Thornton

Hartwell replaces Devine at 126: not sure here, but he must be better or he wouldn't be in there Venezia replaces Haas at 138: he is a sectional champ, 2x regional champ...major improvement Corsaro in at 145: sect and reg champ, finished 6th at state at 135...major improvement Gino Gillam replaces Haas at 152: great athlete, stud on Cathedral's championship football team...huge improvement against Crown Point, Cathedral lost 37-19. They would not win at 145, but maybe Vinnie only gives up a major (-2 for CP). If they turn around the other three decisions, it becomes an 18 point swing. Now the final score is Cathedral 28 Crown Point 26...the Irish are greatly improved!

They are, however, neutral on the class/ non-class issue.

I only know the #1s 106 Cottey PM 113 James PM 120 Martin FC 126 LeCount PM 132 McKinley PM 138 Bova PM 145 McClurg PM 152 Farmer BS 160 Johnson PM 170 Masengale PM 182 Martin PM 195 Thacker BS 220 Sanders Pike 285 Winfield PM

Crown Point 37 Cathederal 19 106 Ervin CP pin Devine 1:59 113 Darden Schurg CP dec Harvey 7-2 120 Josh Fuqua CP dec Smiley 1-0 126 Trevor Burlison CP dec Devine6-2 132 Larson Cath pin Hatami 1:19 138 Tyler Burlison CP dec Haas 7-2 145 Tsirtsis CP win by fft 152 Jake Fuqua dec Haas 3-2 160 Harvey Cath Maj dec Dusty Schurg 12-4 170 Willis Cath pin Hazi :32 182 Morgan Kral CP dec White 4-0 195 Langbehn CP Maj dec Burt 14-4 220 Tyler Kral Cp dec Kinney 8-4 285 Bernard Cath dec Swope 10-6 I think what he is saying is that Cathedral did not have their full line up then, but since they have gotten everyone together, they have become much stronger.

And if they don't...it could get ugly. But yes, I agree this will be the biggest challenge to date. The Irish have their line up set and it will be time to hide the women and children. I am looking forward to seeing a rabid crowd this Thursday night.

It is time again for the annual battle royal between city wrestling powerhouse Cathedral and county colossus Perry Meridian. The Falcons are defending state champions and ranked 1st, while the Irish are ranked 5th. Cathedral has rattled off 13 consecutive city titles, while Perry Meridian has claimed the last 7 Marion county crowns. But with these two proud programs, rankings and history, while important, mean nothing to what will happen when they clash on Thursday. Their rivalry is short, but spirited. Cathedral claimed the first two contests in 2008 and 2009, with the Falcons returning the favor in 2010 and 2011. Perry also added a victory at the 2010 team state. This year?s version promises to be equal in stature and drama as have the previous editions. With that, let?s look at the match ups using IndianaMat?s New Castle semi state rankings. Perry Meridian Cathedral 106: Jacob Cottey (4) John Devine 113: Brandon James (1) Ben Harvey (3) 120: Aiden Kenny (4) Evan Smiley (6) 126: Cody LeCount (2) Dantre Hartwell 132: Jared McKinley (1) Ben Larson (9) 138: Nick Bova (1) Mike Venezia (7) 145: Riley McClurg (3) Vinnie Corsaro (2) 152: Paul Mathews (15) Gino Gillam (7) 160: Kirk Johnson (1) Brian Harvey (2) 170: Jake Masengale (2) Tyler Willis (1) 182: CJ Martin (4) John White 195: Devante Ash (6) Raja Burt 220: Jordan Naughton (5) Levi Kenny (3) 285: Donte Winfield (2) Wesley Bernard (1) That is 9 matches pitting top 10 wrestlers against each other including 3 matches between the top 2 in their weight class. By their rankings, 17 wrestlers would make the trip to Banker's Life for the state finals with a few others certainly capable of adding to that total. It will definitely be the most hotly contested match in central Indiana this year with both teams looking to make it back to Center Grove for the final team state finals.

Conference Indiana meet at Perry Meridian this Saturday. Teams are Bloomington North, Bloomington South, Columbus North, Franklin Central, Lawrence Central, Perry Meridian, Pike and Southport. My prediction for the top seeds: 106 Jacob Cottey PM 113 Brandon James PM 120 Andrice Martin FC 126 Cody LeCount PM 132 Jared McKinley PM 138 Nick Bova PM 145 Riley McClurg PM 152 Ethan Farmer. BS 160 Kirk Johnson PM 170 Jake Masengale PM 182 Dakota Thacker BS 195 Devante Ash PM 220 Justin Sanders Pike 285 Donte Winfield PM Just my opinion, but I think I will be close.

A little factoid: while both wrestling for Cathedral in 2009-2010, Harvey placed 6th at 112 while Neibarger placed 8th at 152. Should be a good one.

Austin Neibarger is at 160 for HSE...ranked 3rd behind Johnson of Perry Meridian and the aforementioned Harvey of Cathedral.

McKinley pinned a 4-time place-winner in the championship match last year, so bonus point(s) from him should not shock anyone.

No way Tsirtsis, as talented as he is, keeps it close with Quiroga.

Another reason the point totals were lower is that it appears as though the Marion County tournament was using the sectional rules and only scoring from the quarterfinals on. That means there were no points awarded for 1st round matches and no quality of decision points for those matches either.

Kral decisioned Kenny when they wrestled earlier, so I would count that as a decision and since McKinley's name was the only one you capitalized, you must secretly be thinking he will score bonus points. New Castle wins a close one.

Perry Meridian is listed at 8-1. They are 9-0 PM 67 - Center Grove 0 PM 57 - Penn 10 PM 57 - Franklin Community 9 PM 72 - Pike 4 PM 68 - Lawrence North 4 PM 67 - Southport 6 PM 58 - Greenfield Central 12 PM 52 - Roncalli - 12 PM 70 - Avon 0 if you look at how the Franklin Community score was posted, it listed Franklin Community first and Perry Meridian second and had the score as 9-57, which, as it is listed , is correct. I think the problem is that normally the winner is listed first and that is probably the reason for this error.

I would say that this year, the New Castle team would be the favorite: 106: Nathan Boston (LN) - ranked #1 - defending state champion 113: Brandon James (PM) - ranked #3 - undefeated (16-0) 120: Mason Todd (PH) - ranked #1 - defending state champion 126: Cody Phillips (UC) - ranked #2 - 2-time state champion 132: Jared McKinley (PM) - ranked #2 - defending state champion 138: Nick Bova (PM) - ranked #2 - 8th last year 145: Vinnie Corsaro (Cath) - ranked #5 - 6th last year 152: Conner Mullins (NC) - ranked #1 - 2nd last year 160: Kirk Johnson (PM) - ranked #1 - 4th last year 170: Tyler Willis (Cath) - ranked #1 - 3rd last year, 2nd in 2010 182: Lukas Schaeffer (WF) - ranked #2 - SQ last year 195: Mitch Sliga - ranked #1 - 3rd last 2 years 220: Levi Kenny (Cath) ranked #10 285: Wesley Bernard (Cath) ranked #6 Merrillville would also be very strong with 106: Steve Micic (HC) - ranked #2 - 3rd last year 113: Jared Brooks (Wa) - ranked #1 - 2nd last year 120: Paul Petrov (HC) - ranked #3 - 4th last year, 2nd in 2010 126: Kyle Ayersman (LC) - ranked #1 - 2-time state champion 132: Tommy Forte (Mish) - ranked #7 138: Mitch Hartman (SBC) - ranked #4 - 4th last year 145: Jason Tsirtsis (CP) - ranked #1 - 3-time state champion 152: Adrian Brown (LJ) - ranked #5 - SQ last year 160: Sidney Logan (Mish) - ranked #4 - SQ last year 170: Jeremy Crocker (Low) - ranked #4 - SQ last year 182: Tanner Lynde (Del) - ranked #1 - 3rd last year 195 - Courtnet Berry (Merr) - ranked #2 - 5th last year 220 - Tyler Kral (CP) - ranked #1 - 3rd last year 285 - Abraham Hall (Bre) - ranked #2 - SQ last year I think these 2 semi states are deeper than the other 2 and this would be one heck of a dual. New Castle would be solid favorites at 132, 152, 160, 171 and 195. Merrillville would be an overwhelming favorite at 145, solid favorites at 113, 182, 220 and 285. 106 and 120 lean toward New Castle with 126 leaning to Merrillville and 138 being a complete toss up.

The 2006 Perry Meridian team had 9 in the finals with 5 champs and 4 3rds and scored 317 points to beat 2nd place Warren Central by 66 points. That was 13 out of 14 in the top 3, with the 14th guy getting 6th. In 2007, Perry placed all 14 with 7 champs, 3 2nds, 1 3rd, 2 4ths and 1 5th to total 310.5 points and was 82 points clear of 2nd place Lawrence North.

My guess would be that he is looking at Barry McGinley getting past Andrice Martin in the quarters for a semi-final rematch with Aiden Kenny, but that is just a guess.

Jacob, you are the one who initiated this entire debate even going so far as to say "Even though he was given the win, he lost". It seems that you are the one making this into more that it is. And you wanting to believe something so bad does not make it so, either. Reality is what it is...A is A. Were calls missed? Possibly, but that gate swings both ways. A false start could have given Martin the win, but had all the locked hands violations been called, it would have been a default in favor of Kenny. I would say that any missed calls, real or perceived, were a push and that Kenny was the better wrestler that day. Will he win the next match? Only time will tell and if you saw my preview, I stated that any of 6 solid wrestlers are capable of winning the title at 120. Whoever does, he will have earned it.

assume an alpha weight of 320...losing an allowable 1.5% per week would be 4.8 pounds per week. He would be 315.2 after 1 week, 310.4 after 2, 305.6, then 300.8, 296, 291.2, 286.4 then finally after 8 weeks he could be at 281.6 and be able to compete. Actually if we break it down into daily loss (4.8/7 = .6857 pounds per day) and he could compete after 3 days of the 8th week. Certainly not impossible for someone who wants to wrestle and is willing to work and wait for his opportunity.

I guess that was like asking someone if he knows what time it is and he replies yes.

so you are saying that Krege did not defeat himself 5-0? I think what OTR needs is who he did defeat. Thanks for the sharp eye on that one.

In 1995, Beech Grove had 7 champs in Nathan Challis (112), Steven Bradley (125), Tim Bradley (130), Brent Souzzi (135), Chad Todd (145), Kyle Gilliam (152) and Brock Bowsher (171) as well as runners up John Hardy (140) and Mike Denton (215) for a total of 9 finalists. In 2001 BG had champs Josh Harris (112), Brian Edwards (125), Chris Haynes (160) and Joey Wright (275). In 2004 Lawrence North had a juggarnaut that put 10 in the finals with Josh Leppink 2nd (112), Tyler Pino champ (119), David Gans champ (125), Michael Albert champ (130), Reece Humphrey champ (135), Zach Aspling 2nd (140), Thomas Johnson champ (145), Ben Walker 2nd (152), Alex Burr 2nd (189), Mo Gunn champ (275). I am still looking for the brackets from 96 and 97 so stay tuned.

I agree that 120 will be worth the price of admission. When Roncalli's 9-2 Barry McGinley (a state qualifier at 103 last year) is the #6 seed, then I would say any one of six wrestlers could win this weight class. Those 6 are Rliey Newkirk (LC), Alex Sparks (LN), David Ramirez (WC), Andrice Martin (FC), Aiden Kenny (PM) and McGinley. It should be a good battle between Cottey (PM) and Whitten (BD) to see who wrestles #1 and defending state champion Nathan Boston (LN) at 106. Freshmen phenom Brandon James appears to be the class of the field at 113. He is undefeated and owns a fall over #2 seed King of Roncalli. 120 has already been mentioned, so if we look at 126 we see potential semi matches between 12-0 Cody LeCount (PM) and 16-1 Angelo Robles (DC) and in the other bracket undefeated Max Brutus (LC) and 11-1 Robert Boston (LN). At 132 we have another defending state champion in Jared McKinley (PM) and possible final match up with #3 ranked Levi Moss (BD). 138 has the possibility of a rematch of last weekend's thrilling ot match between undefeated Nick Bova (PM) and 12-1 Conner James (Ron). At 145, 9-0 Riley McClurg (PM) leads a balanced field that includes 15-2 Brian Boucher (Spt), 12-1 Nick Ader (Ron) and 15-1 Shabaka Johns (WC). Expect the champ to come from this group. 152 Kyle Reidling 6-0 (WC) is the top seed. Expect challanges from 11-1 Tre Spencer (Pike), 11-1 Logan Zielinski (Ron) and 14-1 Tre'von Sevion (BG). At 160, Kirk Jonson (PM) is the prohibitive favorite. He is undefeated, a 2-time 4th place winner at state and ranked #1 this season. But don't expect Danny Rojas (Ron) or undefeated Will Clinkscales (NC) to simply hand the title over. 170 seems destined to be a rematch of a 1 point contest from last Saturday with Jake Masengale (PM) holding the slimest of edges over Joe Ardizzone (Ron). Katrell Moss (WC) or Dominique Robinson (LC) could challenge that rematch. At 182 Damon Albertson (Ron) leads the way, but we should see challenges from undefeated Darrell Hogue (NC), 13-1 Tony Jehn (BG) or 1-loss wrestlers Aaron Murray (PK) and CJ Martin (PM). At 195 Devante Ash (PM) has the top seed, but southside rivals Nolan Fenwick (Spt) and Mason Nickell (Ron) will provide plenty of competition. Jordan Naughton (PM) is seeded first, but a trio of 1-loss wrestlers, Myron Hamilton (LC), Jaylan Douglass (NC) ans Justin Sanders (Pike) will chase him. Finally, at 285 3 ranked wrestlers take the mat led by #8 and top seeded Donte Winfield (PM). Challanging him will be #10 Larry Carter (WC) and #12 Jared Schall (Spw). Sandwiched in there is 5-1 Guy Henson (BD) and it should make for a good competition. On paper, Perry Meridian would have to be the team favorite followed by Roncalli and Warren Central. But as we all know, we don't wrestle on paper. Best of luck to all wrestlers.

It is right in between 3 and 4...approximately 22/7...

I don't think any team has produced more than 7 champions. Perry Meridian did this in the 2007 tournament with the champions being 112 Jimmy Schoettle, 125 Chris Goodwin, 135 Jacob Tasseff, 140 John Leonard, 152 Chris Stepp, 215 Chris Schaefer and 285 Chico Adams. They also had runners-up at 130 Brian Vest, 145 Blake Wood and 160 Cory Hudgins.