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By STEVE KRAH stvkrh905@gmail.com The Bulldogs have some “sweet rings” coming to them. That’s what fourth-year Brownsburg High School head wrestling coach Darrick Snyder said as his squad was wrapping up an IHSAA team state championship. Led by three juniors “under the lights,” the Bulldogs won it all on the IHSAA side for the first time Saturday, Feb. 18 — after taking a second straight Class 3A Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association State Duals crown Dec. 23. Brownsburg racked up 100 points and outdistancing runner-up Chesterton (80). A two-day record crowd of 33,844 packed Bankers Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis. Brayton Lee (50-0 at 145 pounds) rolled to the title in his weight class while Ty Mills (37-3 at 120) and Blake Mulkey (38-2 at 126) were runners-up for Brownsburg, which came into the meet ranked No. 1 as a team. Lee, Mills and Mulkey were all top-ranked as individuals. “He’s at a different level,” Snyder said of Lee, who moved to 130-1 in his prep career with two state titles (he reigned at 138 in 2016). “I think he’s going to wrestle big time (NCAA) D-I and there’s a very good chance he’ll be wrestling for a career after that. He’s that special. “He enjoys every second of being out there and the competition part of it. It’s an absolute joy to be his coach.” In the finals, Lee bested Munster senior Jason Crary by a 14-6 major decision, taking him down seven times and cutting him six. “I felt like that was my best opportunity to get the match rolling,” Lee said. “Scoring on my feet, that’s where I’m always comfortable.” Lee expressed his gratitude for others who got him to where he is in the mat world. “It’s a ton of coaches, my long-time club coach Chad Red, my high school coach, God, everybody,” Lee said. “There’s just so much support.” Lee, who is also a three-time second and Hendricks County tournament champion and two-time regional and semistate winner as well as an All-American at the national level, describes what it’s like inside the Brownsburg practice room. “We have fun, but it’s very competitive because we have so many good partners,” Lee said. “My teammates are crazy. They really stepped it up. Our guys wrestled amazing. It’s just a great family and we have a great time together. “Snyder is the biggest part. When he came to Brownsburg, he made us great. He’s the best.” A late takedown by Columbus East sophomore Cayden Rooks gave him a 5-4 finals win against Mills. The Brownsburg grappler took Rooks down midway through first period and led 2-0. Mills blocked reversal attempt near end of the first period and took a 2-0 lead into the second. Rooks escaped near the start of the second period to cut the lead to 2-1 and that was the score heading to the third period. Rooks yielded an escape to open the third period to make it 3-1. A Rooks takedown 30 seconds into the period knotted the score a 3-all. Mills went up 4-3 with an escape. “Hard work and determination, that’s how anybody gets here,” Mills said. “I’ve been staying focused, getting it done in the classroom and on the mat. I always have a thought about my last loss and it pushes me to go hard and be stronger. “I just stayed focus and do whatever Snyder tells me to do and don’t have a smile on my face. We get it done at Brownsburg. Nobody practices as hard as us. It’s an exciting atmosphere in that room.” Mills now has two state runners-up (106 in 2015 and 120 in 2017) and a third-place finish (106 in 2016) to his credit as well as three regional, two sectional, two conference and one county tournament title to his credit. He said the Bulldogs are all focused on one goal. “We always break at practice on ’State Champs!,” Mills said. “The team got it done in individual and Team State (in December in Fort Wayne) this year. Nothing can stop us. Nothing should decide that besides our selves.” Mulkey, who also wrestled at 132 this season and tends to spar with bigger teammates, also talked about the workouts that again made Brownsburg top dogs in Indiana wrestling. “We have fun sometimes,” Mulkey said. “We plays games at the end and before practice. From 3:20 to 5:20, it’s hard work. It’s all business. “We definitely push each other in practice. It gets a little feisty sometimes. But we love each other as a team. We just battle each other and make each other better everyday.” Mulkey quickly went up 2-0 in the finals against New Palestine senior Alec White before being pinned in 3:32. A year ago, Mulkey placed third at 120. He is a three-time conference and county tournament champion and two-time winner and the sectional and regional level. Five other Bulldogs — seniors Rickie Clark (fourth at 285), Isaac McCormick (seventh at 220) and Anthony Cicciciarelli (lost in the first round at 170), junior Nathan Walton (third at 182) and freshman Drake Campbell (fifth at 106) — were at the State Finals There will be a celebration in Brownsburg. Then it’s back to work. “It’s exciting,” Snyder said. “We return 10 starters and three guys who where under the lights. They get tomorrow and Monday off and we have open room on Tuesday to start our off-season.”

As we move to the 2nd round on Saturday morning, the following commentary is based purely on my opinions. Please feel free to use anything said as motivation. In this article, I will feature what I believe will be outstanding quarterfinal matches. It could be based on rankings, rivalries or just a hunch. Karl’s Quarterfinal Clashes 106 Don’t stay out too late on Friday night as the lightweights will be rocking and rolling early Saturday morning. My top potential match up at 106 is a doozy: #7 Drake Campbell – Brownsburg vs. #4 AJ Black – Shenandoah Coach Snyder will have his flyweight ready as he will be firing up his troops in order to make a run at the state title. Campbell getting to the semi finals would be a huge bonus for the Bulldogs. To reach the semis Campbell will have to be the sophomore Black. Black is from little school Shenandoah but don’t sell him short. He as wrestled and beaten some of the best. 113 The final quarterfinal clash in the 113 bracket is most definitely semi final or state final quality: #4 Kory Cavanaugh – Penn vs. #1 Asa Garcia – Avon Cavanaugh went into last weekends semi state as the prohibitive favorite. A little hiccup puts him in the same quarter bracket with the defending 106 champion Garcia. This match up has the makings of a classic. Penn kids are always able to execute a game plan and Garcia is wrestling with extreme confidence this post season. 120 If you only look at the ranking, my pick for the outstanding second round match in the 120 pound class might not make much sense because it pits the 5th ranked wrestler versus the 18th ranked. If you dive deeper you see details that make this a great Saturday morning scrap. #18 Tyce Freije – Roncalli vs. #5 Colin Poynter – Portage Freije navigated a wicked 120 bracket at New Castle to come out as champion. In the preseason, he was one of the most highly touted freshman in the state. After a few hiccups during the season, Freije has turned it on in the post season. Striving to be his kryptonite is the talented junior from Portage, Colin Poynter. 126 In the bottom half of the bracket looms a whale of a potential semifinal battle between #1 ranked Blake Mulkey of Brownsburg and #6 ranked, semi state champion from Cathedral, Jordan Slivka. Slivka avenged an earlier season loss to Alec White at New Castle and like several other Irish, appears to be peaking at the right time. Mulkey was on the same side of the semi state bracket as 2nd ranked Graham Rooks. He lost a narrow one point decision which put him in this quarter bracket. The entire bracket is awesome but this match up stands out. 132 The top quarterfinal match up at 132 might be dubbed the “2018 State Finals”. The potential tilt pits the two top ranked juniors in the state. Yorktown’s 4th ranked Christian Hunt is the semi state champ from Fort Wayne. He has just two losses on the season, one of which was to 2nd ranked Breyden Bailey of Cathedral. 5th ranked Ethan Smiley of Beech Grove suffered his first loss of the season last weekend to Bailey. This should be a beauty of a match in order get to the semi finals. 138 The unstoppable force versus the immovable object. Yes it is a cliché but it aptly describes the best potential quarterfinal match in the 138 pound class. From the region, it is the very offensive takedown artist, #3 ranked Kris Rumph of Portage. Rumph broke out last year with a fourth place medal at the state meet. His likely opponent from the deep south is Tristan Sellmer of Floyd Central. Sellmer sent notice to the state that he was a contender with an out standing effort at the Calumet Traicoff tournament where Rumph narrowly edged him 3-2. This should have the feel of a semi final. 145 The bracket gods were unkind to Portage’s 2nd ranked Kasper McIntosh this year. After being upset by Jason Crary of Munster at the semi state, McIntosh got placed in the one quarter bracket he would have liked to have avoided. Brownsburg’s returning state champ, # 1 ranked Brayton Lee is likely to be waiting for McIntosh on Saturday morning. A matchup of a state champ and a state runner up on Saturday morning is just awesome for the fans. 152 New Castle semi state winner Noah Warren of Perry Meridian is ranked 2nd in the state. He was a 7th place finisher at 160 last year and has come down a weight for the 2017 season. His likely Saturday morning foe should be Mount Vernon’s Austin Bethel. Bethel is a four time state finalist but has never wrestled on Saturday. A 4th ranked kid versus the second ranked kid is deserving of a semi final or even final match. Fans should be treated to an high energy, exciting tilt. 160 Gleason Mappes of Center Grove might be the most under appreciated wrestlers in the state. A 39-1 record, an Al Smith title, and a fourth place medal from last year have only resulted in a sixth place ranking for the Trojan senior. Another trip to the semifinals might be on the line Saturday morning and his adversary should be Oszkar Kasch of Crown Point or it could be the one wrestler that has beaten Mappes this year, Matt Wertz of Zionsville. Kasch is a junior with a fine 33-3 record and is ranked just behind Mappes in 7th. 170 Can you believe that we get to see another epic #1 vs. #2 showdown early Saturday morning. A narrow win by Eli Stock of Monrovia over the state’s top ranked Burk Van Horn, has put Van Horn in a quarter bracket with non other than the state’s second ranked wrestler, Tanner Webster of North Montgomery. Van Horn was a state runner up last year at 160 and Webster, a Purdue recruit, finished sixth at this weight class a year ago. Plan your potty breaks accordingly because this one is not to be missed. 182 As we move to the 182 class, the bracket shows that the top four ranked kids in the state are in four separate quarter brackets. Second ranked Thomas Dull of Terre Haute North, is in the same semi state as top ranked Nathan Walton of Brownsburg. Walton defeated Dull last week in the semi finals at Evansville. Dull probably got the best state draw he could have hoped for when he was put in the same quarter bracket with the champ from the New Castle semi-state, Alec Jessop of Hamilton Southeastern. Jessop is largely unknown to fans statewide so it should be an interesting battle versus last year’s 5th place finisher at 170. 195 A whale of a Saturday morning match should be on tap between Cathedral’s Ben Stewart and Elkhart Memorial’s David Eli. The second ranked Stewart has finished 3rd at this weight class last year. Strong and fast, the Irishman is tough to deal with as his 33-1 record indicates. The fourth ranked Eli will not take a backseat to any one in this weight class. He has an outstanding 42-1 record, two state medals to his name, and a ton of confidence after blitzing the field at Fort Wayne last week. He pinned all four opponents and spent about six total minutes on the mat. Eli’s lone loss was in the championship match at the Al Smith, where he was defeated by Chesterton’s Andrew Davison. 220 The light heavyweight class might have been the most difficult of the fourteen to select an outstanding quarterfinal bout. Sixth ranked Donnie Crider of Lafayette Harrison should tackle top dog, Mason Parris of Lawrenceburg. Interesting, but until someone proves me wrong, I think Parris will dominate anyone in his path. My choice then for the top second round match is between Daleville’s Corbin Maddox and Brownsburg’s Isaac McCormick. Maddox is currently ranked 4th in the state and has state hardware on his resume. However, the 8th ranked McCormick will be wrestling, not only for himself, but also for his team in their efforts to get a state crown. The match up also pits a wrestler from the smallest school with a qualifier against the prohibitive favorite for the team title. Interesting indeed. 285 The big fellas have always held a special place in my heart and this year is no different. All four 2nd round bouts have an appeal bu the first one stands out in my mind. A potential match up between third ranked Wade Ripple from Mount Vernon and defending state runner up, Robert Samuels of Lawrence North. Ripple has torn through everyone this year after coming up one match short of making the state finals last year. Mount Vernon has an outstanding tradition in the heavyweight class. Samuels, currently ranked 9th, has had a few hiccups this year but obviously has the talent and experience needed to make a deep run this weekend.