sparticus

Dates for this?

Great match. Could have went either way in my opinion. Close match until the fall

35-33 Portage over cathedral

hooters

Dallas Hesseltine of Portage. 4x state qualifier-2 places and a runner up. Went on to be a Junior College National Runner his freshman year and Got third Sophomore year. Injuries took over after that. Boy did he have a great spladle...  ;D

cant eat as much when you graduate high school........lol :-X

Complaining about the draw truly is a fruitless endeavor. It will not change anything and will only frustrate the complainer. Perry Meridian has benefitted from good draws (2004 with Portage, Mater Dei and Lawrence North in the opposite bracket), but has had its share of bad luck as well. I will say this: in our 8 previous trips to team state we were beaten by the state champion 7 times. In 2000, 2003 and 2006 we lost to eventual champ Mater Dei in the first round. In 2008 we lost to eventual champ Mishawaka in the 1st round. In 2002, 2004 and 2009 we lost in the championship match (to Mater Dei, LN and Crown Point). I definitely think we were of championship timbre in 2006 and 2008 losing very close matches. In 2000 and 2003 I think we could have placed. And then there's 2007...I don't want to talk about it.

yeh...this problem wont every go away....still have that sour feeling in my stomach from beating Mater Dei then losing to Lawrence North in another nail biter......just sucks not having a really good final match....

any news on michael torres? he urt badly? or can he still wrestle?

Pendowskis last champ was Elkins. the next portage champ was chad biddle under jason hayes then then i believe mcmurry won both his under wilkins. so to follow the subject line portage under wilkins only has 2 titles(soon to be 3...or more)  ;D

any possibility for updates for ptown mish throughout the match? that would be great!

Good luck portage...I know if u work hard u can pull away with the win....if I didn't have finals I would come watch it!!!

INDIAN TOUGH!!!

wish i would have seen it..good job sean

it would be nice if portage did!!! ;D

NICE FINISH ANDREW. CANT WAIT TO SEE YOU NEXT SEASON. KEEP UP THE HARD WORK AND I HAVE CONFIDENCE YOU WILL TAKE IT ALL HOME.

i really dont think that metcalf meant to make him fly down on the mat like that. we was tryin to get some sort of score then the timer went off when he was in the air and metcalf put his arms up to avoid getting kicked in the face. both wrestlers should have finished the match properly. starting back flips when there is 3 seconds left is still kind of unsportmanlike to me

Wow, I dont know what semi-state ended up with the most champs, but one thing is for certain. Which ever one it was, is gonna have a hard time beating the best coach in the state.

 

Ed Pendoski had 7 guys that train, or have trained with him win state championships tonight.

 

103 Phillips

112 Hawkins

119 Eppert

125 Tsirtsis

135 March

160 Runyon

171 Duckworth

 

This is a testament to the kinds of kids he gets to come into his rooms. Anyone that is thinking about getting your kids involved with some extra training should seriously take a look at his C.I.A. camps, and clinics. I dont know what other options you have where you are from, but 7 champs speaks volumes for how good a coach he is.

McMurray used to train with Coach P when he was still at P'Town

i believe a lot more people would attend M'Ville SS if there were a larger venue. Michigan City or East Chicago would work in my opinion. but who knows how long it will take for the state commission to change the location...

The fall, by most standards, wasn't precipitous. But when you're talking about Portage wrestling, the Region's preeminent program for all of the 1990s and the start of this decade, the dropoff was dramatic.

After winning its 16th consecutive sectional title in 2006, the Indians had their string of six straight regional championships snapped the following week. The next season, the sectional run came to an end, and last year, they finished third, not even qualifying for the regional.

"It was hard sometimes to watch," Portage coach Pat Wilkins said.

Wilkins, a former Indians wrestler, was an assistant for Jason Hayes in 2006-07. He sat respectfully by Hayes' side, watching his technique-heavy approach fail with kids Wilkins had known in middle school. Wilkins became head coach only after Hayes failed multiple times to pass his state teaching license test.

"I think in about two years we'll be team state contenders," Wilkins said in November 2007.

It sure didn't look that way a year ago when the Indians were spectators in their own gym for the team regional. Tonight, with Crown Point and Merrillville in their house, they'll try to make their coach sound like a prophet.

"I think we can take it," junior Sean McMurray said. "I'm really excited. We got the best draw we could get. We were close with both of them. There were a lot of swing matches and we just keep getting better."

The Indians were single-digit losers to the Bulldogs and Pirates this season, an indication they were well on their way back. How'd they get here? Wilkins points to the maturity of guys like Brandon Coppinger and Luis Acuna, the return of Justin Rhein from injury and the emergence of seniors Aaron King, who's gone from four wins to 26 in a year, and Nathaniel Coleman. Just as much, it was a renewal of the old values that once established Portage among the state's elite.

"They realized how far hard work can take you," Wilkins said. "We got back to morning conditioning. It gives you an edge. It's wrestling. You've got to be mean. They bought into it, 100 percent. So far, the results have been good."

Senior Chris Santos talked about Wilkins' development as a head coach. McMurray called the coaching staff of Wilkins, Reggie Wright and Freddy Joseph a great mix.

"Coach Wilkins takes care of keeping us in shape," McMurray said. "Reggie's one of the best technicians I've ever seen and I've worked with a lot of guys. Freddy's our toughness coach. He'll bang with anybody, 103 to 285."

Along the way, team chemistry improved and the Indians started to believe again.

"To be honest, I have to say I feel less tension," Santos said. "The past two years, we got down on ourselves. We'd get frustrated at practices. Now we're more upbeat. We started off very good and took it from there. We've come a long way."

Tonight, they can prove how far.

When you're in the business of making words into stories, you really appreciate the coaches and athletes who add a little spice to your copy.

In the sport of wrestling, Sean McMurray is straight jalapeno. The Portage junior never lacks for an opinion and is never afraid to share what's on his mind, no matter whose feathers it might ruffle. A writer's dream, some coaches would consider all his bulletin board material a nightmare.

"My parents raised me to not really care what people think about me," McMurray said after winning the 152-pound title at Saturday's LaPorte Regional.

Self-assured? Yes. Brash? Probably. Entertaining? Definitely. And this isn't some loud-mouth kid blindly spouting off. A solid B student, McMurray's no dummy. He knows exactly what he's saying and is ready to back it up.

"I've been around the block enough," McMurray said. "I've wrestled 600, 700 matches so I've got my share of experience. I'm really confident in my wrestling skills. I don't feel like people can take me down. I'm better on top. I'm better on bottom. If you don't wrestle with confidence, you're going to lose those close matches."

Those have been few and far between for McMurray. who hasn't lost in high school competition in just about a calendar year. He fell to Hobart's Eric Galka in the Merrillville Semistate semifinals last season, but came back a week later to edge Galka, who's now at Northwestern, 4-3 in the 135-pound state championship match.

He moved closer to another title Saturday, downing Chesterton's Anthony Quiroz 9-3 in the finals. A week after questioning Quiroz's effort, McMurray went a little easier on the freshman.

"He was tapping my knee," McMurray said, "if you want to call that wrestling."

OK, I said a little easier.

McMurray enjoys interacting with crowds, too. He signalled to the home folks after Wednesday's 15-10 win over Munster's Aaron Estrada in the Portage Team Regional, then played with the Crown Point fans a bit during his next match.

McMurray is looking forward to a possible rematch with Estrada at semistate.

"He's a great wrestler," McMurray said. "But we went back and looked at some film, and tweaked a couple things. I think it'll be a lot different."

Another state title should wrap up a Division I scholarship for McMurray, who intends to have his college plans determined before next season.

"My parents are paying for my sister to go to Purdue so I really want for them to not have to pay for me," he said. "I don't want to burden them. That's why I'm working my tail off."

While a big fan of the maize and blue, McMurray is open to any Big 10 school, among others, if Michigan isn't an option.

"You win a state title, they want to get on your good side," he said. "It has to be the right school, the academics, fitting in the team, the money. I'd wrestle at a smaller school if it was for free."

coach P

Was the score of McMurray v. Estrada 15-10???

i believe that was the score.

21-9 cp. mcmurray just won with a pin im guessing? that last score i think was wrong i got.

WOW! HAHAHA. I DONT LIKE MATER DEI BUT WOW!! I NEVER THOUGHT THAT WOULD HAPPEN! GREAT JOB TO THE CASTLE TEAM!! THIS GOES TO SHOW THAT MATER DEI WASNT AS STRONG AND SHOULDNT HAVE BEEN RANKED SO HIGHLY THIS YEAR...

 

Rankings begin with your ranking from last year...your ranking does not go down (usually) until you've gotten beat.  MD finished #2 last year and remained undefeated until tonight, so there was no reason for them not to remain ranked @ #2.

 

I don't think there was ANYONE on this board who didn't think Castle had a shot...they are the real deal this year...and I never heard anyone disputing that.  Reitz, Mt. Vernon, Jeffersonville...all are also solid teams.  I'm just glad to see So. IN steppin' it up!

i see what your saying. understood. i just had to throw out the point of the rankigns thing!!

nah.. just somone textin me whos there.

btw

its 28-3 CP.... soundin like they are on top of their game!!

now im hearing 19-3 cp