bluechipper

It's no secret that in order to be a great wrestler, you must put work in during the offseason. With all of the exciting tournaments during the summer, comes a cost, however. While a lot of teams hold fundraisers, get sponsors, or some other type of funding, individual funding is hard on some kids to go to some of these national tournaments. So, I was wondering what teams are doing hosting some duals and such during the summer. I know Fargo and Junior Duals are very expensive, but it'd be great to see some of Indiana's next compete and get exposure. I know last summer, Columbus East hosted a super dual with Perry Meridian, Edgewood, and some other team I believe. I saw some fun and competitive matches that feel like they would've been more dominant during the IHSAA season, namely Graham Rooks' 14-10 decision versus PM's Davie Clayton. It was a great match and both teams were into EVERY dual. It was meant to be held outside but due to weather, it was held inside. Hopefully, this year we can see the event again with more teams involved and it being held outside this time. I think it would be great for Indiana wrestling. Also, for those wanting to get into other styles, Warren was trying to set up a triple dual for freestyle last year, but I'm not sure it went as planned. Hopefully, we can see that come to life this year as well. Some Freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling really improves your skills, and dual meets would also potentially make it more appealing to younger kids.

I think it'd be great for the sport and our state's involvement with it. Columbus East last summer had a super dual with Perry Meridian and two other teams and it was pretty fun. Saw some really fun and competitive matches. It was planned to be outside, but weather was an issue, so it was held inside. Hopefully, they do this event again and are able to have the duals outdoors this time! I think we could see some great stuff from our state's summer teams and it gives opportunities for those who can't travel much during summer due to limited money and high costs.

I'm sure it's never happened before, but what teams have been closest to doing it? Off the top of my head, 2012 Perry Meridian qualified 13 for semi-state and 9 for state with 8 medalists. No. 4 Donte Winfield would be upset first round by then No. 12 Eric Hemmelgarn preventing the Falcons from going 9/9, while the four who lost at the semi-state tournament (two of which who would eventually qualify for state and one winning) lost big toss-up matches. Also, in 2010, I'm pretty sure Mishawaka qualified 10 and had 9 place with two runner-ups.

Not a stupid question by any means. I was confused as well. The IHSAA website has it in the books as a 1-1 OT criteria win, the criteria being there was only one ride out period after the initial sudden victory period. It's different from today's ruling where both wrestlers have a chance to break the tie before the ultimate tiebreaker. This, to put it simply, was sudden victory followed by ultimate tiebreaker.

#TheCounty vs. Marion County Marion County line-up 106 - Brayden Lowery of Perry Meridian 113 - Alec Viduya of Roncalli 120 - Tyce Freije of Roncalli 126 - Jordan Slivka of Cathedral 132 - Breyden Bailey of Cathedral 138 - Zach Melloh of Cathedral 145 - Elliott Rodgers of Cathedral 152 - Noah Warren of Perry Meridian 160 - Christian Warren of Perry Meridian 170 - Cameron Amos of Perry Meridian 182 - Cameron Simmons of Lawrence Central 195 - Tristen Tonte of Warren Central 220 - Andy Guhl of Cathedral 285 - Robert Samuels of Lawrence North

Hence my reasoning for making it seniors-only team. I didn't want to see a lopsided affair.

I define the "Indianapolis area" based upon the Indianapolis metropolitan area. Also, you pose an intriguing question for #TheCounty. If it were a Dapper Dan-type scenario, how would #TheCounty fare versus the rest of Indiana? Seniors, I'll add at that. Team #TheCounty 106 - Drake Campbell of Brownsburg 113 - Asa Garcia of Avon 120 - Ty Mills of Brownsburg 126 - Blake Mulkey of Brownsburg 132 - Mason Miranda of Avon 138 - Nathan Conley of Avon 145 - Brayton Lee of Brownsburg 152 - Jacob Clark of Avon 160 - Carson Brewer of Avon 170 - Anthony Cicciarelli of Brownsburg 182 - Nathan Walton of Brownsburg 195 - Isaac McCormick of Brownsburg 220 - Gunnar Larson of Avon 285 - Rickie Clark of Brownsburg *NOTE: Yes, I KNOW Isaac was a medalist at 220, but he also wrestle 195 for the first half of the season if I remember, and for #TheCounty's sake, it gives them their best chances for the super dual! Lol Team Indiana 106 - Logan Stephenson of Terre Haute South 113 - Skylour Turner of Warren Central 120 - Sunny Nier of Perry Meridian 126 - Alec White of New Palestine 132 - Breyden Bailey of Cathedral 138 - Brendan Black of Hobart 145 - Jason Crary of Munster 152 - Kyle Hatch of Warsaw 160 - Brad Laughlin of Yorktown 170 - Eli Stock of Monrovia 182 - Jacob Gray of Delta 195 - Andrew Davison of Chesterton 220 - Corbin Maddox of Daleville 285 - Evan Ellis of Eastern (Greentown)

LeCount v. Forte at Bellmont '14 Super Duals was one of the wildest match-ups I've ever had the privilege to see.

Petrov/Campbell is in my personal top 5! 14-11 incredible match-up. My personal favorite is Neal Molloy vs. Eli Walker from 2013. Walker's defense throughout that match and last second fireman's stuck with me for life. It was great.

Someone posted earlier in a thread how they wished to see a Maurer/Dolly rematch, and after looking up the year this match happened, I remembered the finals of this tournament was posted on YouTube. I was able to see the match in its entirety, and I must say... It was awesome. Not often do you see upper-weight 1-1 matches get that exciting, but this one was all that and more. I took a couple of notes from this match-up: - Maurer's conditioning never faded. Throughout the entire match, he seemed fresh. He didn't look gassed what so ever, and if he was, he had a great way of not showing it. - The old Bankers Life Fieldhouse (then known as Conseco) looked awesome in this video. In 2012, the venue was gifted with a state-of-the-art scoreboard with 50 ft. long, 1080p HD screens, and 25x14 ft. 1080p HD screens facing the baseline. The new scoreboard allows for more lighting throughout the arena and on the floor, but in this state finals, with the old scoreboard (and I know some credit goes to past camera quality), you couldn't see anything BUT the wrestlers. You couldn't see the crowd or coaches, but you could hear them. The video is also great as there is no commentary, only sounds of "Let's go, Blake!" and "Let's go, Dolly!" and coaching calls. - Incredible defense from both sides. Alex Dolly had unreal defense defending Maurer's two single leg attacks, which in many scenarios would have scored on most wrestlers. Maurer was also able to defend a buck-and-roll attempt that had him on his back for a fraction of a second, which too would've caught many others. - The electricity of EMD and Mishawaka was unreal. I can only imagine being there as it had to be an unforgettable experience in those days. I definitely add this in my list of best matches ever. The only thing that would've made it better was if I seen it live. Other matches that you know of that I can possibly find footage of, please suggest or post below. The IHSAA also has DVDs of past individual and team state finals. The Maurer/Dolly match can be found here: (25:35 minute mark)

I don't know why or how I slipped him. I must have been thinking of Alec's lone loss. Cut me some slack Fabio. It was late. Jeez lol Fixed.

The Indianapolis Star used to publish one of these lists after the state finals, but it hasn't in recent years. I thought it would be cool to compile my own list of Indy area wrestlers and hear who most would pick for their respective regions/areas, or even by semi-state. Indianapolis Area Super Team 106 - Brayden Lowery, Perry Meridian, 9, 47-3 | State 3rd 113 - Alec Viduya, Roncalli, 9, 47-2 | State Champion 120 - Ty Mills, Brownsburg, 11, 37-3 | State Runner-Up 126 - Alec White, New Palestine, 12, 39-1 | State Champion 132 - Breyden Bailey, Indianapolis Cathedral, 12, 42-1 | State Champion 138 - Zach Melloh, Indianapolis Cathedral, 11, 39-2 | State 3rd 145 - Brayton Lee, Brownsburg, 11, 46-0 | State Champion 152 - Noah Warren, Perry Meridian, 11, 45-2 | State Runner-Up 160 - Gleason Mappes, Center Grove, 11, 41-3 | State 4th 170 - Burk Van Horn, Franklin, 12, 36-3 | State Qualifier 182 - Nathan Walton, Brownsburg, 11, 45-2 | State 3rd 195 - Tristen Tonte, Warren Central, 12, 39-2 | State Runner-Up 220 - Gunnar Larson, Avon, 12, 42-1 | State 3rd 285 - Robert Samuels, Lawrence North, 12, 43-7 | State 3rd Honorable Mention 106 - Drake Campbell of Brownsburg 113 - Asa Garcia of Avon 120 - Alex Mosconi of Indian Creek 126 - Blake Mulkey of Brownsburg 132 - Ethan Smiley of Beech Grove 138 - Nathan Conley of Avon 145 - Kain Rust of Perry Meridian 152 - Jacob Clark of Avon 160 - Jaylen Adkins of Decatur Central 170 - Joe Mazero of Hamilton Southeastern 182 - Jake Moore of Franklin Community 195 - Ben Stewart of Indianapolis Cathedral 220 - Isaac McCormick of Brownsburg 285 - Rickie Clark of Brownsburg

I see his name often in conversation on the forums, I see him on the IHSAA website records, and I've heard stories from fellow wrestlers who grew up watching him and coaches who witnessed his performances. To my understanding, he was a 4x medalist (3, 2, 3, 3?), and many hail him as one of the best to never win state. What was he like in terms of style and attitude?

I've read about them and that they would've placed an unprecedented number of points on the board at Individual State that would still be unmatched today. 10 qualifiers, 7 medalists, two of which were thirds, a runner-up, and four champions. Unreal.

I recently have been doing some studying on the history of our sport, and I've found that I can order the old IHSAA Team State Finals tournaments on DVD, and I will proceed to do so, but is there any recommendations for a specific year? As an alum of a former team state powerhouse, I've heard many stories about the previous era (pre-2011 for me). While I can't feel the electricity, I would love to see the EMD crowds of old and compare them to today. This also makes me wish Team State was back as a class A, AA, and AAA system because I remember watching Prairie Heights in 2016 and man were they fired up. Same with Monrovia in AA. Fireworks of duals. But back to my specific question, is there a specific year that I should watch ahead of time?

I know a lot of athletes don't enjoy many weigh-ins as it begins to take a toll on the body. One after another would become stressful.

I mean, I don't know. I was always kind of mixed on this topic. I could see where wrestling so much so often would make kids not like the sport, but I feel like wrestling so many matches also can make kids get a lot better. Typically, you wrestle the most matches in the "offseason," but in season it can give you waves of momentum going into the postseason.

Looking on the IHSAA website at some wrestling history, and the Super 3 of Griffith wrestled 60+ matches that season en route to individual state championships. There was an asterisk placed next to their records to note that this did not include their matches at Team State the next weekend. With the results reading that they all won their matches, Alex Tsirtsis wrestled 65 matches with no losses with Hernandez and Escobedo wrestling 64 with no losses. Insane. I can't imagine that today.

A wide variety of kids could be considered here. I'd give a nod to Austin Bethel. Four-time qualifier and was ranked fourth. One of J. Lee's four losses and B. Lee's only loss.

I understand, Alex Tsirtsis was a 4xer undefeated and surprisingly no one has mentioned me not including him. He and Angel both could be, but Mitch's five Fargo championships sort of took it through the roof for me and equalized him in a weird sort of way.

Oh, no. It was just a side note, but it was a toss up between Hump, Howe, Sliga, and Micic.

I made a post earlier about the best one-time state champion earlier, but it got me thinking... Who is Indiana's best ever based on accomplishments in HS alone? I've picked my top three, and it was very difficult choosing the third one. 1. Chad Red - 4x undefeated state champion (2013-16), Fargo champion, Super 32 champion, Flo national champion, Flo #1 at WNO, #7 P4P 2. Jason Tsirtsis - 4x state champion (2009-12), Fargo champion, 2x Flo national champion, FILA Cadet champion, FILA JR placer 3. Alex Tsirtsis - 4x undefeated state champion (2001-04), Fargo runner-up, FILA JR sixth place, Midlands competitor as a high school student (3rd ever).

Totally forgot Brooks. Fargo and Super 32 champ and now MMA fighter

2012 126 had Ayersman, LeCount, Crume, and Phillips before he did not compete.

Breyden Bailey also comes to mind of recent champs. 1x champ, 3x 3rd, Super 32 placer. Wes Bernard also. 1x champ, 2x Fargo AA, 3x placer. For older guys out there ahead of my time, would you throw Nick Walpole in the mix?