GAT36

When the hard work pays off, there is no better feeling! But the time in between is more difficult to express in words. Wrestling is more than a sport at this level. You're watching your sons (or daughters) go from kids to young adults. A tough period in its own w/o the wrestling. But we all know the life lessons, hard work, goals, ect. But sitting back & experiencing the grueling practices, weight cutting, & sacrifices is tough. I love this sport. The hardest thing & most rewarding thing at the end of the day is being a parent.

Any relation to "the Alex Ramos", 2-time State Champ?

152 could be a possibility also

I think it's hilarious that Merrillville's AD, Janis Qualizza is the one being quoted in the article. Let's take a look at the Pirates line up & you tell me how many went to Merrillville Middle Schools or Junior Highs. Just saying.

Calumet Regional: 113) #7 Gaige Torres Portage 27-1 (9) vs. #16 Rickie Rodriguez Hammond Morton 33-3 (10) 120) #5 Adam Garcia Merrillville 28-1 (12) vs. #15 Matt Lechowicz Lake Central 36-5 (12) ****Winner will possibly face****#20 Rueben Rodriguez Hammond Morton 31-3 (11) 132) #7 Jacob Covaciu Merrillville 30-5 (9) vs. #5 Julian Torres Portage 30-2 (12) 160) #12 Matt Hollins Merrillville 25-5 (11) vs. #10 Mark Maldonado Highland 29-1 (12) ****Winner will possibly face**** #11 Damian Gomez Hammond Bishop Noll 31-2 (12) 170) #1 Bobby Stevenson II Merrillville 28-0 (10) vs. #6 Scottie Sopko Hobart 34-1 (10) 182) #7 Tony Rodriguez Hobart 32-2 (12) vs. #20 Exvonte Jones Portage 27-8 (12) 220) #1 Gelen Robinson Lake Central 38-0 (11) vs. #18 Roberto Yanez River Forest 29-4 (11) Any others?

Is it time to pick our State Champions yet?

Don't count out Dusty Schurg who defeated Bradley at ISWA Folkstyle State Finals.

Great job getting all the brackets posted!

Thought we'd see a little shake up at 113 with Kuhn losing to Lehman & Lehman losing to Brown. Also with the addition of Fox, no love for the SQ?

Charlie Baker 113 ?

I've seen ALL of these kids wrestle & Cash is the one to beat. Phillips sits at #2 out of respect & Hughes is definitely the darkhorse.

1) Tommy Cash 2) Schuyler Phillips 3) Drew Hughes 4) Forrest Glogouski 5) Deondre Wilson 6) Bailey Lahue 7) Andrice Martin 8) Adam Garcia

My 1st round pick is Micic.

What do we have to look forward to (1) week before sectionals?

DAC: 126- #3 Josh Fuqua Crown Point (11) vs. #14 Max Buckley Valpo (12) or #15 Dillon Logsdon Portage (12) #14 Max Buckley Valpo (12) vs. #15 Dillon Logsdon Portage (12) 132- #5 Julian Torres Portage (12) vs. #6 Trevor Burlison Crown Point (12) or #9 Jacob Covaciu Merrillville (9) #6 Trevor Burlison Crown Point (12) vs. #9 Jacob Covaciu Merrillville (9) 138- #6 Darden Schurg Crown Point (10) vs. #14 Mack Neal Valpo (12) or UR Jason Spence Portage (12) #14 Mack Neal Valpo (12) vs. UR Jason Spence Portage (12) * UR - unranked 152- #5 Dustin Schurg Crown Point (12) vs. #15 Danny Roach Portage (12) 160- #12 Matt Hollins Merrillville (11) vs. #13 Dax Jones Crown Point (10) 182- #16 Eric DeLuna Merrillville (12) UR Darius Ginn Valpo (11) UR Exvonte Jones Portage (12) * not sure who will face who until seedings. Any others?

Duneland Conference this Saturday. Semi-State & State rankings. 106- SS#2 , S#7 Michael Garza - Merrillville (11) SS#4 Riley Akers Crown Point (10) SS#9 Tyler Schwartz Valpo (12) 113- SS#3, S#9 Gaige Torres Portage (9) SS#7 Alex Bravo Valpo (12) 120- SS#2, S#5 Adam Garcia Merrillville (12) SS#5 Matt Lechowicz Lake Central (12) SS#7 Luis Escobedo Portage (11) SS#8 Brett Ervin Crown Point (12) 126- SS#1, S#3 Josh Fuqua Crown Point (11) SS#3, S#14 Max Buckley Valpo (12) SS#4, S#15 Dillon Logsdon Portage (12) 132- SS#2, S#5 Julian Torres Portage (12) SS#3, S#6 Trevor Burlison Crown Point (12) SS#4, S#9 Jacob Kovaic Merrillville (9) SS#9 Ricardo Rosario Valpo (10) 138- SS#3, S#6 Darden Schurg Crown Point (10) SS#5, S#14 Mack Neal Valpo (12) SS#6 Jason Spence Portage (12) SS#8 Jordan Goodwin Lake Central (10) 145- SS#2, S#5 Chris Katsafaros Chesterton (12) SS#5 Stephon Wilkins Portage (12) SS#7 Jake Sebehar Lake Central (11) SS#8 Willie Armstrong Merrillville (11) SS#9 Tyler Burlson Crown Point (12) 152- SS#1, S#5 Dustin Schurg Crown Point (12) SS#4, S#15 Danny Roach Portage (12) SS#7 Spenser Hallas Chesterton 160- SS#4, S#12 Max Hollins Merrillville (11) SS#5, S#13 Dax Jones Crown Point (10) 170- SS#1, S#1 Robert Stevenson III Merrillville (10) SS#4 Mike Eldrige LaPorte (11) SS#8 Jacob Hazi Crown Point (12) 182- SS#4 Darius Ginn Valpo (11) SS#5 Exvonte Jones Portage (12) SS#6, S#16 Eric DeLuna Merrillville (12) SS#8 Matt Langbehn Crown Point (12) 195- SS#1, S#4 Morgan Kral Crown Point (10) SS#7 Derrick Suttles Valpo (10) SS#8 Alex Jara Merrillville (12) 220- SS#1, S#1 Gelen Robinson Lake Central (11) SS#7 Ben Sandifer LaPorte (12) SS#8 Steve Potosky Crown Point (11) SS#9 Travis Williams Portage (11) HWT- SS#4, S#13 Shawn Streck Merrillville (9) SS#5 Ryan Harlow Chesterton (12) Predictions?

Luis Escobedo defeated Brett Ervin 7-5 @ the Crown Point Super Duals.

Wow "On the Rise", we were dead on other than me not having anyone for 220#.

Winners: 106) Michael Garza Merr - dec. 3-0 113) Daylan Schurg CP - maj. dec. 4-3 120) Adam Garcia Merr - pin 9-4 126) Josh Fuqua CP - pin 10-9 132) Trevor Burlison CP - dec 12-10 138) Darden Schurg CP - maj. dec. 16-10 145) Denny Schurg CP - dec. 19-10 152) Dusty Schurg CP - pin 25-10 160) Matt Hollins Merr - dec. 25-13 170) Robert Stevenson III Merr - pin 25-19 182) Matt Langbehn CP - dec. 28-19 195) Morgan Kral CP - pin 34-19 220) Toss up, who knows? by this time it's too late for Merrillville either way. HWT.) Shawn Streck Merr - pin 34-25 w/o 220# match Great match ups at 106, 132, & 160.

Portage's Gaige Torres is a highly-touted freshman wrestler Gaige Torres, Portage wrestling Jim Peters, The Times Portage freshman Gaige Torres leans on one of the large tires that the wrestling team uses during conditioning drills. Torres is 15-1 at 113 pounds. December 31, 2012 6:00 pm ? Jim Peters jim.peters@nwi.com, (219) 548-4363 (0) Comments When freshman Gaige Torres arrived at Portage, he came with impressive credentials. The 14-year old's resume already included seven state and two national titles in youth wrestling. "He probably has the most experience on the mat in the room," Indians coach Leroy Vega said. "He's got mat awareness. He knows what to do and not to do. It's hard for me to put it in perspective because he's still a kid. He's not your typical freshman and we don't treat him like a freshman." Torres' dad, Rafael, wrestled at Hobart and got his son into the sport when he was just 3. Before he was even in school, Gaige was already a state champion, finishing first in the Bantam 45-pound division at the age of 4. Last January, he topped the podium in the Schoolboy 113 bracket at the ASICS folkstyle nationals in Cedar Falls, Iowa. "It's just fun to break a guy, to see who's standing at the end," Torres said. "All the wrestling I've done my whole life has prepared me for this. I don't look at age. I know a lot. I feel like I train harder than them. I've watched (high school) the last (few) years. I've been going to state. I wanted to see how I would do against a lot of them and I've done pretty good so far. I feel like I'm getting stronger every day." The adjustment to the high school level has been a smooth one for Torres, who is already 15-1 and ranked ninth in the state. "I thought it would be hard, but once it started, it's been kind of easy," he said. "In high school, you have to go physical all the time. I'm never impatient. If it's somebody good, I like to feel them out, keep moving, to set up my shots. I never stay in the same spot." Torres' first loss came in Friday's North Montgomery Duals, where he dropped 7-4 to Perry Meridian's third-ranked Jacob Cottey, a match Torres believed he should have won. "He came off the mat (mad), ready to get back to work," Vega said. "He wanted to know what he had to do to beat him. The big thing right now is he's not strong. Most of the top guys are juniors and seniors. He's a boy wrestling against young men, but he's growing now. He's going to put on a lot of muscle." Vega first met Torres several years ago when he was he running his wrestling school in Portage. Torres has trained with some of the area's best at the Region Wrestling Academy since about sixth grade. "It's been really good knowing Leroy. He's like a father to me," Torres said. "He pushes me because he cares about me. He wants to see me do big things." A two-time state champion at Portage, Vega didn't even wrestle varsity as a freshman. "He's so far advanced than I was," Vega said. "I try to make them realize the opportunities they have, how far they can go. That's why I'm hard on them. I believe Gaige will be a state champion. He can go Division I. We're losing some great senior leadership, so it's nice to have a freshman like him coming in. He's going to be the future of Portage wrestling, the face of Portage wrestling." Up to this point, Torres has juggled wrestling year-round while also playing football and baseball. He'll give up football going forward, but plans to stay with baseball, a sport where he has also excelled, at least for now. "I want to win state this year. I want to win state all four years," Torres said. "They're going to put up pictures on the (practice room) wall of all the (Portage) state champions. I want to be up there with Leroy and all of them."

When will these be updated according to the new rankings?

I believe Riley Newkirk will be difficult to beat @ 113#.

Mr. Rankings Guy, Merrillville 132# first name is Jacob.

What about the freshman Coviac! Wins it at 132#, only loss is to Torres 6-4.

113) Unranked Casey Kauffman - Southmont -12 over #10 Nick Ellis - Roncalli - 9 major decision 16-8.