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Thank you to everyone who has reached out regarding Preston. Results of a CT scan and other tests have come back. Nothing is broken and he will make a full recovery. As far as what happened, the Mater Dei wrestler had been winning the entire match. An illegal slam was called. It was not intentional. Whether it was an illegal slam or not, I don’t really care. We were never taking a dive. Brownsburg doesn’t roll like that. It goes against everything we believe in. If I thought it was intentional, It would be a different story. There is no doubt in our mind that it was just a result of two dudes trying to punch their ticket to state. It was pretty chaotic as all of this was happening as I’m sure you can all imagine. Given that it was a neck/head injury, I wanted to give medical people access to Preston. Once they had time to check Preston out, I took that opportunity to talk to Preston. There was never any talk or consideration of taking a dive. Preston would never do that. He was in a lot of pain and upset. He has had a lot of adversity this season. He tore his ACL at IHPO and has been working through that pain and frustration all season. I just explained to Preston what had happened and that I was going to forfeit the match. I told him we were losing…and it would not be fair to take the trip to state away from the Mater Dei kid. Preston agreed and said he would never do that. There was no reversal of the call or anything. I just went up to officials and said we are forfeiting the match. Whoever said Preston was walking around saw someone else. He was taken out on a stretcher and to the emergency room. Snyder

I know I am not the only one who enjoys this weekend the most in the state series. For some, I know they expect to be here and at next week's slamdango for the precious metals. Yet, I think a lot of wrestlers making it here for perhaps the first or the last times have to be gratified to see their hard work paying off. Every lap, sprint, shark tank, four-hour drive, close loss and quick pin....the growing wrestler has endured so, so much on this uphill journey. Some will reach a career highlight in the second round, while some will not. Others, again, will expect to be here and will move on. Yet, some expectations will be unmet. Oh, how well we know this is an individual sport! By this time, the wrestler has pushed their body and mind to their known limits in hopes of attaining success. Many may not realize that during this pursuit, greatness has already been achieved. Acts of perseverance, willingness, and respect for the sport and those who continue to carve legacies add up. The discipline it takes to properly nourish the mind in the classroom and the body at the dinner table does build the toughness needed to get to this stage as well. Clearly, the spirit of victory can be felt by flesh and blood and the pain of loss can likewise be as deeply known. As exhilarating and stark the extremes may be for the wrestler, the coaches, parents and teammates have played a game or two of Chutes and Ladders themselves. They will continue to venerate your name and deeds no matter the outcome. May you continue to profit both in wrestling and in every facet of life from your priceless sacrifices.

I think it’s important now that the season is nearing its zenith to address one of the most important issues that I think goes under talked around this time, which is the hard working kids who lose at semi state. Obviously, we should celebrate those who make it to state. That is the goal of almost every high school wrestler, to be among the best in the state and compete in the best venue in all of Indiana. But inevitably, most wrestlers Sunday will not end up advancing to the state tournament. And I think it’s important that we address how to support the kids that lose, especially the seniors who will possibly wrestle their very last matches on Saturday. Last year as a senior, I went into my season with high expectations. For three years straight, I went to everything. My high school coaches could tell you I was person who missed the least practices. I showed up to everything; morning practice, optional practice, summer open mats, I even went to RWA three days a week and trained at my coaches own gym in order to build up my strength and conditioning. I felt like I was one of the hardest working, toughest people in the state. In middle school at my first off-season tournament I suffered a concussion. My freshman year I broke my left elbow and had to get screws out in, which I still have to this day. Junior year I dislocated my rib wrestling freestyle, and over the summer I suffered severe second degree burns which caused most of the epidermis on my back to slough off. But still, I worked through it all because I felt like if I didn’t I wasn’t being the best wrestler I could. Going into regionals of senior year I broke the scaphoid bone in my wrist, and couldn’t press down or grip my right hand for the rest of season. I felt like all of this only contributed to me being a tougher wrestler on the mat. And even with all of that, I got completely out wrestled at semi state. My broken wrist meant nothing, I did not live up to my potential and didn’t wrestle my best, and that’s why I lost. For at least a month after semi state I was completely in the dumps. It’s like I had a rain cloud overhead, I felt like my career meant nothing. It was over, and I didn’t accomplish what I wanted to. No matter what people said to me, it really didn’t ease the fact that I felt completely empty. I also felt angry. I felt so angry that I had teammates who put in way less practice time than me, who didn’t show up to half the things I did, and yet still advanced farther than I did. I wasn’t angry at them, though, I was angry at myself. I was angry because I felt like that there was something that I must have missed, some piece of the puzzle that despite all my hours I just couldn’t get. And that made me really hate myself for a few weeks. Our sport is so much more draining mentally than it is physically, and for those seniors who lose at semi state, it can really knock your happiness down a few notches for a quite a while. So coaches and parents, if you have a wrestler whose career comes to an end this Saturday, it’s important to not look at their whole career under a microscope and appreciate the whole journey. You got to participate in the toughest sport in the world, you were able to make it to semi state, which while not a particularly impressive accomplishment, still means that likely hundreds of hours of hard work went into that qualification. It’s okay to feel upset, but don’t let it hang over your life. You worked hard, and you did something that most wrestlers in the state didn’t. And to those who have more years, never stop grinding. Embrace it, and make sure to have fun with it. When the sport is fun, you do better. You can make it to state, but you can’t take your foot off the gas. I love wrestling, so so much. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done, and something I plan on continuing even though I’m not on a college team. I’m so grateful to the sport and my coaches for making me the man I am today, and for teaching me such invaluable life lessons. And I think loving the sport is really what’s so important. If you were able to make an athlete fall in love with the sport, with the process, then you succeeded as a coach. If you support your kids and help them foster that love, then you succeeded as a wrestling parent. The lessons athletes learn from wrestling are some of the best life lessons you can learn, and when you are able to fall in love with the sport, these values are only engrained deeper. So to those seniors out there, wrestle your hearts out. Don’t be afraid to lose, don’t be afraid to score points. Leave it all on the mat and put your name in the history books. And to those seniors who worked so hard and end up coming up short, it will suck. But you’ll live. You’ll be okay. And I think that, even if you lose at semi state, if you managed to fall in love with the sport, then it was all worth it in the end. We are all apart of something amazing, and wrestling is absolutely the greatest sport ever. Fall in love with it, and wrestle your hearts out.

My son is the JV kid from Owen Valley you mentioned. His name is Kacey Orman. It is amazing to see him being recognized for his hard work and determination. He has never let his disability get in the way of whatever he wants to do. He always finds a way!

Here is a story that I felt was worth sharing with the community that involved Bryce, I don't generally like sharing stuff involving my kids, but felt he deserved credit for this. My middle son (8 years old) had lost in the state semi-finals, and was not handling it very well. We were in the cafeteria wrestling area, and he was having a "freak-out" (he needs to work on this) in the area behind the mats. I was trying to talk to him to calm down, but he was not registering what dad/coach was saying. While this was going on a high school kid was passing through and asked me if he could talk to him. The high schooler sat down with my son, and told him about how he had never placed at ISWA until this weekend, and he had won it today. He discussed how wrestling isn't just about wins and losses, but about progress. This discussion caused my son to calm down, stop crying, and go on to wrestle the rest of his matches and place third. As he left I asked the high school kid his name, he said Bryce Denton. I told him I had heard of him lol. Anyhow I was really impressed with the maturity and kindness that Bryce showed this weekend. I had never met him. As a dad I was worrying what people thought of me/my son with the way he was acting, and Bryce was awesome in helping to calm him down and put things in perspective. Also in my opinion it took a lot of bravery to ask a dad that you had never met to talk with his son in a situation like that. Just wanted to share this and publicly say thanks to Bryce. I was blown away with how impressive he was in this situation.

All, I want to share a story about the kind of people we have in this sport. Last Saturday Greenfield had a young lady injured in a match at New Palestine High School. It was a head and neck injury that required her to be transported to the hospital via ambulance. She and her parents had never been through something like this before and were justifiably shaken. On Tuesday of this week I was called down to the athletic office. We had received a package. It was a box of flowers addressed to the young lady who was injured. They were sent from the Columbia City Wrestling Program. I know it's a little thing and some people may not understand, but it touched me and my program. People think wrestling is about working hard, sweating, bleeding, beating on people, etc..., but it's not. It's above LOVING each other. I wan't to thank Columbia City for giving my program an example of how people are supposed to love each other. Thank you!

Now that it's tournament time, there are a lot of wrestlers that will not end their seasons the way they want. It is imperative, that we, as coaches, hold them accountable for their post match behavior, even when it's a disappointing match for them. I see so many kids throw child-like temper tantrums and are disrespectful to the other wrestler, the referee, the opposing coach, and sometimes their own coach. We owe it to them to teach them that things in life will not always go their way and that maybe they just didn't work hard enough to accomplish the goal they set out to accomplish. You know, tell them the truth. When it is just one individual, I understand, it is probably just the one wrestler, however, when it's the majority of the team, it has to be what is tolerated as a program. Making good wrestlers is very important to all of us, making great people through the lessons of our great sport, should be the ultimate goal. Good luck to everyone advancing in the tournament and let's all do our part for the sake of our young people!

Tell me you are married to a high school coach without telling me you are married to a high school coach

I'm not sure what the actual attendance was, but there had to be 2500 fans or more at the Bellmont - Adams Central Dual last night. They delayed the start of the JV matches by half an hour because of the long line of fans waiting to get in. It was a great atmosphere and the fans weren't disappointed. The teams split the matches 7-7 and Bellmont won on bonus points 38-32. Thanks to Nat Bryan for taking this picture of the crowd.

It’s been a pleasure as a fan to watch you. I want to thank you for what you’ve contributed to Indiana wrestling and want to remind you that you are still a champion day in and day out regardless of how this season may have ended for you. You’ve got some of the greatest coaches in your corner who I know do a great job in not only making great wrestlers, but helping mold fine young men for society to have. So, I know without a doubt you’ll be one of those people we see down the line doing great things in life. I wish you the best and absolute good fortune in your next steps.

I’ll just add this to show his character. When we got in the back tunnel, we hugged. Told him I loved him and was sorry it ended that way. His response: “Coach, I’m really sorry. I know the team needed my points today and next weekend”. Was tough for me to hold it together to be honest.

This is a great and loaded question that has no simple answer. I’m my opinion, this really needs to be talked about more and better explained to our athletes and families. My family had the opportunity to go through the recruiting process with my oldest son. We learned a TON during his last couple years of high school. While my son did all the work on the mat, it took the whole family and others to help him reach his goal of being a college wrestler with a full ride. I would like to share some thoughts and observations that may help others in this journey. With this said… this post may get a little long, but hopefully it can help… because many times nobody will take the time to explain or even has the knowledge of the process. 1. First and foremost (absolutely most importantly) is grades. If a kid decides to go the NCAA division 1 or 2 route, they go by title 9. This dictates that NCAA division 1 and 2 programs must limit the amount of athletic scholarships per wrestling team to 9.9 full scholarships. In college there are 10 weight classes. Most college programs have 30 to 45 kids on the teams. Most of those 30 to 45 kids at D1 and D2 schools are state champs or placed VERY high. So… let’s do the math…. 9.9 for 40 kids… that means on average a D1 or D2 kid is only getting a 1/4 ride. Very few (and I mean VERY few) D1 and D2 kids get full athletic scholarships. With that said, a wrestler MUST make academics a priority! Schools will help a kid with academic money but the wrestler must make the minimum threshold for those funds. They will find athletes academic money that a typical student, with the same gpa, wouldn’t get. They typically need a 3.5 GPA or better and / or good SAT or ACT scores to qualify for most academic money. This means that a wrestler MUST take his whole high school career seriously. Do not think that a kid is going to make a C average his first two years of high school then magically turn it around his last two years! By then it’s two late. From day one… do the work and make good grades. Without good grades… most likely they are paying and paying a lot. Testing… start taking ACT and SAT early and often. I would recommend at the end of their sophomore year. First they must determine which one is easier for them. My son liked the SAT because it’s ran by the national college board. Once you take the SAT test, they will provide you with resources (including the Khan Academy) that will help you with future test. While you can’t actually study for what’s on the SAT or ACT, programs like Khan Academy will help you learn how to process the questions and help you score better. Also.. schools will allow them to super score your test results. Meaning this…. If you take the SAT five times and score really high on Math one time and really high on English another time, they will allow you to combine the two highest scores to make your applied total. So again.. take those test multiple times if the school requires SAT or ACT for acceptance or academic scholarships. That is D1or D2. As far as I know…. D3 has zero athletic scholarships, but typically offer scholarships and grants to help with cost. D3 guys typically make good grades to get that help. Which brings us to NAIA. These schools are not bound by title 9 (as far as I know). My son did not go the NAIA route so i have less knowledge on this. In general, these schools are allowed to give more athletic money. We have some great NAIA schools and teams here Indiana. These teams have had a lot of success and should be considered by any kid looking to wrestle at the next level. Many high schools have an NCAA rep. It is typically a councilor. These reps can provide you with some helpful information and help you with stuff like getting your NCAA card (needed to take visits) and getting transcripts to potential schools. If you don’t have a designated NCAA rep, make sure you find out the best person at your child’s school to help you with the process. At our former school we found out that our weighted grade scale did not meet NCAA guidelines and could not be considered. With that said, my sons weighted GPA could not be considered when applying for some money. Not having his weighted GPA considered messed with some of his offers. With this said… a few years later, they still haven’t adjusted their grade scale and NCAA can’t use their weighted gpa (must be Covid). I’m still trying to help get it changed there. With this said… make sure your schools grade scale is approved by the NCAA so that your wrestler gets every dollar possible! Again.. your NCAA rep or councilor can help you with that. 2. Put your wrestler out there! Pick the schools that they are interested in and let them know you are interested. Reach out to the coaches and let them know that they want to come to their programs and what you have to offer them. Most team websites have a recruiting page. Fill that info out. That puts your wrestler on their radar and helps them get noticed. Colleges coaches are busy. Help them help you. 3. Pick the right team. A kid may be a state champ or multiple time state champ. Know this.. if he goes to the Big10… every kid is a state champ or multiple time state champ. Each weight class has 3 to 5 kids. Know that it’s gonna to be a up hill climb just to start one season. Know who is in the line up at the school you pick and who’s coming in. I’m not saying not to challenge yourself.. just know that most likely your not coming in a taking the spot from a returning AA. Know that you may sit some places for a while. Can you handle that? 4. Pick the right school. If you want the traditional college experience… don’t pick a service academy! What I’m saying is… take your visits get to know the school, the town, the coaches, and the team. Ask members of the team if they like it there. During my sons visits some kids told him that they loved it and many told him they hated it. Financials should be a priority, but if they are going to be miserable for 2 to 6 years… then it’s not worth it. D1 allows 6 official collage visits. They are typically very fun for the whole family. If you can, take them all. 5. To answer your main question… wrestling. Go wrestle good kids and beat them! No matter where. If you beat a good kid… people will know. And… try to have fun as a family doing it. That’s the easy part that we all can understand. The other stuff is what we don’t talk about and is not explained to us enough.

So, one of my favorite parts of wrestling season is sampling the different hot dogs the schools present during the year. For disclosure, my son Chris Bohn and wrestles for Munster, the hot dog testing tour will follow the Munster schedule. I also taste test the dogs plain. Today I was at Goshen High School. The hot dog was $3. It was pretty plump, and was definitely not cheap. The bun has the perfect amount of "freshness", meaning it wasn't hard, but it wasn't soaked. I will definitely be picking up a couple of more tomorrow. The Goshen hot dogs get 6 slices of pizza out of 8. The next stop on the tour is Valparaiso high school on December 2. Thank you for reading.

You know it’s almost tourney time by the stages of posts on the forum. The stages before the state tournament stage 1: training he is on a mission this year, changed his training Stage 2: rankings disputes hates where they are ranked or not ranked but closes every message with “not that rankings matter” Stage 3: getting chippy is upset at every post about their favorite wrestler or team and they will use it as extra motivation. (The stage we are in) stage 4: the dark horses these guys are going to make a run and knock off many ranked wrestlers Stage 5: the actual state tournament This is where we actually wrestle the state tournament stage 6: the I told you so the message of I told that was going to happen but you didn’t want to listen but those payout 1 in 50 rememer it’s a long season and the message board is a lot of fun. We have an amazing community don’t take everything so serious. Everyone wants to see upsets and great matches please keep your angry messages light and fun I don’t want @Y2CJ41 to ban anyone have a safe and happy New Years OTR219

I can make sure none of your posts are ever seen if you would like. One person has already been given a little vacation and I am not afraid to give him friends. We need to remember these are teenage kids and they will unfortunately do dumb things and things they will eventually regret. They don't need anonymous people on the internet trashing them, at least it won't happen on this website. If there are disciplinary actions that need to be taken that will be handled by coaches, schools, and the IHSAA, not here on IndianaMat.

I have coached a long time and I feel I am starting to see more and more wrestlers call their own injury time. Many times it is because they are gassed and need a break. Something needs to change with this. One of the goals of the sport is to break your opponent. I find anymore as soon as you break your opponent their knee or shoulder magically hurts. Something needs to change. Coaches need to also step up and not let their athlete pull this stuff. It’s hurts the sport. I know college lets the other wrestler have choice after this happens.

Rochester is far and away the best team in 1A this year and would make some serious noise in 2A. As far as seeding went, West Central went into this tournament in a no-win situation. I was honestly just hoping for a top four seed after edging out a banged up Rochester team at the Joe Burvan Duals. If we would’ve been seeded below Rochester, I guarantee there wouldn’t be one West Central supporter complaining about that. WC belonged in the small gym all day long with the product we put on the mat today. I do not post on Indianamat, I just look like thousands of others do. However, being from one of the smallest schools in the state, competing with the great programs we did today (and in 2014, 2015 and 2023), it’s always been humbling and great for us. Congratulations to all teams that competed today. Nathan Williams West Central Assistant Coach

On the second day of Christmas, IHSAA gave to me, no wrestle backs Indiana is one of the only states that doesn’t use double elimination format with full wrestlebacks in its state tournament. We have a total of 5 single elimination rounds in our state tournament series. We are a state, possibly the only state, that eliminates half of its state qualifiers in a single match. Here’s a comparison to other states: The Outlier State Population Wrestle Backs? Placement Indiana 6.8 million first round single elimination Remaining 8 wrestle for placement to 8th The Norm (8 state comparison) State Population Wrestle Backs? Placement Iowa 3.2 million full wrestle backs (no single elimination) Placement to 8th Pennsylvania 12.9 million full wrestle backs (no single elimination) Placement to 8th Illinois 12.5 million full wrestle backs (no single elimination) Placement to 6th Michigan 10 million full wrestle backs (no single elimination) Placement to 8th Ohio 11.7 million full wrestle backs (no single elimination) Placement to 8th Missouri 6.1 million full wrestle backs (no single elimination) Placement to 6th Nebraska 2 million full wrestle backs (no single elimination) Placement to 6th Tennessee 7 million full wrestle backs (no single elimination) Placement to 6th Part of wrestling is wrestlebacks. Wrestlebacks allow a wrestler to deal with the adversity and bounce back from losing a match. Colleges scouts want to see how wrestlers handle failure. Also, if they are scouting at state, they want to see their prospects wrestle more than one match. ISWA tournaments use wrestlebacks. NCAA tournaments use wrestlebacks. Other states use wrestlebacks. Not having wrestlebacks is changing a fundamental part of the sport. It’s like not allowing the forward pass in football (go back to 1905), not allowing 3 point shot in basketball (go back to 1966), not allowing a designated hitter in baseball (go back to 1972). When you have among the lowest success rates in the country, it makes using wrestlebacks even more important. Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association has been asking for wrestlebacks (especially at semi-state). This request is consistently denied by IHSAA assistant commissioner Robert Faulkens. Is that the right decision? If you agree Indiana should have wrestlebacks, click “Like”.

I can't believe all these parents who grew up in the tougher times have produced such wimpy kids.

We often lose track of of these wrestlers after high school, but it’s comforting to me knowing while I sleep that Zach and his brothers, Jacob and Adam, are protecting me and our country. Thought this was pretty cool and wanted to share.

Congratulations to Joey Buttler from Whiteland for signing with Indiana. Projected to wrestle 133, 141. View full signing

Congratulations to Bryce Lowery from Roncalli for signing with Indiana. Projected to wrestle 157. View full signing

Enjoy everybody, I'll be either at Bluegrass Nationals w/ Little 3B or staring at ice out my window. See everybody next week at Evansville, the night before party will be at Bally's, bring your own weapon and don't wear a Yankees hat (RIP Pingleton) ! Evansville Semi-State Regional Feeders - by the numbers How many Semi-State ranked Wrestlers are left per weight? 106 - 16/16 113 - 14/16 120 - 15/16 126 - 14/16 132 - 15/16 138 - 16/16 145 - 16/16 152 - 13/16 160 - 16/16 170 - 15/16 182 - 14/16 195 - 16/16 220 - 15/16 285 - 15/16 Total - 210/224 = 94% Mooresville - State ranked wrestlers: 48 Semi State ranked wrestlers: 66 Castle - State ranked wrestlers: 27 Semi State ranked wrestlers: 52 Bloomington South - State ranked wrestlers: 25 Semi State Ranked wrestlers: 54 Jeffersonville - State ranked wrestlers: 16 Semi State ranked wrestlers: 35 Mooresville: Head to Head 1st Rd matchups of ranked wrestlers - (SR/SSR) 106 - #1/#1 Jake Hockaday, Brownsburg vs. #14/#9 Gavin Ash, Monrovia (Curtain Jerker!!) 120 - #8/#2 Braden Haines vs #9/#5 Trevor Hott, Martinsville (Charles Barkley Turrible Draw and Curtain Jerker!!) 120 - #8/#7 Seth Syra, Avon vs #22/#11 Luke Bechert, Franklin 132 - #2/#1 Brady Ison, Brownsburg vs NR/#14 Lane Faulkenburg, Monrovia 138 - NR/#15 Maleec Stansbury, Pike vs #22/#8 Silas Stitts, Center Grove (Curtain Jerker!!!) 145 - #13/#4 Braedon Spears (3B TRAINED), Plainfield vs NR/#16 Brayden Johnson, Whiteland 170 - #18/#7 Lucas LeClerc, Plainfield vs. #19/#10 Vince Tinoco (CURTAIN JERKER!!) 182 - NR/#11 Lucas Murphy, North Putnam vs #1/#1 Drake Buchanan, Center Grove 195 - NR/#9 Jakobe Leavell, Pike vs NR/#16 Pete Sells Decatur Central 220 - #24/#6 Royce Deckard III, Center Grove vs NR/#12 Jackson Sarjent, Brownsburg 285 - #1/#1 Leighton Jones, Brownsburg vs NR/#15 Javian Jones, Decatur Central Best under radar Match - 120: Dominic Mcfeely, Cascade vs. Keith Parker, Ben Davis. Coach Q has to go against one of his old students……. Best wrestler You’ve never heard of - Sam Allen, Whiteland. A Semi-State Quarterfinalist at Hwt as a frosh. He sat out last year at Franklin and then lost a ½ season of eligibility when he moved to Whiteland. Allen might be on the podium in 2 weeks at GainBridge. Mooresville Storyline - Getting to meet up with the ELITE crew of @TeamGarcia, @Mattyband @JMILL….. Not really…. The 2 year feud of Ison and Schoeff will keep on moving towards Evansville. Last weekend ended in a controversial DQ. Can Schoeff cook up the recipe to knock off Ison this weekend?? Castle Head to Head 1st Rd matchups of ranked wrestlers - (SR/SSR) 106 - NR/#13 Brady Byrd, Washington vs NR/#15 Joe Anderson, Evansville North (Curtain Jerker) 106 - NR/#14 Makenzie Smith vs NR/#12 Caleb Reed, Evansville Reitz (Curtain Jerker) 160 - NR/#11 James Vaughn, South Spencer vs. NR/#13 Cale Johnson (Evansville North) 220 - NR/#15 Mason Hines, Tecumseh vs #2/#1 Nathan Cricthfield, Evansville Mater Dei 285 - NR/#10 Jacob Kyle, Evansville North vs NR/#16 Jed Ambs, South Spencer Best under the radar match - See the 106 matches above. Don’t be late!! Best wrestler You’ve never heard of - Hey sometimes we miss kids, it appears that I’ve missed Mt. Vernon 182lber Derek Hollinger. He brings in a record of 34-2 and won a tough Evansville Central sectional last weekend to put him in the driver’s seat this weekend. Castle Storyline - The concession stand and Beer timeouts in the parking lot be damned! It’s all about 1-9-5!!! Sollars/Purdy 3!!! Can Willman play any type of spoiler?? Another controversial match last weekend. What will happen this time?!?!?! Bloomington South Head to Head 1st Rd matchups of ranked wrestlers - (SR/SSR) 126 - NR/#15 Logan Moore vs. #24/#11 Kelby Glenn, Tell City 132 - NR/#9 Xavier Horton, Southridge vs NR/#13 Coy Bender, Terre Haute South 145 - #17/#6 Nicholas Castellucio, Bloomington South vs #23/#5 Tyler Lee, Northview (Curtain Jerker) 145 - NR/#13 Jakcson Neibert, Indian Creek vs NR/#14 Carson Niehaus, Southridge (Curtain Jerker) 152 - NR/#5 Logan Cain, Owen Valley vs. NR/#6 Ian Geisler, Jasper 170 - NR/#16 Rylan Hendricks, West Vigo vs #2/#2 Codei Khawaja, Floyd Central 220 - #18/#7 Garron Jenkins, Floyd Central vs NR/#11 Dalton Simmons, Northview Best under the radar match - 106: Rollin Douglas Floyd Central vs Luke Neibert Indian Creek Best Wrestler You’ve never heard of - 152lber Jaden Grant of New Albany, the Senior Bulldog has quietly put together a brilliant senior season. He had a great sectional knocking off sectional favorite Geisler from Jasper and state ranked DuPont from Tell City. If he makes the finals at regionals he will have the tall task of Delaney Ruhlman of Bloomington South. Bloomington South Storyline - There are two storylines here - Last weekend Bloomington South was quietly knocked off of the Sectional Champ podium and by Terre Haute South (congrats Coach Cook!) and actually finished 3rd behind uprising Owen Valley. Add in Floyd Central and Tell City this week and there’s a 5 team banger for the Regional Championship, literally almost every match will have some type of impact on the team race. It should be a great day of wrestling! The other story line is 126 - I’ve received emails and messages all year about Branson Weaver (He’s being slept on), Paul King (I’ve never witnessed a kid so motivated), Harrison May (That May kid is slick and really good), and Kelby Glenn (Sleeper). So Saturday, Lettttttssss Gettttttt Readdddyyyyy Tooo Rumbllllleeeeee…… Jeffersonville Head to Head 1st Rd matchups of ranked wrestlers - (SR/SSR) 182 - NR/#16 Noah Phelps, North Harrison vs #14/#7 Jaden Durnil, Columbus East 195 - #12/#5 Evan Clayton, Jeffersonville vs NR/#15 Bryce Abner, Columbus North Best under the radar match - 132 - Noah Cain Jeffersonville vs. Jason Shuey Columbus North, potential 4 over 1, Shuey is a returning regional runner up. Best Wrestler You’ve never heard of - Lody Cheatham, Borden. Cheatham is a Cambellsville signee and is just a second year wrestler at a second year program. He’s comprised a record of 54-6 in 2 years and hopes to becomes Borden’s first ever State Qualifier. In a sneaky weight class loaded with veteran wrestlers, he should be the favorite

Congratulations to Luke Penola for winning the mental attitude award at the state finals. Luke didn’t reach his goal of winning a state title but he walked out of the arena with his head held high. He is one of the best leaders, wrestlers, and people we’ve ever been around. We are forever grateful to of coached you and to have you in our Zionsville wrestling family.

Congratulations to Jake Hockaday Congratulations to from Brownsburg for signing with Oklahoma. Projected to wrestle 141. View full signing

On Facebook Kevin made it official that this state finals will be his last on the mic. Crazy to think an announcer has made such an impact on this sport, but he has literally become the voice of the sport. Thanks Kevin for being the voice of Indiana wrestling for 40+ years!

Watching this Iowa vs Wisc dual and Rathjen takes injury time as he’s getting taken down. Official gives the injury time, Rathjen continues after a short break and doesn’t give the 3 pt td. Reminds me of one of my biggest issues watching wrestling this weekend. Coaches allowing their kids to take a time out when the going gets tough. Weak. One of the countless things that separates wrestling from the stupid sports like basketball, no timeouts when it’s getting real, you have to deal with it. Dissapointing the programs that are ok with taking a breather for that mental break when adversity has set in.

My Brain be buzzing from typing.... so took a break and came up w/ this gem Is it Saturday yet?!?!?! We got winners We got losers Dippers and boozers We got WildCats We got Bulldogs We got angry fathers And the moms all dressed up in their glitter Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, I love the FORD We got Trojans We got Olympians Broken-hearted wrestlers and seniors And we got state placers We got fighters Early-pinners and over-timers And the old timers in letter jackets talk about their battle scars Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, I love the FORD I love THE FORD It's my kind of place Just walkin' through the front door Puts a big smile on my face It’s actually pretty far Come as you are Hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm, I love the FORD

I see a lot of posts complaining and asking why Indiana doesnt' have wrestle backs. And since this is the time of the year we need them the most, I thought id construct the list of reasons/theories/hypotheses or plain conspiracies as why the great wrestlers of Indiana dont have the essential tool granted to every other state in their state series. Here's my list In David Letterman style!!!!!! 10.We cant be like Illinois theory: In Indiana's continuous competition with Illinois and the resulting inferiority complex, Indiana had to do something different and in the name of conservative stubborness, we found a great avenue to differentiate from the Land of Lincoln, "We wont have wrestlebacks like those woke liberal dudes to the west". 9. The Hunger Games theory: In the the modern action novel where each district's humble heroes travel to the capitol and are placed in an arena to fight each other to die or move on for the ultimate reward solely for the purpose of the audience's bloody lust for entertainment. Just like the Hunger games, we in Indiana travel to the capitol and are entertained by the Friday night circus called the ticket round where we love to see our humble wrestlers reach immediate state placing glory. But also, we love the sudden agony of defeat and seeing ranked wrestler's dreams and hope of destroyed abruptly. Wrestlers, "May the odds ever be in your favor". 8. Save the IHSAA beautiful mats: The IHSAA has great mats. Buy eliminating wrestle backs, were cutting out 29% of wrestling from the tournament thus saving our mats for future years. 7. Let's hang out at Tilted Kilt more theory: Not that I've ever been there, but by eliminating wrestle backs this opens up more time for the great wrestling fans of the Hoosier state to patronize the abundant downtown dining places like the Tilted Kilt (come on, you guys tipped big). We love places like "Dicks last resort, St Elmo's (love the Shrimp cocktail) or Fog De Chao for those with big appetite. Even though I was disappointed when the kid i was cheering for lost and didn't have a wrestle back match, I did have extra time and the consolation to sincerely enjoy some tasty pasta at Buca. The East Chicago equivalents are Portillo's or El Gran Taco. But Ive heard Region Rat recommend PoleKatz for their excellent bar food and service. In Evansville, the wrestling community and guys like TripleB utilizes the extra time to spend at "Taco Bell, Panda Express and Pizza King". 6. Indiana Loves Quality over Quantity hypothesis: We just want to see good matches and not be distracted by a plethora of matches created by "wrestlebacks". If it has the word consolation in it, then you're going to have to console us from watching it. The winner's bracket is just so much more watchable and cool. Why stymie the tournament with consolation matches. Is anybody watching the Ravens vs the Lions this weekend? Come on everybody likes to see perennial winners and champions like Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs and i guess that other team from California. But they ain't watching the consolation bowl. 5. The biased IHSAA board makeup theory: The IHSAA board, which has the overarching power to decide wrestling competition rules, is made up of former basketball, baseball and football coaches. We have very little wrestling representation on the board. Remember Indiana is a basketball state and those guys get power. When asked to include wrestle backs, they say we don't have baseball backs, basketball backs, tennis backs or football backs, why should wrestlers get wrestle backs? Its only a matter of fairness they say. We did have some hope when the swimming coach on the board did show some interest in the idea, and curiously asked are wrestling backs like the backstroke? 4. Sinister Y2CJ41 conspiracy theory: While Joe Caprino was thinking of ways to improve Indianamat participation and patronization, he conspired this idea in his lair at Victory Bay (yes it exists). With his capacity to pull strings in Indiana wrestling, and his overreaching influence on the gatekeepers of the wrestling community he, came up with the idea to create controversy and blowup discussion on the Indianamat forum by secretly eliminating wrestle backs in the state tournament. You notice "wrestle backs" is a common controversial topic????? You ever wonder why we don't have class wrestling????? Just saying i heard something on Qanon. I swear. 3. I didnt have wrestle backs when i wrestled: How many grizzled veterans of the Indiana state tournament post they love the format, and that we have the best tournament in the country. Even though many were scarred by their bad draws and robbed of placing or their lots were thrown wheel of luck. Its really just a psychological perception to block progress because they didn't have the same advantage. Old stuck in its ways says: "Why should these young cocky, "soft" spoiled wrestlers have an advantage we didn't. It's just not fair". Thus were continually stuck in this circular state of no progress. These are the same dudes that walked to school 6 miles in the snow and loved it. , 2. We just arent trying or working hard enough theory!! Under the current format, we will get bad draws and the better wrestlers wont advance. But this could be overcome if everybody worked more or tried harder. If every Indiana wrestler tried harder, we would never have a bad draw regardless of no wrestlebacks. This is also the same reason we haven't found Sasquatch yet. 1. The Ricky Bobby Impact: "If you aren't first, you're last". That's the message we're getting. Anyway, it's all about finding the one champion. That's what counts. If you lose to the champion, then it doesn't really matter when you lost to him. You're not important because you're not the champion. See #6 on consolation. Yes, those silly non- first place medals are just over glorified system of participation trophies. Why should we spend more time on silly consolation wrestle backs that's only irrelevant purpose is to separate the losers.

So Jack Heldt (Wabash/Carmel) captured the D III national heavyweight title and Shawn Streck (Central Oklahoma/Merrillville) won the D II heavyweight title and now Mason Parris is the D I national champ. This is an unbelievable achievement. Indiana should be proud of these three young men.

Just want to congratulate everyone on their awards, and thank Joe, Mike, and everyone else on team IndianaMat for the amazing coverage you provide for our sport. Thank You Coach Lorek

From the Bulldog Premier Facebook Page. sounds Like Anthony is doing better today. Prayers for a speedy recovery

Congrats to Crown Point. Also, congrats to Indiana wrestling. I’m proud that years ago we came together and made this event happen. What a day of wrestling. Huge shot out to Zeke Seltzer for bumping up to take on Mendez. That alone made the entire event worthwhile. Lastly, it sucks but we did take our strap down and that’s a team point. It was the correct call. Snyder

chickenshit post of the year. delete your profile.

So, I sit here at 4:40 am CST and I'm dead tired, but I can't sleep. I've already made the drive back to NWI, so that drive from hell is behind me. The hot dogs. Pretty damn good. The concession stand I used to buy my dogs made them to order, so, they were fresh. They grilled them on something, they had a nice char, nice buns even without yoga pants, a good overall product. Just one small gripe. They were expensive. $7 a pop for these bad boys. Oh well. 7 slices of pizza outta 8. Kinda a side note, I mentioned this in a reply, but I was told Hanover Central are looking into changing their hot dogs because of my review. One day my friends, we will have the hot dogs we deserve at all wrestling meets across the great state of Indiana! And, as always, thank you for reading.

This was an incredible weekend of wrestling, and the Brownsburg Bulldogs and coaching staff earned it. Congrats Coach Snyder and team. Love competing and coaching against you guys, and the purple dogs deserve all the praise and celebration. Brownsburg and Center Grove showed up and competed hard. Congrats to both of those great teams and coaching staffs. Coach Lorek Crown Point High School Wr.

Congratulations to Kyrel Leavell Congratulations to from Warren Central for signing with The Citadel. Projected to wrestle 141, 149. View full signing

At Hobart, we have a sports mural in our field house. Previously, Hobart had 21 sports represented in this mural. With the addition of girls wrestling, and boys volleyball there had to be additions to the mural. Girls wrestling on our sports mural forever. Even better that the art is based off Hobart's first ever girls wrestling state placer, Keirys Click.

Shout out to my friend Dustin Bentz, aka TripleB!! Dude had a real scare last year, lost about 100 lbs and then decided to step up to the plate and compete at Folk State this year. Still got it! Matter of fact, props to all the dudes in this pic and all the masters division wrestlers still willing to go out and throw down! . Dustin, Sam’s has the 5 gal pale of flex-all on sale… haha.

When I found out I was having a son, I (half) jokingly said now I need to make sure he has a name that will sound great at state with Kevin announcing it. Kevin said that he'd likely not be announcing by the time he's in high school, so he made this.

3 FF's so out of 11 wrestlers 7 sectional champions with 10 going to Regionals 3 Regional Champions with 8 going to Semi State 2,2,3,3 Semi state finishes with 4 going to state If it wasn't for a terrible draw, you could add Coy Hammack to the state finals list. Ranked 4th going into the 1A tournament and came out of it Class 1A Champions. 21-4 record with losses to Heritage Hills, Col East, and Mater Dei. They finished 4th in Semi State. Lets not forget they got 4th out of the most brutal and toughest semi state in Indiana! I know other schools get recognition but my goodness, Tell City is a powerhouse this year! All four of their state finals wrestlers are the lower ranking and may not win but Im impressed by TC.

are they gonna finish the match ?

What a great match! Props to Cathedral and Zeke for bumping and giving indiana wrestling fans a great match!

Just came across this picture of Montgomery from Brownsburg talking to Heath from Leo after their match. I know a lot of these guys who wrestle each other are practicing together all the time and it’s amazing to see how much they respect each other. Does anyone else have any pictures or examples of instances like this?

I respect both gentlemen for what you've done to grow girls wrestling. I would encourage y'all to work it out offline. Additional public attention to this topic doesn't help the bigger goal of presenting our girls and the sport in a serious light.

The pride of Lawrenceburg Indiana gets it done in the finals. Years of struggle and hard works pays off. Great job young man, you earned it.

You know, as a wrestler that has competed twice in the East Chicago semi-state and made it out once, I feel obligated to say that the East Chicago semi-state is the hardest in the state. Not only is this probably untrue (because the Evansville semi-state is absolutely killer this year), but with the Indianamat brackets having state rankings next to each wrestler, it’s really convenient and easy for me to break down each semi-state and determine which one has the most depth, the most title contenders, and things of that sort. I’ve had a lot of fun during the past couple write-ups beginning with a sort of statistical breakdown of anything interesting in the tournament I am covering, and I hope that you all find it entertaining as well. So, let’s see which semi-state is actually the hardest this year: State Ranked Wrestlers: ECSS- 77/350 = 22% NHSS- 86/350 = 24.57% NCSS- 79/350 = 22.57% EVSS- 90/350 = 25.71% (18 state ranked wrestlers are not accounted for here, due to some being knocked out early, and a margin of error on my part when counting these numbers up, although the numbers and percentages are for the most part correct, minus or plus no more than 1 or 2) Top 8 Ranked Wrestlers: ECSS- 23/112 = 20.54% NHSS- 26/112 = 23.21% NCSS- 23/112 = 20.54% EVSS- 37/112 = 33.04% #1 Ranked Wrestlers: ECSS- 7/14 = 50% NHSS- 1/14 = 7.14% NCSS- 2/14 = 14.29% EVSS- 4/14 = 28.57% So, the Evansville semi-state looks very strong through all three percentages, claiming the most state ranked wrestlers and top 8 ranked wrestlers, while having the second most #1 ranked wrestlers. The New Haven semi-state performs very well here and shatters its previous perception as the “weakest semi-state,” having the second most state ranked wrestlers and top 8 ranked wrestlers, although they only have #1 ranked wrestler. The New Castle semi-state takes third in all categories. Finally, while the East Chicago semi-state does come in last in the first two categories, we do have 7 of the 14 #1 ranked wrestlers, which is a very impressive statistic. I know Crown Point does claim a lot of those, but there are still 3 #1 ranked wrestlers in this semi-state not from Crown Point, which would compare impressively against Evansville. Additionally, if we got rid of Crown Point entirely, the Evansville semi-state would actually not gain a single #1 ranked wrestler, with New Castle getting one more and New Haven getting THREE more. I should also say that without Brownsburg in the picture, the East Chicago semi-state gets 2 more #1 ranked wrestlers. And for the fun of it, if both Crown Point and Brownsburg are hypothetically not participating in this year’s state series, then the New Haven semi-state leads with 5 #1 ranked wrestlers, then New Castle follows with 4, then East Chicago comes behind with 3, and Evansville now comes in last with 2. This statistic really doesn’t mean too much, but I thought it would be fun to examine these semi-states without the two monster programs of Indiana wrestling that will likely be your state champs and runner-ups, in one order or the other. Overall, all of these semi-states look to have strong points, and the argument to which one is the best comes down to what you value more when making this determination. Anyways, that was fun, let’s make some predictions. Before I get started, I want to explain the format I will be using for a little. In every weight class, if I see a death draw, I will make sure to highlight it and talk about it separately. I am defining a death draw as any matchup between two top SIXTEEN ranked opponents, where both of the wrestlers, per the rankings, should go to state. I will make sure to give extra attention to draws that are extra brutal. Then, I will make my predictions, and give my reasoning for my picks, going one quarter bracket at a time. After the quarter brackets are talked about, I will talk about the top 4 at that semi-state, before moving on to the next weight class. I’ve written a lot now, with no predictions, so let me shut up about other stuff and talk about this bracket. 106: Top 4: Mason Jones Kaleb Salazar Logan Haney Cameron Woods #6 Mason Jones is the heavy favorite to win this weight class, and will likely breeze his way into the finals. The more interesting quarter bracket for me is the one below, with #25 Cameron Woods and #24 Xavier Chavez. Both have put together solid seasons, and could realistically win this matchup. Woods won his regional with a major decision over Joy Cantu, while Chavez fell to #17 Kaleb Salazar in an 8-5 bout. There really isn’t too much information that indicates that this matchup will go either way, but Woods does have a solid win over #22 Logan Haney, while Chavez doesn’t yet have a state ranked win on his record (although he did beat Bissmeyer when he was ranked). I give Woods this match by a slim margin. As for Haney and Salazar, they should make it through to the semiswith not too much trouble. Woods has had respectable matches with Jones this season, losing both 13-9 and 6-2, but it’s hard for me to predict an upset here. Haney and Salazar is a quite intriguing match, with Haney wrestling Jones extremely tough at sectionals and announcing himself as a semi-state title contender. However, while many people predicted Haney to best Jones at regionals, Jones put up a dominant performance against Haney, winning 9-0, showing that there is likely still a difference in levels there. I think Salazar is a little bit closer to Jones’s level, and placed significantly higher than Haney at the Al Smith (a lot of ECSS wrestlers wrestle here, so I will refer to the Al Smith tournament quite a bit), so I have Salazar edging out Haney here, but Jones should get the job done in the finals. As for the 3rd and 4th place match, Woods actually owns a win over Haney this season, 3-2, but I think that Haney will reverse this match, given how he has been wrestling as of recently. 113: DEATH DRAW: #2 Gavin Jendreas vs. #14 E’Shawn Tolbert Tolbert’s upset loss to #20 Seth Aubin in the regional finals means that he will have to wrestle Jendreas in the ticket round. With Tolbert not wrestling at the conference tournament, we have yet to see how this matchup goes, but given Jendreas’s pedigree compared to Tolbert’s, I don’t see an upset happening here. Top 4: Gavin Jendreas Seth Aubin Aiden Dallinger Liam Siburcrist As discussed, Jendreas will likely win the whole tournament, and I would be shocked if anything different happened. #11 Aiden Dallinger, #16 Liam Siburcrist, and #20 Seth Aubin are all heavy favorites to win their quarter brackets, so there’s not much to say there. I am, however, predicting an upset in the semis, with Aubin taking down Siburcrist. Siburcrist enters the semi-state with only one loss on his record, while Aubin has had a couple of road bumps this season. However, I think that Hobart’s schedule has battle tested Aubin, and he should even be the favorite going into this matchup. Their only common loss, Dallinger, stuck Siburcrist in the final seconds of their match, while Aubin only lost a 4-1 match, although I don’t exactly know what the score between Siburcrist and Dallinger was before the fall. Regardless, I pick Aubin as a slight favorite to win this matchup, before falling in the finals to Jendreas. For 3rd and 4th, I think Dallinger will get it done again against Siburcrist. 120: DEATH DRAW: #9 Dominic Brown vs. #15 Matthew Maldonado Brown’s loss to the #1 in the state at regionals means he has a top 16 opponent in Maldonado in the ticket round. Man, Indiana sure isn’t fair. I believe that Brown will win this matchup, as he has wrestled Ashton Jackson quite respectably, and has the tools to make a deep run in the state tournament. Don’t expect it to be a blowout though, as their sole match this season ended in a 1-0 decision for Brown. Brown has the edge, but not much of one. Top 4: Ashton Jackson Dominic Brown Dylan Bennett Isaiah Wilson I’ve already talked about the death draw, and absolutely nobody thinks that Jackson is going out earlier than state, so let’s talk about the second quarter bracket. #25 Isaiah Wilson gets a great draw as a 4th placer at regionals, getting UR Gunnar Sandefur. Now, I say great draw, because that’s what the rankings say, but note that a first round matchup against Sandefur means that Sandefur won his regional, and he did it against #13 Dylan Bennett. This means that Sandefur could be A LOT better than what the rankings indicate, so why not test it right off the bat against Wilson, who has been wrestling solid as well. He does come in as the 4th placer, but the Crown Point regional was quite brutal, with Ashton Jackson, Dominic Brown, #19 Sonny Sessa, who had brought Brown into overtime at sectionals, and then Wilson. There’s all sorts of “wrestling math” I could do here, to sway you all one way or the other, but I think that Wilson is going to win this match. No further justification needed. Sessa’s 3rd place finish at regionals, along with Bennett’s upset loss at regionals has them meeting ROUND ONE for an absolutely killer opening match. Honestly, I want to go with Sessa here, as he has been wrestling quite impressively, but I also know that Bennett is great in these situations, and if my memory serves me right, I chose him getting upset in last year’s ticket round, which did not happen, so I won’t make the same mistake again. Now, I think that Jackson over Wilson is an easy pick over Wilson, but what about Brown vs. Bennett? One is a stud freshman that has battled everybody in the state extremely tough, regardless of their resume or ranking, but Bennett has been there, done that, and will bring an excellent match to Brown. I think Brown edges him in this match, with Brown winning a 2-0 match against Bennett earlier in the year. If I was a betting man, I would think that the score would be the same, or maybe even 1-0. But that 0 on Bennett’s side of the score, along with Brown’s 1-0 match against Maldonado and TB win over Sessa tells me that this kid can ride, and this is a skill that is extremely handy in clutch situations, like a ticket round, or semi final bout that could make or break either of these wrestler’s dreams to end their season with a medal and a bracket. I think after the semis, predicting gets really easy, with Jackson likely taking out Brown, and Bennett likely winning over Wilson. 126: DEATH DRAW: #11 Mason Stanley vs. #16 Guillermo Rivera Stanley and Rivera are both previous state qualifiers, but only one of them gets to make the trip this year. While Stanley is the higher ranked wrestler, Rivera has been wrestling impressively these past couple of weeks, who’s dominated anybody not named Logan Frazier, and has even gone the distance with Frazier in the sectional and regional finals. Not many wrestlers at 126 can do that right now. So, I’m predicting an UPSET here with Rivera beating Stanley. Top 4: Logan Frazier Guillermo Rivera Ayden Campbell Alejandro Rivera The first quarter bracket features no state ranked wrestlers, but Alejandro Ramirez has spent some time as a state ranked wrestler this season, and has some solid wins to support his resume. Bentley Whitmer will likely be his ticket round opponent, where I think Ramirez will edge Whitmer to qualify for state. Although an unranked matchup, both of these wrestlers are seniors, and I expect this match to be a battle full of heart. As mentioned, I think Rivera will win the next quarter bracket, and #1 Logan Frazier should easily win his. I have a lot to say about the last quarter bracket though. A tough regional for #21 Ayden Campbell means he will have to battle fellow freshman #19 Will Mason in a first round state ranked matchup. Mason bested Campbell earlier this season at Al Smith, beating him 4-3, but both have results this season that indicate that they could be ranked higher, and both surely deserve to qualify for state. The winner of this bout takes on Nasir Christion, who has lost to Campbell this season only 4-3 (although he was majored 10-2 earlier this year). Christion is no easy ticket round match, and Christion will be fresh off of an UR first round matchup, while either Mason or Campbell will be finishing up a brawl. I feel like Campbell will beat Mason this time around, with Campbell’s peaks making him a dangerous wrestler for almost everybody in the state. Mason has demonstrated more consistency this season, but if the best of both wrestlers show up at semi-state, I think Campbell gets the win. The placement rounds, in my opinion, are pretty clear cut, with Rivera beating Ramirez, and Frazier beating Campbell. I also think Frazier beating Rivera again isn’t too hard to predict, and Campbell should get the job done against Ramirez. Interestingly enough, Campbell lost to Rivera only 7-6 at regionals, so while this matchup doesn’t get to happen at semi-state, it’s interesting to think how deep of a run Campbell could have made otherwise. 132: EXTRA DEADLY DEATH DRAW: #5 David Maldonado vs. #11 Hayden DeMarco Everyone should know by now to take the rankings at 132 with a grain of salt, because this weight class has been nothing but chaos this year, and to create even more chaos, we have a ticket round match between two returning medalists. To make things even more chaotic, Maldonado and DeMarco are 1-1 on the season, so this match is truly a coin flip. I think that DeMarco has had some spectacular moments this season, including a win over #4 Eleazar Walker at Al Smith, while Maldonado has wrestled consistently and won every match he was supposed to, aside from a single loss on the season to DeMarco. I’m taking DeMarco in this matchup, solely because I think DeMarco’s peaks are a little higher, and I genuinely think he could win the entire state tournament if he’s on it. Crazy to think that a title contender is going down this early, but what can you really do? Top 4: Eleazar Walker Griffin Van Tichelt Hayden DeMarco Hayden Fritz #4 Eleazar Walker should make it out of his quarter bracket quite comfortably, and as should #10 Griffin Van Tichelt. As for the last quarter bracket, there are two candidates that I see possibly grabbing the last ticket. Hayden Fritz has wrestled a solid season that has led him to a regional title and a favorite for qualifying for state. In the ticket round, Fritz will take on Galvin Shambaugh. Now, I’ve got to be honest, I don’t know too much about either of these wrestlers, but let me take you through the mental math that goes on in my head when I try to make predictions like these. One is ranked #6 in the SS, while the other is ranked #9, making Fritz a favorite already per the rankings. Looking at Fritz’s results, he has beaten SS #5 Caleb Oliver not once, but twice during the state series, showing that he is better than his ranking indicates. The only result from Shambaugh’s end that sticks out to me is a 5-3 loss to Bentley Whitmer. Whitmer is good, and might even qualify for state this year, but a loss from somebody a weight class below devalues Shambaugh’s odds in this match. So, I think that Fritz will probably win the matchup. Moving on to the semis, we get to see an Al Smith finals rematch in the semis with Walker and DeMarco. Interestingly enough, both Maldonado and Walker have one loss on the season, and those losses are to DeMarco, yet DeMarco comes in as the underdog for both matches. I will say, #11 is a tough ranking for DeMarco, who only has that ranking because Van Tichelt has been on an absolute tear, but also hasn’t gotten to test himself against another top opponent, leaving him as a #10 in the state, even though I think he will likely medal. Anyways, I think Walker gets his match back against DeMarco to send DeMarco to the 3rd place match. Meeting DeMarco there will be Fritz, as Van Tichelt will likely make the finals. In the battle of Hayden’s, I think DeMarco gets the job done. But what do we make of this finals match though? In a similar situation to Bennett and Sessa, we have the stud freshman with nothing to lose against a proven competitor that wants to end his season on the top. Van Tichelt has beaten DeMarco, who has beaten Walker. We know that. But, Van Tichelt also has a number of losses on the season to wrestlers that aren’t quite as high caliber as Walker or DeMarco. So, while Van Tichelt has the tools to compete against the best, he hasn’t quite established himself yet in the conversation with the other title contenders here, in my opinion, at least. 138: Top 4: Cole Solomey Jeffrey Huyvaert Wesley Harper Kaptur Nowaczyk While by the terms that I defined “death” draw mean that there aren’t any death draws here by technicality, there are plenty of really ugly quarter brackets here. #1 Cole Solomey and #5 Jeffrey Huyvaert are the heavy favorites to make it out of their quarter brackets, and will both likely see each other in the semi-state finals for a regionals rematch that saw the superfreshman stun the returning state runner-up with a takedown in the final seconds of the bout. But let’s talk about the other wrestlers in this field first. In the second quarter bracket, we are treated to a first round state ranked matchup between #21 Luke Reid and #22 Christopher Bohn. Reid bested Bohn earlier this season, but Bohn is a talented wrestler that qualified for state last year and just barely missed out on a medal, so I think that Bohn certainly has the tools to reverse this match. The unfortunate part about this match is that the winner gets an even uglier matchup against #7 Wesley Harper, who also qualified for state last year, making for three state level competitors in one quarter bracket. I think that Harper will likely be the guy to make it out of this quarter bracket, but the result of Reid and Bohn is a little more up in the air. The bottom quarter bracket features yet another state ranked matchup with #11 Lucas Clement and #19 Kaptur Nowaczyk. Clement is a returning state qualifier, while Nowaczyk has had limited mat time this season. However, Nowaczyk was extremely close to punching his ticket last year, and should threaten to spoil Clement’s senior run. In fact, I’m even predicting an UPSET in this match, with Nowaczyk taking out Clement and ultimately punching his ticket for the first time. The semis are a little easier to predict here, with Solomey and Huyvaert winning their semis matches, but the placement matches are a little trickier, with Huyvaert establishing himself as a title contender at regionals, and leading the series between him and Solomey at 1-0. However, there is a ton of experience between the two wrestlers here, and I’m not yet ready to say that Huyvaert’s win makes him necessarily the better wrestler. I think that given how close the last match was, Solomey will take this match back and even the series. If the bracket works out, I would not be surprised to see this match run back at the state finals. For 3rd place, I think Harper gets it done over Nowaczyk, who I think will surprise some people this year, but will likely be outclassed and outweighed by Harper. 145: DEATH DRAW: #5 Wesley Smith vs. #13 Caleb Solomey An unfortunate draw for the older Solomey, who has put together an impressive season, but now gets Smith in the ticket round, who had quickly climbed the rankings this year with stellar performances at big tournaments such as Al Smith. I think Smith will get it done here, but Solomey won’t go down without a fight in his senior season. Top 4: Aidan Torres Anthony Bahl Wesley Smith Jayden Lewis Despite the rankings indicating a weaker quarter bracket, the top quarter bracket in this weight features two returning state qualifiers in #19 Jayden Lewis and Devin Wible. Both are up a considerable amount of weight from where they qualified, with Lewis coming all the way up from 120 last year, and Wible up from 126 two years ago when he punched his ticket. Wible’s adjustment to his bigger weight has been more gradual, and I think that this could be a factor in this matchup. However, I’m still picking Lewis to get it done in this matchup and punch his ticket. The other three quarter brackets here are a little more predictable, with three top 5 ranked wrestlers occupying these quarter brackets. #2 Anthony Bahl and #5 Wesley Smith is a match that intrigues me quite a bit. Smith showed that he could hang with the best with a 4-1 loss to #1 Aidan Torres at Al Smith, and I think that beating Bahl is very doable here. However, I have to give Bahl a lot of credit in this match as a returning state finalist, and I’m not ready to predict an upset here. The finals match might be interesting, but I’m a little bit skeptical to think that it will actually happen. Bahl has struggled with various injuries so far this season, and it makes sense that he wants to save himself for the state finals, as an overwhelming favorite to meet Torres again in the state finals. I’m not sure what everyone else’s opinions are on forfeiting matches like this, but I’d rather see a healthy Bahl against Torres than risk an injury earlier on in the state series for the sake of us wrestling fans. For the 3rd place match, I think Smith gets it done against Lewis, but this weight class makes a tough draw for any second placer at another semi-state. 152: Top 4: Bryce Denton Beau Brabender Adrian Pellot Hunter Miller This weight class is really interesting. The first notable thing to mention here is that #2 Anthony Rinehart is not in the bracket. I’m not exactly sure why he didn’t wrestle at regionals, but it’s really none of my business either, and I hope that Rinehart is healthy and ready for next year’s state series. The only notable thing in this bracket is #12 Bryce Denton, who is up all the way from 138 after returning from an injury. He sits comfortably in the top bracket as a favorite to make the finals after an upset over #7 Beau Brabender in the regional finals. The qualifiers here are pretty clear cut, with Denton, #15 Adrian Pellot, Brabender, and #14 Hunter Miller punching their tickets with relative ease. It’s when the semis start that things start to get a little trickier. Denton matches up against Pellot in the semis, and I don’t think this is an easy win for Denton at all. Pellot has competed well against everybody in the state, even having a one point match against Rinehart earlier this year. I think Denton wins, but a one point match should be expected. In the other semi final match, Brabender and Miller will wrestle for the third time this season, with Brabender winning both meetups by a 4 point margin. I don’t really expect the result to change here. You can honestly flip a coin in the finals here, but Denton is likely the favorite going into this matchup, and in my opinion should win this match again. Pellot and Miller is another coin flip, but I’ve been impressed by some of Pellot’s results this season, and I think he is capable of turning some heads in the final weeks of the state series. 160: EXTRA DEADLY DEATH DRAW: #6 AJ Steenbeke vs. #12 Kenneth Bisping Steenbeke has had some tough semi-states and Friday night draws throughout his career. In his freshman year, he wrestled Noah Hollendonner and lost 3-2, who would go on to be the state runner-up that year, while Steenbeke would lose Friday night to eventual 6th placer Jed Perry. His sophomore year, he lost 8-5 in the semis to Orlando Cruz (who everyone should know by now is really good) and drew eventual 4th placer and current D1 starter Andrew Wilson. Last year, Steenbeke drew against Goodwin in the semis to take 3rd, and got the worst possible Friday night draw in eventual runner-up Kade Law. After suffering brutal draws and defeats during his first three years, what is he rewarded with? How about another returning state qualifier in the ticket round? Bisping is as tough as they come, and while Steenbeke is the favorite, the upset is certainly possible here. Give me Steenbeke in this match, but it should be close. Top 4: Sam Goin AJ Steenbeke Ben Shaffer Cameron Crisp Aside from the brutal draw featuring Steenbeke and Bisping, the only quarter brackets here feature only one state ranked wrestler a piece, with #15 Ben Shaffer, #17 Cameron Crisp, and #1 Sam Goin all looking to breeze through to the placement rounds. I think the finalists for this weight class are pretty clear cut too, with Steenbeke avoiding Goin until the finals, a draw that will hopefully help him on his quest to receive a medal at state for the first time. I don’t really think that Steenbeke will win, but I anticipate that this match will be a lot closer than some people think, with Steenbeke wrestling very well as of recently. Shaffer and Crisp for 3rd place should be very close, but I’m giving the edge to the higher ranked Shaffer, who is always in a match and has several tricks up his sleeve, something I know from both watching him and scraping with him. 170: FIRST ROUND DEATH DRAW: #5 Aidan Costello vs. #14 Zymarion Hollyfield In possibly one of the most brutal first round matches in the entire state, Costello and Hollyfield will battle for a spot in the ticket round, where the winner will be heavily favored against #25 Daeveon Cheeks. Hollyfield has put together a fantastic season this year, but an upset loss to #18 Gavin Malone, and an unusual 10-4 loss to Triton senior Elijah Cox has him drawing a top 5 opponent right away. Funnily enough, losing this third place match actually improves his chances of going to state, with Cox likely wrestling #2 Cody Goodwin in the ticket round, so perhaps Penn studied the algorithm before that match and told Hollyfield to lose? Unlikely, and I say this with no intention to diminish Cox’s big win over Hollyfield, but it is funny how the brackets work out. With Costello pinning Hollyfield earlier in the year, I expect that Costello will win again, although I feel like a pin is unlikely. Top 4: Goodwin Costello Valdez Malone Goodwin should easily make his way to the finals in this bracket. The quarter bracket below is pretty interesting, featuring a first round state ranked matchup in Malone and #21 Manolo Hood. Given that Malone is coming off of a big win over Hollyfield, and has claimed several other impressive wins this season, I think he wins this match by a decent margin. If Malone is starting to peak at the right time, anybody in the state should be nervous to wrestle him. As mentioned, I think Costello gets it done over Hollyfield to eventually punch his ticket, and likewise, I think #15 Isaac Valdez makes it through to the semis. The semis don’t leave too many questions for spectators, with Goodwin and Costello leading as heavy favorites to make the finals. I do wonder how Goodwin and Costello match up in the finals. With Goodwin absent from this year’s Al Smith, a potential showdown between the two did not go down, meaning that there is not a lot of information to comfortably predict this matchup. Goodwin is definitely the favorite here, but Costello is a problematic wrestler for many, due to his height, and could invalidate a lot of Goodwin’s offense. I’m taking Goodwin here, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Costello kept it close. For the 3rd place match, I have to go with Valdez as the winner here. To be completely honest, I was going to choose Malone here to win, as I knew that Malone had lost to Valdez in the regional finals, but figured that it was a close match, and thought that Malone could reverse the decision. After all, he had just beat Hollyfield, and Hollyfield had beat Valdez in the sectional finals. After rechecking the score of Valdez and Malone to include it in this write up, I found out that Valdez had TECH FALLED Malone, a result that makes it impossible for me to choose Malone as the winner only a week later. When making predictions, there are results that are sometimes anomalies, and I think that this is definitely one of them, and expect the rematch to be much closer, but I can’t look at a tech fall and predict that the wrestler on the receiving end of the tech fall will win. I could even be convinced that Valdez might make a finals appearance this year, but Costello has wrestled very well this season, and I’m confident in my predictions at this weight. 182: DEATH DRAW: #10 Connor Cervantes vs. #12 Jaxson Walters Two seniors, both ranked in the top 16, neither qualifying for state yet in their careers, and now only one of them will get the chance. Cervantes opens up as the favorite as the higher ranked wrestler, as well as boasting an undefeated record at this point in the season, while Walters is coming off of a tough loss to freshman Vinny Freeman in the regional finals. I think the momentum is in Cervantes’s favor, making this a bit of an easier pick for me than it otherwise would be. Top 4: Orlando Cruz Connor Cervantes Ethan Popp Ethan Risner Lots to breakdown in this weight class. First and foremost, nobody is touching #1 Orlando Cruz in this semi-state. Cruz has been incredibly dominant this season, and I expect that Cruz scores at least 60 points this weekend. As for the rest of the field, things are a little more interesting. In the second quarter bracket, #22 Ethan Popp is the heavy favorite to punch his ticket, likely wrestling Cameron Zimmerman in the ticket round. They have no common opponents, but Zimmerman has been competitive against several highly ranked wrestlers this season, and is not a free ticket by any means. In the last quarter bracket, Vinny Freeman is rewarded for his regionals win with a top 16 opponent in #16 Ethan Risner. Now, a lot of people might want to pick Freeman here after his win over Walters, and a 14-6 major decision at that, but this win is Freeman’s only substantial win of the season, which makes me think that this result could be one of those anomalies that just happen every once in a while. This match will be great for Freeman to show if he’s actually at that state level, or if he just had a good regional. Risner has been consistent this season, and I don’t see him losing if he’s wrestling solid. Cervantes and Popp will hit in the top semi final match, where I think Cervantes will win pretty comfortably. Cruz should also win pretty comfortably in the other semi final match. I think that Cruz also wins pretty nicely over Cervantes, but for 3rd place, we have a clash of Ethans, and the rankings don’t really help. Risner is the higher state ranked wrestler, but the lower semi-state ranked wrestler, while Popp is lower in the state but higher in the semi-state. Popp is an interesting wrestler to try to predict, because he doesn’t have too many matches this year that are good for comparison with the rest of the field. Their only common opponent that they have is Matthew McCrum, who they both beat by decision. So, I think I’m going to go with Risner, mostly because he has been battle tested a little more than Popp has this season, so that’s really all I can go off of. 195: DEATH DRAW: #5 Christian Chavez vs. #13 Trent Kersey Kersey has had a stellar season prior to the state series, vaulting his way up to #13 in the state after an incredible Al Smith consolation run, and several other solid wins. However, Kersey has struggled to maintain this level during the state series, losing to Sam Chambers at sectionals, and narrowly escaping an early elimination in the regional blood round, winning in overtime to make the semi-state tournament. Now, he will have to escape elimination again against one of the best 195 pounders in the state in Christian Chavez. I think that Chavez has been wrestling fantastically, and I doubt Kersey will be able to stun Chavez in the ticket round, but Kersey certainly has the tools to wrestle against the best in the state. Top 4: Christian Chavez Anthony White Neil Johnson Sam Chambers While Chavez and #8 Anthony White are easy picks to make it out of their quarter brackets, the other two quarter brackets aren’t quite that simple. In the second quarter bracket, there are three semi-state ranked wrestlers looking to punch their ticket for the first time. The highest ranked of these wrestlers is SS #7 Joshua McKelvin. He wrestles Sam Chambers in the first round, who has shown that he is much better than his #11 ranking in the semi-state with his win over Kersey at sectionals. Although Kersey was able to reverse that result against Chambers at regionals, Chambers wrestled the rematch close enough for me to give him extra value when it comes to deciding the victor here. The winner of this match will get SS #10 Bazle Owens in the ticket round, who is just as competitive as the other two SS ranked wrestlers in this weight class, and can most certainly steal the ticket here. At the end of the day, I think I have to go with the lowest ranked wrestler here, as he has shown tremendous growth throughout the state series, and while he is a 4th placer coming into this tournament, it should be noted that the wrestlers that placed above him were ranked 8th, 11th, and 13th, respectively, and it would be hard for most wrestlers to place higher than 4th in that field. The last quarter bracket features a state ranked matchup in #21 James Veal and #11 Neil Johnson. Johnson has had a great season this year and is the favorite heading into this matchup, but Veal is capable of winning big matches, beating Henry Kukelhan in the Al Smith quarterfinals for a 2 seed upset. Veal hasn’t been entirely consistent since then, but the best version of Veal could get the job done here, although I am ultimately picking Johnson to win here. White should beat Chambers, who he has already defeated in the state series by a 13-4 major decision. Chavez and Johnson should be a close match, but I could see Chavez blowing it out in the third period with his aggressive handfighting and ability to find attacks. Chavez and White in the finals should be fun. They haven’t wrestled yet this season, but both have had great moments this season, and I think it will be very competitive. Chavez gets the nod here because his peaks this season have been a little more impressive, which includes an Al Smith title over Kaden McConnell, a result that gets much more stock after McConnell’s upset over Gunner Henry. As for the 3rd place match, I think that Johnson will win pretty easily, as indicated by his 47 second fall over Chambers in the regional semis. 220: Top 4: Will Clark Cole Chicoine Jonathan Neese Everett McClelland The only quarter bracket here that I can’t comfortably predict is the first one. The highest ranked wrestler coming into this quarter bracket is #22 Clayton Deutscher, who also happens to be the 4th placer coming into this quarter bracket as well (which should tell you something about the Crown Point regional). He will match up against Everett McClelland in the first round, where I believe that McClelland will get the upset win. Now, the justification for this gets a little ugly, but let me run you all through it. McClelland and Deutscher have one common opponent that I could find: LaPorte’s very own Devon Duschek. Deutscher beat Duschek in an overtime match at sectionals, while McClelland lost to Duschek by a first period fall. However, James Veal pinned Duschek, while McClelland pinned Veal. So, we’re put in a little bit of a tricky prediction situation here. Let’s look at Kaleb Abad. Abad eliminated Duschek at regionals with a fall, in addition to another fall against Duschek earlier in the year. Abad only lost 1-0 to Deutscher at regionals. With all of this information, I think that McClelland gets the nod here, as it seems like his loss to Duschek was perhaps an outlying result that should not distract you all from some of his more solid performances. With that out of the way, I think that it is pretty easy to assume that Will Clark will probably win semi-state at this weight, so McClelland will likely be going for third. #13 Jonathan Neese and #20 Cole Chicoine is a bit of a trickier match to figure out the winner of. They have no common opponents, but Chicoine does have some solid results under his name, including two wins over other competitors in the field, and a slim 8-6 loss to Alex Rose. I feel like I have to give the nod here to the lower ranked wrestler, with Neese being overall unproven at his ranking, which could of course be proven this weekend and I could be completely wrong, but I think that Chicoine overall has a stronger resume, aside from his ranking. For the 3rd place match, I think Neese will get it done over McClelland. 285: Top 4: Paul Clark Aramis McNutt Anthony Popi Peyton Kendall While the ticket round matchup in the top quarter bracket is by technicality not a death draw by what I defined a death draw to be, it’s basically one. #13 Jordan Cree takes on #17 Peyton Kendall in a battle of returning state qualifiers. Kendall has had some great results this season, but he’s also taken some unusual losses that make me not so confident that he can get the upset here. On the other hand, Cree has been great this season, losing only one match, but a little bit untested on the season as well. I think if Kendall wrestles his best match, he can pull the upset here, and that’s what I’m picking him to do. Every other quarter bracket has a clear favorite, with #11 Aramis McNutt, #4 Anthony Popi, and #2 Paul Clark all likely punching their tickets. We are getting treated to a #2 vs. #4 match in the semis with Clark and Popi stepping into the circle to wrestle. Despite Popi’s ranking, I still feel like Clark is on another level against any heavyweight not named Leighton Jones, and he should win this match by a comfortable margin. Kendall vs. McNutt will be a rematch from earlier this season, where McNutt won a commanding 11-5 match. I expect it to be closer this time around, but I don’t think the overall result changes. I think Clark wins pretty easily in the finals, while Popi and Kendall get a rematch of their regional finals match, where Popi won a slim 2-1 match. This certainly makes me think that Kendall could get this win, but Popi has been overall better and more consistent on the season, so I am more comfortable choosing Popi here despite the razor thin match just a week prior. Lots of writing done for this semi-state breakdown, about 14 pages single spaced (including all of the spaces between segments), but I genuinely do enjoy writing these. I won’t say anything more here, especially since I plan on doing a state breakdown next week, and I think that will probably be the pinnacle of my write-ups thus far, especially since I won’t have a tournament to make weight for to distract me from doing research and breaking matches down and all of that. See you all next week!

I want to first say thank you to @blueandgold for starting this thread. I was not sure who you were but have been informed and I have huge amounts of respect for you young man so again thank you for the kind words about Logan. To everyone else who has commented on here thank you also so very much. I have been around wrestling for many many years as an athlete, coach, ISWA board member & parent. I have gotten to know lots and lots of kids and families from all over the state thru the many many years Thru all the years I have known this is a great sport that can have heartbreaking endings and results and equally great un-believable outcomes and accomplishments. Logan has had a great career in the sport and has achieved things greater than I would have and could have expected for him. The thing that makes me the happiest of all after everything he has gone thru (especially over the last two years) is how he carried himself after it all came to an end on Saturday. Mom and I were completely devastated and honestly I could not think or rationalize what to do next, but seeing Logan stand up shake hands and then come back out and sit with his team was un-believable to me. I talked to him a few times during the rest of the day and while I was teary he assured me he was OK and he was going to be fine just a little disappointed. Now to address all the above comments (like I said I have made many friends along the way during my time in the sport) and I thank all of you for your kind words. Most of you I do not know personally but please seek me out at some point at any ISWA event so I can fist bump you and thank you personally for acknowledging what I know already is that Logan is an awesome & kind young man. To @Darrick Snyder @mikemorgan what a wild ride its been over 4 years from a state title to a heartbreaking loss and everything in between (thanks to Mike for coming in to help navigate this last run). You guys have been awesome and amazing and I know I will be friends with you guys forever and love you both. Thank you for everything. Lastly to @tiger92 thank you for post and to be honest it does not surprise me that Logan found your son on social media some how and reached out to him to congratulate him and wish him good luck going forward. Unfortunately for me I selected seats in the part of the arena that I had sat in the previous times I had been fortunate enough for Logan to be at Semi-state and did not want to break from tradition even though they were not in the "B-burg section". This turned out to be right next to the Princeton fan section. It was tough to be honest, but I did get to see what I think was mom and dad happy and elated for their son Jared Dunn thru the whole day. To me that is what this sport is all about, as I was devastated they were elated and I honestly could not be mad about that. I hope your son enjoys this experience and has the time of his life. Its a great event being at the state finals and I know he will soak it all in and have great life experiences and take a ways. I hope he makes a deep run and can achieve all he wants and dreams about. To all other kids competing this weekend best of luck, stay safe & healthy and accomplish your dreams and enjoy the moments, soak it all in and never have regrets.

It’s my favorite time of year! I don’t know if everyone knows what goes into this, but it’s a lot… it starts with Adrian Troyer making a formula to predict the best teams. A committee to decide a vote-in team in the spring. Chuck Barnett arranging world class officials. JD Minch getting contracts and working out specifics of each site. Pat Culp doing EVERYTHING. She got 2 girls regionals sites, 3 team state sites, and elementary duals ready this weekend. The Team State Committee picking another team each class to get in. Dane Fuellling studying for hours to rank teams (which he did very accurately). Joe Caprino helping to be a big time promoter of this event, which is amazing. Briar Runyan, Darrick Snyder, and Jim Tonte (and their AD’s) for offering their venues to host the best wrestling in the state. It’s a lot of work to host!! COVID has made this even trickier, because we have needed help at 3 sites. But I am telling you, the wrestling community is special. This event was awesome because of awesome Indiana wrestlers, but made possible because of awesome Indiana wrestling volunteers.

First off we have to be very thankful we are having a season. It doesn't look promising for the states that have moved their seasons and we are extremely lucky here. I wasn't sure we would get through a month of the football season. I wasn't sure we would get through a month of the wrestling season, but here we are. We all want fans at our events to cheer on the kids. This year has been really weird without fans in the stands. Last night was our first home meet with fans and it felt different and nice to have to people yelling and screaming. With everything else going on in this world our kids having wrestling is even more important. Be appreciative of the efforts of the administrations from the IHSAA to local schools for working with us during this time. Our kids are having a season and it is looks good that we will complete it. That is something many states may not be able to say.