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The first annual IndianaMat MessageBoard Hall of Fame class has been announced. Since this Hall of Fame is run by crooked media members we modified the rules right before the announcement. We are inducting three people posthumously and four via the vote-in process. Don’t be surprised if we change the rules again next year. Before we get into the inductees here are some of the general guidelines we have for this honor.
1. No admins or staff
2. Can only go in under ONE name
3. Been an active member for 5 years
4. Innovative and fun
5. All in fun
 
We start the inductees with three people who left an impact on the board and have unfortunately passed away. The first one is grecoref aka Tom Clark. He came to Indiana from his native Ohio and became a full blown Hoosier. On the mat he was a very accomplished referee making his way to the state finals and also to a little tournament called the Olympics. On the board he was known to provide valuable information, sarcasm, wit, and humor. He was a friend to all and a great personality to have on the board.
 
Our second inductee is The Ancient Elder aka Dick Neal. Mr. Neal was likely the greatest Indiana wrestling historian ever. In the days of paper brackets and snail mail, he acquired everything he could possibly get his hands on to incorporate into his Indiana wrestling book. On the board he always answered the historical questions and reminded us of the best wrestlers and matches of the years gone by.
 
The last one to be inducted posthumously is Perseverance aka Eric Allred. Allred has a great story of overcoming adversity and making his life right. He was a huge fan of his son Silas and very knowledgeable about the sport and the kids Silas wrestled with. His passion for the sport and supporting others is very much missed.
 
The currently active members are characters to say the least and have had a fun and important impact on our lively messageboard. It is only fitting that MattyB and Team Garcia are inducted at the same time. Both came on the board at the same time to wreak havoc and promote #TheCounty and mainly the “young guns” of Avon. They have continued to this day due to having sons still involved in wrestling or in the case of Garcia, just loving to stir the pot.
 
The steel factory in da region kept RegionRat1 off the board for a few years, but he made a comeback this season. While he has stayed relatively anonymous he always loves to promote da region in his very unique regioneese. Most outside of da region likely believe the way he types is how they speak there, and they aren’t wrong. 
 
Last, but not least is the lightning rod they call General Heavy Handz. Of the current inductees he leads the league in most “vacations” from IndianaMat. Luckily for him, Mike talks Joe into letting him come back EVERY SINGLE TIME! He is never shy about promoting the SAC and his beloved Snider Panthers.

By STEVE KRAH
stvkrh905@gmail.com
 
Drew Waldon stepped onto the mat at the 2023 IHSAA State Finals as a 113-pound sophomore.
 
Now a 126-pound DeKalb High School junior, Waldon will be again be aiming for the state meet — this time Feb. 16-17 at the Ford Center in Evansville instead of Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis — when he represents the Barons on Saturday, Feb. 10 at the Fort Wayne Semi-State at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
 
Waldon’s first-round foe in the 16-man bracket is Norwell junior Jason Prough. It takes two victories at semi-state to place in the top four and qualify for the State Finals.
 
“I’m just trying to stay focused and disciplined,” says Waldon of his pre-semi-state practice week.
 
Waldon (28-4 in 2023-24 with two losses coming against Ohio foes in the Defiance Border War event on Dec. 28-29) is coming off a second straight Goshen Regional title on Feb. 3. This time around, he topped Wawasee sophomore Cameron Senter 4-2 in the finals. Up 2-1 going into the final period, Waldon allowed an escape then scored two points in the third period.
 
Before that, Waldon reigned at the West Noble Sectional on Jan. 27, pinning Prairie Heights junior Boston Baas in 5:40 for the title.
 
Waldon placed third in the Northeast Eight Conference meet at Huntington North on Jan. 20. He lost 2-1 to eventual NE8 champion and Leo freshman Nolan Butcher in the semifinals and later came back to best Columbia City senior Dale Cassidy for third.
 
“That loss was a surprise, but it’s good to learn from these mistakes now,” says DeKalb head coach Justin Wight of his comments at the time. “We make adjustments and come back for (IHSAA) tourney time.”
 
At the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association Team Duals, Waldon went 2-1 as DeKalb placed 12th in Class 3A.
 
What’s the best thing Waldon does in the circle?
 
“I’m pretty equal at everything,” says Waldon, who is heading to his third semi-state in three seasons (He placed third at 113 in 2023 and did not place at 106 in 2022.). “On my top game, I can turn almost anybody.”
 
As a junior, Waldon embraces a leadership role at DeKalb.
 
“I try to push my teammates,” says Waldon with a hoarse voice from cheering on his fellow Barons at regional, including sophomore James Hartleroad (who won at 285), junior Jadon Teague (who placed fourth at 144), junior Graham Blythe (who placed fourth at 175), junior Dominic Dunn (who did not place at 165) and junior Brady Long (who did not place at 190). “I want them to be better.”
 
Hartleroad was a 16U Greco-Roman national champion and ISWA Greco-Roman and Freestyle State winner at 285 in 2023.
 
Teague made it to semi-state as a freshman at 138 and Blythe was a regional qualifier as a sophomore at 160.
 
Drew is the middle child of the three born to James and Heather Waldon, behind Jared and Deanna. Little sister grappled in junior high.
 
“My dad takes me everywhere so does my mom,” says Drew. “It really gave me so many opportunities to get better and advance my skill set.”
 
Waldon, who took up in the sport in junior high, placed sixth at Frosh-Soph State sixth at 120 in 2023, sixth at Indiana State Wrestling Association Folkstyle State at 113 in 2022 and seventh at ISWA Freestyle State at 100 in 2021.
 
Wight, who works in industrial refrigeration, is in his second year coaching wrestling at DeKalb after about a 10-year gap when he coached at Homestead. He took over as Barons head coach at midseason.
 
A piece of coaching advice that resonates with Waldon: “No matter what, keep your head up and keep wrestling.”
 
Says Wight of Waldon, “He’s one of the most disciplined and hard-working kids. You don’t have to babysit him all the time. He’s going to be doing the right things.
 
“He wins with grace. He loses with grace. He’s just one of those rare kids. He’s very humble. He’s very polite.”

**Match orders have been updated as of 1pm Sunday**
 
You can find TrackWrestling links here
https://indianamat.com/index.php?/bracketstournament.html/
 
 
1. Hobart | 9 am CT  
Feeder Sectionals: East Chicago Central, Portage
Hobart.pdf
 
2. Crown Point | 9 am CT  
Feeder Sectionals: Crown Point, LaPorte
Crown Point.pdf
 
3. Penn | 9 am ET  
Feeder Sectionals: Mishawaka, Plymouth
Penn.pdf
 
4. Logansport | 10 am ET  
Feeder Sectionals: Lafayette Jefferson, Twin Lakes
Logansport.pdf
 
5. Goshen | 9:30 am ET
Feeder Sectionals: Elkhart, West Noble
Goshen.pdf
 
6. Carroll (Fort Wayne) | 9 am ET  
Feeder Sectionals: Carroll (Fort Wayne), New Haven
Carroll.pdf
 
7. Peru | 9 am ET  
Feeder Sectionals: Peru, Oak Hill
Peru.pdf
 
8. Jay County | 8:30 am ET
Feeder Sectionals: Delta, Jay County
Jay County.pdf
 
9. North Montgomery | 9 am ET  
Feeder Sectionals: Crawfordsville, Frankfort
North Mont.pdf
 
10. Pendleton Heights | 9 am ET  
Feeder Sectionals: Elwood, Indianapolis Arsenal Technical
 
Pendleton Heights.pdf
 
11. Perry Meridian | 9 am ET  
Feeder Sectionals: Shelbyville, Southport
Perry Meridian.pdf
 
12. Richmond | 9 am ET  
Feeder Sectionals: South Dearborn, Shenandoah
Richmond.pdf
 
13. Mooresville | 9 am ET  
Feeder Sectionals: Avon, Mooresville
Mooresville.pdf
 
14. Bloomington South | 10 am ET  
Feeder Sectionals: Bloomington North, Southridge
Bloomington South.pdf
 
15. Jeffersonville | 8 am ET  
Feeder Sectionals: Jeffersonville, Jennings County
Jeffersonville.pdf
 
16. Castle | 9 am CT  
Feeder Sectionals: Castle, Evansville Central
Castle.pdf
 

By JEREMY HINES
Thehines7@gmail.com
 
When Brady Byrd was young, he would wake up early, pack his wrestling gear in his parent’s vehicle and make the long journey to whatever tournament they could find. Often, hours later, he would return with a couple of losses to show for his effort.
 
“Brady started wrestling in fifth grade,” his father, Sean said. “Every tournament around us was at least an hour drive. Normally he would go 0-2. But he kept doing it and kept doing it. Sometimes he would even move up weight classes just to get matches.”
 
While the losses piled up, so did Byrd’s determination. If wrestling was easy, he might not have ever fallen in love with the sport. The losses helped build him into one of the best wrestlers in Washington High School history.
 
“That prepared me,” Brady said. “Not a lot of kids at this level have been on the losing side like I have. It took me a long time before I started to see success. For the longest time my worst sport was wrestling. Being on that losing side taught me to never shy away from anything. I was not going to quit just because I wasn’t good at it. That’s never a valid reason to quit. You have to get better. That’s the only option.”
 
Now, Byrd is the first Fargo double All-American to ever come out of the prestigious Maurer Caughlin Wrestling Club. Byrd finished third in freestyle this year and seventh in Greco-Roman. He is currently ranked No. 5 in the state at 106 pounds and has his sights set on taking the top of the platform at the state finals. He’s come a long way – but it was never easy.
 
“The biggest thing with Brady, is that a lot of guys see him now, succeeding and being a good wrestler,” Washington coach Aaron Cissell said. “But nobody looks deep enough to see all the struggles and tournaments where he would lose. He stuck with it. It’s all paying off now. He has overcome all of that and fought to be successful.”
 
Brady started wrestling 106 pounds as a freshman. At the time he weighed just 91 pounds. He’s always been a smaller guy. This, his senior season, is the first time he’s had to cut any weight at all. And even now, the cut is minimal.
 
Sean, his dad, was a state placer in high school.
 
“I placed seventh my senior year at 112 pounds,” Sean said. “Our styles are similar except that I was all heart and toughness and didn’t have technique. Brady is heart, toughness and has excellent technique.
 
“I was a Region guy who was coached by Hall of famer Walt Prochno Kankakee Valley. Brady wrestles the region style in southern Indiana - tough and gritty.”
 
Brady agrees that toughness and grit are keys to his success.
 
“The grit is what makes me successful,” Brady said. I’ve always had it. A lot of kids don’t like to wrestle me. I stay in their face and stay physical.”
 
Injuries have plagued Brady in his young career. He has suffered an ankle and a knee injury but has bounced back from both.
 
“Brady is the most determined and hardest working guy I’ve ever seen,” Cissell said. “He is tough in all areas.”
 
Brady owns Washington’s winning percentage record, but he wants to set the school’s win record and pin record this season. Both are well within his grasp. He also wants to become the third wrestler from his school to qualify for the state finals (Mark Kelsey did it in 1984 and Aaron Brower in 2003). He also wants to become the first Washington wrestler to place at state.
 
Brady also does whatever is necessary to help his team. Coaches have learned to rely on him with helping teach moves in a way the other wrestlers can understand.
 
“People really respect Brady,” Sean said. “So, when we are teaching moves, it’s better to have a Brady show them because he can speak their language and they really feed off of him.”
 
Brady would like to wrestle in college and even the Olympics one day. He has excellent grades and was named to the Academic All-State Team. Outside of wrestling Brady enjoys competitive bass fishing, hunting and playing pickle ball.
 
“Brady is the most determined kid you’ll ever meet,” Sean said. “He works hard at everything, and the work is finally starting to pay dividends.”
 
Brady has started this young season off with 15 consecutive wins. He hopes for much more as the year goes on. He loves the sport and enjoys working at it.
 
“Wrestling is one-on-one,” Brady said. “People call me crazy because I train so much. I don’t like relying on other people to win. I like relying on myself. What I put in is what I get out.”

By Anna Kayser
 
When Brownsburg opens its doors to kick off the 2023-24 wrestling season on Nov. 29 vs. Westfield, it will be the first time in 291 days that Parker Reynolds steps onto the mat in competition. Nine months and 18 days full of doctor’s visits, blood tests, surgeries, physical therapy and pushing himself to the limit, all for a young athlete to return to wrestling stronger than he left it.
 
Parker, the 138-pound freshman starter in last year’s Bulldog lineup, had his first high school campaign riddled with a then-mysterious condition causing numbness in his hands. A season which had incredible high points – on Dec. 10 at the Walsh Jesuit Ironman, he defeated the eventual 138-pound state champion from Ohio – was challenged by a mix of physical and mental hurdles.
 
“When I wrestled, I would lose all feeling. It was almost like there were knives in my forearms, it hurt really, really bad,” Parker said. “It started to almost become a mental thing because before a lot of matches, I wouldn’t know if it was going to come up or not and it almost freaked me out before every match. I was worried that my hands were going to go numb, and it really started messing with me when I wrestled.”
 
Following a semi-state loss to end his freshman season, Parker immediately began seeing a series of doctors to diagnose his condition. They tested his heart, musculoskeletal system and blood for autoimmune diseases before being referred to a group of specialists on thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) – one being Dr. George G. Sheng, a vascular surgeon with Ascension Medical Group.
 
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, TOS – a condition often found in pitchers due to their repetitive throwing motion – refers to a series of syndromes where compression of nerves, arteries and veins in the lower neck and upper chest causes pain or numbness in the surrounding areas.
 
Parker, after undergoing another series of tests with Dr. Sheng, was diagnosed with both neurogenic and venous TOS, two of the three syndromes related to TOS causing his hands to turn purple, numbness and the sensation of feeling knives in his forearms.
 
The constant movement of the shoulder forward – similar to a pitcher’s throwing motion – at a young age can affect the placement of ribs before they’re entirely developed, leading to a partial blockage of different nerves and veins making up the spinal system. Parker became the first wrestler Dr. Sheng had seen with TOS, and in turn became the first to undergo a procedure to remove the first rib on his right side in an effort to alleviate his symptoms. The recovery timeline for this surgery to treat TOS is one year.
 
“Nobody thought he was going to be able to wrestle this year – not even the surgeon, not even us,” Josh Reynolds, Parker’s dad, said. “He was going to have to put the work in, he was going to have to go to physical therapy and see how his body [healed].”
 
Parker has TOS on both sides of his body, but an early expectation of having two rib-removal surgeries faded as the April 3 surgery on his right side relieved most symptoms on both. However, the doubt of a possible second surgery and how his body would rebound expanded the unknown from one year to potentially never wrestling again.
 
“This is the longest I’ve ever gone without having a match, I felt like so much was getting taken away from me. There was a lot of doubt [if I would ever wrestle again],” Parker said.
 
The beginning stages of Parker’s recovery can be summed up in two words: Boring and grueling. Unable to do anything where he might feel pressure in his left side, the rising sophomore found himself unable to do all of his favorite things – wrestling, as well as enjoy fishing and a number of water activities at his family’s vacation home in Florida.
 
After months of being in a dark place mentally, from not knowing what was going on with his body to possibly being unable to wrestle for at least a year, Parker began seeing a mental coach.
“[Parker’s mental coach] has probably been one of the biggest influences in all of this,” Josh said. “He was a calming voice to Parker and saying ‘Listen, you’ve got to listen to your body. If you’re not right, you can’t come back prematurely.’”
 
Taking the next step in his rehab process by beginning light, lower body-focused workouts helped, too, and Parker’s parents saw a noticeable change mentally.
 
And then, a lump on his neck appeared and severe nosebleeds began, sparking a series of blood tests with the possibility of lymphoma or leukemia. The average size of a lymph node is under 1.5 centimeters in diameter, and Parker’s grew to near 3 centimeters.
 
“He’d make comments like, “I don’t know what I can do if I can’t wrestle. That’s all I’ve ever done, I’ve been wrestling since I was four.’” Josh said. “As a family, it was tough especially for my wife and I because we’re just saying we want [Parker] healthy and in his eyes, ‘Well if I’m healthy I can wrestle.’”
 
Parker had another surgery in July to remove the entire growth from his neck. The tests for leukemia came back negative, and instead he was diagnosed with Epstein Barr virus – another form of mononucleosis – likely caused by the hit his immune system took with the removal of his rib.
 
He was cleared to return to practice in August, with stipulations from his surgeon: He couldn’t be taken down and was only allowed to be in situations which he could control. But he could build his entire daily routine around wrestling and gaining strength for the season.
 
“Coach [Chad] Red said, “You tell me when and where and I’m with you every step of the way,’” Josh recalled. “That’s when we saw this mental transition. [Parker] was working with the mental coach, doing one-on-ones with Coach Red, practicing twice a day [plus lifting weights] and he was changing his mindset.”
 
Over the summer, Parker lost close to 10 pounds. After being cleared by his physicians, he began working out and practicing three times a day, before school and after school, to get himself back in wrestling shape for Brownsburg’s impending Oct. 30 practice.
 
“After a couple months, you can see he’s getting smoother and feeling better,” Brownsburg head wrestling coach Darrick Snyder said. “Now, we’re working through with him that he’s not going to be the same dude at our opening meet that he will be at the end of the year. He’s going to take some leaps this season.”
 
Now, Parker’s coming back with a vengeance – finally stepping onto the mat with more answers than questions. Along with a renewed sense of confidence in his health and wrestling ability, he’s entering this season with three things he didn’t have last year:
 
A tattoo on his lower ribs of a quote by Moliére, a French playwright, reading, “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.”
 
A list of all the wrestlers he beat last season who placed at the state championships in Indiana or surrounding states.
 
And a necklace with his first rib, removed when this all started, to wear around his neck before each of his matches during his improbable comeback campaign.  

By Dave Melton
Photo: Sam Janicki
 
Michigan senior Mason Parris kept coming back to phrases like “job’s not done” or “the season’s not over yet.”
 
But the Wolverines heavyweight also couldn’t downplay what he’d accomplished on Sunday night.
 
“That’s definitely one of the top memories so far,” he said. “I’ve been wanting that Big Ten title for a really long time and it’s great to finally have one.”
 
With a 5-3 overtime win against Penn State’s Greg Kerkvliet — a championship match between the top two heavyweights in the country, let alone the conference — Parris captured the first Big Ten championship of his career while wrestling in front of the home crowd at the University of Michigan.
 
But as soon as he finished that brief reflection on that win, Parris’ mind moved forward.
 
“Obviously, the job’s not done,” he said. “Two more weeks it’s the NCAA tournament and that’s still the main goal — this is just a stepping stone.”
 
Parris’ record now sits at 28-0, living up to his No. 1 ranking at heavyweight by both FloWrestling and Intermat with his first-place finish at the Big Ten tournament.
 
His career accolades were already a mile long, including three high school state titles before graduating from Lawrenceburg in 2018, a freestyle world championship in 2019, and a runner-up finish at the NCAA tournament in 2021. But the Big Ten title had remained elusive, with Parris finishing as runner-up twice and fourth place last season.
 
Reaching this title included a brief step back, too, as head coach Sean Bormet explained.
 
“As soon as our season ended, we had to make sure that we shut him down on the mat,” Bormet said. “We had to take some time off and start to rebuild his body so he could bounce back. And he attacked it like he attacks everything.”
 
Parris struggled with a herniated disc through much of last season and the effects from that injury and its subsequent recovery required some patience.
 
“When I was lifting in the summer I could barely do any pull-ups,” Parris said. “I struggled a lot. But now I can do 25 pull-ups by myself. I finally got that confidence back in my strength. It’s amazing to be able to feel this good again.”
 
He needed every ounce of strength to outlast Kerkvliet in the championship match, with a late stalling call against Parris sending the match into overtime — unbeknownst to Parris.
 
“I had no idea about that stall call until I looked up at the clock and saw it was 3-3,” he said. “Then I just had to take a deep breath. I knew what I had to do.”
 
About one minute into overtime, Parris stifled a shot attempt from Kerkvliet and then barreled through his opponent for the title-winning two points.
 
“I felt him shoot in deep on me,” Parris said. “I got my legs back and felt a little bit of pressure let up, so that’s why I drove in on him and took him over at the end.”
 
As he rose to his feet in victory, Parris pointed directly at his father, Mark, in the crowd.
 
“He’s the one who got me into wrestling,” Parris said of his father. “It’s been a great journey for both of us. It’s great being able to do that for my hometown and for my family.”
 
Mark Parris, who was a two-time all-conference linebacker at Ball State, got Mason Parris into wrestling by starting a youth program in Lawrenceburg, thinking it would help his son’s athletic future — just not on the mats.
 
“I started the youth program because I thought he was going to play college football,” Mark Parris said. “Wrestling helped me out when I was in high school, so I thought we’d start that program because they make the best tacklers.”
 
During Mason Parris’ multi-sport high school career, though, his plans became solely focused on wrestling. And judging by the wide smile on Mark Parris’ face as he spoke, there was never a doubt that this path was the correct one.
 
“We’re just so proud of him and who he is,” he said.
 
But, as Mason Parris was quick to point out: that road still has more miles to be explored.
 
“I can be happy with tonight and celebrate it,” Mason Parris said. “But then I’ll get back to work tomorrow.”