FlyNavy

It's uncanny how many of these nominees are on my Ignored Users list.  That's my favorite feature of the website. It works amazingly well.

It's uncanny how many of these nominees are on my Ignored Users list.  That's my favorite feature of the website. It works amazingly well.

It's uncanny how many of these nominees are on my Ignored Users list.  That's my favorite feature of the website. It works amazingly well.

It's uncanny how many of these nominees are on my Ignored Users list.  That's my favorite feature of the website. It works amazingly well.

It's uncanny how many of these nominees are on my Ignored Users list.  That's my favorite feature of the website. It works amazingly well.

It's uncanny how many of these nominees are on my Ignored Users list.  That's my favorite feature of the website. It works amazingly well.

It's uncanny how many of these nominees are on my Ignored Users list.  That's my favorite feature of the website. It works amazingly well.

Coach Andre Scruggs from South Bend Adams and before that South Bend Lasalle 

It's 192 pages, so it will entertain you while you drive to Evansville.
 
 

Thank you to everyone who has reached out regarding Preston.  Results of a CT scan and other tests have come back.  Nothing is broken and he will make a full recovery.  
 
As far as what happened, the Mater Dei wrestler had been winning the entire match.  An illegal slam was called.  It was not intentional.  Whether it was an illegal slam or not, I don’t really care.  We were never taking a dive.  Brownsburg doesn’t roll like that.  It goes against everything we believe in.  If I thought it was intentional, It would be a different story.  There is no doubt in our mind that it was just a result of two dudes trying to punch their ticket to state. 
 
It was pretty chaotic as all of this was happening as I’m sure you can all imagine.  Given that it was a neck/head injury, I wanted to give medical people access to Preston.  Once they had time to check Preston out, I took that opportunity to talk to Preston.  There was never any talk or consideration of taking a dive. Preston would never do that.  He was in a lot of pain and upset.  He has had a lot of adversity this season. He tore his ACL at IHPO and has been working through that pain and frustration all season.  I just explained to Preston what had happened and that I was going to forfeit the match.  I told him we were losing…and it would not be fair to take the trip to state away from the Mater Dei kid.  Preston agreed and said he would never do that.  There was no reversal of the call or anything.  I just went up to officials and said we are forfeiting the match.  
 
Whoever said Preston was walking around saw someone else.  He was taken out on a stretcher and to the emergency room. 
 
Snyder 

The state series seems so far away after it happens, but in the blink of an eye, it’s here again. Time flies when you start to get older I guess (yes I know I’m still a college kid, I don’t need the “wait til you get to my age” stuff). But truthfully, coming to the end of my senior year, it seems like everything is moving so quickly. I’ll get my degree soon, start my career in the working world, and my life will change dramatically. I can only continue to work hard and enjoy the moments I have left with my teammates and friends I’ve made along the way.
 
BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT WE’RE HERE FOR!!! The East Chicago Semi-State is proving to be a very tough semi-state this year, losing Wawasee, but gaining an incredibly tough group of wrestlers in Rochester. As of right now, the East Chicago Semi-State contains NINE of the top twenty teams in the most recent Team Power Poll Rankings. This semi-state is certainly tougher than it has been in years prior, and while I cannot say yet with confidence that it is tougher than the Evansville Semi-State, it is an easy number two.
 
Before I begin, I want to highlight some stats, as I typically do in these previews, in order to showcase the depth of this semi-state and compare it to the other semi-states in the state of Indiana:
 
State-Ranked Wrestlers:
 
East Chicago: 84/350 = 24%
Evansville: 98/350 = 28%
Fort Wayne: 75/350 = 21.4%
New Castle: 78/350 = 22.2%
 
Top 8 Ranked Wrestlers:
 
East Chicago: 34/112 = 30.4%
Evansville: 33/112 = 29.5%
Fort Wayne: 20/112 = 17.9%
New Castle: 24/112 = 21.4%
 
#1 Ranked Wrestlers:
 
East Chicago: 7/14 = 50%
Evansville: 6/14 = 42.9%
Fort Wayne: 1/14 = 7%
New Castle: 0/14 = 0%
 
These numbers show a pretty clear competitiveness with the Evansville and East Chicago Semi-States. Evansville has a larger depth of ranked competitors, while East Chicago hosts a slightly stronger field of medal contenders, per the rankings, although Evansville is missing #3 (at 106) Isaac Campbell to make it an even 34 vs. 34 in the Top 8 Ranked Wrestlers in the state. East Chicago contains HALF of all the #1 ranked wrestlers in the state, while Evansville is just one shy of that with six. The final #1 ranked wrestler belongs to Fort Wayne, while New Castle is missing a #1 ranked wrestler from their semi-state, although there are two state champions in that field. I think Evansville still gets the edge for best semi-state in Indiana, but East Chicago is getting close. Fort Wayne and New Castle also seem tied for third place, but Fort Wayne does suffer a little bit from the loss of Rochester from their semi-state. The last set of statistics I want to present is a #1 ranked wrestlers in the state NOT INCLUDING Crown Point, Brownsburg, or Center Grove. I know this omission hurts the Evansville semi-state here, but I want to see how things change without the powerhouse schools of Indiana:
 
East Chicago: 6/14
Evansville: 3/14
Fort Wayne: 2/14
New Castle: 3/14
 
Once again, don’t take these too seriously, as I understand this benefits East Chicago a lot more than Evansville, who I am omitting two teams from, but it’s interesting to see how things look without the nationally ranked teams of Indiana.
 
With all of that being said, I am going to quickly highlight how I am going to do these predictions, and then get started. I am going to begin by giving my top 4, in order, and I will then highlight any death draws in the bracket, which will be defined by any top 16 wrestler that is wrestling another top 16 wrestler. I will also highlight any notable first round matchups, which will be any top 25 wrestler wrestling another top 25 wrestler. Of course, that first round matchup will get extra emphasis if it is a death draw in the first round. After that, I will talk about each quarterbracket and give my analysis on how each one will go, before talking about the semifinals and finals matchups.
 
106:
 
Mason Jones
Alonzo Chantea
Teigan Newell
Grant Holloway
 
FIRST ROUND DEATH DRAW: #13 Teigan Newell vs. #16 Aidan Diaz
 
It only took two quarterbrackets before coming across the first of many bad matchups that we’ll see in this semi-state. Despite being #16 in the state, Aidan Diaz has wrestled very few matches this season, and is only 3-3 on the season, taking 4th at his regional. Thus, while this is a death draw per the rankings, I think Newell will win handily here.
 
#2 Mason Jones should cruise to a finals appearance, seeing no ranked opponents until the semifinals, where he will likely meet #25 Grant Holloway, the first of many invaders from the Fort Wayne semi-state. Holloway is the only ranked opponent in his quarterbracket, and made an upset over Aidan Diaz to put himself in a position to qualify in his first high school season. In the third quarterbracket, we have the previously mentioned death draw, as well as #21 Nash Burke. I think Newell still wins in the ticket round, to wrestle #11 Alonzo Chantea in the semifinals. Chantea has not struggled yet in a post season match, and owns a commanding 11-4 win over Newell this season, so there’s no reason to think that Chantea won’t make a finals appearance here. I expect Chantea to actually contend quite well with Jones, but Jones should pull through and win this weight class.
 
113:
 
Gavin Lewis
Brady Harper
Caleb Halfacre
Bryce McNees
 
While there are no death draws by technicality here, I think that #5 Gavin Lewis is a really tough pull for Portage senior #17 Owen Bunton, who has proven to be much better than his rankings in previous weeks of the season, such as his wins over higher ranked wrestlers #14 Mario Orueta and #13 Brady Harper. That being said, Bunton will probably not win this ticket round matchup, as Gavin Lewis has been too good this season to expect any different result. For the next quarterbracket, we will likely see another #25 in the state punch his ticket, with Bryce McNees as the only state ranked wrestler in this quarterbracket. I don’t believe that any of the wrestlers will contend with McNees to punch their ticket, so McNees is a comfortable 4th placer here. #13 Brady Harper is wildly better than his ranking, and should easily punch his ticket. The last interesting match in the quarterbracket phase of this weight class is the showdown between Mario Orueta and #18 Caleb Halfacre. I want to justify my pick of the lower ranked wrestler here, starting with Halfacre’s match with Harper that ended in an injury default. It did appear, despite the ending, that Halfacre was in a position to win that match. Whether or not he would have won the match or not is irrelevant; Brady Harper is an extremely talented freshman that has podium talent without a doubt, and Halfacre has proven himself to be ready for those caliber of wrestlers. Orueta, despite a big win over Bunton at regionals, is still 1-2 against him on the season, maybe indicating that Bunton is still the better wrestler. Of course, this is all just prediction logic, but I think that Halfacre’s best version is better than Orueta’s best version, so we will have to see come Saturday. That being said, I think that Harper will get Halfacre back in the rematch, but I will assume that the match will be close. That leaves Lewis and Harper in the finals for a super freshman showdown. Their match earlier this season was a 3-1 decision for Lewis, but I think that Lewis has the potential to widen that gap. If not, expect a firm decision for Lewis.
 
120:
 
Gavin Jendreas
Aidan Dallinger
Seth Aubin
Adrian Origel
 
DEATH DRAW: #8 Aidan Dallinger vs. #11 Maximus Quiroz
 
Maximus Quiroz made himself known at the Al Smith this year, claiming important wins over #16 Porter Temples and Josh Kite, along with a 9-5 loss to Western stud #6 Tanner Tishner. A regional loss to #18 Adrian Origel, however, means that he will be put to the test against #8 Aidan Dallinger, a returning state placer and semi-state runner up. Dallinger’s only losses on the season came to #2 Seth Aubin in a tight 2-1 match, and a 4-0 loss to #7 Isaac Ash, who just posted a big win against #4 Preston Haines. The most interesting part about this death draw, in my opinion, is that I don’t really believe that it will happen. Quiroz has to get through Portage’s Cameron Woods in the first round, who pulled off one of the biggest post season upsets yet with a decision win over #2 Seth Aubin. He lost the rematch 8-4 at regionals, but I think that Woods has proven himself as a threat to anyone in this field. In fact, his results outside of the post season are pretty good themselves, with wins over #16 Porter Temples and Bellmont’s Henry Faurote, and competitive matches with Dallinger and Quiroz, with 5-2 and 7-5 losses respectively. So, if anybody wants to pick an upset here, I think that Woods is the man to do it.
 
Luckily, the rest of the quarterbrackets are much less complicated. Seth Aubin and #1 Gavin Jendreas should breeze into the semifinal round, where they will be set to meet, in an instance of horrible semi-state bracketing. I expect nothing less than a tech fall from the Crown Point Bulldog that has solidified himself as the heavy favorite to win a title in Evansville. A ticket round match that does intrigue me is Penn’s Ryann Schmidtendorff and Adrian Origel. Origel has proven himself as a legitimate threat to the field with an upset over Quiroz at regionals, while Schmidtendorff has had a bit of a lackluster regular season after being state ranked in season’s prior. I think Schmidtendorff has the tools to pull the upset, as evidenced by his regional title, but Origel is a senior and too safe of a pick for me to make the prediction. Origel and Dallinger should meet in the semis, but with the #1 and #2 on the other side, this is a fight for 2nd and 4th, which I think Dallinger will come on top of.
 
126:
 
Landon Hawkins
Matthew Maldonado
Layne Horn
Dylan Bennett
 
No death draws present in this weight class; in fact, I don’t think there are any ticket round matches that are really worth talking about. #12 Dylan Bennett is the only ranked competitor in his weight class; the same follows for #10 Matthew Maldonado and #7 Layne Horn. #2 Landon Hawkins does have a state ranked ticket round matchup with #23 Daniel Mata on the other side, but Hawkins should have no trouble winning this match. The real intrigue at this weight class are the two semifinal matchups. I’ll start with Maldonado and Bennett. Maldonado is slightly higher ranked, but Bennett has been there, done that, with two appearances at the state finals with three tries. However, Bennett has taken several losses this season that are a little questionable, compared to Maldonado, who has improved greatly since last season. This matchup is a question of if Maldonado has improved enough to overtake a veteran of the post season, or if Bennett can hold on and make his first semi-state finals appearance in three tries. I think that the younger talent will be enough to win, but this should be remarkably close. Perhaps the even more interesting matchup is Hawkins and Horn. Both of these wrestlers, despite having no state medals to their name, have been state title contender material for well over a year, with Horn being ranked #1 for much of last season at 106, and Hawkins beating several state medalists before even reaching the high school scene. Horn has not been as much of a presence now up three weights, and Hawkins has shown a little bit of vulnerability against some of the tougher wrestlers in the state, but I think Hawkins is the clear favorite to win this matchup. Horn is a little bit of a question mark right now, with a lack of experience against the field, so I can’t say with certainty that Hawkins will win, especially given Horn’s pedigree, but I’m going to lock in Hawkins. This really should be a finals match though, with the winner of this match getting 1st and the loser likely taking 3rd.
 
132:
 
Hayden Demarco
Guillermo Rivera
Dalton Robson
Walter Drews
 
DEATH DRAW: #6 Guillermo Rivera vs. #8 Sonny Sessa
 
Yikes. Two top eight competitors and returning state qualifiers will have to battle it out for a trip to Evansville. #6 Guillermo Rivera has really seemed to jump levels this season, posting several impressive wins this season against other state ranked opponents, and losing only 5-3 to #4 Eddie Goss, and a 13-5 major decision to Luke Reid, who is #10 at 138. #8 Sonny Sessa has been battle tested this season, having several losses through Crown Point’s brutally difficult schedule, but also having some shining moments, such as his win over #9 Angelo Vargo, who was a higher ranked opponent at the time. Unfortunately for Sessa, Rivera has won both of their meetings this season, and given Rivera’s track record of winning the matches he is supposed to win, I think there’s no reason to believe he will do it again.
 
#3 Hayden Demarco seems back on track after a sectional finals scare, where John Glenn’s Walter Drews pushed him to an 8-7 decision. He should breeze through to the finals quite easily if he is wrestling his best. The next quarterbracket contains a very intriguing first round matchup with the just mentioned Walter Drews and returning state qualifier Hayden Fritz. Fritz has struggled a little bit this season with a loss in the regular season to Sol Siburcrist, but he has since avenged that match and has put himself in a position to qualify for the state tournament once again. However, Drews is looking to spoil his second trip, and despite his 4th place finish at regionals, has proven that he can contend with state ranked opponents. In fact, most of Drews’ matches against state ranked opponents have been quite competitive, such as his 5-3 loss last week to Sessa. Drews will not have to defeat as high caliber of an opponent to qualify, so I think that he can breakthrough and get it done. The third quarterbracket will likely go to #25 Dalton Robson, setting him up for a semifinal bout with Rivera, who I think will win handily. Rivera and Demarco have not wrestled yet this season, but I suspect that Demarco will win, although he has shown to be a little inconsistent at times, while Rivera has consistently performed quite well. If the best versions of both wrestlers show up, Demarco will come away with the victory, but if not, Rivera will threaten to steal the semi-state title. For 3rd place, I think Robson can replicate his win over Drews, but it will be a razor-thin bout.
 
138:
 
Clinton Shepherd
Luke Reid
Wesley Smith
Josh England
 
Now, before I talk about any of the quarterbrackets, I need to address the bottom one first: a ticket round match between #19 Drake Fritz and LaPorte’s Josh England. I’ve addressed my LaPorte bias in the past, and it’s been easier to get away with it with Ashton Jackson, who is the best wrestler to come through that program and wrestles in the Big Ten now. However, despite a tendency to favor my guys in matches like these, I think England is a pretty legitimate state qualifier contender with this draw. Fritz is a returning state qualifier, and is undefeated in a relatively untested year. However, Fritz’s regional finals match made him look much more defeatable, squeaking by against Harrison West Lafayette’s Tiernan Tuttle in a 13-12 decision. England is ranked 8th in the semi-state, while Fritz and Tuttle are ranked 5th and 7th respectively, but England pick up a big win in the regional bloodround against #17 Quinton Buckmaster, who is ranked 4th in the semi-state. Therefore, with Fritz looking vulnerable at semi-state, and England wrestling a pretty great regional that only saw him lose to #1 Clinton Shepherd, I think he can get it done against Fritz. The rest of the quarterbrackets are much easier to predict, with Shepherd, #5 Wesley Smith, and #10 Luke Reid having favorable draws. Shepherd is likely going to steamroll his way through this bracket, so even though he faces a top five opponent in the semifinals, I doubt it will be close. Reid beat England 6-1 in the sectional finals, so I think that match should end similarly, but you know I’ll be rooting for a different outcome. The finals and 3rd place match at this point will be pretty determined, with Shepherd beating Reid, and Smith beating England.
 
145:
 
Jeffrey Huyvaert
Zar Walker
Marlone Kirksey
Avery Stanley
 
DEATH DRAW: #3 Jeffrey Huyvaert vs. #11 Michael Ortega
 
While this is definitely a tough match for the junior from Portage, #3 Jeffrey Huyvaert has been incredible this season, breaking the record for the most takedowns in a single season by an Indiana wrestler, and has broken it with flying colors. I find it hard for #11 Michael Ortega to defeat someone who is quite literally making IHSAA history.
 
The rest of the quarterbrackets seem quite determined too. #17 Avery Stanley picks up a nice draw, likely seeing Lake Central’s CJ Briner in the ticket round, who’s results show that he can be competitive here, but I don’t think it will be enough. #12 Marlone Kirksey should also breeze through the first two rounds, seeing no ranked opponents before the semifinals. #6 Zar Walker will see Crown Point’s Oscar Baca, who is a game opponent that can possibly test Walker, but I don’t foresee an upset happening. In the semifinals, I think that Huyvaery will beat Stanley handily, but I think that Kirksey and Walker could be much closer. Walker has shown that he can contend with anybody in the state, but Kirksey has also started to move into that category as well, with his only two losses on the season being Ortega, in which he avenged it at regionals, and a 5-4 loss to #4 Christian Arberry, who is a definite title contender this year. Expect this match to be close. As for the finals, I still think Huyvaert will win quite easily, but this will be his hardest opponent of the season, and we will see in this match if Huyvaert is vulnerable, or if he is the man to beat come the state finals. I think Kirksey will defeat Stanley for 3rd, as evidenced by his 4-2 decision over him earlier in the season.
 
150:
 
Christopher Bohn
Wesley Harper
Kaptur Nowaczyk
Chase Kasprzak
 
DEATH DRAW: #10 Christopher Bohn vs. #15 Wyatt Davis
 
This weight class is ugly. For the first of TWO death draws (and a debatable third), we have #10 Christopher Bohn and #15 Wyatt Davis. Both of these wrestlers are similar in the sense that their last trip to the state tournament was at several weight classes lower. Last year, Bohn seemed to struggle with his weight jump, and missed out on the state tournament after receiving an unfortunate draw against now #5 Wesley Harper. This year, however, he has not only recorded an undefeated season, but has also taken out his competition with incredible dominance, as evidenced by two first period falls over #13 Chase Kasprzak, who has battled many other wrestlers in this bracket much, much closer. Wyatt davis has not shown that level of improvement yet, and for that reason, I think Bohn will win a pretty convincing match.
 
DEATH DRAW: #7 Caydn Smith vs. #9 Kaptur Nowaczyk
 
This draw is especially ugly, with #7 Caydn Smith and #9 Kaptur Nowaczyk approaching this tournament with a top ten ranking, and no ticket yet punched in their careers to the state tournament. Both wrestlers have shown great fight against the top guys in the state, and I think that this bout will be incredibly close. However, I feel that Nowaczyk will have the edge here, purely due to his pedigree as a state ranked threat for much of his career, while Smith has only recently cemented himself as a top guy in the state. These two don’t have many common opponents on the year, so there’s not much more I can say than that I feel for the individual that misses out on the state tournament this year, because there are several other quarterbrackets that they would have won otherwise.
 
And while this isn’t necessarily a death draw per my definition, I think that #5 Wesley Harper and #18 Jayden Lewis is a super unfortunate pull for the junior from New Prairie, who has made it to the state tournament two times in two tries, and will have to fight hard to make it three. Harper has been good this year, but has also shown a little bit of weakness in certain matches, going into overtime earlier this year with Kasprzak, who is a good wrestler, but perhaps not on the same caliber. That being said, I’m still picking Harper to make it out of this quarterbracket. Speaking of Kasprzak, he has a little bit of an interesting quarterbracket as well. Attica’s Boden Rice is 30-0 on the year, and as the champ of his bracket, he won’t be thinking about blemishes on his record this weekend. He’ll take on #23 Danny Moon in the very first round, who was the lowest of four state ranked wrestlers in his regional bracket. Kasprzak will wrestle the winner of these two, and I think that the match could be closer than rankings might indicate. Still, I’m picking Kasprzak to punch his ticket. The toss ups don’t end there, though. Nowaczyk and Bohn will meet in the semifinals, a #9 and #10 matchup that has all the pieces to be a back and forth battle. I shouldn’t take Bohn’s record into consideration when comparing it to Nowaczyk, who has endured the brutal Crown Point schedule, but I think that Bohn’s dominance should not be overlooked, and against some of the tougher opponents in the state, Bohn has still maintained his dominance, so I’m going to pick the slight upset here with Bohn. As for Harper and Kasprzak, I think that Harper will win a little more convincingly than last time, as Harper is riding off of a solid 11-5 win over Smith, while Kasprzak has been stuck twice in two matches against Bohn. Bohn and Harper is an incredibly interesting match, and I really think that Bohn can go two-for-two with upsets at this bracket. Harper is dangerous, and won’t be dominated like many of Bohn’s past opponents, but I predict that Bohn will win here. As for third, I think Nowaczyk will repeat his regional result against Kasprzak and take third.
 
157:
 
Beau Brabender
Adrian Pellot
Griffin Van Tichelt
Javon Frost
 
We will be rewarded with another #1 vs. #2 matchup at this semi-state, with #1 Beau Brabender and #2 Adrian Pellot set to meet in the finals. Brabender should breeze into the finals, but Pellot will be tasked with defeating #10 Griffin Van Tichelt. Van Tichelt has had a shortened season due to football, but I would expect that he is in his prime state, and he won’t be an easy out for Pellot. However, Pellot has seemingly jumped levels this year, claiming a very impressive win over #3 Mitchell Betz at Al Smith this year, and for this reason, I don’t think Van Tichelt is ready to win this type of match just yet. The last quarterbracket will likely go to #19 Javon Frost; however, Warsaw’s Aaron Ross is the brother of a guy I go to school with in college, so I will be rooting for Ross to claim the 4-over-1 upset. I think that Kankakee Valley’s Noah Sessions should not be overlooked either. Sessions showed improvement at regionals this year with a major decision win over Andrew Shaffer, who is ranked two spots above Sessions, and two spots below Frost in the semi-state rankings. I’m still picking Frost, but it won’t be easy for him. Brabender should beat Frost convincingly, before an Al Smith rematch takes place in the finals. Brabender won their Al Smith finals match 6-4, and I think the score will be similar. I think there’s upset potential here, but I really just don’t know enough about how each wrestler has been performing. To clarify, I think both wrestlers have been wrestling great, winning every single match they’ve wrestled since their last meeting, but there’s just not enough evidence one way or the other for me to say confidently that Pellot can or cannot get it done. We’ll just have to see.
 
165:
 
Anthony Rinehart
Brant Beck
Michael Mavros
Isaac Sinks
 
DEATH DRAW: #1 Anthony Rinehart vs. #11 Will Kennedy
 
What an unfortunate pull for the senior from Mishiwaka, who faces #1 Anthony Rinehart, who is one of the most credentialed athletes in the field this weekend. It really sucks for Kennedy, who was having a great senior year, and was looking to make his first state finals appearance, but something special is going to have to happen for Kennedy to pull the upset.
 
#13 Michael Mavros gets a pretty good draw, seeing Lake Central’s Emilio Tirado in the ticket round. Their last matchup ended in a 14-4 major decision for Mavros, so I think that a similar result will repeat itself. #6 Brant Beck should also make it out with not much struggle, also North White’s Eli Quasebarth has qualified before, and in his senior season, won’t give up his ticket without a fight. The last quarterbracket should go to #7 Isaac Sinks, but #18 Marques Young has shown fight against really talented wrestlers this year, and should keep this match close, if not pull the upset. Watch out for this match. In the semifinals, I think that Rinehart and Beck make the finals quite easily, and furthermore, I think that Rinehart will win pretty convincingly. For 3rd, I actually want to predict a slight upset, with Mavros taking out Sinks. Sinks is an interesting question mark, as he has been on the podium before, but in a much weaker wrestling state, being Kansas. Also, Sinks, while undefeated, has yet to take on any top ranked threats in the state of Indiana, so he could potentially be a little overranked. I still think he is certainly state material, but once again, we won’t really know how good he is until he gets his first real taste of Indiana talent this weekend.
 
175:
 
Aidan Costello
Cameron Crisp
Ethan Popp
Aidan White
 
DEATH DRAW: #10 Cameron Crisp vs. #13 Zymarion Hollyfield
 
#13 Zymarion Hollyfield finds himself in another death draw situation as he takes on #10 Cameron Crisp. Furthermore, Crisp has been wrestling fantastically, pushing #1 Aidan Costello to a close, 3-1 decision at regionals. For this reason, I think that Crisp will win this ticket round bout, although it should be a very close match, as indicating by the rankings.
 
There are a couple of interesting quarterbrackets that are worth looking closer at in this weight class. #7 Ethan Popp sees #24 Mason Kobelt in the ticket round, but as a two time state qualifier, I think Popp will make it three. The third quarterbracket is especially intriguing, with no top eight semi-state ranked wrestlers, with #9 SS Aidan White, #10 SS Orlando Castenada, #11 SS Jeirmi Scales, and #12 SS Latrail Lancaster. That being said, White did win his regional bracket, in which all three of the other placers were ranked ahead of him in the semi-state, and two of them were state ranked, at #23 and #24. That, with the addition of the Crown Point singlet that seems to boost the credibility of wrestlers during this point in the season, makes me think that White will punch his ticket to the state tournament. Aidan Costello should breeze into the finals, where he will face the winner of Popp and Crisp. With Crisp’s regional performance, I think that he will pull the slight upset to create a rematch of the regional finals, where Costello will probably win again. We’ll have to see if Crisp makes any changes to his game, though.
 
190:
 
Kenneth Bisping
Austin Reading
Vinny Freeman
Aleksandr Tatum
 
#16 Aleksandr Tatum finds himself in an interesting quarterbracket for his first semi-state appearance. On the other side of his quarterbracket is New Prairie’s Aidan Ziegler and #22 Colin Weiand. Weiand should beat Ziegler, where I think he can also be competitive against Tatum, but Tatum should ultimately win the matchup. For the next quarterbracket, we have another state ranked matchup between #13 Austin Reading and #24 Brock Finney. Reading has shown great improvement during this season, and I think he is likely to punch his ticket. The last two quarterbrackets contain #7 Kenneth Bisping and #4 Vinny Freeman, who will easily punch their tickets and meet in the semis. I think that Bisping was especially impressive at the Al Smith tournament this year, testing #3 Luke Penola who has become very talented during this past year. Freeman is a returning state placer after a breakthrough post season run, but has not wrestled a whole lot this season, and additionally, has had two relatively close matches during the post season against much lower ranked wrestlers. For this reason, I’m picking Bisping to pull the upset, and then repeat his regionals performance against Reading, who I think will beat Tatum in the top half of the bracket.
 
215:
 
Will Clark
Alex Deming
Cole Chicoine
Jayden Bartozek
 
DEATH DRAW: #1 Will Clark vs. #7 Kameron Kauffman
 
This is another example of one of those matches that are most certainly a death draw, but not much of a tough out for both wrestlers. #1 Will Clark is pound-for-pound one of the best wrestlers in the state, and despite a strong season from #7 Kameron Kauffman, I think that Clark will win this match quite easily.
 
DEATH DRAW: #12 Jayden Bartozek vs. #15 Everett McClelland
 
#15 Everett McClelland wins his regional, and for his impressive run through the post season thus far, he is rewarded with returning state qualifier #12 Jayden Bartozek. I think Bartozek’s state experience and overall stronger resume will get him through this match. They met earlier this year, and it ended with a 3-1 decision win for Bartozek, so McClelland has shown that he can pull the upset. But first…
 
FIRST ROUND DEATH DRAW: #15 Everett McClelland vs. #20 Jonathan Neese
 
…he has to take on another state ranked opponent in the very first round. #20 Johnathan Neese is 29-3 on the season, and gets put in an unfortunate situation after losing a match against an opponent he had defeated the week prior. Especially at these upper weights, I think this match can get pretty close, but McClelland will probably win this matchup, to set himself up with another matchup against Bartozek.
 
The top quarterbracket contains #2 Cole Chicoine, who should breeze to the semis, before wrestling Will Clark in the semis, which will probably go Clark’s way, although he did make himself look human at the Al Smith, surviving a 8-7 scare against #8 Jackson Weingart. Still, I think Clark will win in a convincing fashion. On the bottom half of the bracket, we have #5 Alex Deming, who should beat #25 Aidan Abad pretty convincingly himself, to set up a semifinals match with Bartozek. I think Deming has been solid enough this season to confidently pick him as the winner here, although I don’t foresee him challenging Clark.
 
285:
 
Paul Clark
Aramis McNutt
Brady Beck
Anthony Popi
 
DEATH DRAW: #2 Brady Beck vs. #6 Collin Foy
 
Yikes. Two seniors with aspirations of making it far this year hit in the ticket round for a top 8 death draw. #2 Brady Beck has two state medals to his name, while #6 Collin Foy will have to fight hard to make his first state finals appearance. Beck has been very good for a long time, but this is his first year up at heavyweight. He has adjusted well, and I don’t think that Foy’s results are good enough to indicate an upset.
 
FIRST ROUND DEATH DRAW: #3 Aramis McNutt vs. #19 Brody Brown
 
An upset loss against Culver Academy’s Job Mavrick means that we have a first round state ranked matchup with #3 Aramis McNutt and #19 Brody Brown toeing the line first thing Saturday morning. To be fair, Mavrick is in a quarterbracket with #1 Paul Clark, so maybe this was the better outcome. Despite this, I really doubt that McNutt will be tested too hard in this match.
 
FIRST ROUND DEATH DRAW: #5 Anthony Popi vs. #24 Triston Meschede
 
#24 Triston Meschede is a lot tougher than his ranking might indicate, with a win this season over #17 Luke Juris, and a competitive 5-2 loss to McNutt during the regular season. Despite this, I think that #5 Anthony Popi will hold strong and make it through the first round. At the very least though, this match should be more competitive than the other death draws.
 
And for a match that is one ranking spot shy of being a death draw, #1 Paul Clark gets the previously mentioned Luke Juris in the ticket round. Clark is the man to beat, and I highly doubt that Juris is able to pull the upset. That wraps up all of the quarterbrackets though: #1 Clark, #2 Beck, #3 McNutt, and #5 Popi, all at the same weight at the same semi-state, setting up for some incredibly brutal Friday night draws. I think I’m going to predict a slight upset here, with McNutt looking especially impressive this year. Beck has been good this year as well, widening the gap against Popi with each match, going 3-2 in the regular season, and then posting a 5-1 win at sectionals, followed by a fall at regionals. I don’t have great logic for placing McNutt over Beck, so let’s just boil it down to Region bias. Clark should win against McNutt in the finals, while I think Beck gets it done for a 4th time in the 3rd place match.
 
That’s all I have for this semi-state preview. I won’t say much, because I’m already posting this later than I wanted it to, and I’ve got a lot of other stuff on my plate. I hope you all enjoy this write-up, and I’ll be back in about 5-6 days with another.

Congratulations to this years batch of Boys and Girls IHSWCA Academic All-State!
 
Names/spellings are as input by the school representative.  Submissions must have been submitted by a member of the IHSWCA from the host school. 
 
 
Congratulations to all! Thank you Nick Stewart for all your hard work! 
 
https://ihswca.org/academic-all-state/?fbclid=IwAR1bq7yrthI96jbX6-22SSBfB41tusLfkl1YPInWb0JeAExxTFOfJif3j6Q_aem_ASUYVC9YOU1THfWQUvKmnx9U-3SQC0ca7O-5B0_xs-SCggC_4piL0BbSM-2SRE7MhwQ

Here you go
 
https://indianamat.com/index.php?/articles.html/high-school-news/2024-semi-state-information-center-r1358/

**Match orders have been updated as of 1pm Sunday**
 
You can find TrackWrestling links here
https://indianamat.com/index.php?/bracketstournament.html/
 
 
Click the article link to view the brackets

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Harper finding a way to get 15 into sectional. The dude is amazing.

littlevito earns a gold medal for his Hurculean effort posting the results!

littlevito earns a gold medal for his Hurculean effort posting the results!

littlevito earns a gold medal for his Hurculean effort posting the results!

well said.  so tired of seeing apparently a lonely dude using passive aggressive baiting techniques using innuendos to draw in attention upon themselves, then attacking others to get more attention.  yes that's directed toward you, the one that flaunts a military name but falls well short on the integrity of those that actual truly carry a military title.

We often lose track of of these wrestlers after high school, but it’s comforting to me knowing while I sleep that Zach and his brothers, Jacob and Adam, are protecting me and our country. 
 
Thought this was pretty cool and wanted to share. 
 
 

The Olympians of Columbus East High School are our first repeat winners in the three years of the program. Coach Chris Cooper's team GPA of 3.700 earned a first place finish to go with their win in the first Academic Challenge in 2021 when they shared the title with Coach Michael Weimer's Noblesville Millers.
 
The Patriots of Heritage Hills High School finished second with a team GPA of 3.669. This is the first time Coach Adam Zollman's squad has earned a top three finish. 
 
The Wildcats of Mater Dei High School round out our top three with a team GPA of 3.644. This is also the first top three finish for Coach Greg Schaefer's team. 
 
Congratulations to our place winners! All teams with a team GPA of 3.25 or higher are named to the Honorable Mention roll. Those teams are: Carmel High School, Jeffersonville High School, Rensselaer Central High School, Tell City High School, Terre Haute South High School, Western High School, Zionsville High School
 

Kid suspended a year by USA wrestling and now being charged by Oak Park PD. 

Congratulations to Kaden Lone from NorthWood for signing with Indianapolis. Projected to wrestle 174.
View full signing

It truly is sad. Not only is it turning down overall participation, it is turning what used to be a fun, fond memory of childhood into a job. Or maybe something obscure that you did as a child. We didn't even get fully exposed to organized sports besides baseball and soccer until 6th grade. And then, baseball and soccer were pretty much: Play the park league for a couple months, select an all-start team that plays for a few weeks, then move on with your life until next spring/summer. You played football because you got enough people together to get even teams. You played basketball because there was a hoop behind the elementary school. You figured it out on the fly and it was fun. That does not happen for kids any more. Not much, anyway. If someone shows aptitude, they are shoved camp brochures, travel league schedules, and personal coaches. No matter how good we get at any of them, they are still just games for 99.999% of the population. We can't pay everyone to play sports and we can't let everyone represent our country in diplomatic sporting events.
 
Wow, that ended up being about four times longer than expected. If you read to the end, thank you. I am man enough to admit it was written more for my benefit than anyone else's.

Definitely against redshirting at any grade. Put a hard cap on the age. 19 years old at the time of your sports state finals is old enough. A 14 year old freshman should not be competing against a 19 year old junior or senior. There are far more scholarships available for academics , so maybe pushing kids harder in the classroom is a better answer than holding them back a year so they can compete against younger competition. I don’t buy the not emotionally ready excuse. These same kids who aren’t ready are also allowed to travel across the country competing often times alone. If they’re mature and ready to travel on their own then compete with your same age kids. I’d be curious to know this years state finalists ages , grades and gpa. Did the kids who redshirted improve or decline academically during their year off? How many redshirt kids actually get a scholarship? Actually graduate? After all if the real goal of redshirting is to gain a scholarship and not just a competitive advantage then what percentage receive them and also graduate? Definitely an interesting topic.