The 65th
Conseco Fieldhouse,
Eight
Undefeated Wrestlers Claim Individual IHSAA Titles
Of
the 24 undefeated wrestlers who entered the 65th annual IHSAA Individual
Wrestling State Finals at Conseco Fieldhouse
on
Evansville Mater Dei, ranked No. 1 as a team all
season, finished up with four individual state champs, the most since Lawrence
North in the 1992 IHSAA State Finals.
Three
individuals collected the third state championship of their careers: senior
Jake O’Brien of Franklin Central at 215 and juniors Blake Maurer of Evansville
Mater Dei at 171 and Alex Tsirtsis of
The
only weight class without an undefeated athlete, the 103-lb bracket, found Sean
Drury from Elkhart Memorial facing Fernando Martinez from
At
112-lbs, one wrestler, Nick May of Peru, entered the state finals with an
unblemished record. The third place
finisher in 2002 at the same weight and sixth at 103 in 2001, May earned a
title shot against Reece Humphrey from Lawrence North, who had lost in the preliminaries
that same year. In this year's finale,
Humphrey (43-2) took home the top prize, handing May (49-1) his first loss of
the season, 4-3. Floyd Central's Brad
Spine (43-2) grabbed third place, with Bluffton's Randy Gerber (32-5) in
fourth.
In
the 119-lb category a pair of competitors, Gralan
Early of Fort Wayne North Side and Sean Schmaltz of Franklin Community, came to
the finals undefeated and ended up meeting in the championship match on
Saturday night. Early
had finished fourth a year ago at 119 and second at 112 in 2001. Schmaltz had a fifth place finish at 125 last
year, preceeded by a fourth at 112 in 2001. This time, Early (36-0) managed to keep his
streak alive with a strong showing in an 8-1 decision over Schmaltz
(46-1). John Sheets (44-2) of Bellmont finished in the third spot, with Ted Bugbee (42-4) of Indianapolis Cathedral taking fourth.
At
125, two of the state's best, Angel Escobedo of Griffith and Matt Jaggers of New Castle, arrived at Conseco
unscathed. Jaggers
had taken home a fifth place medal at 112 in 2001 and a seventh place medal at
119 last year, and earned the right to go for the top spot in his new weight
class in 2003 with Escobedo, a winner one year ago at 112, standing across from
him. When the dust settled, Escobedo
(61-0) had made it two in a row with a resounding 16-8 victory over Jaggers (56-1).
Evansville Mater Dei's Craig Macke (43-2) was third.
Portage's Paul Reed finished fourth.
There
were also a twosome of unbeatens in the 130-lb weight
class, Evansville Mater Dei's Matt Coughlin and Griffith's
Andrae Hernandez.
Coughlin had wrestled to a runner-up spot at 119 one year back as a
freshman. This time he would meet
Hernandez, who had taken a third in that same state
finals at 125 and a fourth at that same weight a year earlier, with everything
on the line. And Hernandez (61-0) was
up to the challenge, charging to an 11-4 triumph over Coughlin (41-1). Third place belonged to Giovanni Gallo of
Carmel (40-2), with Garrett Pino (47-6) of Lawrence
North finishing fourth.
One
wrestler, Alex Tsirtsis of Griffith, rolled into the
135-lb field with a perfect mark -- and continue to roll he did, picking up a
win by fall and a pair of technical falls on his way to a meeting with Justin
Edwards of Bloomington South in the championship match. The 119-lb winner in 2001 and the 130-lb
winner last year, he made it three in a row with a 15-5 decision over Edwards
(40-3), giving him his 62nd victory of the season and 178th consecutive
overall, both state records. Evansville
Mater Dei's Aaron Scott (33-8) was third and
The
140-lb class had a trio of grapplers with perfect numbers. They included Ryan Pribble
of Turkey Run, the smallest school in the state with a wrestling program,
Darren Elkins of Portage and Justin May of DeKalb. May (37-1) lost for the first time in the
quarterfinals in a 9-6 decision to Daniel Busch of East Central. Meanwhile, Pribble,
who was eighth at 135 last year, and Elkins, seventh place finisher at 135 in
2001, met in the semifinals, with Pribble advancing
to the championship match with an impressive 10-3 decision over Elkins (46-1),
setting up a showdown with Greencastle's Charlie Pingleton. In that shootout, Pribble
moved his record to 48-0 with a 7-4 decision over Pingleton,
who dropped to 51-2. Darren Elkins
(47-1) from Portage nabbed third place, with Daniel Busch (44-11) from East
Central going home in fourth.
At
145, Craig Weinzapfel of Evansville Mater Dei, the
112-lb champion in 2001 and third place finisher at 130 last year, and Ben Millius of Yorktown came to town displaying undefeated
marks. Millius
(42-1) found himself on the short end of a 15-12 decision for the first time
this season to Mike Short of Beech Grove in the quarterfinals, but Weinzapfel managed a pin over Jimtown's
Terry Perkey to move on to the finals against Justin
Mora of Lake Central. Weinzapfel (41-0) grabbed his second state title in a hard
fought matchup with Mora (38-3), winning 4-1. Jimtown's Terry Perkey (39-9) was third, with Beech Grove's Mike Short
finishing fourth.
Undefeated
participants at 152 included Austin Torres of Lake Central and Brad Millius of Yorktown, Ben's twin brother. That combo met in the semifinals, with Millius rolling to an 11-5 decision over Torres and onward
to the title match against Dustin Nosko of Evansville
Mater Dei, who had taken in a third at 119 in 2000 and an eighth at 125 in
2001. In that title confrontation, Nosko (23-2) registered the first pin of this year's state
finals, at 4:32, over Millius (43-1). Austin Torres (44-1) of Lake Central grabbed
third place, with fourth going to Jay Akers (20-7) of North Central (Indpls.)
There
was one wrestler with no losses in the 160-lb lineup, Jim Schultz from
Mishawaka. He ran into a roadblock in
the form of Evansville Mater Dei's Sam Wildeman, who pinned him at 5:08, his second pin in three
state tournamet matches. Schultz finished up at 41-1, while Wildeman went on to meet Martinsville's Marc Bennett in the
championship match, with Wildeman (37-1) notching his
first title in a close 5-3 decision over Bennett (39-4). Finishing in third was Jim Schultz (42-1) of
Mishawaka. Fourth
belonged to Michael Horton (43-6) of Whiteland.
Mishawaka's
Alex Dolly, who finished in third at 160 last year and fifth at 145 in 2001,
carried the only perfect record into 171-lb competition and kept the ball
rolling with decisions over Ian Strass of Huntington
North, Jesse Hasseman of Franklin Community and Eric Lybarger of Mooresvile to advance
to the finals against Evansville Mater Dei's Blake
Maurer. Maurer (43-1) was the champ in
2002 at 145 and at 130 in 2001 as a freshman and made it three in a row this
trip in a dramatic 1-1 (criteria) overtime victory over Dolly (46-1). Third place belonged to Andrew Carleton (49-3)
of
Three
outstanding undefeated participants were grouped together at 189. That included Chase Thompson of Frankfort,
Heath VanDeventer representing Bloomington North and
Garrett's Trevor Moe. Moe (37-1) was the
first to go, with Mark Vlink of Crown Point winning
by a fall in the quarterfinals. Both
Thomson, who was state runner-up at 171 last year, and VanDeventer,
who grabbed the third spot at 171 in that same tourney competition, got past
semifinal opponents to reach the final, where Thompson (40-0) handed VanDeventer (46-1) his second successive loss in the state
finals, 11-4. Garet
Simpson (42-2) of Brownsburg raced home third, followed by Mark Vlink (36-6) of Crown Point in fourth.
At
215, Jake O'Brien of Franklin Central, state champ in that division in 2001 and
2002, and Cortlan Booker from West Lafayette carried
the load with no losses coming into the finals.
Booker (42-1) failed to make it out of the quarters, suffering an 8-7
decision loss to Josh Hobson of Western Boone, but O'Brien continued his
winning ways, moving to the title showdown against New Haven's Zac Dommer. In that match, it was all O'Brien (44-0) as
he sailed past Dommer (44-2), 11-4, for his third
straight championship. Finishing in
third was Christopher Kasten (47-3) of Winamac,
followed by Josh Hobson (36-3) from Western Boone.
And
the big guys, the 275-pounders, also had a duo of unbeaten state finalists in
Kyle Daily of Columbus North and Jonathan Sandburg from North White. Daily (27-1) lost for the first time to Brent
Surface in the quarterfinals, 7-5.
Sandburg (45-1) dropped a 5-1 decision at the hands of John Wolf of Franklin
Central. That opened the door for
Michigan City's Brent Surface (47-1) to capture a 5-3 decision over Wolf (41-3)
in the final spotlight of the evening.
A
total of 30,659 fans were in attendance for the three sessions of the state
tournament. 9,933 were at Conseco Fieldhouse for Friday
evening action, with 9,825 filing their way in for the Saturday morning and
afternoon session and 10,901 returning for the finals on Saturday evening.
State
Championship Match Results
103
-- Fernando Martinez (47-1)
112
-- Reece Humphrey (43-2) Lawrence North
(10) def. Nic May (49-1)
119
-- Garlan Early (36-0) Fort Wayne North Side (12) def. Sean Schmaltz (46-1) Franklin Community (12), decision 8-1.
125
-- Angel Escobedo (61-0)
130
-- Andrae Hernandez (61-0)
135
-- Alex Tsirtsis (62-0)
140
-- Ryan Pribble (48-0) Turkey Run (12) def. Charlie Pingleton
(51-2) Greencastle (11), decision
7-4.
145
-- Craig Weinzapfel (41-0) Evansville Mater Dei (12) def. Justin Mora (38-3)
152
-- Dustin Nosko (23-2)
160
-- Sam Wildeman (37-1) Evansville Mater Dei (12) def. Marc Bennett (39-4)
171
-- Blake Maurer (43-1)
189
-- Chase Thompson (40-0)
215
-- Jake O’Brien (44-0) Franklin Central
(12) def. Zac Dommer (44-2)
275
-- Brent Surface (47-1)
John Sheets Of Bellmont Honored As Mental
Attitude Award Winner
John
Sheets of Bellmont High Schol
was named winner of the Ward E. Brown Mental Attitude Award for Individual
Wrestling in 2003. The award is presented
to a high school senior who is nominated by his principal and coach. He must excel in mentl
attitude, scholarship, leadershiip and athletic
ability in the sport of wrestling.
John
was state champion at 103-lbs in 2000, third at 112 in 2002, third at 119 in
2002 and finished third at 119 this year with a record of 44-2. He is a four time all-conference selection,
as well as four time sectional, three time regional
and two time semi-state champ. He also
was a four-year member of the Braves' soccer squad.
Academically,
John ranks 30th in his class of 197 and is a member of the National Honor
Society, earning a spot on the school honor roll each of his four years at Bellmont, with plans to attend Manchester College. He has held membership in the French Club and
Sunshine Kings. He has performed
volunteer work as a summer soccer referee, wrestling club coach and Decatur
baseball grounds crew member.
John
is the son of Jeff and Jenni Sheets of Decatur,
Indiana.
Farm
Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA corporate sponsor, presented a $1,000.00
scholarship to Bellmont High School in the name of
John Sheets.
Team Posters And Individual Action
Photographs Available
Visit
20-20 Photographic, the IHSAA’s photographer and the
State Finals Programs Available
Couldn’t be at Conseco Fieldhouse for the state finals? You can still purchase a
copy of the official souvenir program while supplies last! Programs are $3.00
if you purchase in person at the IHSAA Office (