backtothemat

I started going in 1973 and have not missed one until this year.  Hospitalization ended the streak.
 

Yes and the golf team is missing a visor 😁

Hayhurst losing does not help MD.... Hayhurst looked listless after the first two take downs, almost as if he started cruising

By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
 
Last Saturday when Jordan Fulks pinned Terre Haute South Vigo’s Moses Hamm in the ticket round of the Evansville semistate, he did something that hasn’t been done by a Boonville wrestler in 13 years. He advanced to the state tournament.
 
“The last guy to make it to state from our school was Sam Derosett,” Fulks said. “He coached me when I was in middle school.”
 
Fulks, a junior, is currently ranked No. 5 at 152 pounds. He is 43-1 on the year with his lone loss coming in the semistate championship to No. 4-ranked Logan Boe.
 
“Jordan is scrappy wrestler,” Boonville co-coach Dustin Wilke said. “He’s a good wrestler on his feet. He moves his hands and feet very well. He has a lot of pins and racks up a lot of points.”
 
Last season Fulks finished the year with a 36-2 mark. He lost in the first round of semistate.
 
“I had a knee injury last year that really set me back a few months,” Fulks said. “It became a motivation thing, I guess. I advanced to semistate with a knee injury and that really inspired me because I knew if I could make it that far, hurt, then when I got better I could go even further.”
 
Fulks is a year-around wrestler. It’s the only sport he participates in.
 
“He’s got a real drive to be successful in wrestling,” Wilke said. “I’ve known him for several years. He was in our youth feeder program. He was on our travel team. I helped coach him in middle school. When he was getting a little older, I asked him what he wants to be – and he said a state champion. He asked what he needs to do to make that happen. He’s always looking for insight and he’s always trying to improve.”
 
Fulks believes his best attribute in wrestling is his confidence.
 
“I’m a confident wrestler,” he said. “I go out there and I’m confident in my moves and that I can hit them. I never go out thinking I can win every match, but I think I am going to wrestle my match, every time.”
 
Friday night Fulks will go up against Huntington North’s No. 12-ranked Cody McCune (36-2). Both wrestlers are looking to place for the first time at state. McCune advanced last year, but did not place.
 
 

View full article

Wow, this will only be my 28th consecutive year.

Last 30 years 26 as a coach - the Lee/Red match was so electric I have never seen the stadium that intense, great atmosphere!

Still remember Ford Center going nuts
 

Rickie Clark and Robert Samuels put on the best consolation match spectacle in Indiana wrestling history.

Yeppers! We will start around 9pm EST

This will be year 27 in a row for me attending the state finals (first time when I was 4). I’m taking my 4 year old this year for the first time. He could care less about the wrestling, but he has been talking about the shaved ice all week. He said his goal is 9! 

1. Will Viduya get the golden bookend?
Alec Viduya won a state title as a freshman at 113lbs, but since then his nemesis Asa Garcia has tripped him up twice. Garcia is in Bloomington now and the path seems clear to end on top of the podium. The other likely contenders include Brock Ellis, Jaden Reynolds, and Reece Luhmann. Luhmann went to overtime with Viduya last week.
 
The "golden bookend" has been done three other times throughout Indiana history. The first was Ray Webb of Bloomington University who won titles at 120lbs as a freshman and 145lbs as a senior. The next to do it was current Evansville Mater Dei coach Greg Schaeffer. In 1995 he won a state title at 100lbs and again reached the top step of the podium in 1998 at 119lbs. The last person to accomplish this feat was Indian Creek's Ethan Raley. He won a title as a freshman at 103lbs, then again at 135lbs as a senior.
 
2. Team Race
The team race is going to be hotly contested from the getgo. Mater Dei looks to be the favorite on paper early on. Crown Point has some brutal Saturday morning matches that could determine the state title. Brownsburg is lurking with a couple state title contenders and other placers. Never count out two-time defending champions Cathedral. 
 
Friday night could set the stage for one or more of the contenders to pull away from the field. However, a couple slipups could mean another team or two comes into contention. 
 
Saturday morning will be filled with fireworks that will give us a great indication of who will come out on top of the team race.
 
3. Will the class of 2021 get a title?
As of this writing the current junior class has yet to win an individual state title. This can and possibly will change on Saturday night. Top contenders for a title include Alex Cottey(113), Blake Boarmann(138), Evan Bates(220), and Brock Ellis(145).
 
Cottey has one loss on the year, but his opponent did not qualify for state. Boarman has a wide open weight class where the top guys have all beaten each other. Bates and Ellis both have yet to be defeated by an Indiana opponent this year.
 
4. Famous firsts
Indianapolis Lutheran's Hayden Flipiovich is the school's first state qualfiier. Will he be able to crack the code and be their first placer as well? Attica, Monroe Central, and River Forest have never had a state placer in their history. Will Jeffrey Bailey be the first Ingot state placer? Logan Swallow won a semi-state title last week and could be the Golden Bear's first state placer. Jordan Douglass was the first state qualifier in Rambler history two years ago, but has yet to reach the podium.
 
There are 32 schools that have a state qualifier that has yet to have a state champion. The ones that might just break through this year include Garrett's Clayton Fielden, Hamilton Southeastern's Andrew Irick, North Montgomery's Drew Webster, Norwell's Cale Gray, Sullivan's Lane Gilbert, and Wheeler's Giovanni Diaz.
 
5. Best dressed
From shiny pants and shorts to Tonte's custom taylored suits, who will stand out in the fashion department? Will Cathedral be wearing their robes this weekend? Which coach will have the strongest beard game? All of these are valid questions that will get answered this weekend.

View full article

Catching up a bit..Congrats on milestone wins! 

Asbury wrestled great Saturday!! I thought he stepped it up to another level from Regionals. That’s what good kids do, they get better in big situations. Results are all that count.

I would say portage has had a good run recently. I might be missing a couple 
kasper Macintosh Minnesota 
John Moran Iu 
jake moran IU 
Dj Washington IU 
collin poynter Air Force 
kris rumph wartburg 
brock peele portage 
Cornejo Marian 
hegedus Marian 
gaige Torres indiana tech 
latrell Lewis calumet college 
bam Lawrence grand view 
 
 

Walker (if healthy or mostly healthy) over Parkinson 182. 

Walker (if healthy or mostly healthy) over Parkinson 182. 

**ASSUMING** that they score the tournament the same as last year (no advancement or bonus points for Friday night) the team race should be very close although I have it as a 3-horse race between Mater Dei, Cathedral and Crown Point.  I think between those 3 it's anyone's tourney - bonus points, key matchups and some unexpected scorers could tilt the victory one way or another.
 
Here is how the scoring works (again, using last year's formula).  Wrestlers score for Advancement points and Placement points. Those are predetermined:

 
Additionally, wrestlers can add team points versus Activity scoring:

 
Obviously it makes a HUGE difference whether the wrestler can make it to the finals versus the 3rd/4th place match, and so on.  Here are my predictions:
 
1. Evansville Mater Dei -  9 wrestlers with several chances to make the finals. Some huge landmines though that could really effect the outcome!
2. Indianapolis Cathedral - Some good early matchups means that they have a good chance to have a large number of wrestlers making it deep
3. Crown Point - With Mendez leading the way, the Bulldogs have some hammers that could make a deep run. They have some huge matchups with Mater Dei
 
Evansville Mater Dei
Nine wrestlers starting out Friday night for EMD.  Close matchups for Egli, Baumann, Sollars and Parkinson - if they get all 9 through, look out! 113 Cole Ross likely to face Logan Frazier in his 2nd match.  If we wins that, a tough one against the Schoeff/Anthony winner.  I have Ross making the finals 120 Alec Freeman has a brutal route - Head to Head with Crown Point's Riley Bettich in the 2nd round, then has to beat Cathedral's Seltzer if he wants to reach the finals 126 Ashton Hayhurst - Has undefeated Dylan Stroud in the opening round. Can he get by him? If so, then battle-tested David Pierson in the 2nd round and Rioux in the 3rd. That's a lot to ask of a sophomore 132 Kane Egli - He's got a tough road, but guys like this senior can decide the team title. He faces Slivka from Roncalli in the 1st match.  If he gets to Saturday he will likely have Ian Heath before hitting Mendez. Making the final 4 would be big 138 Blake Boarman is the big dog in a difficult half-bracket. For his 3rd match will probably face either Logan Wagner or Floyd Central's Conway 145 Brody Baumann has winnable first 2 matches but they won't be easy. Jajuan Anderson from Warren Central will push the pace - and then AJ Poindexter will stand in the way of a top 4 finish 160 Eli Dickens - Based on this year's results he is the favorite - but the final 4 at 160 will be extremely entertaining and could go any combination. He would have a match versus Cathedral's Eliot Rodgers in his 3rd match to reach the finals. That's a HUGE swing match for team points 170 Gabe Sollars - Someone like Sollars could make a huge difference.  His first match is against Chesterton junior Gavin Layman.  Then he would face a likely head-to-head matchup against Cathedral's Tyler Wagner 182 Macartney Parkinson - has the toughest quarter bracket in the tournament. Opens up against #1 Joseph Walker then has Mason Winner in the 2nd round.  It's feast or famine for Mater Dei here  
Indianapolis Cathedral
Cathedral enters 8 wrestlers to the field Friday night. All of them have a shot to make it to Saturday, with some high scoring potential 106 Evan Dickey comes in as a 4th place finisher, but he does avoid the loaded other half-bracket. His Friday night match is against Isaac Ruble - if he can get by that, then his points will really be a help 120 Zeke Seltzer is the prohibitive favorite but it isn't a cake walk. He may see Bettich or Freeman in the 3rd round.  Still, it's likely big points here 138 Logan Bailey is a big swing in points, I think.  He has potential to reach the finals, but he has a match against Drake Campbell in the 2nd round that could be a scare 160 Elliot Rodgers has a good path until that final 4 where he faces Dickens who has beat him this season. Will experience win over latest results? 170 Tyler Wagner may face EMD's Gabe Sollars in his 2nd match - that's a big showdown.  Wagner could make a run to the finals 182 Johnny Parker - Unfortunately for Parker, he drew in to the death quarter bracket of Mason Winner then Parkinson/Walker.  Tough to see him winning the first round, let alone getting to the final 4 195 Jacob Huffman - he is an interesting one.  His first match is against Friedt, who is ranked higher but also lost to his Cathedral teammate Parker this season.  I don't have Huffman making it to Saturday, but he could surprise and get into that 5th-8th range. In that case, bonus points would be key 285 Holden Parsons - the senior Yorktown transfer has wrestled well this season and the 285 weight class is always unpredictable. I have him winning 2 matches before facing Dancy from Portage.  Parsons is very experienced and opposite the Key/Irick combo. If he can slow down the match and wrestle strategically against Dancy, he could be under the lights with some HUGE points  
Crown Point
Crown Point brings 8 wrestlers to the first round. I think their first round looks great, which means they will get 6 or possibly 7 into the scoring rounds. They are very young, but still could surprise some of the older wrestlers and make deep runs to make this a close race 106 Sammy Goin has only lost once all season. I would love his chances - but he got a tough, tough draw. He has Chundi in the 2nd round. That match may be a tossup. Can Goin get past Chundi and make it into the final 4 and possibly win it all?  Since there are so many young wrestlers here and the action is lightning-quick, 106 can be very unpredictable and the matches can turn quickly 113 Logan Frazier is another freshman. He has a stiff task, facing the experienced Cole Ross from EMD in the 2nd round.  I would give the edge to Ross, but I am not counting out these young bulldogs either 120 Riley Bettich has a ton of talent and the chance to take out a couple of head to head competitors.  He should have Alec Freeman in the 2nd round, then Zeke Seltzer in the 3rd 126 Stephen Roberson - we all know the 126 weight class is bonkers this year. There are no easy paths to the finals and Roberson will have to face Kysen Montgomery in the 2nd round, then the winner of Dalton/Lowery showdown in the 3rd round if he wants to see the finals. Possiblity of huge points, or very few points here. 132 Jesse Mendez - He'll have the target on his back this year. Hard to see anyone stopping him from winning it all and getting the 20 team points. So the question may be how many bonus points can he rack up to help out the team? 138 Nick Tattini - Don't have Tattini getting to Saturday.  If he can manage to get there, that's a huge boost for CP 145 Orlando Cruz - he also faces a murderer's row of wrestlers but he is capable of getting some points. He has Feichter in the 1st round, then likely Avon's Jaden Reynolds in the 2nd round before seeing undefeated Alec Viduya in the semis.  Any points here would be a big win 160 Noah Hollendonner is the #1 seed.  He should win his first, but then will have to try to break up the favored final 4 at this weight. He will see the winner of Noehre/Asbury. Look for Noah to be shooting for 5th-8th range and getting bonus points where he can  
Honorable Mentions
Brownsburg - Some great wrestlers with some brutal matchups.  Logan Miller at 106 should reach the semis.  Kysen Montgomery will have Roberson in 2nd round.  DRake Campbell has only lost once this season - can he knock off Logan Bailey in the 2nd round?  Peyton Asbury got a Friday night death draw versus Noehre, but he will not make it an easy out.  285 Dorian Keys is the returning champion - can he repeat against Irick in a likely rematch with Irick in the semifinals and bring home another title? Chesterton - Look for Ellis and Bates to score big points here. Torres is great but has Rioux in the 2nd round. Kaiser would have to beat Boarman in the 2nd round.  Tough roads to reach those big-point finals Perry Meridian - Only 3 wrestlers, but all of them have a legit shot to get to the finals. Cottey (113), Koontz (132) and Warren (182) can rack up mega points, but they are just hurt by lack of sheer numbers Roncalli - Similar to Perry.  The Lowery brothers only have 2 losses between them on the season. Both could make a nice run to the finals.  Viduya is on fire and he could be the 3rd Roncalli wrestler to reach the finals.  Slivka is talented but has a really tough first round matchup with Kane Egli.  If the other 3 can get to the finals and Slivka reaches the final 4 then we may see Roncalli creeping up the board Warren Central - 5 wrestlers here. Brice Coleman is undefeated and favored - he should score lots of points. David Pierson at 126 would be challenged at every step, but he has the potential and experience to make a deep run.  Jajuan Anderson, Damon McClain and Dennis Hubbard could score some points, but not enough  
As always these are only my opinions. Good luck to all teams and wrestlers this weekend - hope that everyone wrestles their best match(es) ever and stays injury-free, in victory or defeat.

I know I'll get pelted with empties from any poster that starts with "SW" and I respect Mr. Goebel (sic) immensely, but maybe it's time to put a third guy on the show? And might I recommend @ontherise219 for that position? Now hear me out....
 
How many times last night did he mention "I'm not familiar with that wrestler..." or "IndianaMat ranks him...". Well, the actual ranker does some media stuff for the actual sight that does the rankings oft quoted, and since he does the rankings pretty well it appears, he does seem to know a bit about most/all the wrestlers and not just the ones at the E'ville SS. Again, nothing personal, and as far as the actual call of the finals matches goes I think Mr. Goebel is great and knows his stuff and adds insight, but for a parings show I'd just like to hear a bit more insight/matchups etc and think OTR could provide that. Of course the hour and fifteen minute time frame might be tough but he wouldn't have @Y2CJ41 to throw him off topic. 
 
Like I said, unpopular opinion.. but outside of the ESS dudes there just didn't seem to be much insight or info put out there except "that should be a good quarter bracket". 
 
There...I said it.
 
I'll delete my acct now.

I didn’t know Don wrestled!
 
😉
 
I don’t think he’s eligible. 

McCartney Parkinson just got the worst draw in the history of this tournament on paper. Wow. 
 

McCartney Parkinson just got the worst draw in the history of this tournament on paper. Wow. 
 

McCartney Parkinson just got the worst draw in the history of this tournament on paper. Wow. 
 

No surprise here that the Jeffersonville regional is the weakest in the state.... should have never realigned that regional. 

Just wanted to share that has already been posted along with a whole lot more info on Hoosiers wrestling in college over on the College board.  Everyone is welcome to come join those of us that discuss and post college results weekly!