Y2CJ41

By Anna Kayser
 
As the rumble of the crowd simmered following a palm to the mat in favor of acting 126-pounder Jake Hockaday on Tuesday night, the usual boom of speakers announcing 132-pound No. 4 Brady Ison took the tone of another.
 
With nine points already on the board in favor of those joining him in the purple and white singlets, the smoke cleared to reveal freshman Tommy Gibbs – winner of Brownsburg’s coveted “pin chain” following last week’s dual vs. Westfield as he boasted the second of three consecutive falls by the Bulldog lineup.
 
“It was a big confidence booster,” Gibbs said of his season-opening win by fall. “I thought I was going to win, but I didn’t think I was going to win that fast and make a statement.”
 
Facing Avon’s No. 11 Seth Syra, Gibbs’ confidence rolled him to a 6-1 win via decision.
 
“Tommy’s a coach’s dream, he just does everything right – in the hallways, in the classroom, and then in his approach,” head coach Darrick Snyder said. “He doesn’t care about rankings… or anything like that. He’s just trained so hard that he can wrestle the entire match and he feels even better in the third period than he does in the first.”
 
Behind Gibbs’ standout win, a gritty 3-1 decision by No. 2 Revin Dickman over No. 4 Nathan Rioux and five pins, the Bulldogs clinched their seventh consecutive victory over the Orioles, 62-3, continuing the tone they have set and elevated to a now 7-0 record through the first week of official competition.
 
Dickman’s 3-1 decision put an exclamation point on a strong dual performance in which Brownsburg took 13 of 14 bouts for their second-largest victory over Avon since Snyder’s coaching career with the Bulldogs began, second only to last season’s 65-3 win. Since losing to Avon, 28-26, in Snyder’s first year as a coach, the Bulldogs have outscored the Orioles in regular-season duals, 326-91.
 
“They’ve wrestled 100 times and they’re both really talented,” Snyder said. “Revin’s always been able to kind of gain the advantage – he did get away from Revin, and not many people can get away from him so I know that bothered him.
 
“Fortunately or unfortunately, I think we’re going to see that match several more times throughout the year.”
 
Brownsburg’s lone loss on the evening came from the weightiest battle of the dual at 138 pounds, featuring No. 4 Parker Reynolds against No. 3 Cheany Schoeff, freshman against a senior.
 
Reynolds kept his pace with Schoeff, dropping the match by a 5-2 decision.
 
“We told him, he’s going to come out and bully you,” Snyder said. “Parker gave up that early takedown and then did a nice job battling for positions. I liked how he responded – that kid’s going to get some more mat time in high school varsity matches so we’re going to try to correct some things, but I liked his energy and effort.”
 
Rolling through the dual with falls were Hockaday, 145-pound Mason Day, 170-pound Tyler Jones, 182-pound Caden Brewer and 113-pound Kye Callahan. The Bulldogs put up bonus points in nine total matches, including a forfeit at heavyweight against Leighton Jones.
 
This weekend, eight representatives from Brownsburg’s lineup will take on arguably their biggest competition this season at the nationally recognized Ironman Invitational in Ohio. With representatives joining the gauntlet from across state lines, the highly-ranked Bulldogs are set to battle some of the best high school wrestlers in the nation.

By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
 
Hamilton Heights coach Gary Myers doesn’t feel like his wrestling team is getting the respect and state-wide attention they deserve. He’s OK with that.
 
“I got to tell you, I’d rather not be ranked,” Myers said. “I was ranked No. 1 my whole senior year and that just put a target on my back and wore me out. When these kids aren’t ranked, I don’t even care. They will just go out and prove it. I know I have 10 kids that should be in the mix. Maybe not top 10, but top 15 to 18 for sure. But rankings are just opinions, that’s why everyone wrestles on the mat.”
 
Myers reminds his squad constantly that nothing will be given to them. He tells the story of his own career, where he finished in the top four at state as a junior. Then, as a senior, he entered semistate undefeated and ranked No. 1, but he lost in the first round.
 
“There are no guarantees in this sport,” he said. “We had four guys in the ticket round last year. This year we want more but they are going to have to work to get there.
 
The Huskies have lofty goals this season. They want to win the team state title, send 12 wrestlers to regional and semistate and six or seven to state.
 
Currently only one Husky wrestler is ranked in the state poll. Senior Evan Tilton is ranked No. 3 at 195. He could possibly wrestle 182 come tournament time.
 
“Our decision now is what to do with Evan,” Myers said. “I think we’ll let him make his debut at 182. We were going to take him to 170. I asked him if he could win semistate at 182 and he said yes.
 
“Evan is a funky wrestler. He can be in a bad spot and somehow, he always comes out on top. He’s hard to coach. He doesn’t do anything orthodox. He doesn’t even know where’s going to end up. He just finds ways to win.”
 
According to Myers, this Husky team is the best he has ever coached. In fact, Myers believes this is the best team in school history.
 
“We are a solid team at every weight,” Myers said. “We are going to be a problem for anyone. I used to have teams with seven good wrestlers. Teams could move people around against our lineup. You can’t do that now. You have to go heads up with us. Anywhere you move someone you’re going to get a good wrestler.”
 
Currently the Huskies are ranked No. 6 in Class 2A.
 
“When I saw that, I thought, this is unbelievable,” Myers said. “Our team is tough. We are going to shock some people. We are going to embarrass a few. We are going in hoping to win team state. I’ll never have this team again. This year we are going all in. The rankings just give us that feeling that we were slighted and we want to prove some people wrong.”
 
Kendall Moe, a freshman, will be the team’s 106 pounder this year. She was an All-American at Fargo and is ranked No. 5 at that weight in the girls’ state rankings.
 
Junior Jeylen Pugh will wrestle 126 for the Huskies. Last year Pugh wrestled at 132 pounds. Pugh has 11 siblings, and they have all wrestled for coach Myers. His sister, Zoe, is ranked 7th in the state for female wrestlers.
Isaac Kuhn will be the team’s 132 pounder. Kuhn is one of the team captains along with Tilton.
 
“People overlook Isaac,” Myers said. “He’s been in the ticket round at semistate two years in a row. He wrestles every offseason. He always shows up. He doesn’t miss practice. He’s very, very quiet. Once and a while you need the hard workers to show the others how to put in the time.”
 
Junior Alex Furst has been a nice surprise, according to Myers. He will wrestle at 138 this year and is currently 6-0 on the year.
 
Junior Carson Fettig will wrestle at 145 this season.
 
“Carson has wrestled against high schoolers since he was in seventh grade,” Myers said. “He would beat them a lot of times. We are hoping for a good season out of him.”
 
Michael Cain, a sophomore, will either be 152 or 160 this season for the Huskies.
 
“He’s a very good wrestler and he’s going to be a problem for everyone,” Myers said.
 
Senior Jimmy Lacey will be the team’s 170 pounder and classmate Josh Brown will wrestle at 220. Brown was a ticket-rounder last year.
 
Mason Moran will round out the lineup for the Huskies at heavyweight.
 
Myers wrestled with tenacity when he was younger. In fact, he did pay per view mixed martial arts fights well into his 40s. Through that he earned the nickname Iron Bear.
 
“My mom gave me the name bear when I was two,” Myers said. “But I wrestled in Russia in 1990 and I had an overtime match against a Soviet champion (Alexandir Markov). I didn’t quit wrestling and the Russian press started calling me the Iron Bear. I almost caused an International incident that day. They called me that because I refused to give up.”
 
That mentality is something the Hamilton Heights wrestlers will have this year, according to Myers. They won’t give up and they are going to turn some heads.

By Anna Kayser
 
As the rumble of the crowd simmered following a palm to the mat in favor of acting 126-pounder Jake Hockaday on Tuesday night, the usual boom of speakers announcing 132-pound No. 4 Brady Ison took the tone of another.
 
With nine points already on the board in favor of those joining him in the purple and white singlets, the smoke cleared to reveal freshman Tommy Gibbs – winner of Brownsburg’s coveted “pin chain” following last week’s dual vs. Westfield as he boasted the second of three consecutive falls by the Bulldog lineup.
 
“It was a big confidence booster,” Gibbs said of his season-opening win by fall. “I thought I was going to win, but I didn’t think I was going to win that fast and make a statement.”
 
Facing Avon’s No. 11 Seth Syra, Gibbs’ confidence rolled him to a 6-1 win via decision.
 
“Tommy’s a coach’s dream, he just does everything right – in the hallways, in the classroom, and then in his approach,” head coach Darrick Snyder said. “He doesn’t care about rankings… or anything like that. He’s just trained so hard that he can wrestle the entire match and he feels even better in the third period than he does in the first.”
 
Behind Gibbs’ standout win, a gritty 3-1 decision by No. 2 Revin Dickman over No. 4 Nathan Rioux and five pins, the Bulldogs clinched their seventh consecutive victory over the Orioles, 62-3, continuing the tone they have set and elevated to a now 7-0 record through the first week of official competition.
 
Dickman’s 3-1 decision put an exclamation point on a strong dual performance in which Brownsburg took 13 of 14 bouts for their second-largest victory over Avon since Snyder’s coaching career with the Bulldogs began, second only to last season’s 65-3 win. Since losing to Avon, 28-26, in Snyder’s first year as a coach, the Bulldogs have outscored the Orioles in regular-season duals, 326-91.
 
“They’ve wrestled 100 times and they’re both really talented,” Snyder said. “Revin’s always been able to kind of gain the advantage – he did get away from Revin, and not many people can get away from him so I know that bothered him.
 
“Fortunately or unfortunately, I think we’re going to see that match several more times throughout the year.”
 
Brownsburg’s lone loss on the evening came from the weightiest battle of the dual at 138 pounds, featuring No. 4 Parker Reynolds against No. 3 Cheany Schoeff, freshman against a senior.
 
Reynolds kept his pace with Schoeff, dropping the match by a 5-2 decision.
 
“We told him, he’s going to come out and bully you,” Snyder said. “Parker gave up that early takedown and then did a nice job battling for positions. I liked how he responded – that kid’s going to get some more mat time in high school varsity matches so we’re going to try to correct some things, but I liked his energy and effort.”
 
Rolling through the dual with falls were Hockaday, 145-pound Mason Day, 170-pound Tyler Jones, 182-pound Caden Brewer and 113-pound Kye Callahan. The Bulldogs put up bonus points in nine total matches, including a forfeit at heavyweight against Leighton Jones.
 
This weekend, eight representatives from Brownsburg’s lineup will take on arguably their biggest competition this season at the nationally recognized Ironman Invitational in Ohio. With representatives joining the gauntlet from across state lines, the highly-ranked Bulldogs are set to battle some of the best high school wrestlers in the nation.

By Anna Kayser
 
As the rumble of the crowd simmered following a palm to the mat in favor of acting 126-pounder Jake Hockaday on Tuesday night, the usual boom of speakers announcing 132-pound No. 4 Brady Ison took the tone of another.
 
With nine points already on the board in favor of those joining him in the purple and white singlets, the smoke cleared to reveal freshman Tommy Gibbs – winner of Brownsburg’s coveted “pin chain” following last week’s dual vs. Westfield as he boasted the second of three consecutive falls by the Bulldog lineup.
 
“It was a big confidence booster,” Gibbs said of his season-opening win by fall. “I thought I was going to win, but I didn’t think I was going to win that fast and make a statement.”
 
Facing Avon’s No. 11 Seth Syra, Gibbs’ confidence rolled him to a 6-1 win via decision.
 
“Tommy’s a coach’s dream, he just does everything right – in the hallways, in the classroom, and then in his approach,” head coach Darrick Snyder said. “He doesn’t care about rankings… or anything like that. He’s just trained so hard that he can wrestle the entire match and he feels even better in the third period than he does in the first.”
 
Behind Gibbs’ standout win, a gritty 3-1 decision by No. 2 Revin Dickman over No. 4 Nathan Rioux and five pins, the Bulldogs clinched their seventh consecutive victory over the Orioles, 62-3, continuing the tone they have set and elevated to a now 7-0 record through the first week of official competition.
 
Dickman’s 3-1 decision put an exclamation point on a strong dual performance in which Brownsburg took 13 of 14 bouts for their second-largest victory over Avon since Snyder’s coaching career with the Bulldogs began, second only to last season’s 65-3 win. Since losing to Avon, 28-26, in Snyder’s first year as a coach, the Bulldogs have outscored the Orioles in regular-season duals, 326-91.
 
“They’ve wrestled 100 times and they’re both really talented,” Snyder said. “Revin’s always been able to kind of gain the advantage – he did get away from Revin, and not many people can get away from him so I know that bothered him.
 
“Fortunately or unfortunately, I think we’re going to see that match several more times throughout the year.”
 
Brownsburg’s lone loss on the evening came from the weightiest battle of the dual at 138 pounds, featuring No. 4 Parker Reynolds against No. 3 Cheany Schoeff, freshman against a senior.
 
Reynolds kept his pace with Schoeff, dropping the match by a 5-2 decision.
 
“We told him, he’s going to come out and bully you,” Snyder said. “Parker gave up that early takedown and then did a nice job battling for positions. I liked how he responded – that kid’s going to get some more mat time in high school varsity matches so we’re going to try to correct some things, but I liked his energy and effort.”
 
Rolling through the dual with falls were Hockaday, 145-pound Mason Day, 170-pound Tyler Jones, 182-pound Caden Brewer and 113-pound Kye Callahan. The Bulldogs put up bonus points in nine total matches, including a forfeit at heavyweight against Leighton Jones.
 
This weekend, eight representatives from Brownsburg’s lineup will take on arguably their biggest competition this season at the nationally recognized Ironman Invitational in Ohio. With representatives joining the gauntlet from across state lines, the highly-ranked Bulldogs are set to battle some of the best high school wrestlers in the nation.

By Anna Kayser
 
As the clocked ticked down toward the end of November into the beginning of December and the temperature dropped below freezing, the heat of the 2022-23 IHSAA wrestling season was cranked to high and since, the Brownsburg Bulldogs have surged. 
 
No match of which, in the first official varsity competition, was more indicative of that than No. 9 Mason Day’s electric, overtime win over No. 6 Ike O’Neill – a senior and 2022 state qualifier at 138 pounds – with the entire gymnasium on its feet last Wednesday. 
 
Sandwiching a quartet of pins by No. 11 Landon Haines (126), Tommy Gibbs (132), No. 138 Parker Reynolds (138) and No. 20 Jesse Derringer (152), Day gritted his way through a season-opening victory. After opening the match with a takedown late in the first period, he found himself in a one-point deficit in the waning seconds of the third until an escape in the waning seconds forced overtime. 
 
“We went into overtime, and I could see that he was tired,” Day said. “I kind of looked over at my coaches and smiled. I was ready to work.”
 
With an escape forcing a number of overtime periods and his entire team, coaching staff and fanbase behind him as he clung to O’Neill’s leg to avoid a point scored against him, he raised his hand in triumph for his first varsity victory after the ultimate ride out.
 
“We felt pretty good going into overtime because Mason’s a tough kid,” head coach Darrick Snyder said. “He’s only a sophomore, but the kid’s been wrestling his entire life. He’s been in dozens and dozens of overtime matches, so I would just think his mentality [was the biggest part].”
 
And without a number of prominent, ranked wrestlers on the mat, Brownsburg kicked off its season in a frenzy, defeating the Westfield Shamrocks, 60-13. 
 
“I thought we competed well, and I was really excited,” Snyder said. “We had some young kids – some backups –perform really, really well. Overall, I thought it was good considering it was our first meet.”
 
Most notably missing from the Bulldogs’ Wednesday night lineup were No. 1 Preston Haines (113), No. 2 Jake Hockaday (120) and No. 2 Leighton Jones (285), but as the week came to a close, those three made their presence known.
 
In Harrison, OH at the William Henry Harrison Invitational, the Bulldogs continued their dominant opening to the season with a perfect 5-0 record in duals against Oak Hills, Miamisburg, Lebanon, East Central and Harrison. Leading the squad were nine undefeated wrestlers donning purple singlets – Revin Dickman, Kyle Callahan, Preston Haines, Hockaday, Landon Haines, Gibbs, Brady Ison, Gunner Henry and Jones. 
 
As the campaign – and winter cold and flu season – progresses and the Bulldogs lineup shifts due to injury and illness, having a stacked lineup of wrestlers who can compete at a high level brings advantages not only to team success, but individual success as well. 
 
“You can’t replace their experience and success,” head coach Darrick Snyder said. “I think when you’re competing for a team state championship, when you have all your guns and you have some of the dudes we have, it leaves a little room for error.
 
“I think it allows everyone to relax a little more, wrestle free because they know they’ve got some friends that can pick up the slack if they have an off match or a tough tournament.”
 
After getting into the weeds on how the Bulldog wrestling program – now rated No. 2 in the IndianaMat State Power Poll behind Crown Point – was built from the ground up with Snyder at the helm over nearly a decade, now we look forward. 
 
Snyder isn’t shy about building his schedule to make the athletes better in their quest to reach the podium at Gainbridge Fieldhouse come February. 
 
Tonight, Brownsburg opens its home schedule to take on Avon before heading to – arguably – its biggest non-championship event of the season: the Walsh Jesuit Ironman Invitational.
 
Dickman, Preston Haines, Hockaday, Ison, Reynolds, Caden Brewer, Henry and Jones will take the mat in the nationally recognized tournament to kick the season into full gear, especially with the lack of matches leading up to the tournament from Dec. 9-10. 
 
“We’re hoping everyone gets at least four or five matches just because the way I [put together] our season, we don’t compete early because I think it takes a lot of time to get into wrestling shape,” Snyder said. “We’re not going to have a lot of opportunities to compete before Ironman, so we’re trying to get as many matches as we can this weekend.”
 
Of the Bulldogs’ eight representatives at Ironman this weekend, four are returning placers at IHSAA state last season and are anchors to a lineup that is hard to score points against: Hockaday, who became the first freshman to win a state title in team history; Preston Haines, runner-up at 113; Henry, third-place at 182 and Jones, who is entering his senior season with a drive for a title after placing third at heavyweight. 
 
Following this weekend, the schedule doesn’t slow until the holiday break approaches. On Dec. 17, Brownsburg travels to the Crown Point Invitational, hosted by the team’s main competitive rival following a second-place team finish in the state tournament last year. 
 
Even as the level of competition rises, one of the main focuses of Bulldog wrestlers is keeping an even mentality, despite what might have occurred – good or bad – in the last match. 
 
“I wouldn’t say [my win against Westfield] really changes anything. I go into every match thinking the same – that I need to win it no matter what,” Day said. “You’ve got to keep a good, good, good head. You’ve got to stay clear minded and just work for your goals.”
 

By Anna Kayser
 
As the clocked ticked down toward the end of November into the beginning of December and the temperature dropped below freezing, the heat of the 2022-23 IHSAA wrestling season was cranked to high and since, the Brownsburg Bulldogs have surged. 
 
No match of which, in the first official varsity competition, was more indicative of that than No. 9 Mason Day’s electric, overtime win over No. 6 Ike O’Neill – a senior and 2022 state qualifier at 138 pounds – with the entire gymnasium on its feet last Wednesday. 
 
Sandwiching a quartet of pins by No. 11 Landon Haines (126), Tommy Gibbs (132), No. 138 Parker Reynolds (138) and No. 20 Jesse Derringer (152), Day gritted his way through a season-opening victory. After opening the match with a takedown late in the first period, he found himself in a one-point deficit in the waning seconds of the third until an escape in the waning seconds forced overtime. 
 
“We went into overtime, and I could see that he was tired,” Day said. “I kind of looked over at my coaches and smiled. I was ready to work.”
 
With an escape forcing a number of overtime periods and his entire team, coaching staff and fanbase behind him as he clung to O’Neill’s leg to avoid a point scored against him, he raised his hand in triumph for his first varsity victory after the ultimate ride out.
 
“We felt pretty good going into overtime because Mason’s a tough kid,” head coach Darrick Snyder said. “He’s only a sophomore, but the kid’s been wrestling his entire life. He’s been in dozens and dozens of overtime matches, so I would just think his mentality [was the biggest part].”
 
And without a number of prominent, ranked wrestlers on the mat, Brownsburg kicked off its season in a frenzy, defeating the Westfield Shamrocks, 60-13. 
 
“I thought we competed well, and I was really excited,” Snyder said. “We had some young kids – some backups –perform really, really well. Overall, I thought it was good considering it was our first meet.”
 
Most notably missing from the Bulldogs’ Wednesday night lineup were No. 1 Preston Haines (113), No. 2 Jake Hockaday (120) and No. 2 Leighton Jones (285), but as the week came to a close, those three made their presence known.
 
In Harrison, OH at the William Henry Harrison Invitational, the Bulldogs continued their dominant opening to the season with a perfect 5-0 record in duals against Oak Hills, Miamisburg, Lebanon, East Central and Harrison. Leading the squad were nine undefeated wrestlers donning purple singlets – Revin Dickman, Kyle Callahan, Preston Haines, Hockaday, Landon Haines, Gibbs, Brady Ison, Gunner Henry and Jones. 
 
As the campaign – and winter cold and flu season – progresses and the Bulldogs lineup shifts due to injury and illness, having a stacked lineup of wrestlers who can compete at a high level brings advantages not only to team success, but individual success as well. 
 
“You can’t replace their experience and success,” head coach Darrick Snyder said. “I think when you’re competing for a team state championship, when you have all your guns and you have some of the dudes we have, it leaves a little room for error.
 
“I think it allows everyone to relax a little more, wrestle free because they know they’ve got some friends that can pick up the slack if they have an off match or a tough tournament.”
 
After getting into the weeds on how the Bulldog wrestling program – now rated No. 2 in the IndianaMat State Power Poll behind Crown Point – was built from the ground up with Snyder at the helm over nearly a decade, now we look forward. 
 
Snyder isn’t shy about building his schedule to make the athletes better in their quest to reach the podium at Gainbridge Fieldhouse come February. 
 
Tonight, Brownsburg opens its home schedule to take on Avon before heading to – arguably – its biggest non-championship event of the season: the Walsh Jesuit Ironman Invitational.
 
Dickman, Preston Haines, Hockaday, Ison, Reynolds, Caden Brewer, Henry and Jones will take the mat in the nationally recognized tournament to kick the season into full gear, especially with the lack of matches leading up to the tournament from Dec. 9-10. 
 
“We’re hoping everyone gets at least four or five matches just because the way I [put together] our season, we don’t compete early because I think it takes a lot of time to get into wrestling shape,” Snyder said. “We’re not going to have a lot of opportunities to compete before Ironman, so we’re trying to get as many matches as we can this weekend.”
 
Of the Bulldogs’ eight representatives at Ironman this weekend, four are returning placers at IHSAA state last season and are anchors to a lineup that is hard to score points against: Hockaday, who became the first freshman to win a state title in team history; Preston Haines, runner-up at 113; Henry, third-place at 182 and Jones, who is entering his senior season with a drive for a title after placing third at heavyweight. 
 
Following this weekend, the schedule doesn’t slow until the holiday break approaches. On Dec. 17, Brownsburg travels to the Crown Point Invitational, hosted by the team’s main competitive rival following a second-place team finish in the state tournament last year. 
 
Even as the level of competition rises, one of the main focuses of Bulldog wrestlers is keeping an even mentality, despite what might have occurred – good or bad – in the last match. 
 
“I wouldn’t say [my win against Westfield] really changes anything. I go into every match thinking the same – that I need to win it no matter what,” Day said. “You’ve got to keep a good, good, good head. You’ve got to stay clear minded and just work for your goals.”
 

By STEVE KRAH
stvkrh905@gmail.com

Delta High School has a history of wrestling success.
 
The Eagles have piled up victories and titles over the years.
 
From 1980-81 to 1984-85, Delta won five straight IHSAA team championships.
 
There have also been eight semistates, 15 regionals, 19 sectionals,12 conference titles and numerous champions and state placers.
 
Cody LeCount is in his second season as Eagles head coach in 2022-23 and working to keep Delta among the elite programs in Indiana.
 
LeCount is a 2014 graduate of Perry Meridian High School in Indianapolis where he went 184-2 and was a two-time IHSAA state champion (2013 at 132 pounds and 2014 at 145) and one-time state runner-up (2012 at 126). He was the Indianapolis Star’s Wrestler of the Year in 2014.
 
He grappled for two years at Central Michigan University and spent two years at Marian University in Indianapolis.
 
LeCount began his coaching career as an assistant for three years at Carmel High School before moving to Delta, where he is also a special education teacher.
 
He got to work with Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Famer Jim Tonte as well as Matt Schoettle at Perry Meridian, National Wrestling Hall of Fame Michigan Chapter member Tom Borelli at Central Michigan, IHSWCA Hall of Famer Steven Bradley at Marian and IHSWCA Hall of Famer Ed Pendoski at Carmel.
 
“Growing up around wrestling my whole life I’ve been around really, really good coaches,” says LeCount, who competed for . “I’ve learned a lot of things from a coaching standpoint on how to train, how to get in shape and get through the grinding season.”
 
In LeCount’s first season at Delta, the Eagles went 14-5, won a sectional title and were Class 2A IHSWCA State Duals qualifiers. The only senior on that team was Dillon Tuttle (who placed eight at the state meet at 138).
 
So far in 2021-22, Delta is 7-0 and has outscored foes 475-78. The Eagles beat Tri, Lapel, Alexandria-Monroe, Frankton and Greenfield-Central at the Rex Leavitt Elwood Invitational Nov. 19 and earned dual wins against Muncie Central Nov. 29 and South Adams Dec. 1.
Seven individuals are 7-0. Five are state-ranked — Ayden Bollinger (Class of 2025) No. 3 at 106), Neal Mosier (Class of 2024) No. 7 at 120, Braxton Russell (Class of 2024) No. 13 at 170, Kolten Rhone’s (Class of 2024) No. 14 at 145 and Kaeb Stebbins (Class of 2025) No. 16 at 152.
On a roster of 31, there are four seniors with two in the varsity lineup — Garrett Clay (160) and Heath Sprague (195).
 
Borrowing from a locker room speech give by Susquehanna Township (Pa.) High School football coach Joe Headen, LeCount and his assistants — Austin Crouch, Jacob Gray (No. 3 on Delta’s all-time win list and a state champion at 182 in 2017), David Locke (No. 7 on the win list and a state champion at 145 in 1984) and Keith Rhonemus — have Delta wrestlers learning how to “hold the rope.”
 
“When we’re the climbing the mountain everybody’s got to hold on to that rope,” says LeCount.
“If one guy slips he might make everybody else fall. It’s our job to hold on to the rope and it’s also our job to help everybody else stay on the rope.”
 
It’s about teamwork and accountability.
 
“If I do my job, everybody else can continue to do their job,” says LeCount. “Don’t let that guy slack off in practice. Don’t let this guy give up an extra two points in a dual meet.
 
“These kids have bought into that kind of system.”
 
LeCount has gotten his athletes to “do everything to their full potential and just trust the process.”
 
“If they do everything right they can get to where they want to be,” says LeCount. “They know that there are days when they’re going to be really tired. There are going to be days that are really hard. They might lose a match. They might win a big match.
 
“It’s knowing the ups and downs of the season, how to train and compete and just love each other.”
 
High school wrestling presents the opportunity to compete in an individual sport in a group setting.
 
“Wrestling is 1 v 1 out there,” says LeCount. “You mess up it’s one you. The team aspect of things makes it even greater.
 
“I might be biased, but it’s the greatest sport there is. There’s nothing else out there like it. It makes you have to depend on yourself to win your match and help your team.”
 
So many wrestlers come off the mat after a loss in a six-minute match in tears because they gave it their all.
 
And it’s as much mental as physical.
 
“That internal drive, mental toughness and voice in your head, it all has to come from within,” says LeCount. “You can always do so much more than what your mind’s telling you.”
 
2A No. 2 Delta goes to Jay County Tuesday, Dec. 6 for a double-dual. The Eagles grappled with Winchester at 6 p.m., followed by 2A No. 1 Jay County. Yorktown will also wrestle Winchester.
 
Delta goes to Class 2A IHSWCA State Duals at Jay County Jan. 7. The Hoosier Heritage Conference at Pendleton Heights meet is Jan. 14. Then comes the IHSAA state tournament series — Delta Sectional Jan. 28, Jay County Regional Feb. 4, Fort Wayne Semistate Feb. 11 and State Finals Feb. 17-18 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

By STEVE KRAH
stvkrh905@gmail.com

Delta High School has a history of wrestling success.
 
The Eagles have piled up victories and titles over the years.
 
From 1980-81 to 1984-85, Delta won five straight IHSAA team championships.
 
There have also been eight semistates, 15 regionals, 19 sectionals,12 conference titles and numerous champions and state placers.
 
Cody LeCount is in his second season as Eagles head coach in 2022-23 and working to keep Delta among the elite programs in Indiana.
 
LeCount is a 2014 graduate of Perry Meridian High School in Indianapolis where he went 184-2 and was a two-time IHSAA state champion (2013 at 132 pounds and 2014 at 145) and one-time state runner-up (2012 at 126). He was the Indianapolis Star’s Wrestler of the Year in 2014.
 
He grappled for two years at Central Michigan University and spent two years at Marian University in Indianapolis.
 
LeCount began his coaching career as an assistant for three years at Carmel High School before moving to Delta, where he is also a special education teacher.
 
He got to work with Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Hall of Famer Jim Tonte as well as Matt Schoettle at Perry Meridian, National Wrestling Hall of Fame Michigan Chapter member Tom Borelli at Central Michigan, IHSWCA Hall of Famer Steven Bradley at Marian and IHSWCA Hall of Famer Ed Pendoski at Carmel.
 
“Growing up around wrestling my whole life I’ve been around really, really good coaches,” says LeCount, who competed for . “I’ve learned a lot of things from a coaching standpoint on how to train, how to get in shape and get through the grinding season.”
 
In LeCount’s first season at Delta, the Eagles went 14-5, won a sectional title and were Class 2A IHSWCA State Duals qualifiers. The only senior on that team was Dillon Tuttle (who placed eight at the state meet at 138).
 
So far in 2021-22, Delta is 7-0 and has outscored foes 475-78. The Eagles beat Tri, Lapel, Alexandria-Monroe, Frankton and Greenfield-Central at the Rex Leavitt Elwood Invitational Nov. 19 and earned dual wins against Muncie Central Nov. 29 and South Adams Dec. 1.
Seven individuals are 7-0. Five are state-ranked — Ayden Bollinger (Class of 2025) No. 3 at 106), Neal Mosier (Class of 2024) No. 7 at 120, Braxton Russell (Class of 2024) No. 13 at 170, Kolten Rhone’s (Class of 2024) No. 14 at 145 and Kaeb Stebbins (Class of 2025) No. 16 at 152.
On a roster of 31, there are four seniors with two in the varsity lineup — Garrett Clay (160) and Heath Sprague (195).
 
Borrowing from a locker room speech give by Susquehanna Township (Pa.) High School football coach Joe Headen, LeCount and his assistants — Austin Crouch, Jacob Gray (No. 3 on Delta’s all-time win list and a state champion at 182 in 2017), David Locke (No. 7 on the win list and a state champion at 145 in 1984) and Keith Rhonemus — have Delta wrestlers learning how to “hold the rope.”
 
“When we’re the climbing the mountain everybody’s got to hold on to that rope,” says LeCount.
“If one guy slips he might make everybody else fall. It’s our job to hold on to the rope and it’s also our job to help everybody else stay on the rope.”
 
It’s about teamwork and accountability.
 
“If I do my job, everybody else can continue to do their job,” says LeCount. “Don’t let that guy slack off in practice. Don’t let this guy give up an extra two points in a dual meet.
 
“These kids have bought into that kind of system.”
 
LeCount has gotten his athletes to “do everything to their full potential and just trust the process.”
 
“If they do everything right they can get to where they want to be,” says LeCount. “They know that there are days when they’re going to be really tired. There are going to be days that are really hard. They might lose a match. They might win a big match.
 
“It’s knowing the ups and downs of the season, how to train and compete and just love each other.”
 
High school wrestling presents the opportunity to compete in an individual sport in a group setting.
 
“Wrestling is 1 v 1 out there,” says LeCount. “You mess up it’s one you. The team aspect of things makes it even greater.
 
“I might be biased, but it’s the greatest sport there is. There’s nothing else out there like it. It makes you have to depend on yourself to win your match and help your team.”
 
So many wrestlers come off the mat after a loss in a six-minute match in tears because they gave it their all.
 
And it’s as much mental as physical.
 
“That internal drive, mental toughness and voice in your head, it all has to come from within,” says LeCount. “You can always do so much more than what your mind’s telling you.”
 
2A No. 2 Delta goes to Jay County Tuesday, Dec. 6 for a double-dual. The Eagles grappled with Winchester at 6 p.m., followed by 2A No. 1 Jay County. Yorktown will also wrestle Winchester.
 
Delta goes to Class 2A IHSWCA State Duals at Jay County Jan. 7. The Hoosier Heritage Conference at Pendleton Heights meet is Jan. 14. Then comes the IHSAA state tournament series — Delta Sectional Jan. 28, Jay County Regional Feb. 4, Fort Wayne Semistate Feb. 11 and State Finals Feb. 17-18 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
 
After five years of watching others compete in Indiana’s wrestling state tournament, Purdue Polytechnic will finally get its chance to participate.
 
Polytechnic started six years ago but this is the first year the school is fully sanctioned to compete in the Indiana High School Athletic Association tournaments.
 
The Techies are hoping to find quick success on the mat this season.
 
“This year we have some kids that we think will do pretty well in the state tourney,” Polytechnic coach Cory Graham said. “We want to get into team state and eventually work toward a team state title.”
 
The school has just over 500 students. The wrestling team has 42 grapplers and fills every weight class.
 
“If you look at most high schools, the kids come from the same location,” Graham said. “Here we have kids traveling from all over the Indianapolis area. We have kids from Greenwood, the west side and all over the city. We are a very diverse school, but we come together and work toward a common goal.”
 
Although there are a good number of wrestlers on the team, the Techies are very inexperienced on the mats compared to other schools they will compete with.
 
“We started with 16 kids when we started the program,” Graham said. “We’ve grown every year. I only have a couple of kids that come with some decent experience. We started a middle school program, but we only have six kids that have come up from that.”
 
Currently the Techies have 22 freshmen and 12 sophomores on the team. They have just four seniors, two male and two female.
 
“I’m excited about that,” Graham said. “This is a great opportunity for these kids to get experience and learn.”
 
The only ranked wrestler in the program currently is sophomore Silas Foster. Foster is ranked No. 18 at 138 pounds.
 
“My personal goal is to get a state title,” Foster said. “I want to wrap up our schools first state championship and then I want to go out and get two more in my junior and senior seasons.”
 
Foster has gone to the New Castle semistate as a spectator several times. He has witnessed the emotion of the ticket-round matches and the thrill of the champions being crowned.
 
There are seven female wrestlers on the Techie squad. Seniors Katelynn Hernandez is ranked No. 3 in the girls’ polls at 132 pounds. Her senior classmate, Carmen Castillo, is ranked No. 10 at 182.
 
“I’ve had three girls that have been runners-up in the girls state tournament,” Graham said. “I’ve had six placers at girls state. We have four kids wrestling in college right now.”
 
On the boys side, senior 152-pounder Canaan Miller is the team’s leader.
 
“In the room he’s really vocal and he works well with the young guys,” Graham said. “He has wrestled all four years for us. He’s pretty tough. We bumped him up against Daleville to wrestle the NO. 9-ranked kid at 160 and he wrestled him pretty well. He’ll scrap with anyone in the state.”
 
Although the wrestlers on the team come from all different parts of the Indy area, they have been able to bond.
 
“We’re a very positive, upbeat team,” Graham said. “All the kids are super funny. They cool part of this team is that a lot of them played football together and they have like a brotherhood mentality. We are really close. It’s like a family but we can flip the switch when it comes time to practice and compete.”
 
The Techies are hoping to build on whatever success they have this year, and in the near future they are hoping to become a strong wrestling program with multiple accolades.
 
“It has been a long process to go through to become sanctioned by the IHSAA,” Graham said. “After fighting the battle for five years, we finally got in. A lot of our kids didn’t understand how the tournament even worked, especially my new kids. They are excited to be a part of this and to learn from it.”

By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
 
After five years of watching others compete in Indiana’s wrestling state tournament, Purdue Polytechnic will finally get its chance to participate.
 
Polytechnic started six years ago but this is the first year the school is fully sanctioned to compete in the Indiana High School Athletic Association tournaments.
 
The Techies are hoping to find quick success on the mat this season.
 
“This year we have some kids that we think will do pretty well in the state tourney,” Polytechnic coach Cory Graham said. “We want to get into team state and eventually work toward a team state title.”
 
The school has just over 500 students. The wrestling team has 42 grapplers and fills every weight class.
 
“If you look at most high schools, the kids come from the same location,” Graham said. “Here we have kids traveling from all over the Indianapolis area. We have kids from Greenwood, the west side and all over the city. We are a very diverse school, but we come together and work toward a common goal.”
 
Although there are a good number of wrestlers on the team, the Techies are very inexperienced on the mats compared to other schools they will compete with.
 
“We started with 16 kids when we started the program,” Graham said. “We’ve grown every year. I only have a couple of kids that come with some decent experience. We started a middle school program, but we only have six kids that have come up from that.”
 
Currently the Techies have 22 freshmen and 12 sophomores on the team. They have just four seniors, two male and two female.
 
“I’m excited about that,” Graham said. “This is a great opportunity for these kids to get experience and learn.”
 
The only ranked wrestler in the program currently is sophomore Silas Foster. Foster is ranked No. 18 at 138 pounds.
 
“My personal goal is to get a state title,” Foster said. “I want to wrap up our schools first state championship and then I want to go out and get two more in my junior and senior seasons.”
 
Foster has gone to the New Castle semistate as a spectator several times. He has witnessed the emotion of the ticket-round matches and the thrill of the champions being crowned.
 
There are seven female wrestlers on the Techie squad. Seniors Katelynn Hernandez is ranked No. 3 in the girls’ polls at 132 pounds. Her senior classmate, Carmen Castillo, is ranked No. 10 at 182.
 
“I’ve had three girls that have been runners-up in the girls state tournament,” Graham said. “I’ve had six placers at girls state. We have four kids wrestling in college right now.”
 
On the boys side, senior 152-pounder Canaan Miller is the team’s leader.
 
“In the room he’s really vocal and he works well with the young guys,” Graham said. “He has wrestled all four years for us. He’s pretty tough. We bumped him up against Daleville to wrestle the NO. 9-ranked kid at 160 and he wrestled him pretty well. He’ll scrap with anyone in the state.”
 
Although the wrestlers on the team come from all different parts of the Indy area, they have been able to bond.
 
“We’re a very positive, upbeat team,” Graham said. “All the kids are super funny. They cool part of this team is that a lot of them played football together and they have like a brotherhood mentality. We are really close. It’s like a family but we can flip the switch when it comes time to practice and compete.”
 
The Techies are hoping to build on whatever success they have this year, and in the near future they are hoping to become a strong wrestling program with multiple accolades.
 
“It has been a long process to go through to become sanctioned by the IHSAA,” Graham said. “After fighting the battle for five years, we finally got in. A lot of our kids didn’t understand how the tournament even worked, especially my new kids. They are excited to be a part of this and to learn from it.”

By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
 
After five years of watching others compete in Indiana’s wrestling state tournament, Purdue Polytechnic will finally get its chance to participate.
 
Polytechnic started six years ago but this is the first year the school is fully sanctioned to compete in the Indiana High School Athletic Association tournaments.
 
The Techies are hoping to find quick success on the mat this season.
 
“This year we have some kids that we think will do pretty well in the state tourney,” Polytechnic coach Cory Graham said. “We want to get into team state and eventually work toward a team state title.”
 
The school has just over 500 students. The wrestling team has 42 grapplers and fills every weight class.
 
“If you look at most high schools, the kids come from the same location,” Graham said. “Here we have kids traveling from all over the Indianapolis area. We have kids from Greenwood, the west side and all over the city. We are a very diverse school, but we come together and work toward a common goal.”
 
Although there are a good number of wrestlers on the team, the Techies are very inexperienced on the mats compared to other schools they will compete with.
 
“We started with 16 kids when we started the program,” Graham said. “We’ve grown every year. I only have a couple of kids that come with some decent experience. We started a middle school program, but we only have six kids that have come up from that.”
 
Currently the Techies have 22 freshmen and 12 sophomores on the team. They have just four seniors, two male and two female.
 
“I’m excited about that,” Graham said. “This is a great opportunity for these kids to get experience and learn.”
 
The only ranked wrestler in the program currently is sophomore Silas Foster. Foster is ranked No. 18 at 138 pounds.
 
“My personal goal is to get a state title,” Foster said. “I want to wrap up our schools first state championship and then I want to go out and get two more in my junior and senior seasons.”
 
Foster has gone to the New Castle semistate as a spectator several times. He has witnessed the emotion of the ticket-round matches and the thrill of the champions being crowned.
 
There are seven female wrestlers on the Techie squad. Seniors Katelynn Hernandez is ranked No. 3 in the girls’ polls at 132 pounds. Her senior classmate, Carmen Castillo, is ranked No. 10 at 182.
 
“I’ve had three girls that have been runners-up in the girls state tournament,” Graham said. “I’ve had six placers at girls state. We have four kids wrestling in college right now.”
 
On the boys side, senior 152-pounder Canaan Miller is the team’s leader.
 
“In the room he’s really vocal and he works well with the young guys,” Graham said. “He has wrestled all four years for us. He’s pretty tough. We bumped him up against Daleville to wrestle the NO. 9-ranked kid at 160 and he wrestled him pretty well. He’ll scrap with anyone in the state.”
 
Although the wrestlers on the team come from all different parts of the Indy area, they have been able to bond.
 
“We’re a very positive, upbeat team,” Graham said. “All the kids are super funny. They cool part of this team is that a lot of them played football together and they have like a brotherhood mentality. We are really close. It’s like a family but we can flip the switch when it comes time to practice and compete.”
 
The Techies are hoping to build on whatever success they have this year, and in the near future they are hoping to become a strong wrestling program with multiple accolades.
 
“It has been a long process to go through to become sanctioned by the IHSAA,” Graham said. “After fighting the battle for five years, we finally got in. A lot of our kids didn’t understand how the tournament even worked, especially my new kids. They are excited to be a part of this and to learn from it.”

By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
 
After five years of watching others compete in Indiana’s wrestling state tournament, Purdue Polytechnic will finally get its chance to participate.
 
Polytechnic started six years ago but this is the first year the school is fully sanctioned to compete in the Indiana High School Athletic Association tournaments.
 
The Techies are hoping to find quick success on the mat this season.
 
“This year we have some kids that we think will do pretty well in the state tourney,” Polytechnic coach Cory Graham said. “We want to get into team state and eventually work toward a team state title.”
 
The school has just over 500 students. The wrestling team has 42 grapplers and fills every weight class.
 
“If you look at most high schools, the kids come from the same location,” Graham said. “Here we have kids traveling from all over the Indianapolis area. We have kids from Greenwood, the west side and all over the city. We are a very diverse school, but we come together and work toward a common goal.”
 
Although there are a good number of wrestlers on the team, the Techies are very inexperienced on the mats compared to other schools they will compete with.
 
“We started with 16 kids when we started the program,” Graham said. “We’ve grown every year. I only have a couple of kids that come with some decent experience. We started a middle school program, but we only have six kids that have come up from that.”
 
Currently the Techies have 22 freshmen and 12 sophomores on the team. They have just four seniors, two male and two female.
 
“I’m excited about that,” Graham said. “This is a great opportunity for these kids to get experience and learn.”
 
The only ranked wrestler in the program currently is sophomore Silas Foster. Foster is ranked No. 18 at 138 pounds.
 
“My personal goal is to get a state title,” Foster said. “I want to wrap up our schools first state championship and then I want to go out and get two more in my junior and senior seasons.”
 
Foster has gone to the New Castle semistate as a spectator several times. He has witnessed the emotion of the ticket-round matches and the thrill of the champions being crowned.
 
There are seven female wrestlers on the Techie squad. Seniors Katelynn Hernandez is ranked No. 3 in the girls’ polls at 132 pounds. Her senior classmate, Carmen Castillo, is ranked No. 10 at 182.
 
“I’ve had three girls that have been runners-up in the girls state tournament,” Graham said. “I’ve had six placers at girls state. We have four kids wrestling in college right now.”
 
On the boys side, senior 152-pounder Canaan Miller is the team’s leader.
 
“In the room he’s really vocal and he works well with the young guys,” Graham said. “He has wrestled all four years for us. He’s pretty tough. We bumped him up against Daleville to wrestle the NO. 9-ranked kid at 160 and he wrestled him pretty well. He’ll scrap with anyone in the state.”
 
Although the wrestlers on the team come from all different parts of the Indy area, they have been able to bond.
 
“We’re a very positive, upbeat team,” Graham said. “All the kids are super funny. They cool part of this team is that a lot of them played football together and they have like a brotherhood mentality. We are really close. It’s like a family but we can flip the switch when it comes time to practice and compete.”
 
The Techies are hoping to build on whatever success they have this year, and in the near future they are hoping to become a strong wrestling program with multiple accolades.
 
“It has been a long process to go through to become sanctioned by the IHSAA,” Graham said. “After fighting the battle for five years, we finally got in. A lot of our kids didn’t understand how the tournament even worked, especially my new kids. They are excited to be a part of this and to learn from it.”

By Blaze Lowery
  
Is IU better than we thought?
Unranked Indiana defeats #23 Princeton, pushing the Tigers out of the rankings. Although Princeton was without #2 Pat Glory, the Hoosiers dominate them with a 22 – 13 upset. IU has continued to show improvement since last season’s dissatisfactory finish.
 
#19 D.J. Washington then goes on to wins Army’s, Black Knight Open at 174lbs, beating #21 Benjamin Pasiuk of Army. Keeping his undefeated record in-tact, the Portage native is proving himself week after week since shifting to a lower weight class this season. Longtime teammate, Jacob Moran was runner-up and the Rooks’ brothers both captured a third place wins for the Hoosiers. Indiana is starting their season off much stronger than they left off last season and could make some sparks as they roll into the Garden State Grapple on December 4th.
 
 
Are the Boilermaker Duals a good indication of Purdue’s success?
Coming off a surprising dual loss to Rider University on their home turf, Purdue turned their performance around and defeated Cleveland State, Northern Illinois, and Chattanooga at the Boilermaker Duals. Having a younger squad this season, the Boilermakers are struggling to make the same mark at the start of their season as they have in their previous season. At this point in their schedule, it is too early to say if the Boilermakers are a tough to beat dual team, but it is safe to say that the competition at the Boilermaker Duals tournament means little to none when competing in the Big Ten. We look for the Boilermakers to start ramping up as we get closer to the middle of the season.
 
With that being said, the future looks bright for Purdue wrestling as this young roster will make for some depth in the coming years and the recruiting class coming in will be one to keep an eye on. It is exciting to see guys like Macartney Parkinson, Jaden Reynolds, and Hayden Filipovich really getting their feet wet with some serious mat time. Time will tell if the Boilermakers can show us what is behind the curtains as they compete in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on December 2nd – 3rd.
 
 
Recent Out-of-State Wrestler D1 Results:
#3 Mason Parris (Michigan) wins by fall in both duals against UNC and Columbia.
#5 Brayton Lee (Minnesota) clinches Binghamton dual by major decision.
#6 Lucas Davison (Northwestern) with a dominant 6-0 decision in Virginia Dual.
#12 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) pushes Joey Melendez out of the rankings with a pin.
#19 Silas Allred (Nebraska) wins Navy Classic.
 
 

By Blaze Lowery
  
Is IU better than we thought?
Unranked Indiana defeats #23 Princeton, pushing the Tigers out of the rankings. Although Princeton was without #2 Pat Glory, the Hoosiers dominate them with a 22 – 13 upset. IU has continued to show improvement since last season’s dissatisfactory finish.
 
#19 D.J. Washington then goes on to wins Army’s, Black Knight Open at 174lbs, beating #21 Benjamin Pasiuk of Army. Keeping his undefeated record in-tact, the Portage native is proving himself week after week since shifting to a lower weight class this season. Longtime teammate, Jacob Moran was runner-up and the Rooks’ brothers both captured a third place wins for the Hoosiers. Indiana is starting their season off much stronger than they left off last season and could make some sparks as they roll into the Garden State Grapple on December 4th.
 
 
Are the Boilermaker Duals a good indication of Purdue’s success?
Coming off a surprising dual loss to Rider University on their home turf, Purdue turned their performance around and defeated Cleveland State, Northern Illinois, and Chattanooga at the Boilermaker Duals. Having a younger squad this season, the Boilermakers are struggling to make the same mark at the start of their season as they have in their previous season. At this point in their schedule, it is too early to say if the Boilermakers are a tough to beat dual team, but it is safe to say that the competition at the Boilermaker Duals tournament means little to none when competing in the Big Ten. We look for the Boilermakers to start ramping up as we get closer to the middle of the season.
 
With that being said, the future looks bright for Purdue wrestling as this young roster will make for some depth in the coming years and the recruiting class coming in will be one to keep an eye on. It is exciting to see guys like Macartney Parkinson, Jaden Reynolds, and Hayden Filipovich really getting their feet wet with some serious mat time. Time will tell if the Boilermakers can show us what is behind the curtains as they compete in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on December 2nd – 3rd.
 
 
Recent Out-of-State Wrestler D1 Results:
#3 Mason Parris (Michigan) wins by fall in both duals against UNC and Columbia.
#5 Brayton Lee (Minnesota) clinches Binghamton dual by major decision.
#6 Lucas Davison (Northwestern) with a dominant 6-0 decision in Virginia Dual.
#12 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) pushes Joey Melendez out of the rankings with a pin.
#19 Silas Allred (Nebraska) wins Navy Classic.
 
 

By Blaze Lowery
  
Is IU better than we thought?
Unranked Indiana defeats #23 Princeton, pushing the Tigers out of the rankings. Although Princeton was without #2 Pat Glory, the Hoosiers dominate them with a 22 – 13 upset. IU has continued to show improvement since last season’s dissatisfactory finish.
 
#19 D.J. Washington then goes on to wins Army’s, Black Knight Open at 174lbs, beating #21 Benjamin Pasiuk of Army. Keeping his undefeated record in-tact, the Portage native is proving himself week after week since shifting to a lower weight class this season. Longtime teammate, Jacob Moran was runner-up and the Rooks’ brothers both captured a third place wins for the Hoosiers. Indiana is starting their season off much stronger than they left off last season and could make some sparks as they roll into the Garden State Grapple on December 4th.
 
 
Are the Boilermaker Duals a good indication of Purdue’s success?
Coming off a surprising dual loss to Rider University on their home turf, Purdue turned their performance around and defeated Cleveland State, Northern Illinois, and Chattanooga at the Boilermaker Duals. Having a younger squad this season, the Boilermakers are struggling to make the same mark at the start of their season as they have in their previous season. At this point in their schedule, it is too early to say if the Boilermakers are a tough to beat dual team, but it is safe to say that the competition at the Boilermaker Duals tournament means little to none when competing in the Big Ten. We look for the Boilermakers to start ramping up as we get closer to the middle of the season.
 
With that being said, the future looks bright for Purdue wrestling as this young roster will make for some depth in the coming years and the recruiting class coming in will be one to keep an eye on. It is exciting to see guys like Macartney Parkinson, Jaden Reynolds, and Hayden Filipovich really getting their feet wet with some serious mat time. Time will tell if the Boilermakers can show us what is behind the curtains as they compete in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on December 2nd – 3rd.
 
 
Recent Out-of-State Wrestler D1 Results:
#3 Mason Parris (Michigan) wins by fall in both duals against UNC and Columbia.
#5 Brayton Lee (Minnesota) clinches Binghamton dual by major decision.
#6 Lucas Davison (Northwestern) with a dominant 6-0 decision in Virginia Dual.
#12 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) pushes Joey Melendez out of the rankings with a pin.
#19 Silas Allred (Nebraska) wins Navy Classic.
 
 

By Blaze Lowery
  
Is IU better than we thought?
Unranked Indiana defeats #23 Princeton, pushing the Tigers out of the rankings. Although Princeton was without #2 Pat Glory, the Hoosiers dominate them with a 22 – 13 upset. IU has continued to show improvement since last season’s dissatisfactory finish.
 
#19 D.J. Washington then goes on to wins Army’s, Black Knight Open at 174lbs, beating #21 Benjamin Pasiuk of Army. Keeping his undefeated record in-tact, the Portage native is proving himself week after week since shifting to a lower weight class this season. Longtime teammate, Jacob Moran was runner-up and the Rooks’ brothers both captured a third place wins for the Hoosiers. Indiana is starting their season off much stronger than they left off last season and could make some sparks as they roll into the Garden State Grapple on December 4th.
 
 
Are the Boilermaker Duals a good indication of Purdue’s success?
Coming off a surprising dual loss to Rider University on their home turf, Purdue turned their performance around and defeated Cleveland State, Northern Illinois, and Chattanooga at the Boilermaker Duals. Having a younger squad this season, the Boilermakers are struggling to make the same mark at the start of their season as they have in their previous season. At this point in their schedule, it is too early to say if the Boilermakers are a tough to beat dual team, but it is safe to say that the competition at the Boilermaker Duals tournament means little to none when competing in the Big Ten. We look for the Boilermakers to start ramping up as we get closer to the middle of the season.
 
With that being said, the future looks bright for Purdue wrestling as this young roster will make for some depth in the coming years and the recruiting class coming in will be one to keep an eye on. It is exciting to see guys like Macartney Parkinson, Jaden Reynolds, and Hayden Filipovich really getting their feet wet with some serious mat time. Time will tell if the Boilermakers can show us what is behind the curtains as they compete in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on December 2nd – 3rd.
 
 
Recent Out-of-State Wrestler D1 Results:
#3 Mason Parris (Michigan) wins by fall in both duals against UNC and Columbia.
#5 Brayton Lee (Minnesota) clinches Binghamton dual by major decision.
#6 Lucas Davison (Northwestern) with a dominant 6-0 decision in Virginia Dual.
#12 Jesse Mendez (Ohio State) pushes Joey Melendez out of the rankings with a pin.
#19 Silas Allred (Nebraska) wins Navy Classic.
 
 

By Anna Kayser
If you’ve been an unfamiliar passerby in the town of Brownsburg, Ind. over the past seven years, one of the first things that might catch your eye are the purple street signs – deep purple markers adorned with a bulldog, two on each corner if you’re lucky.
 
At least, that’s what I noticed as I drove through the small – but not too small – suburb of Indianapolis en route to the fourth official practice of the 2022-23 IHSAA wrestling season, with no prior knowledge other than what was scribbled on the notepad next to me.
 
One thing I hadn’t taken note of prior to passing the “Welcome to Brownsburg” sign on Highway 139, and something that might give any other small-town Midwesterner the same familiar wave of recognition: The residents of this town about 30 minutes northwest of downtown Indy live and breathe Brownsburg High School athletics.
 
The 2021-22 Brownsburg wrestling team was nothing to snub at. The Bulldogs went 18-1 in duals and extended their program-record streak to eight consecutive Hoosier Crossroads Conference championships. Jake Hockaday led the lineup with the first state title by a freshman in school history, continuing Brownsburg’s reign of crowning one champion each year since 2016. More on him later – I promise.
 
But that was last year, and while the result is indicative of the journey to get to where they are now, it’s not the full story. What better place to begin than at the beginning – when the Bulldog wrestling program transitioned from a bottom-of-the-barrel finish to an HCC Championship in two years, to an IHSAA State Championship in four.
 
“Regardless of what it is, I have high expectations,” Brownsburg Community School Corporation Superintendent Dr. Jim Snapp said. “My experience has been if you want to have a state contending team, you [hire a coach] who has done it before.”
 
After beginning his head coaching career at Mishawaka High School – a time in which he led the program to three consecutive top-two finishes and a pair of championships in 2008 and 2010 – Darrick Snyder found himself as the subject of a coaching inquiry almost 150 miles dead south of the place where he was a Northern Indiana Conference champion and state place winner.
 
From Snyder’s point of view, there were a number of perks to coming to Brownsburg. And when his wife asked him about the wrestling team’s recent lack of success, he saw the potential to upgrade the team to something special.
 
“Yeah – but there’s no reason [for that lack of success],” he said. “All the pieces are there.”
 
Immediately, things began to shift. During Snyder’s first two seasons, the Bulldog program went 36-12 in duals and was crowned 2015 HCC Champions. Of course, that success comes not entirely from the corner but from the center of the mat itself – it’s a combination of what happens behind the scenes and the performances under the spotlight.
 
That first piece of the puzzle, the one that is encapsulated in the public eye each time the mats are rolled out: The athletes.
 
The success of that 2015 team was boasted by a pair of wrestlers that took center stage on the IHSAA State podium come February – Ty Mills (106), Brownsburg’s first finalist since Mark Meunier’s title in 1977, and Nathan Walton (170). As four-year place winners at the state tournament, they were two of four key athletes named by Snapp as being difference-makers in raising the heights of the program.
 
None was more instrumental under Snyder’s tutelage, however, than All-American and two-time NCAA Division I Championships qualifier Brayton Lee, Minnesota’s current starting 157-pounder. A leader that, without Snyder’s drive to create a pipeline from younger levels into a high school program the town could be proud of, might never have donned the purple Bulldog in the first place.
 
“[My family] knew that [Snyder] was a good coach and had a lot of success, but we weren’t that familiar with him,” Lee said. “We went to Brownsburg for a high school tournament to meet up with him when I was in middle school, and we just talked. He was just supportive and said that he would help me to become the best wrestler I can possibly be. We were really excited about Snyder, he pretty much sold us [on where the Brownsburg program would go].”
 
Not only is building the high school program a key part in escalating success, but also what feeds into it. The implementation and management of a strong program for middle school students ensures that development and love for the sport occurs at a younger age.
 
“We were fortunate enough to get some kids [like Lee] that came here because of him, and he’s worked on [building up] the middle school program – kids want to come here, kids want to stay here,” Snapp said. So, we’ve got this interaction of developing the feeder program and kids that, if they’re going to wrestle in the Indianapolis area, they [want] to come to Brownsburg.”
 
With two established wrestling academies nearby – Contender’s Wrestling Academy in Brownsburg and Red Cobra Wrestling in Avon – growth through both the school program and external coaching elevates athletes even higher.
 
Lee, a product of Red Cobra, was a good example of how development can skyrocket through that extra effort and help outside of a school program. What the Bulldogs standout star lacked early on, however, was the team aspect.
 
“It was definitely different, just because I had never been on a team before – I had just wrestled on my own,” Lee said. “I had grown up going to our very intense wrestling club and on both sides, practices were tough. I appreciated and respected that. [Snyder] was always making us do lots of tough stuff intertwined with wrestling.”
 
Prior to Lee’s first of three IHSAA state titles in 2016 – a year in which he, along with five other state placers, led the charge on Brownsburg’s IHSWCA Dual State championship and IHSAA state runner-up finishes – the Bulldogs had only crowned two individual champions in school history.
 
“We were always focused on the next day,” Lee said. “The first time I won, it was awesome, and I was grateful for it – but there was always a team aspect. I wanted to win with our team, and that idea of winning definitely pushed us. I think me winning helped bring other guys along. Knowing I was kind of a leader, knowing that my success was inspiring other guys on the Brownsburg wrestling team made me want to keep pushing.”
 
For Lee’s career specifically, the results of the drive to win as a team came quickly. His second title at 145 pounds saw seven Bulldogs on the IHSAA podium and a franchise-high three finalists – Mills and Blake Mulkey included as runners-up – to lead Brownsburg to its first IHSAA state championship in school history.
 
That influx of high-performing athletes jumpstarted Brownsburg’s rise to the top of high school wrestling in central Indiana.
 
“You put those kids together – we had a core of four, good kids – and Darrick coached up other kids around them,” Snapp said. “That started [a stretch] of us winning the conference every year for the last eight years, we’re in the strongest athletic conference in the state of Indiana. Our wrestling team has dominated. It hasn’t even been close.”
 
The second piece to the puzzle, where Snapp, the administration and coaching staff as a whole come into play, is the support Snyder continues to have behind him.
 
The best example? The wrestling room at Brownsburg High School, built during Snyder’s reign as head coach and designed by Snapp to help raise the standard of the program and accommodate the growing numbers of the extracurricular.
 
“I knew I was going to have [Snapp’s] support on just simple things,” Snyder said. “My first year here, I wanted to take a fan bus to individual state… and I was told no [by the athletic director]. I said, ‘This is a really important to the program. These guys need to watch this event, it’s incredible.’
 
“I called Jim, and every year [since], just like most teams, we get to take a team bus to state.”
 
The backing from Snapp and the administration is a means to an end in shifting the culture not just in the Brownsburg wrestling room, but in the town that loves its high school athletics.
 
“That first year, there wasn’t really anyone there for the kid that was wrestling [at state]. When you win, you want to look up and see a bunch of purple and sit with those people between rounds,” Snyder said. “We’ve really tried to change that around, anything like that.”
 
It also extends to the actual competition and helping those wrestlers reach the mats at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
 
In order to develop the athletes coming to Brownsburg or growing through school programs the Bulldogs support, the level of competition needed to continuously be raised.
 
“When I first got here, no program did any overnights or anything out of state,” Snyder said. “I went to [the athletic director] and told [them], ‘I’ve got to get out of Indianapolis’ – I was tired of wrestling the same teams over and over again, and then we got to the point that there weren’t many teams in our area that would be competitive.”
 
This upcoming season, the Bulldogs’ schedule includes the Walsh Jesuit Ironman Wrestling Tournament from and the Crown Point Invitational – Crown Point defeated Brownsburg 178-105 in the 2022 finals, setting an IHSAA record for the largest margin of victory by a team champion by over 20 points – on back-to-back weekends in December.
 
That elevation in competition level allows wrestlers to face some of their biggest challenges early and prepares them for high-pressure situations come February.
 
“I always tell [our guys] that our schedule is not meant for them to go undefeated,” Snyder said. “If you do, that’s great, but we’ve set up a schedule where we’re going to take some losses. That took administrative support to be willing to allow us to do overnights, to allow us to go out of state.”
 
Pushing athletes beyond their comfort zone to prepare them for future career hurdles is a common theme in Snyder’s coaching style, something that is on record in helping wrestlers reach their full potential.
 
And, well, maybe no one can attest to that better than a Big Ten starter.
 
“I think just his competitiveness and him pushing us every day helped me,” Lee said. “He helped push me past my comfort zone a little but more than maybe I would myself, and that’s really the main purpose of a coach. Snyder knew I wanted to be great, and he helped me move into a little bit more uncomfortable territories which is important for any athlete, especially when you’re trying to go to the next level.”

By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
 
The story seems familiar. Big city guy, through fate, ends up in a small town and falls in love with the community. Although Christmas is fast approaching, this isn’t a Hallmark movie script. It’s the real-life journey of Quinn Harris and his Cascade wrestling team.
 
Harris is a 2015 graduate of Avon High School. Avon’s enrollment is close to 3,000 students. After high school he helped coach at Avon, then coached at Ben Davis, which also has close to 3,000 students. Last year he took the head coaching job at Cascade, a tiny high school in Clayton, IN with an enrollment of under 500.
 
“There isn’t a whole lot to do here,” Harris said. “It’s a small farm town. 4H and agriculture are huge around here. A lot of kids live and work on the farm. They own pigs. They show pigs. The kids go hunting and fishing. It’s a much different culture than what I’m used to.”
 
The wrestlers on his Cadet squad like to tease him a little bit about his city-guy life.
 
“They tease me all the time,” Harris said. “They talk about how my jeans are a little tighter than the other guys.”
 
The relationship has worked. Last year, in his first season at the helm of the Cadets, Harris led the team to a spot in the team state championship. The Cadets finished sixth at team state, won the Indiana Crossroads Conference for the first time, won a New Castle invitational and had a sectional champion for the first time since 2016.
 
“All around, I couldn’t have been happier with the year,” Harris said.
 
Early in the season Harris learned just how close the Cascade wrestling family was.
 
“Last year, before I accepted the job, they lost a teammate to a disease,” Harris said. “Kadeo Lewis was his name. He would have been a senior last year. It was a big loss for their team. He was a captain as a junior. So, senior night they called it Kadeo Lewis night. We all wore orange in his honor. Orange Cascade shirts when the normal colors are Carolina blue. But the entire crowd was in orange, and it was a big crowd. We sold over 100 shirts that night. It was just a cool thing. Kids that had never went to a wrestling meet before came there. It really showed me that Cascade is a family, for sure.”
 
Last year Harris was getting to know the team. This year he’s hoping to lead them to the 1A state title. He’s got a nucleus of seven highly talented seniors along with some key underclassmen that could push Cascade to the school’s best season in history.
 
“This year we have an extremely motivated attitude,” Harris said. “There is a difference in practices. This year they are believing it on their own. They have expectations. Other than cheerleading and cross country, there has never been a team at Cascade that had been to a state championship. The kids are starting to believe it’s possible to win it.”
 
The Cadets are led by four-ranked seniors. Liam Farmer (182), Michael Hutchison (160) and Dominic McFeeley (126) are all ranked No. 10 in their respective weight classes. Logan Bickel comes in ranked No. 8 at 113 pounds. Walker VanNess isn’t ranked, but he finished the year with a 31-9 record last year at 220 pounds.
 
“This is a tough senior class,” Harris said. “Five of the seven had over 30 wins last year. Three were semistate guys and one a state qualifier. They are the reason we will have so much success. They are 100 percent leaders. They are our five captains. All five did a lot of off-season wrestling. They went out and competed at Virginia Beach and at Disney.”
 
Bickel reached the 100-win mark at the end of the season last year. He is a three-time semistate qualifier. He was also the first Fargo All-American from Cascade.
 
“He’s a big move kind of guy,” Harris said. “He has a lot of fire and passion. He’s a very cool kid and he didn’t even start wrestling until seventh grade. He’s very strong and athletic. I’m looking forward to seeing how far he can go.”
 
McFeeley was the lone state qualifier from Cascade last year.
 
“In some people’s eyes that was a big surprise,” Harris said. “He took out a returning 4th place finisher in semistate. He’s one of the hardest workers in our room. He leads day in and day out and he’s very humble. He does things the right way. He really likes working with the younger kids as well.”
 
Hutchison is another team leader that likes to stay and help the younger kids at practice. He has a brother, Carter, that is the team’s 145 pounder as a sophomore.
 
Farmer is more of the vocal leader on the team. He was a football phenom this past season as well.
 
“Liam is a stud on the football field,” Harris said. “He broke our single game rushing record this year. He had a game with seven touchdowns and somewhere around 375 rushing yards. He was in the top 10 in the state for rushing yards.”
 
Farmer broke his leg in the first round of sectional but is expected to be able to return to the mat sometime in December.
 
The Cadets expect big contributions this season from Carter Hutchison and fellow sophomore Brayden Burelison as well. Burelison was a conference champion last year and Hutchison was a conference runner-up. Both had over 25 wins as freshmen.
 
A few other key contributors to this year’s squad will be heavyweight Kyle Sullivan and 106-pound junior Logan Schnarr. Last year Schnarr only had one win going into team state, but he pinned all four of the opponents he faced in the tournament and was named the team MVP.
 
Harris believes the team state aspect has really helped sell the kids in the sport. It gives them something to be motivated by.
 
“The kids have really bought into this,” Harris said. “The community really backs the team as well. I think last year we sold around 200 team state T-shirts. When I was at Avon we went to team state, but I didn’t realize how much it meant to the small schools. The fans travel so well in these small communities. It’s extremely cool to see how much this means to them.”
Harris believes because of his young age he has really been able to relate to the kids and help keep them motivated.
 
“I was just in their shoes not too long ago,” Harris said. “I don’t know exactly what they are going through, but I know what it was like being a kid in high school. I think I’ve built a really good relationship with them on a personal level. Wrestling is about building character for the days after wrestling is over, and I’m glad to be a part of that here.”
 
The city guy in the small town is learning to adapt. In fact, although he’s never been hunting or fishing before, he’s going to give it a try. The team has been wanting to take him out and teach him some of the small-town ways.
 
“I’m interested in just about anything, and I’m going to give it a try,” Harris said.
 
But for now, Harris and the Cascade Cadets have goals to meet on the mat.

By: Blaze Lowery
 
Jordan Slivka & Carson Brewer
 
Ohio University is home to a few Indiana State Champions that have been making a name for themselves as Bobcats. Two-time State Champion, Jordan Slivka of Cathedral, is coming off his best collegiate season yet. Finishing his last season with a 25-7 record at 157lbs, He found himself in Detroit for the DI NCAA Championships. Slivka is bumping up to the 165lbs weight class this season and was an honorable mention in FloWrestling’s 2022-2023 NCAA DI rankings. “It’s really cool knowing that I am still believed in and looked at even when moving up a weight class,” states Slivka. 
 
Slivka reminisces on his time wrestling at the nationals saying he was unable to hear the whistle when he started his pigtail match. The crowd’s roars fuel him, as he is “dying to compete” for the Bobcats this season. His goal is to do what he needs to do to get his team a MAC Championship title. Individually, his is goal is to compete to the best of his ability every single match. “All to gain and nothing to lose,” Slivka is on his path to find himself back at the NCAA Championships. Being a great wrestler at the next level comes naturally, “if you’re willing to buckle down on work ethic and show yourself how good you could be,” says Slivka.
 
Indiana State Champion and FloNationals place-winner, Carson Brewer of Avon, is also making waves in the MAC. For the first time in his collegiate career, he is having a healthy, injury-free preseason. Starting the preseason off strong is a huge factor for success at the next level, Brewer believes it is his time to win a MAC Championship title. Wrestling at 184lbs for the Bobcats, there is no one in his conference that he has not beaten already, making this goal much more feasible. 
 
In his transition from high school to collegiate wrestling, Brewer’s biggest adjustment was to not exert himself so quickly into the match. Slowing his wrestling down has only made him more efficient and tactical. Brewer highlights how Ohio is bringing back everyone in their previous lineup, making a MAC Team Championship title a feasible goal for the Bobcats. “Doing the right things off the mat is what will make you successful in collegiate wrestling,” says Brewer. 
 
Slivka and Brewer have big plans for Ohio this season and will continue to put on for Indiana wrestling. 

Lucas Davison
 
Last season, the nation got to watch Indiana State Champion, Lucas Davison of Chesterton, gain All-American status at the 2022 DI NCAA Championships. Moving up to heavyweight, although a big adjustment, put him at 6th in that nation. Davison states that “establishing pace” in his matches since moving up has led to his success in the post season. Adjusting his style of wrestling to accommodate for the heavyweight transition forced Davison to clean up his attacks.
 
Davison also acknowledges how remarkable it was to see what it takes to become a National Champion, referring to his teammate Ryan Deakin. “Now it’s a matter of following his footsteps,” stated Davison. Northwestern is bringing back all four of their All-American’s from last season, making Davison’s goal of being a top 3 team in the nation much more achievable. 
 
Competing year round is an essential ingredient Davison attributes his successful career too. With freestyle being a key reason behind his recruitment, wrestling in the offseason propelled him to Big Ten recruitment. Competition is opportunity and coaches love to see guys that are willing to put it all out their year-round. Davison is ready to take advantage of every opportunity that steps on the line this season. 
 

By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
 
The story seems familiar. Big city guy, through fate, ends up in a small town and falls in love with the community. Although Christmas is fast approaching, this isn’t a Hallmark movie script. It’s the real-life journey of Quinn Harris and his Cascade wrestling team.
 
Harris is a 2015 graduate of Avon High School. Avon’s enrollment is close to 3,000 students. After high school he helped coach at Avon, then coached at Ben Davis, which also has close to 3,000 students. Last year he took the head coaching job at Cascade, a tiny high school in Clayton, IN with an enrollment of under 500.
 
“There isn’t a whole lot to do here,” Harris said. “It’s a small farm town. 4H and agriculture are huge around here. A lot of kids live and work on the farm. They own pigs. They show pigs. The kids go hunting and fishing. It’s a much different culture than what I’m used to.”
 
The wrestlers on his Cadet squad like to tease him a little bit about his city-guy life.
 
“They tease me all the time,” Harris said. “They talk about how my jeans are a little tighter than the other guys.”
 
The relationship has worked. Last year, in his first season at the helm of the Cadets, Harris led the team to a spot in the team state championship. The Cadets finished sixth at team state, won the Indiana Crossroads Conference for the first time, won a New Castle invitational and had a sectional champion for the first time since 2016.
 
“All around, I couldn’t have been happier with the year,” Harris said.
 
Early in the season Harris learned just how close the Cascade wrestling family was.
 
“Last year, before I accepted the job, they lost a teammate to a disease,” Harris said. “Kadeo Lewis was his name. He would have been a senior last year. It was a big loss for their team. He was a captain as a junior. So, senior night they called it Kadeo Lewis night. We all wore orange in his honor. Orange Cascade shirts when the normal colors are Carolina blue. But the entire crowd was in orange, and it was a big crowd. We sold over 100 shirts that night. It was just a cool thing. Kids that had never went to a wrestling meet before came there. It really showed me that Cascade is a family, for sure.”
 
Last year Harris was getting to know the team. This year he’s hoping to lead them to the 1A state title. He’s got a nucleus of seven highly talented seniors along with some key underclassmen that could push Cascade to the school’s best season in history.
 
“This year we have an extremely motivated attitude,” Harris said. “There is a difference in practices. This year they are believing it on their own. They have expectations. Other than cheerleading and cross country, there has never been a team at Cascade that had been to a state championship. The kids are starting to believe it’s possible to win it.”
 
The Cadets are led by four-ranked seniors. Liam Farmer (182), Michael Hutchison (160) and Dominic McFeeley (126) are all ranked No. 10 in their respective weight classes. Logan Bickel comes in ranked No. 8 at 113 pounds. Walker VanNess isn’t ranked, but he finished the year with a 31-9 record last year at 220 pounds.
 
“This is a tough senior class,” Harris said. “Five of the seven had over 30 wins last year. Three were semistate guys and one a state qualifier. They are the reason we will have so much success. They are 100 percent leaders. They are our five captains. All five did a lot of off-season wrestling. They went out and competed at Virginia Beach and at Disney.”
 
Bickel reached the 100-win mark at the end of the season last year. He is a three-time semistate qualifier. He was also the first Fargo All-American from Cascade.
 
“He’s a big move kind of guy,” Harris said. “He has a lot of fire and passion. He’s a very cool kid and he didn’t even start wrestling until seventh grade. He’s very strong and athletic. I’m looking forward to seeing how far he can go.”
 
McFeeley was the lone state qualifier from Cascade last year.
 
“In some people’s eyes that was a big surprise,” Harris said. “He took out a returning 4th place finisher in semistate. He’s one of the hardest workers in our room. He leads day in and day out and he’s very humble. He does things the right way. He really likes working with the younger kids as well.”
 
Hutchison is another team leader that likes to stay and help the younger kids at practice. He has a brother, Carter, that is the team’s 145 pounder as a sophomore.
 
Farmer is more of the vocal leader on the team. He was a football phenom this past season as well.
 
“Liam is a stud on the football field,” Harris said. “He broke our single game rushing record this year. He had a game with seven touchdowns and somewhere around 375 rushing yards. He was in the top 10 in the state for rushing yards.”
 
Farmer broke his leg in the first round of sectional but is expected to be able to return to the mat sometime in December.
 
The Cadets expect big contributions this season from Carter Hutchison and fellow sophomore Brayden Burelison as well. Burelison was a conference champion last year and Hutchison was a conference runner-up. Both had over 25 wins as freshmen.
 
A few other key contributors to this year’s squad will be heavyweight Kyle Sullivan and 106-pound junior Logan Schnarr. Last year Schnarr only had one win going into team state, but he pinned all four of the opponents he faced in the tournament and was named the team MVP.
 
Harris believes the team state aspect has really helped sell the kids in the sport. It gives them something to be motivated by.
 
“The kids have really bought into this,” Harris said. “The community really backs the team as well. I think last year we sold around 200 team state T-shirts. When I was at Avon we went to team state, but I didn’t realize how much it meant to the small schools. The fans travel so well in these small communities. It’s extremely cool to see how much this means to them.”
Harris believes because of his young age he has really been able to relate to the kids and help keep them motivated.
 
“I was just in their shoes not too long ago,” Harris said. “I don’t know exactly what they are going through, but I know what it was like being a kid in high school. I think I’ve built a really good relationship with them on a personal level. Wrestling is about building character for the days after wrestling is over, and I’m glad to be a part of that here.”
 
The city guy in the small town is learning to adapt. In fact, although he’s never been hunting or fishing before, he’s going to give it a try. The team has been wanting to take him out and teach him some of the small-town ways.
 
“I’m interested in just about anything, and I’m going to give it a try,” Harris said.
 
But for now, Harris and the Cascade Cadets have goals to meet on the mat.

By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
 
The story seems familiar. Big city guy, through fate, ends up in a small town and falls in love with the community. Although Christmas is fast approaching, this isn’t a Hallmark movie script. It’s the real-life journey of Quinn Harris and his Cascade wrestling team.
 
Harris is a 2015 graduate of Avon High School. Avon’s enrollment is close to 3,000 students. After high school he helped coach at Avon, then coached at Ben Davis, which also has close to 3,000 students. Last year he took the head coaching job at Cascade, a tiny high school in Clayton, IN with an enrollment of under 500.
 
“There isn’t a whole lot to do here,” Harris said. “It’s a small farm town. 4H and agriculture are huge around here. A lot of kids live and work on the farm. They own pigs. They show pigs. The kids go hunting and fishing. It’s a much different culture than what I’m used to.”
 
The wrestlers on his Cadet squad like to tease him a little bit about his city-guy life.
 
“They tease me all the time,” Harris said. “They talk about how my jeans are a little tighter than the other guys.”
 
The relationship has worked. Last year, in his first season at the helm of the Cadets, Harris led the team to a spot in the team state championship. The Cadets finished sixth at team state, won the Indiana Crossroads Conference for the first time, won a New Castle invitational and had a sectional champion for the first time since 2016.
 
“All around, I couldn’t have been happier with the year,” Harris said.
 
Early in the season Harris learned just how close the Cascade wrestling family was.
 
“Last year, before I accepted the job, they lost a teammate to a disease,” Harris said. “Kadeo Lewis was his name. He would have been a senior last year. It was a big loss for their team. He was a captain as a junior. So, senior night they called it Kadeo Lewis night. We all wore orange in his honor. Orange Cascade shirts when the normal colors are Carolina blue. But the entire crowd was in orange, and it was a big crowd. We sold over 100 shirts that night. It was just a cool thing. Kids that had never went to a wrestling meet before came there. It really showed me that Cascade is a family, for sure.”
 
Last year Harris was getting to know the team. This year he’s hoping to lead them to the 1A state title. He’s got a nucleus of seven highly talented seniors along with some key underclassmen that could push Cascade to the school’s best season in history.
 
“This year we have an extremely motivated attitude,” Harris said. “There is a difference in practices. This year they are believing it on their own. They have expectations. Other than cheerleading and cross country, there has never been a team at Cascade that had been to a state championship. The kids are starting to believe it’s possible to win it.”
 
The Cadets are led by four-ranked seniors. Liam Farmer (182), Michael Hutchison (160) and Dominic McFeeley (126) are all ranked No. 10 in their respective weight classes. Logan Bickel comes in ranked No. 8 at 113 pounds. Walker VanNess isn’t ranked, but he finished the year with a 31-9 record last year at 220 pounds.
 
“This is a tough senior class,” Harris said. “Five of the seven had over 30 wins last year. Three were semistate guys and one a state qualifier. They are the reason we will have so much success. They are 100 percent leaders. They are our five captains. All five did a lot of off-season wrestling. They went out and competed at Virginia Beach and at Disney.”
 
Bickel reached the 100-win mark at the end of the season last year. He is a three-time semistate qualifier. He was also the first Fargo All-American from Cascade.
 
“He’s a big move kind of guy,” Harris said. “He has a lot of fire and passion. He’s a very cool kid and he didn’t even start wrestling until seventh grade. He’s very strong and athletic. I’m looking forward to seeing how far he can go.”
 
McFeeley was the lone state qualifier from Cascade last year.
 
“In some people’s eyes that was a big surprise,” Harris said. “He took out a returning 4th place finisher in semistate. He’s one of the hardest workers in our room. He leads day in and day out and he’s very humble. He does things the right way. He really likes working with the younger kids as well.”
 
Hutchison is another team leader that likes to stay and help the younger kids at practice. He has a brother, Carter, that is the team’s 145 pounder as a sophomore.
 
Farmer is more of the vocal leader on the team. He was a football phenom this past season as well.
 
“Liam is a stud on the football field,” Harris said. “He broke our single game rushing record this year. He had a game with seven touchdowns and somewhere around 375 rushing yards. He was in the top 10 in the state for rushing yards.”
 
Farmer broke his leg in the first round of sectional but is expected to be able to return to the mat sometime in December.
 
The Cadets expect big contributions this season from Carter Hutchison and fellow sophomore Brayden Burelison as well. Burelison was a conference champion last year and Hutchison was a conference runner-up. Both had over 25 wins as freshmen.
 
A few other key contributors to this year’s squad will be heavyweight Kyle Sullivan and 106-pound junior Logan Schnarr. Last year Schnarr only had one win going into team state, but he pinned all four of the opponents he faced in the tournament and was named the team MVP.
 
Harris believes the team state aspect has really helped sell the kids in the sport. It gives them something to be motivated by.
 
“The kids have really bought into this,” Harris said. “The community really backs the team as well. I think last year we sold around 200 team state T-shirts. When I was at Avon we went to team state, but I didn’t realize how much it meant to the small schools. The fans travel so well in these small communities. It’s extremely cool to see how much this means to them.”
Harris believes because of his young age he has really been able to relate to the kids and help keep them motivated.
 
“I was just in their shoes not too long ago,” Harris said. “I don’t know exactly what they are going through, but I know what it was like being a kid in high school. I think I’ve built a really good relationship with them on a personal level. Wrestling is about building character for the days after wrestling is over, and I’m glad to be a part of that here.”
 
The city guy in the small town is learning to adapt. In fact, although he’s never been hunting or fishing before, he’s going to give it a try. The team has been wanting to take him out and teach him some of the small-town ways.
 
“I’m interested in just about anything, and I’m going to give it a try,” Harris said.
 
But for now, Harris and the Cascade Cadets have goals to meet on the mat.

By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
 
The story seems familiar. Big city guy, through fate, ends up in a small town and falls in love with the community. Although Christmas is fast approaching, this isn’t a Hallmark movie script. It’s the real-life journey of Quinn Harris and his Cascade wrestling team.
 
Harris is a 2015 graduate of Avon High School. Avon’s enrollment is close to 3,000 students. After high school he helped coach at Avon, then coached at Ben Davis, which also has close to 3,000 students. Last year he took the head coaching job at Cascade, a tiny high school in Clayton, IN with an enrollment of under 500.
 
“There isn’t a whole lot to do here,” Harris said. “It’s a small farm town. 4H and agriculture are huge around here. A lot of kids live and work on the farm. They own pigs. They show pigs. The kids go hunting and fishing. It’s a much different culture than what I’m used to.”
 
The wrestlers on his Cadet squad like to tease him a little bit about his city-guy life.
 
“They tease me all the time,” Harris said. “They talk about how my jeans are a little tighter than the other guys.”
 
The relationship has worked. Last year, in his first season at the helm of the Cadets, Harris led the team to a spot in the team state championship. The Cadets finished sixth at team state, won the Indiana Crossroads Conference for the first time, won a New Castle invitational and had a sectional champion for the first time since 2016.
 
“All around, I couldn’t have been happier with the year,” Harris said.
 
Early in the season Harris learned just how close the Cascade wrestling family was.
 
“Last year, before I accepted the job, they lost a teammate to a disease,” Harris said. “Kadeo Lewis was his name. He would have been a senior last year. It was a big loss for their team. He was a captain as a junior. So, senior night they called it Kadeo Lewis night. We all wore orange in his honor. Orange Cascade shirts when the normal colors are Carolina blue. But the entire crowd was in orange, and it was a big crowd. We sold over 100 shirts that night. It was just a cool thing. Kids that had never went to a wrestling meet before came there. It really showed me that Cascade is a family, for sure.”
 
Last year Harris was getting to know the team. This year he’s hoping to lead them to the 1A state title. He’s got a nucleus of seven highly talented seniors along with some key underclassmen that could push Cascade to the school’s best season in history.
 
“This year we have an extremely motivated attitude,” Harris said. “There is a difference in practices. This year they are believing it on their own. They have expectations. Other than cheerleading and cross country, there has never been a team at Cascade that had been to a state championship. The kids are starting to believe it’s possible to win it.”
 
The Cadets are led by four-ranked seniors. Liam Farmer (182), Michael Hutchison (160) and Dominic McFeeley (126) are all ranked No. 10 in their respective weight classes. Logan Bickel comes in ranked No. 8 at 113 pounds. Walker VanNess isn’t ranked, but he finished the year with a 31-9 record last year at 220 pounds.
 
“This is a tough senior class,” Harris said. “Five of the seven had over 30 wins last year. Three were semistate guys and one a state qualifier. They are the reason we will have so much success. They are 100 percent leaders. They are our five captains. All five did a lot of off-season wrestling. They went out and competed at Virginia Beach and at Disney.”
 
Bickel reached the 100-win mark at the end of the season last year. He is a three-time semistate qualifier. He was also the first Fargo All-American from Cascade.
 
“He’s a big move kind of guy,” Harris said. “He has a lot of fire and passion. He’s a very cool kid and he didn’t even start wrestling until seventh grade. He’s very strong and athletic. I’m looking forward to seeing how far he can go.”
 
McFeeley was the lone state qualifier from Cascade last year.
 
“In some people’s eyes that was a big surprise,” Harris said. “He took out a returning 4th place finisher in semistate. He’s one of the hardest workers in our room. He leads day in and day out and he’s very humble. He does things the right way. He really likes working with the younger kids as well.”
 
Hutchison is another team leader that likes to stay and help the younger kids at practice. He has a brother, Carter, that is the team’s 145 pounder as a sophomore.
 
Farmer is more of the vocal leader on the team. He was a football phenom this past season as well.
 
“Liam is a stud on the football field,” Harris said. “He broke our single game rushing record this year. He had a game with seven touchdowns and somewhere around 375 rushing yards. He was in the top 10 in the state for rushing yards.”
 
Farmer broke his leg in the first round of sectional but is expected to be able to return to the mat sometime in December.
 
The Cadets expect big contributions this season from Carter Hutchison and fellow sophomore Brayden Burelison as well. Burelison was a conference champion last year and Hutchison was a conference runner-up. Both had over 25 wins as freshmen.
 
A few other key contributors to this year’s squad will be heavyweight Kyle Sullivan and 106-pound junior Logan Schnarr. Last year Schnarr only had one win going into team state, but he pinned all four of the opponents he faced in the tournament and was named the team MVP.
 
Harris believes the team state aspect has really helped sell the kids in the sport. It gives them something to be motivated by.
 
“The kids have really bought into this,” Harris said. “The community really backs the team as well. I think last year we sold around 200 team state T-shirts. When I was at Avon we went to team state, but I didn’t realize how much it meant to the small schools. The fans travel so well in these small communities. It’s extremely cool to see how much this means to them.”
Harris believes because of his young age he has really been able to relate to the kids and help keep them motivated.
 
“I was just in their shoes not too long ago,” Harris said. “I don’t know exactly what they are going through, but I know what it was like being a kid in high school. I think I’ve built a really good relationship with them on a personal level. Wrestling is about building character for the days after wrestling is over, and I’m glad to be a part of that here.”
 
The city guy in the small town is learning to adapt. In fact, although he’s never been hunting or fishing before, he’s going to give it a try. The team has been wanting to take him out and teach him some of the small-town ways.
 
“I’m interested in just about anything, and I’m going to give it a try,” Harris said.
 
But for now, Harris and the Cascade Cadets have goals to meet on the mat.

By STEVE KRAH
stvkrh905@gmail.com

 
Sometimes a change of venue is the best thing for a person.
 
Mikey Robles placed fifth at the Michigan High School Athletic Association State Finals as a Niles High School 103-pound freshman in 2020.
 
He qualified for the regional stage as a sophomore then had to quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic and saw his season end. His grades began to slip, making him academically ineligible. There were other distractions in his life that caused him to look for a new school.
 
“It was so I could better my life and move away from all the drama and stuff,” says Robles of his decision to change schools.
 
The oldest of eight children (four boys and four girls), Robles came to Indiana and Kim Wagley (the grandmother of his girlfriend) became his legal guardian until he turned 18.
 
“(Wagley) treats him like a son,” says Steven Sandefer, head coach at Mishawaka High School where Robles enrolled after Niles. “She’ll do anything for him. She’s a sweet lady.
 
“She’s working with us to keep him motivated and on-track and making good decisions. He’s come a long way in the last two years.”
 
Sandefer, who is in his ninth year as a wrestling coach and sixth leading the Cavemen program, knows what it takes to be successful inside the circle.
 
“It’s a lot of hard work,” says Sandefer. “You have to have discipline. I say this to my guys weekly: In wrestling and in life you’re going to have to do things you don’t want to do things are not always going to be easy if you want to get where you want to go.

“It reinforces a lot of those bigger life lessons.”
 
That message has reached Robles.
 
“Wrestling has helped me be a better person in life,” says Robles. “Since it does come with discipline you show people a lot more respect and it also helps you stay out of trouble.”
 
Robles was with the Cavemen in 2021-22 but ineligible to compete.
 
“My grades have gotten back up to where they are pretty good,” says Robles, who counts History as his favorite subject and sees a future as an electrical engineer.
 
With then-Niles wrestling head coach Todd Hesson bringing his Vikings to Penn’s Henry Wilk Classic, Robles had competed against Mishawaka in the past.
 
Before joining the team, Mikey was familiar with Cavemen grapplers Christian Chavez, Chris Peacock, Courtney Rider, Gunnar Sandefur and Isaac Valdez.
 
The 2022-23 season — Robles’ senior campaign — opens with him No. 12 in the Indiana Mat preseason rankings at 138 pounds for a team that is No. 2 in Class 3A.
 
“When I’m on the mat I just like to get physical,” says Robles, who is 18 now and got started in the sport at 5. “I just love to wrestle. This is my senior year. I want to go as far as I can and leave everything on the mat.”
 
Sandefer says he saw “flashes of greatness” from Robles last winter and during the off-season, but is not sure he was yet fully in grappling shape.
 
“He has a lot of room to grow in his wrestling,” says Sandefer.
 
Many wrestlers progress from the end of one high school season to another.
 
“When the season gets here you can see the improvements the kids made in the off-season,” says Sandefer. “They get to showcase their talents.
 
“That’s the real rewarding part.”
 
Robles’ regular workout partners are 113-pound senior Peacock and 145-pound junior Brabender and — occasionally — 132-pound junior Zar Walker. The coaches he works with most are Sandefer and assistant Fabian Chavez.
 
“We don’t screw around,” says Robles of their practice room mentality. “We go in their and try to get better.”
 
The wrestlers teach each other moves and talk about making them more effective.
 
“Staying in shape and packing on muscle is good,” says Robles, who stands 5-foot-7 1/2. “But it’s really not how strong you are to go out there and win a match.
 
“I believe technique beats strength any day of the week.”
 
Four state qualifiers return for Mishawaka — Walker (who placed sixth at 132 in 2021-22 and is ranked No. 2 at 132 in the preseason), seniors Chavez (No. 4 at 195) and Valdez (No. 8 at 170) and Brabender (No. 6 at 145). There’s also senior Xavier Chavez (No. 6 at 106).
 
They are are part of a large squad of 47 (45 boys and two girls).
 
“That’s about 10 more than usual,” says Sandefer. “My first year I had 30 kids so it’s come up.
 
“All 47 kids have shown they’re committed.”
 
A physical education teacher at Mishawaka, Sandefer leads athletes and others through weight training classes. Most wrestlers are in these classes, learning power movements like the bench press and squat.
 
“We do pull movements,” says Sandefer. “If you’re on a guy’s leg you want to be able to pull him in.
“We also need that leg strength.”
 
Practices at Mishawaka began Nov. 1. The first boys meet is slated for Tuesday, Nov. 29 at Northern Lakes Conference foe Warsaw.
 
Among the other competitions for the Cavemen are the Chris Traicoff Memorial Invitational at Calumet New Tech Dec. 10, a dual against crosstown rival Penn Dec. 21 at Mishawaka (Alumni Night), the 32-team Al Smith Classic at Mishawaka Dec. 29-30, the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association 3A State Duals Jan. 7 at Franklin Community, the NLC Championships Jan. 14 at Wawasee, Mishawaka Sectional Jan. 28, Penn Regional Feb. 4, East Chicago Semistate Feb. 11 and IHSAA State Finals Feb. 17-18 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

It’s not all about wrestling for Robles. He played football at Niles as a sophomore and Mishawaka as a senior. He was a middle linebacker for the 10-2 Cavemen in 2022. A shortstop/left fielder in baseball, he intends to try out for that sport in the spring. He stepped away from the diamond after eighth grade to focus on wrestling.

By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
 
The story seems familiar. Big city guy, through fate, ends up in a small town and falls in love with the community. Although Christmas is fast approaching, this isn’t a Hallmark movie script. It’s the real-life journey of Quinn Harris and his Cascade wrestling team.
 
Harris is a 2015 graduate of Avon High School. Avon’s enrollment is close to 3,000 students. After high school he helped coach at Avon, then coached at Ben Davis, which also has close to 3,000 students. Last year he took the head coaching job at Cascade, a tiny high school in Clayton, IN with an enrollment of under 500.
 
“There isn’t a whole lot to do here,” Harris said. “It’s a small farm town. 4H and agriculture are huge around here. A lot of kids live and work on the farm. They own pigs. They show pigs. The kids go hunting and fishing. It’s a much different culture than what I’m used to.”
 
The wrestlers on his Cadet squad like to tease him a little bit about his city-guy life.
 
“They tease me all the time,” Harris said. “They talk about how my jeans are a little tighter than the other guys.”
 
The relationship has worked. Last year, in his first season at the helm of the Cadets, Harris led the team to a spot in the team state championship. The Cadets finished sixth at team state, won the Indiana Crossroads Conference for the first time, won a New Castle invitational and had a sectional champion for the first time since 2016.
 
“All around, I couldn’t have been happier with the year,” Harris said.
 
Early in the season Harris learned just how close the Cascade wrestling family was.
 
“Last year, before I accepted the job, they lost a teammate to a disease,” Harris said. “Kadeo Lewis was his name. He would have been a senior last year. It was a big loss for their team. He was a captain as a junior. So, senior night they called it Kadeo Lewis night. We all wore orange in his honor. Orange Cascade shirts when the normal colors are Carolina blue. But the entire crowd was in orange, and it was a big crowd. We sold over 100 shirts that night. It was just a cool thing. Kids that had never went to a wrestling meet before came there. It really showed me that Cascade is a family, for sure.”
 
Last year Harris was getting to know the team. This year he’s hoping to lead them to the 1A state title. He’s got a nucleus of seven highly talented seniors along with some key underclassmen that could push Cascade to the school’s best season in history.
 
“This year we have an extremely motivated attitude,” Harris said. “There is a difference in practices. This year they are believing it on their own. They have expectations. Other than cheerleading and cross country, there has never been a team at Cascade that had been to a state championship. The kids are starting to believe it’s possible to win it.”
 
The Cadets are led by four-ranked seniors. Liam Farmer (182), Michael Hutchison (160) and Dominic McFeeley (126) are all ranked No. 10 in their respective weight classes. Logan Bickel comes in ranked No. 8 at 113 pounds. Walker VanNess isn’t ranked, but he finished the year with a 31-9 record last year at 220 pounds.
 
“This is a tough senior class,” Harris said. “Five of the seven had over 30 wins last year. Three were semistate guys and one a state qualifier. They are the reason we will have so much success. They are 100 percent leaders. They are our five captains. All five did a lot of off-season wrestling. They went out and competed at Virginia Beach and at Disney.”
 
Bickel reached the 100-win mark at the end of the season last year. He is a three-time semistate qualifier. He was also the first Fargo All-American from Cascade.
 
“He’s a big move kind of guy,” Harris said. “He has a lot of fire and passion. He’s a very cool kid and he didn’t even start wrestling until seventh grade. He’s very strong and athletic. I’m looking forward to seeing how far he can go.”
 
McFeeley was the lone state qualifier from Cascade last year.
 
“In some people’s eyes that was a big surprise,” Harris said. “He took out a returning 4th place finisher in semistate. He’s one of the hardest workers in our room. He leads day in and day out and he’s very humble. He does things the right way. He really likes working with the younger kids as well.”
 
Hutchison is another team leader that likes to stay and help the younger kids at practice. He has a brother, Carter, that is the team’s 145 pounder as a sophomore.
 
Farmer is more of the vocal leader on the team. He was a football phenom this past season as well.
 
“Liam is a stud on the football field,” Harris said. “He broke our single game rushing record this year. He had a game with seven touchdowns and somewhere around 375 rushing yards. He was in the top 10 in the state for rushing yards.”
 
Farmer broke his leg in the first round of sectional but is expected to be able to return to the mat sometime in December.
 
The Cadets expect big contributions this season from Carter Hutchison and fellow sophomore Brayden Burelison as well. Burelison was a conference champion last year and Hutchison was a conference runner-up. Both had over 25 wins as freshmen.
 
A few other key contributors to this year’s squad will be heavyweight Kyle Sullivan and 106-pound junior Logan Schnarr. Last year Schnarr only had one win going into team state, but he pinned all four of the opponents he faced in the tournament and was named the team MVP.
 
Harris believes the team state aspect has really helped sell the kids in the sport. It gives them something to be motivated by.
 
“The kids have really bought into this,” Harris said. “The community really backs the team as well. I think last year we sold around 200 team state T-shirts. When I was at Avon we went to team state, but I didn’t realize how much it meant to the small schools. The fans travel so well in these small communities. It’s extremely cool to see how much this means to them.”
Harris believes because of his young age he has really been able to relate to the kids and help keep them motivated.
 
“I was just in their shoes not too long ago,” Harris said. “I don’t know exactly what they are going through, but I know what it was like being a kid in high school. I think I’ve built a really good relationship with them on a personal level. Wrestling is about building character for the days after wrestling is over, and I’m glad to be a part of that here.”
 
The city guy in the small town is learning to adapt. In fact, although he’s never been hunting or fishing before, he’s going to give it a try. The team has been wanting to take him out and teach him some of the small-town ways.
 
“I’m interested in just about anything, and I’m going to give it a try,” Harris said.
 
But for now, Harris and the Cascade Cadets have goals to meet on the mat.

By STEVE KRAH
stvkrh905@gmail.com

 
Sometimes a change of venue is the best thing for a person.
 
Mikey Robles placed fifth at the Michigan High School Athletic Association State Finals as a Niles High School 103-pound freshman in 2020.
 
He qualified for the regional stage as a sophomore then had to quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic and saw his season end. His grades began to slip, making him academically ineligible. There were other distractions in his life that caused him to look for a new school.
 
“It was so I could better my life and move away from all the drama and stuff,” says Robles of his decision to change schools.
 
The oldest of eight children (four boys and four girls), Robles came to Indiana and Kim Wagley (the grandmother of his girlfriend) became his legal guardian until he turned 18.
 
“(Wagley) treats him like a son,” says Steven Sandefer, head coach at Mishawaka High School where Robles enrolled after Niles. “She’ll do anything for him. She’s a sweet lady.
 
“She’s working with us to keep him motivated and on-track and making good decisions. He’s come a long way in the last two years.”
 
Sandefer, who is in his ninth year as a wrestling coach and sixth leading the Cavemen program, knows what it takes to be successful inside the circle.
 
“It’s a lot of hard work,” says Sandefer. “You have to have discipline. I say this to my guys weekly: In wrestling and in life you’re going to have to do things you don’t want to do things are not always going to be easy if you want to get where you want to go.

“It reinforces a lot of those bigger life lessons.”
 
That message has reached Robles.
 
“Wrestling has helped me be a better person in life,” says Robles. “Since it does come with discipline you show people a lot more respect and it also helps you stay out of trouble.”
 
Robles was with the Cavemen in 2021-22 but ineligible to compete.
 
“My grades have gotten back up to where they are pretty good,” says Robles, who counts History as his favorite subject and sees a future as an electrical engineer.
 
With then-Niles wrestling head coach Todd Hesson bringing his Vikings to Penn’s Henry Wilk Classic, Robles had competed against Mishawaka in the past.
 
Before joining the team, Mikey was familiar with Cavemen grapplers Christian Chavez, Chris Peacock, Courtney Rider, Gunnar Sandefur and Isaac Valdez.
 
The 2022-23 season — Robles’ senior campaign — opens with him No. 12 in the Indiana Mat preseason rankings at 138 pounds for a team that is No. 2 in Class 3A.
 
“When I’m on the mat I just like to get physical,” says Robles, who is 18 now and got started in the sport at 5. “I just love to wrestle. This is my senior year. I want to go as far as I can and leave everything on the mat.”
 
Sandefer says he saw “flashes of greatness” from Robles last winter and during the off-season, but is not sure he was yet fully in grappling shape.
 
“He has a lot of room to grow in his wrestling,” says Sandefer.
 
Many wrestlers progress from the end of one high school season to another.
 
“When the season gets here you can see the improvements the kids made in the off-season,” says Sandefer. “They get to showcase their talents.
 
“That’s the real rewarding part.”
 
Robles’ regular workout partners are 113-pound senior Peacock and 145-pound junior Brabender and — occasionally — 132-pound junior Zar Walker. The coaches he works with most are Sandefer and assistant Fabian Chavez.
 
“We don’t screw around,” says Robles of their practice room mentality. “We go in their and try to get better.”
 
The wrestlers teach each other moves and talk about making them more effective.
 
“Staying in shape and packing on muscle is good,” says Robles, who stands 5-foot-7 1/2. “But it’s really not how strong you are to go out there and win a match.
 
“I believe technique beats strength any day of the week.”
 
Four state qualifiers return for Mishawaka — Walker (who placed sixth at 132 in 2021-22 and is ranked No. 2 at 132 in the preseason), seniors Chavez (No. 4 at 195) and Valdez (No. 8 at 170) and Brabender (No. 6 at 145). There’s also senior Xavier Chavez (No. 6 at 106).
 
They are are part of a large squad of 47 (45 boys and two girls).
 
“That’s about 10 more than usual,” says Sandefer. “My first year I had 30 kids so it’s come up.
 
“All 47 kids have shown they’re committed.”
 
A physical education teacher at Mishawaka, Sandefer leads athletes and others through weight training classes. Most wrestlers are in these classes, learning power movements like the bench press and squat.
 
“We do pull movements,” says Sandefer. “If you’re on a guy’s leg you want to be able to pull him in.
“We also need that leg strength.”
 
Practices at Mishawaka began Nov. 1. The first boys meet is slated for Tuesday, Nov. 29 at Northern Lakes Conference foe Warsaw.
 
Among the other competitions for the Cavemen are the Chris Traicoff Memorial Invitational at Calumet New Tech Dec. 10, a dual against crosstown rival Penn Dec. 21 at Mishawaka (Alumni Night), the 32-team Al Smith Classic at Mishawaka Dec. 29-30, the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association 3A State Duals Jan. 7 at Franklin Community, the NLC Championships Jan. 14 at Wawasee, Mishawaka Sectional Jan. 28, Penn Regional Feb. 4, East Chicago Semistate Feb. 11 and IHSAA State Finals Feb. 17-18 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

It’s not all about wrestling for Robles. He played football at Niles as a sophomore and Mishawaka as a senior. He was a middle linebacker for the 10-2 Cavemen in 2022. A shortstop/left fielder in baseball, he intends to try out for that sport in the spring. He stepped away from the diamond after eighth grade to focus on wrestling.