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Fort Wayne is quickly becoming the wrestling hub in Indiana and the War Memorial Coliseum plays host to three of the big events. This weekend the friendly confines will hold the all-important semi-state wrestling tournament. With that comes 56 golden tickets to Bankers Life Fieldhouse. This year’s semi-state will provide a great day of wrestling with some very good entertainment from start to finish. At both ends, 106 and 285 you have weights that have many close competitors that will battle it out from the first whistle. Look for some hot and heavy action from all the weights as this might be the most unpredictable year in recent memory for this semi state. On the team side you have the regulars vying for the title with Yorktown looking like a slight favorite over regional foes Bellmont and Delta, along with Carroll and Elkhart Memorial in the mix. On paper Yorktown has the horses and enough ponies to out distance the field, however that is on paper. Never count out Bellmont in big matches, nor look past a solid Carroll squad. Elkhart Memorial and Delta have the potential for a couple champs and could get a few others through to score some points. Overall with about eight weights that are total toss-ups, the team race will also be fun to watch. As a friendly reminder all you men out there make sure you get your Valentine’s Day cards, flowers, and chocolate on Friday so you aren’t getting the “draw of death” from your lady on Sunday. As with last year, due to many wrestlers from Carroll at the event I will refrain from mostly biased picks on the weight classes. 106lbs Don’t sleep in on Saturday, get to the Coliseum early because if you don’t you’ll miss some of the best wrestling of the day. Returning State Streeter…Ben Streeter was a semi state finalist last year, but he’ll be pushed early on by a couple freshmen in Hunter Watts and Kade Zadylak. Brayden Curtis of Yorktown has come on strong this year. Curtis will have to manage a solid quarter bracket to punch his first ticket to state. The mighty little Panther Tanner DeMien is as tough as they come and was on the podium at state last year. The top of the bottom half has some interesting matches with JC Herring of Oak Hill sporting only one blemish on his record, but he can’t overlook the firepower of the Starfire Wyatt Miller, nor the Cougar little man Tanner Schoeff. #WAYL2 Curtis- Jordan Slivka, Seth Horty, Christian Mejia(113) DeMien- Cayden Rooks, Christian Mejia(113) Zadylak- Brayden Curtis, Wyatt Miller Herring- Brycen Denny Streeter- Gavis Rose, Goeffrey Davis(113), KeeghanOverton Schoeff- Brayden Shearer, Kade Zadylak, Hunter Watts(2 times) Miller- Geoffrey Davis(113), Kade Zadylak, Brayden Curtis, Chris Schuller Early #SlobberKnockers Tanner Schoeff- Central Noble vs. Wyatt Miller- South Adams Kade Zadylak- Norwell vs. Hunter Watts- Jimtown Ticket Round Tussles JC Herring- Oak Hill vs. Schoeff/Miller winner Ben Streeter- North Side vs. Zadylak/Watts winner 113lbs Moving up to 113lbs we have another SAC favorite in the heralded General Geoffrey Davis. Last year he was the semi state champ and brought back a 4th place medal to the south side of Fort Wayne. The other big name to watch for is the Wildkat Jabin Wright. He was at state last year and comes in with expectations of going back this year. Others to watch are #9 Josh Stephenson and #20 Christian Mejia who both come in as regional champions. Some guys to watch that had a blemish last week include Zach Johnson, Trevor Boyce, and Hunter Whitman. #WAYL2 Mejia- Colin Poynter, Jake Schoennegge, Austin Slates Johnson- Geoffrey Davis(2 times), Owen Krider, Donavon Johnson Wright- Jordan Slivka, Donavon Johnson(2 times), Jack Franklin(126), Blake Glogouski(120) Davis- Skylour Turner, Jordan Slivka Stephenson- Alec White, Nick Weaver, Matt Gimson, Noah Hunt Summers- Jabin Wright(3 times), Geoffrey Davis, Alex DeLuna Whitman- Austin Slates(2 times), Christian Mejia(3 times) Early #SlobberKnockers Andrew Wertman- Garrett vs. Nick Liter- Adams Central Garrett Summers- Marion vs. Trevor Boyce- Dekalb Ticket Round Tussles Geoffrey Davis- Wayne vs. Trevor Boyce- Dekalb Josh Stephenson- Yorktown vs. Hunter Whitman- Jimtown 120lbs This weight will feature three wrestlers with state medals along with another one that has state experience. Unfortunately the bracket gods did not separate them all and one will be sent to the showers early. Both Christian Hunt and Blake Glogouski finished 5th last year in the state finals at 106lbs and 120lbs respectively. Hunter Langeloh has had a great senior campaign after placing as a sophomore and qualifying for state last season. Flying Jet Anthony Mosser caught fire last year and made his way to Banker’s Life at 113lbs, but this year he’ll have to punch his ticket by going through Glogouski. This weight should be one of the more open weights with lots of great matches from start to finish. #WAYL2 Langeloh- Michael Higley(Michigan) Moore- Blake Glogouski(2 times) Hunt- Breyden Bailey, Blake Mulkey, Marcus Mejia(126) Glogouski- Hunter Langeloh Mendez- Christian Hunt, Graham Rooks, Noah Hunt, David Clayton, Kyle Davis, Dylan Culp Early #SlobberKnockers Anthony Mosser- Adams Central vs. Joel Byman- Carroll Ticket Round Tussles Austin Moore- Central Noble vs. Hunter Langeloh- Columbia City Blake Glogouski- Fairfield vs. Mosser/Byman winner 126lbs Jon Becker of Bellmont is the only wrestler in this weight with state experience, however it was in 2014. Past him you have a lot of guys with good records and solid resumes, which will make for a very eventful weight to watch. At the top you have a very solid senior in Oak Hill’s Travis Davenport. He has been to semi-state what it seems like about 14 times, this year could be his year to punch his ticket to state. Marcus Mejia is a tough wrestler from Elkhart that was painstakingly close to punching his ticket last year. At the bottom you’ll have the favorite in Homestead’s Jack Franklin, but he can’t overlook a pair of seniors that will want one more week of wrestling in Brock House and Chad Elmore. #WAYL2 Mejia-Brock Hudkins, Blake Glogouski(120) Davenport- Chris Loy, Jayce Meyer Franklin- Breyden Bailey, Isaac Gomez, Blake Glogouski(120) Becker- Michael DeLaPena, Ryan Hardesty, Standridge- Jack Franklin, Ryan Bigelow, Ryan Hardesty, Michael DeLaPena, Dawson Combest, Drake Rhodes Early #SlobberKnockers Brock House- Delta vs. Chad Elmore- Taylor Ticket Round Tussles Travis Davenport- Oak Hill vs. Zane Standridge- Carroll Jack Franklin- Homestead vs. House/Elmore winner 132lbs This weight has been one that people have been talking about all season long. This was probably the first weight most fans clicked on when the brackets came out to see the draws. Starting off you had four returning state qualifiers and another that has been knocking on the door. Unfortunately one of the state qualifiers Kobe Raypole has pulled out of the weight, but that still leaves a lot of great matches on Saturday. The top bracket could be interesting to say the least, Drake Rhodes has been on fire this year until he was upended the past two weeks by Owen Doster. Rhodes will be pushed by Delta’s Noah Richardson and Northwestern’s Hunter Kellogg who is having a very good post season run. Fernando Luevano returns to this weight after qualifying last year for the Chargers. He has yet to be defeated and is one that is very exciting to watch. Returning state qualifiers Daniel Gunsett and Owen Doster are both the favorites in their quarter brackets. Gunsett could face one of two wrestlers with only 6 losses in Kaleb Mooney and Drew Clark. Doster will have the winner of Devin Maggard and Dillon Yoder, both who have good wins on their resume. #WAYL2 Rhodes- Doster(2 times) Doster- Drake Rhodes, Zach Melloh, Chris Donovan(Ohio) Gunsett- Owen Doster(2 times), Brendan Black Maggard- Drew Clark, Dallas Dudelston, ??? Kellog- Hunter Haynes, Caleb Archibald, ???, ??? Early #SlobberKnockers Chase Hissong- Leo vs. Dallas Dudelston- Jay County Drew Clark- Northfield vs. Kaleb Mooney- Central Noble Devin Maggard- Marion vs. Dillon Yoder- Fairfield Ticket Round Tussles Daniel Gunsett- Bellmont vs. Clark/Mooney winner Owen Doster- New Haven vs. Yoder/Maggard winner 138lbs Last year at 132lbs it was the Sage Coy show, this year seems to be more of the same up at 138lbs. Coy finished a fantastic junior campaign with a 3rd place medal and is eyeing the top step of the podium this year. Others to watch include Riley Rasler who has had a very good year for the Panthers and comes in with only one loss. Joel Arney has come on strong for the Super Chargers the past few weeks after taking some lumps during the regular season. He will have the winner of a tough match between Blade Corpe and Colt Rutter. In the bottom bracket you will have four seniors duking it out for their state ticket. This one is a pick’em and your guess is as good as mine on who advances. #WAYL2 Rasler- Kris Rumph, Jason Crary, Drake Rhodes Hall- Joel Arney, TT Allen, Brad Smith Woenker- Joel Arney, Devin Maggard(132), Austin Ochoa, ??? Corpe- Dillon Humbert, Jason Crary, Trace Manspeaker, Kyle Hatch, Nathan Housholder Arney- Anthony Williams, Kris Rumph, Sage Coy, Cale McCory, Evan Eldred, Nick Ellis, Kody Wagner Rutter- Sage Coy(2 times), Brooks Wathen, Austin Ramsey, Riley Rasler, James Pritchett, Jaycob Bechtol(Michigan) Brown- Sage Coy(3 times), Colt Rutter(2 times), ??? Early #SlobberKnockers Colt Rutter- Yorktown vs. Blade Corpe- Elkhart Memorial Nathan Housholder- East Noble vs. Exuse Brown- Muncie Central Ticket Round Tussles Riley Rasler- Prairie Heights vs. Skyler Hall- Wabash Joel Arney- Carroll vs. Corpe/Rutter winner TT Allen- Kokomo vs. Brown/Householder winner 145lbs I’m wiping the drool off my screen just looking at this bracket. First you start with two state placers in Isaac Eicher and Brad Laughlin at this weight. Let’s throw in another state placer in Nathan Weimer for some added spice. What? You say you want MORE spice…well here goes, let’s add a little Kerrn, Kenny Kernn that is! This weight is going to be F-U-N to watch. Even the ticket round matches will be interesting with Eicher having a tough Christian Bratcher or NE8 rival Grant Gutierrez. Kerrn will have a very game Corbin Hetzner of Eastern. Ohhh Laughlin will have Weimer in the ticket round most likely. The bottom quarter bracket lacks the drama, but will be one to watch as there is no clear cut favorite. #WAYL2 Laughlin- Cayden Whitaker(160) Bratcher- TC Perry, Szhantrayle Roberson Kerrn- Denzyl Prentice, Triston Rodriguez(2 times) Capps- Corbin Hetzner, Isaac Eicher, Alberto Solis, Tucker Coffman, Nate Weimer Weimer - Jamal Scott, Isaac Eicher, Jack Eiteljorge(2 times), Patrick Waugh, ??? Early #SlobberKnockers Vince Prescott- Winchester vs. Corbin Hetzner- Eastern Jamal Scott- Elkhart Central vs. Ethan Hicks- Carroll Ticket Round Tussles Brad Laughlin- Yorktown vs. Nathan Weimer- East Noble Szhantrayl Roberson- Kokomo vs. Scott/Hicks winner Isaac Eicher- Leo vs. Christian Bratcher- Eastbrook 152lbs Three returning state qualifiers highlight this weight at Fort Wayne. The head of the class is probably Cael McCormick of Yorktown who has two state medals, but he cannot look past Doug Levitz or Peyton Sturgill on his way to another semi-state title. Levitz will have the toughest route to qualify for state as he will need to avenge a mid-season loss to Hunter Bates. Sturgill will be pushed by a tough Nick Miller of Snider. In the middle you have a very interesting bracket with Cross Dietrich who has two losses to out of state competition as the regional champ. He will have the winner of Brody Hardcastle and Tyler Leonard to punch his ticket. #WAYL2 Dietrich- Kohle Clellan(Ohio), Quintin Smith(Michigan) Levitz- Steven Lawrence, Hunter Bates, Brad Laughlin(160) Sturgill- Tavris Evans, Denzyl Prentice, Micah Calhoun, Kassius Breathitt Bates- Cael McCormick(2 times), Tyler Leonhard, Ethan Stock, Trent Pruitt Miller- Elijah Dunn, TC Perry(160), Cross Dietrich, ???, ??? Griffin- Doug Levitz, Micah Calhoun, Nick Miller Early #SlobberKnockers Tyler Leonard- Jay County vs. Brody Harcastle- Oak Hill Ticket Round Tussles Doug Levitz- Prairie Heights vs. Hunter Bates- Adams Central Nick Miller- Snider vs. Peyton Sturgill- Peru Cael McCormick- Yorktown vs. Garrett Griffin- Northwood Cross Dietrich- Columbia City vs. Leonard/Hardcastle winner 160lbs This weight is one that will probably have much less drama than most. The favorite is state qualifier Josh Garman of Carroll. After him it looks as if anyone can beat anyone at this weight. One loss Blaney Harrison is the wildcard as he has come on strong this year. Don’t overlook Tony Busse of Bellmont either, he has been battle tested throughout the season. One of the most intriguing matches in the ticket round will be Nick Potter against Jed Levitz. Potter won round one, but this round has much more at stake. #WAYL2 Garman- Jacob Gray(170) Harrison- Will Bratcher Levitz- Jordan Rader(2 times), Nick Potter, Cael McCormick(152), Gage Delong Perry- Tony Busse, Brad Laughlin(145), Hunter Bates, Cody Widner, Doug Levitz Busse- Jordan Rader, Tavonte Malone, TC Perry, Blake Dager, Noah Warren Early #SlobberKnockers Ronnie Longbrake- Elkhart Memorial vs. TC Perry- Southern Wells Ticket Round Tussles Blaney Harrison- Oak Hill vs. Longbrake/Perry winner Jed Levitz- Prairie Heights vs. Nick Potter- New Haven 170lbs As we get to the upper weights the action will heat up with a lot of intriguing matches. You’ll likely see round two of Baumgartner and Gray as long as they navigate the semi state minefield. There are some very good wrestlers including one loss Quentin Moore, returning state qualifier Zach Davis amongst others that they will need to beat in order to meet again. Seven wrestlers sport five or less losses with most of them at the hands of another semi state competitor. Nick Ritchie could be a surprise wrestler as his only losses were at the Al Smith. #WAYL2 Baumgartner- Drew Hughes Moore- Amere Dozier Gray- Bryce Baumgartner Ritchie- Coy Park, Eli Pokorney Burns- Caleb Partin, Zach Davis, Robbie Bowers(Ohio) Davis- Caleb Partin, Noah Cressell, ??? Partin- Tate Burns(2), Tykease Baker, Hunter Mote, Zach Davis Early #SlobberKnockers Noah Cressell- Wabash vs. Brady Johnson- Prairie Heights Tykease Baker- Elkhart Central vs. DaShaun Barbary- Kokomo Caleb Partin- Churubusco vs. Jacob Gray- Delta Ticket Round Tussles Zach Davis- Concordia vs. Cressell/Johnson winner Quentin Moore- Manchester vs. Partin/Gray winner Nick Ritchie- Elkhart Memorial vs. Tate Burns- Eastside 182lbs Before sectional this weight was looking to be really nasty. Even with a couple guys moving up this weight still is going to be one to watch. The bracket gods separated the better guys with no killer ticket round matches. Probably the most intriguing early match will be a rematch of last year’s ticket round between Andy Kohler and Wyatt Clem. Kohler was a state qualifier at this weight last year, while #800lbGorilla David Eli placed 7th. Look for some great matches in the semi-finals and finals at this weight. #WAYL2 Kohler- Caleb Hankenson Blakeley- David Eli(2 times), Isaac James Eli- Cam Jones(2 times), Alejandro Castro Hankenson- Andy Kohler, Rhett Mappes, David Eli, Joey Blakely Ault- Stephen Nix(2 times), Caleb Blevins, Stephen Possell, Sam Moon Clem- Andy Kohler, CJ Damler, Hunter Dalton, DaShaun Barbary, Joey Blakely, Stephen Nix Graber- Jeremy Splix(2 times), David Eli, Joey Blakely, Wyatt Clem, ??? Early #SlobberKnockers Stephen Nix- Bishop Dwenger vs. Conner Graber- Northridge Heath Ault- Northrop vs. Joey Blakeley- Prairie Heights Ticket Round Tussles Caleb Hankenson- Bellmont vs. Nix/Graber winner Andy Kohler- Jay County vs. Wyatt Clem- Homestead Aaron Sedwick- Maconaquah vs. Ault/Blakeley winner 195lbs Both Corbin Maddox and Luke Elliott wrestled most of the season at 182lbs and made a late jump to this weight even though they both only had one loss during the regular season. Those two added quite a bit of spice to an already wide open weight. Delta’s Scottie Evans is the only returning state qualifier at this weight and will need to navigate a solid quarter-bracket to punch another ticket to Banker’s Life. At the top you’ll have the last(thankfully for most in this area) of the Davis brothers from Garrett against Austin Evans of Lakeland. The two NECC rivals are 1-1 against eachother with Evans getting the win just three weeks ago. Going down the bracket Corbin Maddox has come on strong, but he’ll be pushed by two Al Smith placers in Nate Williams and runner-up Erik Hobbs. Jarod Hayes won regional last week…his reward is a potential pre-Valentine date with state qualifier Scottie Evans. In the bottom bracket you have one loss Elliott with a couple up and comes Isaiah Baumgartner and Tyson Whitner. #WAYL2 Elliott- Corbin Maddox Maddox- Andy Kohler(182) Davis- Erik Hobbs, Michael Leonard, Nick Fox, Austin Evans, Austin Evans- Jennigns Nickolson, Anthony Neal(Michigan), Beck Davis, Jarod Hayes Baumgartner- Scottie Evans, Andy Kohler, ??? Hobbs- Luke Elliott, Scottie Evans, Cole Slavens, Chris Kidwell, Jake Kleimola Eckrote 5- Michael Leonard, Erik Hobbs, Luke Elliott, ???, ??? Scottie Evans 5- Corbin Maddox(2 times), Landon Burton, David Delph, ??? Early #SlobberKnockers Lane Eckrote- North Miami vs. Austin Evans- Lakeland Nate Williams- Elkhart Memorial vs. Erik Hobbs- Peru Tyson Whitner- North Side vs. Isaiah Baumgartner- South Adams Ticket Round Tussles Beck Davis- Garrett vs. Eckrote/Evans winner Corbin Maddox- Daleville vs. Williams/Hobbs winner Jarod Hayes- Jimtown vs. Scottie Evans- Delta Luke Elliott- Eastbrook vs. Whitner/Baumgartner winner 220lbs All season long this weight has seemed to have three competitors that are ahead of the field. With that said it leaves open a 4th spot that is ripe for the taking. Returning semi state runner-up Evan Ellis comes in undefeated, while Blake Davis is the only other wrestler with state experience in the field. Goshen RedHAWK Derek Paz is as tough as they come and will look to punch his first ticket to state. The bottom of the top bracket will be the interesting one with three wrestlers who can all get to state in Joey Pier, Max Clark, and JT Kilgore. Davis and Ellis should navigate their brackets to setup a semi-finals match. #WAYL2 Paz- Kobe Woods, Trent Bixler, Evan Ellis Isaacson- Jacob McClaine, Blake Davis, JT Kilgore Asher- JT Kilgore, PJ Ernst, John Isaacson, Blake Davis Davis- Braxton Amos(285), Derek Paz, Sam Hipple, Tyler McKeever Kilgore- Blake Davis(3 times), Tyler McKeever, PJ Ernst Clark- Trevor Brown, Nick Fox, Tyler Moser, Evan Ellis, ??? Early #SlobberKnockers JT Kilgore- Churubusco vs. Max Clark- Northwestern Evan Ellis- Eastern vs. Noah Asher- Concordia Ticket Round Tussles Derek Paz- Goshen vs. John Isaacson- Leo Joey Pier- Yorktown vs. Clark/Kilgore winner 285lbs Much like 195, this weight is one that is a pick’em from start to finish. If you wrestle this weight 10 times you’ll get 10 different outcomes. As Coach P said on Tuesday, it will come down to who manages risks the best. Two surprise regional champs are at the top half in Bellmont’s Braiden Shaw and Dwenger’s Landon Campbell. Shaw will be pushed by Braxton Amos in the ticket round while Campbell will have a good one with the winner of Jose Montanez and DeAndre Hodge. In the bottom half Owen Perkins qualified for state in 2014 and will have to go through Carroll’s Jessie Lawson to get another ticket to state. Nick Mammolenti of Jimtown had a great regional and will have to get through a tough Ryan George in the quarters. In a weight usually dominated by seniors, we only have five in the field this year. This could be very interesting not only this year, but next! #WAYL2 Perkins- Garrett Clark Hodge- Owen Perkins(2 times), Jordan Rogers, ??? George- Jessie Lawson, Braiden Shaw(2 times), Ethan Heffernan Lawson- Robert Samuels(2 times), Nick Mammolenti, Sean Galligar, Landon Campbell Amos- Blake Davis(220), Givoni Murillo, Sean Galligar, Ethan Bunce, Nick Mammolenti, ??? Mammolenti- Landon Campbell, Isaiah McWilliams, Givoni Murillo, Scott Fuller, William Vakalahi, Blake Davis(220), Braxton Amos Campbell- Jessie Lawson, Dakota Ault(2 times), Jordan Libby, Jacob Obst, Nick Conner,William Vakalahi Shaw- Jessie Lawson, Dylan Schumm, Nick Mammolenti, Sean Galligar, Dan Cutter, Chris Ridle Early #SlobberKnockers DeAndre Hodge- Marion vs. Jose Montanez- Goshen Ticket Round Tussles Braiden Shaw- Bellmont vs. Braxton Amos- Prairie Heights Landon Campbell- Bishop Dwenger vs. Montanez/Hodge winner Owen Perkins- Oak Hill vs. Jessie Lawson- Carroll Nick Mammolenti- Jimtown vs. Ryan George- Delta