post-season win was either quick pin (7) or over-time (5). The one that wasn't avenged his only losses (four times to same guy) of the season. Semi-final state match was UTB. He won from top. Coplen187, blueandgold, Lawdiggity and 3 others 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giants149 Posted December 29, 2022 Share Posted December 29, 2022 Dorian Keys at Brownsburg. First two years at Ben Davis he didn't wrestle. Came to us a junior and won a title that year plus a 3rd place finish. His first match against Westfield, he almost was DQ'ed for locking his hands too many times. Not true he wrestled at BD Coplen187 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachnabb Posted January 23, 2023 Share Posted January 23, 2023 Dorian Keys wrestled for me at Chapel Hill in 8th grade and was a monster. Also wrestled for me some as a Freshmen at BD. He did develop and flourish in a new environment at Brownsburg. I really enjoyed my time coaching Dorian. horseofadifferentcolor and Coplen187 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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