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By Chad Hollenbaugh Senior Writer 1.KINGSMEN CROWNED – Coach Brad Harper’s gang from Granger brought the big trophy north for the first time in school history. Penn had previously been runner-up in 1971 and 1997. Perry Meridian and Cathedral had a four-year stranglehold on the state title prior Penn’s victory over Mater Dei. The Kingsmen used the big points scored by champions Chase Osborn (182) and Kobe Woods (220) to score over half their team points. State runner-up Drew Hildebrandt (113), as well as 5th place seniors Joey Mammolenti (170) and Cory Christman (285) added to the Penn’s tally. Not only did Penn win a team state title but they also got a 30+ year monkey off the school’s back by producing two individual state champs. 2.JUNIOR JUGGERNAUT – A magnificent seven juniors finished the year on top of the podium at Banker’s Life and four other juniors wrestled under the lights. The talent level in this class is, in a word, outstanding and a huge number of juniors have signed to wrestle at Division One schools. 2016 might be the year of Red but there will be several of his classmates making headlines right beside him. 3.LEFEVER FEVER IN HERSHEY, PA. – The trio of brothers from Wabash College gained national recognition with their exploits at the D3 nationals. Sophomore Riley Lefever defended his national championship with a controlled victory over Wartburg’s Devin Peterson. Riley’s win came on the heels of older brother’s win in the 174 pound weight class. Senior Conner Lefever had to endure a long review of his winning score but it came out in his favor. The third brother to wrestle in the finals was Conner’s twin brother, Reece. While Reece did not bring home the gold, his 2nd place finish was his third All-American performance and helped lead the Little Giants to a third place team finish. This was the first time in NCAA history that three brothers were in the NCAA finals. 4.FORTE CLAIMS FIRST MR. GORILLA AWARD – Mishawaka’s Tommy Forte capped an outstanding senior campaign with the inaugural Mr. Gorilla title, which goes to the state’s outstanding senior wrestler. Forte was dominant in his senior year with a 37-0 record. He also ran his scholastic record to an impressive 150-5. Currently Forte is 8-2 in his redshirt season at the University of Buffalo. 5.TONTE MOVES TO WARREN CENTRAL – The state’s most accomplished active coach leaves a powerhouse program that he built at Perry Meridian (3 state titles and 3 runner up finishes) to take over for Danny Williams on the east side of Indy. Warren was already a top ten program under Williams so it is not a surprise that Tonte already has this season’s Warrior team at the top of the polls as the calendar turns to 2016. 6.REECE HUMPHREY’S YEAR TO REMEMBER – Former Lawrence North three time state champ Reece Humphrey had an outstanding year on the senior world freestyle circuit. Hump won a couple of international events, made the world team and had a 12th place finish at the Worlds in Las Vegas. Wrestling up at the Olympic weight class of 65 kg will be challenging because of the logjam of talent. Getting through Brent Metcalf, Jordan Oliver, Logan Stieber, Jimmy Kennedy will be no small feat in order to make the Rio Olympic squad. 7.INDIANA’S GOT TALENT – The junior class of studs have lead to an unprecedented number of division one scholarships being offered to Indiana’s best. Headlining the parade is New Palestine’s Chad Red, who will take his talents west to Lincoln, Nebraska to wrestle for the Cornhuskers. The opportunity to learn from world team members Jordon Burroughs and James Green was too much to pass up. Other top talent that will be leaving the state include Jacob Covaciu (Wisconsin), Brock Hudkins (Northern Illinois), Drew Hildabrandt (Central Michigan) and Drew Hughes (Michigan State). Studs that will stay in state include Blake Rypel (Indiana), Kobe Woods and Shawn Streck (Purdue). 8.RYPEL DOMINATES IN SUPER 32 FINAL – Indianapolis Cathedral senior Blake Rypel took his talents to a national stage this fall when he traveled to North Carolina to compete in the Super 32 preseason tournament. Acknowledged as the nation’s premier preseason tournament, Rypel’s win cemented his national reputation as an elite upper weight. The big mystery now seems to be what weight class Blake will land as he attempts to win his second state title. Other Indiana placers included Drew Hughes 4th, Brayton Lee 5th, and Joe Lee and Evan Ellis 8th. 9.RED PROVES HE’S #1 – Chad Red left no doubt as to who is the top 132 pound wrestler in the USA was when he defeated two of his rivals in the Flo Wrestling’s “Who’s Number 1” event in October. He started off the event by beating the fourth ranked wrestler, Taylor Lamont of Utah, 5-2. Red then closed out the evening by defeating second ranked Luke Pletcher of Pennsylvania with a wild scramble in overtime. The debate may never be settled on who is the greatest ever to come out of Indiana, but Chad Red will always be part of that discussion. 10. INDIANA INVITED TO PITTSBURGH WRESTLING CLASSIC (FORMALLY THE DAPPER DAN) – In probably the biggest story of the year, the Pittsburgh Wrestling Classic formally invited Indiana to participate as a team against an all-star team from western Pennsylvania. Many former Hoosier stars have participated individually in the “Rose Bowl of Wrestling”. Steven Bradley (1998), Blake Mauer and Alex Tsirtsis (2004), Jason Tsirtsis and Jared Brooks (2012) and Stevan Micic (2014) have all won as part of the all-star event but now the entire state will be represented by our top 13. The invite is a huge badge of honor for the coaches and athletes that have earned this invite.