gtodrivr

197 - Jack Servies (Marian University (IN)) over Blake Rypel (Southeastern) Dec 9-3
 
In all fairness Blake wrestled 184 today.  Servies went 5-0 on the day.

Kris Rumph                    Wartburg (Portage)
Jake Burford                  Wisconsin Whitewater (Crown Point)
Alex Barr                        Wabash (Yorktown)
Carlos Champagne       Wabash( Griffith- Marian Catholic)
Jack Heldt                     Wabash (Carmel)
Kyle Hatch                     Wabash (Warsaw)
 
Wishing them all the best next weekend.  

6 Indiana Guys Have Qualified for the D3 NCAA National Tournament on March 11th and 12th in Cedar Falls, Iowa

Kantola ends up 8th
Rodgers 6th
Rypel 7th
 
Osho wrestling for 3rd shortly
Servies wrestling for 5th
 
Conner Gimson wrestling for his 2nd consecutive national title at 133lbs tonight. For the 2nd consecutive year, he'll try to defeat the guy who upset his brother earlier in the bracket.  His teammate Eric Vermillion will join him in representing Indiana Tech in the finals at 184lbs.

Connor Gimson NAIA National Champion!  Congrats!!

We're underway..Gimsons both win first round. Hughes falls.

https://www.trackwrestling.com/tw/opentournaments/VerifyPassword.jsp?tournamentId=633466132
 
Wrestlers from Indiana
165 Chandler Woenker Campbellsville (Ky.)
174 Jarod Swank Cumberlands (Ky.)
285 Braydon Erb Indiana Tech
133 Connor Gimson Indiana Tech
133 Matt Gimson Indiana Tech
141 Aundre Beatty Marian (Ind.)
125 Anthony Hughes Marian (Ind.)
149 Seth Johnson Marian (Ind.)
157 Bailey Moore Marian (Ind.)
184 Sam Osho Marian (Ind.)
165 Elliott Rodgers Marian (Ind.)
197 Jack Servies Marian (Ind.)
141 Logan Wagner Marian (Ind.)
184 Blake Rypel Southeastern(FL)
 
Others with Indiana ties
149 Corey Cavanaugh Indiana Tech
174 Hunter Gasper Indiana Tech
149 Nick Gates Indiana Tech
141 Kyle Kantola Indiana Tech
125 Nathan Orum Indiana Tech
184 Eric Vermillion Indiana Tech
157 Nate Wheeler Indiana Tech
285 Vernon Willis Indiana Tech
141 Nathan Berta Calumet (Ind.) 
 
If I missed anyone please add them!

He choose IU because he thought at the time the IU Coaching Staff (Angel, Isaac Jordan & Mike Dixon) would get him to where he needed to be at the next level. Obviously that didn’t work out the 3 years he was there . He needed change. He had to what’s best for him . 


 

Blake Rypel won the Patriot Open over the weekend going 4-0 for Southeastern University. Good to see him back on the mat, and good to see wrestling starting to grow here in the sunshine state.

Carson had some complications due to the Covid vaccine. He has been cleared by the doctors and will be back on Monday. He and Slivka live together over there and are living there best life. 184 was a tough cut last year. Injured his ankle the week before MACs last year. Pretty sure he would have qualified for NCAAs.  He’s locked and loaded look forward to a really good run this season at 197. Rocking a full beard. Looks like a middle aged man. 😂 
 

Here are a few, captured from Indiana Little State...

125 - Anthony Hughes - Marian/Lawrence North 
133 - Matt Gimson - IN Tech/Jimtown 
- Chase Wilkerson - Indianapolis/Mt. Vernon Fortville
- Jared Brown - Marian/Pendleton Heights
141 - Ray Rioux - Indianapolis/Avon
- Gavin Alstott - Wabash/Floyd Central
- Hunter Cottingham - Indianapolis/Western 
149 - Logan Bailey - Indianapolis/Cathedral
- Alex Barr - Wabash/Yorktown
- Scott Fitts - IN Tech/Mater Dei 
157 - Nathan Conley - UIndy/Avon
165 - Jack Eiteljorge - UIndy/Carmel 
- Eliott Rodgers - Marian/Cathedral 
174 - Bradley Harrington - Wabash/Ind. North Central
184 - Sam Osho - Wabash/Avon
- Sam Morrill - UIndy/Columbus East
- Cody Timmerman - IN Tech/Mishawaka
197 - Jack Servies - Marian/Perry Meridian
- Phoenix Rodgers - UIndy/Heritage Hills
- Derek Blubaugh - UIndy/Bloomington South 
285 - Brayden Erb - IN Tech/Western 

These are just the 1-4 Placers from IN High Schools.  There were a ton more in the tournament, but this is a decent list.

Some results from Sunday Dec. 5:

Indiana Little State was this weekend featuring many of the small schools across the state.  There is no way I can list all of the results, so I'll hit some of the highlights.  If I miss someone, I apologize. 

125 - Anthony Hughes - Marian/Lawrence North finished 3rd
133 - Matt Gimson - IN Tech/Jimtown won the title, Chase Wilkerson - Indianapolis/Mt. Vernon Fortville took 2nd Place and Jared Brown - Marian/Pendleton Heights was 3rd.
141 - Ray Rioux - Indianapolis/Avon finished 1st, Gavin Alstott - Wabash/Floyd Central took 3rd and Hunter Cottingham - Indianapolis/Western was 4th.
149 - Logan Bailey - Indianapolis/Cathedral was the Champion, Alex Barr - Wabash/Yorktown was the runner up, and Scott Fitts - IN Tech/Mater Dei finished 4th.
157 - Nathan Conley - UIndy/Avon finished in 2nd Place
165 - Jack Eiteljorge - UIndy/Carmel took home the title with a 8-5 dec over Eliott Rodgers - Marian/Cathedral who finished 2nd. 
174 - Bradley Harrington - Wabash/Ind. North Central finished 3rd
184 - Sam Osho - Wabash/Avon is the Champion, Sam Morrill - UIndy/Columbus East finished 3rd and Cody Timmerman - IN Tech/Mishawaka was 4th.
197 - Jack Servies - Marian/Perry Meridian finished 2nd while Phoenix Rodgers - UIndy/Heritage Hills and Derek Blubaugh - UIndy/Bloomington South double forfeited their 3rd/4th Place Match
285 - Brayden Erb - IN Tech/Western took 3rd Place 

Jordan Slivka is starting 157 at Ohio university. 
 
Carson Brewer is out for a little bit but is projected to start at 197 at Ohio university also. 

While digging through old brackets last summer, there was one that really caught my eye in the talent level. Since not everybody from the bracket had gone through their senior years yet, I decided I’d wait until their senior seasons were over to gauge just how insanely talented the 2016 106 lb weight class ended up being. Since they added onto their accomplishments last night, here is what we got when it’s all said and done.
 
1: Asa Garcia(1st, 3rd, 1st, 1st)
2: Keyuan Murphy(X, X, SQ, 2nd)
3: Ty Mills(2nd, 3rd, 2nd, 3rd)
4: Kory Cavanaugh(X, Q, 4th, 6th)
5: Sam Fair(5th, INJ, 2nd, Q)
6: Hunter Watts(6th, 2nd, 1st, 3rd)
7: Brayden Curtis(7th, 1st, 1st, 4th)
8: Jacob Moran(8th, N/A, 1st, 1st)
Q: Lukasz Walendzak(Q, X, 4th, 8th)
Q: Jose Diaz(X, Q, 8th, 8th)
Q: Tanner DeMien(7th, Q, Q, Q)
Q: Devon Casebolt(Q, X, 6th, X)
Q: Gavin Rose(Q, 7th, X, INJ)
Q: Brycen Denny(X, Q, X, 8th)
Q: JC Herring(X, X, Q, Q)
Q: Trey McCartney(X, Q, X, X)
 
Between that state bracket, adding previous and future accomplishment, those 16 wrestlers managed to produce;
46 State qualifications
32 State medals
20 semi-finals appearances
13 finals matches
8 state championships
 
That alone is incredible. But what do the numbers look like when we add in the semi-State qualifiers who didn’t make it to the championships?
 
X: Cayden Rooks(X, 1st, 2nd, 1st)
X: Andrew Black(X, 2nd, 2nd, N/A)
X: Brock Peele(X, 4th, 7th, Q)
X: Seth Johnson(X, 4th, X, 8th)
X: Fernando Flores(X, X, Q, 6th)
X: Logan Stephenson(X, X, X, 7th)
X: Andres Moreno(X, X, 7th, X)
X: Tanner Schoeff(X, Q, Q, Q)
X: Kade Zadylak(X, INJ, Q, Q)
X: Logan Mosser(X, X, Q, Q)
X: Brayden Shearer(X, X, Q, Q)
X: Joe Just(X, X, Q, Q)
X: Jake Armstrong(X, Q, X, Q)
X: Alexander Streuder(Q, X, X, Q)
X: Clay Egli(X, X, X, Q)
X: Wyatt Miller(X, X, X, Q)
X: Ben Streeter(X, X, Q, X)
X: Harrison Hadley(X, X, Q, X)
 
79 state qualifications
44 state medals
27 semi-finals appearances
18 finals matches
10 state championships
 
That is 34 wrestlers who managed at least one state qualification. Over half of the semi-state qualifiers from that year managed to make it out at some point. Adding in wrestlers who didn’t even make it to/out of regionals that year….
 
X: Chase Wilkerson(X, X, Q, 7th)
X: Evan Beasley(X, X, X, 7th)
X: Kyle Holman(X, X, X, 6th)
X: Danny Tolin(X, Q, Q, X)
X: Colin Reagan(X, Q, Q, X)
X: Alex Petro(X, Q, Q, N/A)
X: Martin Cruz(X, X, X, Q)
X: Evan Burge(X, X, X, Q)
X: Noah Gardner(X, X, Q, X)
X: Chris Schuller(X, Q, X, X)
 
93 state qualifications
47 state medals
27 semi-finals appearances
18 finals matches
10 state championship
 
Quite a talented group of kids. I’m sure the 106 weight class usually produces the most future talent compared to other weight classes, but even so, this seems to be substantial. Seven wrestlers have already committed to wrestling D1, in addition to multiple other college signings. Congrats to all of these kids on great careers.
 

Elijah Anthony was really impressive and has the look of a solid collegiate wrestler. 

You did a good job too @leggin89. 
 
A tournament like this couldn't be put on without a lot of great people.
Indiana Tech wrestlers did a great job setting up on Friday
Trine wrestlers and some Indiana Tech girls were great at the tables
Mark and Kyle doing an awesome job with Track and even shifting bouts on the fly.
The Carroll trainers who came and kept everyone from bleeding too much
The referees who made some good calls and kept Barnett from blowing a whistle.
My assistants Briggs and Smith who helped coordinate facility stuff.
The police officers who helped with a couple small issues
Adam Hartsough with amazing photos(check Facebook)
The great wrestlers, coaches, fans and parents that came, kinda hard to be a great tournament without those.
LT Hawkins for taking two third place medals
Lastly, my wife and kids who manned the front and did a great job.
 
Thanks everyone for a great weekend of wrestling. It is nice to have such a big event in this state that is a WRESTLING state!

Will Earls of former Hammond Gavit tragically passed away yesterday in a Car crash he was a senior this year and was attending Munster please send prayers to his family.

Thank you all for the kind words! Ben Davis is going in a different direction, but that doesn't change what those boys are doing. That program is on the RISE and those boys are hungry. I cant wait to watch their continued success on and off the mats. 

Ben Davis would be crazy if they don't hire Quinn Harris as their head coach, young or not, he's wise and mature beyond his years and is  a huge part of why BD has churned out studs and the culture is changing in that room.. I know for a fact he is dedicated as if he is already the HC! He's got his guys training in the off season and going to tough tournaments year round... we all know ppl aren't beating down the door for HC jobs in this sport so when you got a great young man like Quinn as devoted as he is, you better not let him slip away cuz I would vouch for any and every time.. He's tired of his boys being looked at like light work for opposition and is def got them heading in the right direction.. Give him 5 years and it'll be a whole new level in that room.

Four time NCAA champion Riley LaFever.  

Wow! Mejia with a hard-earned overtime takedown to win 3-1 over the #1 seed! He's into the semifinals and guaranteed All-American status coming in unseeded.

Combest and UIndy's Sams also win to advance to the semifinals. So that's two Indiana natives overall and two UIndy guys in the semi's. 
 
In the wrestle backs, Logan Bailey gets a bye and Mappes is eliminated. Bailey needs one win for AA status.

Brandon James caps off a great college career with a 3rd place finish at the NAIA Championships. The highest placer in Marian Wrestling History! Congrats Brandon! 👏

I love it!

To the IndianaMat community and especially to those senior wrestlers and/or parents:
 
First of all, I'd like to apologize for any hardships you, loved ones, or anyone dear to you is enduring because of the Coronavirus. It's disrupting nearly all aspects of our every day lives, schooling, and work. I'd like to say, especially to the current high school seniors (and by extension, parents) who in many cases have lost their final semesters, proms, sports seasons, and more that I feel for your losses. In retrospect, at least (high school) wrestling got to conclude its season. IHSAA basketball, along with NCAA Winter Sports weren't so fortunate. Hopefully, for all seniors and parents, you were able to complete your goals and end your final season on the note(s) you desired. However, speaking from personal experience, I know that realistically this isn't the case for most. For you all, it has, at the least, been a month (roughly) since the end of the State tournament. Most of you are done with in-person schooling. My question is: What comes next? 
 
Though it is pertinent right now to keep a grasp of the day-to-day, especially with how drastically things can shift, it is just as important to not lose sight of your futures. One of the things that has been affected by the pandemic, due the closure of universities and schools, is college recruiting (academically and athletically). If you are leaving your houses, it certainly isn't to visit campuses. Thus, the process of recruiting and the process of college selection have both been complicated tenfold. With this post, I'd like to do my part both on behalf of the Wabash Wrestling program and Wabash College itself to reach out to this community.
 
A little background on me: My name is Anthony Cicciarelli, and I'm currently finishing my junior year at Wabash (online, ha .. ha). At school I double major in Math and Spanish. My journey to Wabash essentially began March of my senior year. I originally hail from Brownsburg; despite being less than an hour away from my hometown, I honestly never really knew about Wabash other than things like Scholastic Duals and just hearing the name in conversation. Beginning during my senior season, I met a few Wabash coaches at tournaments and sent a few texts, but I still really had no idea about the school or people at all. At this point, I wasn't too focused on figuring out my college situation until the end of season. After its conclusion, I considered a lot of things for my future. I ultimately decided two things: I had higher things to aspire for academically, and I had higher goals to set for myself athletically. Wabash gave me a place in which I could accomplish both. 
 
Upon visiting Wabash for the first time, *cue cliche* I fell in love. If I were to sum up what I loved, and still love today, about the school, I would mention three important aspects of Wabash: 
 
1) Community
 
With a college of around 900 students, Wabash truly feels like its own neighborhood as opposed to a whole city (e.g. large state schools). When I say that you will see everyone, you will see everyone. Not only do I see almost every professor I've ever had walking across campus on a daily basis, I often times eat lunch less than 10 feet of them (at the Wrestler table in the dining hall). I see classmates all around campus, whether at the library or the gym. On the wrestling side, with a team of over 50 members at a school of 900, the math says that about 1 in 18 of the people right next to me is going to be someone I already know and have a relationship with already. Often times it's even more than that. Each of my classes this semester, I have at minimum one other wrestler with me to work, study, and learn with. Past all of this, the simplest evidence of the communal structure of Wabash can be found every Thursday, when we have a complete class block (1 hour 15 min) blocked off on top of our lunch hour so that students and staff are free to attend an all campus, community meeting in the Wabash "Chapel"(non-religious).
 
2) Accessibility
During my first visit to school, I got to sit in on a class and later meet a professor tailored to my future major interests. The professor sat and talked math with me for the hour, and lo and behold today I am a math major. I was walked between buildings by an individual student guide, and walked to meet and explore the athletic facilities by multiple members of the wrestling team to meet the coaches. Today, as a student, accessibility has not changed a bit. Just my daily homework routine exemplifies it perfectly. My most productive homework spot is in the coaches' office alongside our 4 on site coaches. I'm usually joined by one or two other wrestlers at any given time. If I have an issue with the work, I have a few options. I can reach out to any one of my team members who between themselves cover pretty much any subject area in their majors. I can walk two minutes to my professors' open offices in any of the academic buildings. I can send an email to the professor or the multiple tutoring centers on campus and make an appointment within the very same day. Or, my personal favorite, I can even text a handful of previous or current professors that have given me their personal numbers for all and any reasons necessary. The easiest part of it all is that I can do it all within a 5 minute walk on campus. 
 
 3) Independence 
 
Independence is inherent in almost every person's college experience. For the first time for many students, they are on their own physically, mentally, and emotionally. From the beginning, until the most recent day I was on campus, that rang true. Wabash is grounded in one simple, yet profoundly important, ideal and principle for student conduct: The Gentleman's Rule. It states: "The student is expected to conduct himself at all times, both on and off the campus, as a gentleman and a responsible citizen." This is all encapsulating and all encompassing for life on campus. Simply, students are given the freedom and guidance to conduct themselves in a manner that they see fit, as long as it fits the confines of our one rule. Within Wabash, students find themselves given permissions and privileges that larger schools would never allow. (Of course, if these become detrimental in the slightest, they are not permitted - as they break the one and only rule). In short, good luck finding another school in Indiana that allows all students to have and park their cars free of charge and for all grade levels. This is just the tip of the iceberg in the unique student independence at Wabash. 
 
 
While these are some more personal reasons, the specs of the school and Wrestling program are equally as important and impressive. (Full disclosure, I'm not an actual recruiter or employee of the college, so these are going to be my version of the specs. More empirical numbers can be found on wabash.edu)
 
Wrestling-wise
-A team of consistently over 50 members
-A team with three #1 ranked wrestlers this previous season, and many more in the rankings
-A separate, wrestling-exclusive, nearly brand new wrestling facility that outsizes and outshines many Division I facilities 
-An extremely high level practice room and talent pool 
-Wrestler exclusive workout area, exercise equipment, cold and hot tub, fridge, and locker room 
-A full field house and track for all students, and a full gym (both traditional and more athletics focused areas)
-Access to a staff of over 7 combined coaches 
 
 
School-wise
-Top notch, incredible financial aid and scholarship opportunities
-An extremely high caliber education and net of professors
-#1 ranked Career Services in the nation (per Princeton Review) completely free of additional cost 
-A beautiful and well-preserved campus, as well as short distance between all points
-Around 40 majors and minors 
-Options for both fraternity and independent living
-Opportunities for immersion courses, which are classes built around a travel component that is provided free of cost to students (I spent a week in Mexico last year)
 
 
These are, of course, just some of the so many highlights of the school. There are many more incredible features and compelling statistics for finding. My final message to the seniors that I want to express is that, when considering plans for yourself after high school, you need to look at the big picture. This includes not only the month, or the year, ahead of you. This includes, four, ten, and twenty years down the line. Wabash is a place that is ready to take you in for the present and ride with you for the future. Wabash is a place derived and thriving on goals. An opportunity here will allow you to set incredible goals for yourself, and for those who are willing to work -- achieve these goals on and off of the mat. My life would be profoundly different if I was not still able to wrestle today, and I can confidently say that it would be profoundly worse off as well. Wabash allowed me to mold my unaccomplished goals and unsteady ambitions for the future of high school into clearly structured, attainable, and elite objectives for my college and professional life.
 
Wabash is a place where I can keep enjoying this sport. Wabash is a place where I can keep growing as a man. Wabash is a place where I can keep my future within my grasp. Wabash is a special place. 
 
I hope that, at the very least, this has reminded seniors of the important of the times to soon come, the importance of the times behind them, and certainly the unique times we are living in right now. I really urge those who still have unknowns about their future as students, athletes, and student athletes to give Wabash a sincere consideration when making these decisions. It is absolutely not too late to take an interest in the school. Though for obvious reasons, most on campus visits and resources are unavailable right now in person, I can assure you that any member of the community and faculty will be willing to help in every way possible. To any wrestler or parent that has any questions or interests in the school and/or  wrestling program, I would really love to help you in the best way possible or put you in contact with someone who can. My phone number is (317) 654-5240 and my email is amciccia21@wabash.edu. 
 
Anthony Cicciarelli, Wabash '21
 
P.S. Any current or former Wabash student, wrestler, fan, or friend of the school that might be able to give their own side "Why Wabash?" as well, please do!