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FWwrestling1996

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  1. Like
    FWwrestling1996 reacted to Y2CJ41 for a article, Comparing 2021 vs. 2011 State Tournament   
    By Drew Hughes
     
    A Decade Ago
    After such a great weekend of wrestling at the 2021 state tournament, let’s take a look back at some of the similarities, differences, and other interesting facts about this year’s tournament and the one from 10 years ago.
     
    The Bank
    The first difference between these two tournaments has nothing at all to do with wrestling but the name of the arena. While the tournament is still held in the Indiana Pacers fieldhouse, 2011 was the last year of the fieldhouses original name Conseco Fieldhouse. Since then, the arena has been known as Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
     
    Weight Difference
    The 2011 state finals were also the last year of the old weight classes, after this state tournament is when the IHSAA changed the weights to the ones we still use today. With the changes being
    103 – 106
    112 – 113
    119 – 120
    125 – 126
    130 – 132
    135 – 138
    140 – 145
    145 – 152
    152 – 160
    160 – 170
    171 – 182
    189 – 195
    215 – 220
    285 – 285
     
    The Bulldogs Junior’s 3rd Title
    In 2011 the Crown Point Bulldogs had their eventual 4-time state champion Jason Tsirtsis win his 3rd state title. This season with just a 2-pound difference in their weight classes, Crown Point’s Jesse Mendez won his 3rd state title and will be looking to join Jason as a four-time state champ next season.
     
    The Potential 3-timer
    Zeke Seltzer just won his second consecutive title as a junior and will be in the hunt to become one of the next 3-time state champions next year. Similar to this, in 2011 Kyle Ayersman also won his second title as a junior and would go on to be a 3-time state champ.
     
    Brothers in The Finals
    In 2011 twin brothers Doug and Chad Welch both capped off their senior seasons as state champions. While not twins, the Ruhlman brothers of Bloomington South both made state finals appearances, with the younger brother and sophomore Delaney Ruhlman falling to Jesse Mendez in the finals. The older brother and senior Tristan Ruhlman capped off his high school career with a state title. The Welch brothers were only the 3rd pair of siblings to ever accomplish this feat in Indiana.
     
    Attendance on hold
    Due to COVID and the limited in person attendance many had to watch this year’s state tournament from home. The 2011 state tournament brought in 27,999 fans throughout the weekends 3 sessions. Hopefully, Bankers Life Fieldhouse will be filled with fans for the 2022 state championships.
  2. Like
    FWwrestling1996 reacted to Y2CJ41 for a article, Red doing big things for the Big Red   
    By Drew Hughes
     
    Anyone that has been around Indiana wrestling in the last decade probably knows the
    name Chad Red. In high school Red had about as good of a career as anyone could ask for
    winning 4 state titles and going a perfect 183-0. Along with this he won 3 of the toughest off-
    season tournaments in the country; Fargo, Super 32, and FloNationals. He finished his high
    school career ranked #1 in the country at 132lbs along with being ranked #8 out of all seniors in
    his graduating class.
     
    Being one of the most sought after recruits Red decided on Nebraska as his college
    destination. Red said “I chose Nebraska because of Jordan Burroughs and the coaching staff is
    very helpful, and my family thought they were the best coaches for me.”.
     
    Red has very well in college so far where he has become a 2 time All-American as well
    as a Big Ten finalist. He has had some great matches in his college career with one of the best
    coming in the blood round of NCAA’s his freshman year. In this match Red pinned the two-time
    defending National Champion Dean Heil in the first period to become an All-American. Red also
    placed 3rd at last year’s Big Ten championship and qualified for the cancelled 2020 NCAA
    championships where he was named a NWCA first team All-American.
     
    This season Red is off to a great start with a 4-1 record and his lone loss coming from
    Iowa’s Jaydin Eierman. Red is currently ranked 6 th in the country at 141 and in the upcoming
    weeks will get the chance to wrestle #1 ranked Sebastian Rivera before the Big Ten tournament.
    Now the big question that people are asking right now for most college seniors are if they
    will be returning for a 6 th year. Due to Covid the NCAA has made it so this year does not count
    towards your eligibility giving athletes the chance to compete for an extra year. With that being
    said Red is planning on wrestling next season and will still have a shot at being a 4 time All-
    American and possibly a National Champion.
     
    After college Red plans to stay in Nebraska and wrestle for the NWTC where he would
    compete internationally in an attempt to make world and Olympic teams. He also plans on
    coaching and we could see that being anywhere from the college level to even coming back to
    Indiana to coach at Red Cobra Wrestling Academy where his father, Chad Red Sr., is the coach.
    Looking far down the road we could also see him coaching his little brother to 4 high school
    state titles but that wouldn’t be until at least 2034.
  3. Like
    FWwrestling1996 reacted to Y2CJ41 for a article, #WrestlingWednesday: Gilbert's big dream will not be deterred   
    By JEREMY HINES
    Thehines7@gmail.com
     
    For as long as Sullivan freshman Lane Gilbert can remember he has dreamed about having his hand raised at the Indiana High School wrestling state championships.
     
    He’s done more than dream about it. As a young kid he would go into the wrestling room at Sullivan High School and act out having his hand raised. It didn’t matter that nobody else was around him. In his imaginary scenario he always emerged victorious. No obstacle stood in his way. No opponent could beat him. He was the champ. That dream would never be taken away.
     
    The dream was much different than real life for Gilbert. In real life, he has had far more hardships than one kid should experience. He’s overcome situations that would break others. Through it all, he’s come out stronger.
     
    To get a clear picture of just how tough Lane Gilbert is, it is important to dive into his uncomfortable past.
     
    Gilbert’s mother, Rachel, became Indiana’s first female sectional champion in wrestling. She won the 103-pound class in the North Knox sectional in 2002. Rachel was going places in life. News agencies had reported on her wrestling journey, because at the time, female wrestlers were still very new in the state. She had some colleges showing interest in her.
     
    But Rachel began facing a more formidable opponent than anyone she went up against on the mat. She started battling an addiction with drugs. Lane’s father had his own battles with drug addiction.
     
    For Lane’s father, that addiction would eventually lead to a prison sentence.
     
    Young Lane didn’t want to miss an opportunity to visit his dad, even if that meant going to the prison any time he could.
     
    “Lane worshipped his dad,” Lane’s wrestling coach and grandfather Roy Monroe said. “Lane never failed to go see him. He always wanted to see him.”
     
    Tragically, Lane’s father developed cancer while in prison and ultimately died due to the disease.
     
    “That was really rough on Lane for a while,” Rachel said. “His dad was a drug addict for a long time and Lane always held out hope that one day he would get better. Once he got sick, that was probably the hardest thing. Lane stayed strong through the whole thing.”
     
    At nine-years-old Lane did something no kid his age should ever have to do. He stood up in front during his dad’s funeral and sang a special song.
     
    “I don’t know how he did it,” Monroe said. “That’s almost an impossible thing to get through, and he did it. He toughed it out.”
     
    That’s what Lane always does. He toughs things out. He toughed it out when his mom was having her struggles. He toughed it out seeing his dad in prison, and then watching as cancer slowly took its toll. He toughed it out when his uncle Jordan, who had taught Lane quite a bit about wrestling, died in a fiery car crash. No matter what life threw at Lane, he toughs it out.
     
    Perhaps he gets his fighting spirit from his grandfather. Roy has been a major part of Sullivan wrestling for over 30 years. He’s watched his daughter struggle with drug addiction. He lost his son in that tragic car accident. He’s experienced heartache and he remained the rock Lane needed in his life. Lane could always stay the night at Roy’s house. He could always get the right words from his grandpa. And, on the wrestling mat, he could look to Grandpa Roy for direction as well.
     
    “He’s my role model,” Lane said. “He’s nice to everyone. He’s a good coach. He’s all the things you can think of if you were to make the perfect person – that would be how I describe him.”
     
    But Lane’s toughness also comes from his mom.
     
    In a time when people frowned on girls wrestling against boys, she held her ground. In fact, she and Roy had to go to the Sullivan school board to even get approved to wrestle back in her high school days.
     
    Later, as has already been alluded to, Rachel battled a fierce drug addiction. But, for Lane’s sake – and for her sake, she fought through and emerged victorious. She is currently a Dean’s List student working to become a nurse.
     
    “I am so proud of her,” Roy said. “I’ve been a counselor. I’ve went into the jails and counselled drug addicts. I’ve seen them come in and out of addiction. The real truth is, only about one percent of drug addicts make it to where she is now. It’s so hard to overcome, but she’s done it. And she’s a great mom.”
     
    She is also very, very protective of Lane and worries almost to a fault about the decisions he makes in his own life.
     
    “After having made the decisions at a young age that I made, I saw first-hand what can happen and how quickly everything can just spiral out of control,” Rachel said. “One mistake and everything can be gone. I have that fear in the back of my mind that he’s of the age and he could make the wrong choices. I’m almost too hard on him, but I am terrified because I know what can happen and I keep my eye on him. I do trust him. He’s seen what can happen and how bad things can get.”
     
    Lane knows when his mom tells him to keep on the straight and narrow, it’s because she cares.
     
    “I have so much respect for my mom,” he said. “I’ve learned a lot from her.”
     
    One thing Lane has learned is to never doubt himself. This summer when he was a third alternate for the Pan-American games, he let doubt creep into his psyche. After the first two qualifiers couldn’t attend the games, Lane got the call to participate. But, going into the event, he felt like he really didn’t belong.
     
    Boy was he wrong. Lane went undefeated in both freestyle and Greco-Roman. News of his success quickly spread throughout the town of 6,500 people. When he arrived home, he was given a police escort through the streets.
     
    “Oh my gosh,” Rachel said. “The town put on this whole show when he returned. The police and emergency vehicles all met up on the north end of town. He had no idea it was going to happen. There were fans from all over our town and they all followed him to the high school. It was so cool. He was so surprised.”
     
    Currently Gilbert is 28-1 on the season and ranked No. 5 at 113 pounds. He has carried the confidence he developed during the Pan-American games over to the season. Now he knows he belongs. Now he knows that dream he played through his head so many times growing up isn’t just a dream – it’s an attainable goal.
     
    “I’ve been coaching at Sullivan for 13 years as head coach and I’ve been there 30 years as an assistant,” Monroe said. “I’ve never seen anything like him. I look at Lane, with his skills and what he’s been through, and I just know that adversity isn’t a problem anymore. He can do whatever he sets his mind to do.”
     
    As for Rachel, well, she says nowadays she’s just like any other wrestler’s mom.
     
    “I’m still up in the stands screaming my head off,” she said. “But when I’m shouting, at least I know which moves to shout. The other moms look at me and ask what they should be yelling.”
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