2023 IHSAA State Preview (152-285)

152

Ranked Wrestlers (13/16):

1) Bryce Lowery-Roncalli

2) Hunter May-Evansville Mater Dei

3) Mitchell Betz-Western

5) Tyce DuPont-Tell City

8) Bryce Denton-Penn

9) Silas Stits-Center Grove

10) Beau Brabender-Mishawaka

11) Gavin Davis-Bellmont

12) Hunter Miller-Wawasee

13) Adrian Pellot-Merrillville

16) Zach Lang-Hamilton Southeastern

18) Gage Eckels-Ben Davis

19) Jason Rooney-Westfield

Weight Preview:

For Roncalli’s Bryce Lowery, this is his time. This is his weight to lose and I do not see it happening this weekend. Lowery has looked head and shoulders above the rest of the field all year and honestly might not get tested this weekend. The next two best guys in the weight are Evansville Mater Dei’s Hunter May and Western’s Mitchell Betz. Both wrestlers come in with one loss, May losing to Lowery and Betz losing to Rinehart. Nothing is a guarantee, but these two should meet in the semis for a chance at Lowery. Outside of the big three, Mishawaka’s Beau Brabender is up from 126 a year ago and has not missed a beat. The junior has a solid draw that could see him meeting Bryce in the semis. This weight has a lot of parity when you get outside of the four semi-state champs. Friday night you have Tell City’s Tyce DuPont vs Gavin Davis of Bellmont. DuPont is a big physical kid who may be too much for the sophomore. Another interesting match to look for Friday is the one with Wawasee’s Hinter Miller and Hamilton Southeastern’s Zach Lang. Whenever you have a wrestler with a less conventional style it is likely to cause match-up issues, which is what we could have here with Lang being a “kitchen sink” type of wrestler.

Favorite: Bryce Lowery

Darkhorse: Mitchell Betz

Best Friday Night Match: Tyce DuPont vs Gavin Davis

Hoosiermat Top 8:

1) Bryce Lowery-Roncalli

2) Hunter May-Evansville Mater Dei

3) Mitchell Betz-Western

4) Beau Brabender-Mishawaka

5) Tyce DuPont-Tell City

6) Adrian Pellot-Merrillville

7) Hunter Miller-Wawasee

8) Jackson Todd-Carroll (F.W.)

160

Ranked Wrestlers (13/16):

1) Sam Goin-Crown Point

2) Logan Farnell-Maconaquah

5) Luke Kemper-Evansville Central

6) Chase Wagner-Zionsville

7) Brenton Russell-Warre Central

8) AJ Steenbeke-Penn

9) Nathan Powell-Carmel

10) Andre Merritt-Center Grove

11) Brant Beck-Rochester

12) Mitchell Hutchison-Cascade

15) Zach Huckaby-Perry Meridian

18) Ben Shaffer-Chesterton

19) Connor Watts-Jimtown

Weight Preview:

This is another weight with a big favorite. Nothing is guaranteed and no one is unbeatable, but Crown Point’s Sam Goin is as close as it gets. He will have no trouble walking through this field. The returning state champion has looked head and shoulders above everyone he has wrestled, which is a lot of the guys in this field. The top side of this bracket is full of brutal draws, whereas the bottom side has a lot less matches that are toss-ups. Warren Central’s Brenton Russell had a great offseason, and he carried that right into the year and has a good shot to make the finals with the draw he has. Russell is dangerous in ties and can throw anyone at any time. This weight class will have multiple matches to watch on Friday from top to bottom. The first being up top with Center Grove’s Andre Merritt and Zionsville’s Chase Wagner. Merritt has beaten Wagner twice this year already, but these two guys let if fly and anything can happen. Another rematch on Friday is all the way at the bottom side of the bracket between Jimtown senior Conner Watts and Chesterton senior Ben Shaffer. Shaffer beat Watts in ultimate tie-breakers at the Al Smith in December so this match will likely come down to the wire again. My darkhorse to make a run is also the only kid to really give Goin a match, Penn’s AJ Steenbeke. Steenbeke has been able to keep his matches with Goin relatively close this year, but he keeps a lot of matches close and it is hard to win multiple close matches.

Favorite: Sam Goin

Darkhorse: Brenton Russell

Best Friday Night Match(es): 

Andre Merritt vs Chase Wagner

Connor Watts vs Ben Shaffer

Hoosiermat Top 8:

1) Sam Goin-Crown Point

2) Brenton Russell-Warren Central

3) AJ Steenbeke-Penn

4) Logan Farnell-Maconaquah

5) Michael Hutchison-Cascade

6) Luke Kemper-Evansville Central

7) Andre Merritt-Center Grove

8) Ben Shaffer-Chesterton

170

Ranked Wrestlers (14/16):

1) Orlando Cruz-Crown Point

2) De’Alcapon Veazy-F.W. Snider

3) Noah Clouser-Center Grove

4) Aidan Costello-Hobart

6) Kyle Harden-Indianapolis Cathedral

7) JaQuan East-Kokomo

8) AJ Cashman-Warren Central

10) Duke Myers-Bellmont

11) Isaac Valdez-Mishawaka

12) Tanner Reed-Columbia City

15) Zach Wagner-Hamilton Southeastern

18) Noah Weaver-Rossville

19) Noah Terry-Tell City

20) Jett Goldsberry-Heritage Hills

Weight Preview:

This is another weight where Crown Point is the favorite to win. Cody Goodwin finished 4th at a very tough 160 last year. Goodwin has always been good enough to win a state title, and I think he caps off his senior year with one. On his side, Goodwin will likely see the talented freshman, Cathedral’s Kyle Harden, in the semi-finals. We knew coming into the year the kind of impact Kyle could have this year and he has not disappointed. The guy expected to make it out of the bottom side is a guy who has been under the lights twice now. Bloomington South’s Delaney Ruhlman has found a way to pick up big wins and find himself in the finals the last two years. I do not see anyone preventing him from making his third trip. Someone who can prevent this is Bellmont’s Duke Myers. Myers is one of three returning state placers at this weight. He will have a tough one right away against Heritage Hills freshman Jett Goldsberry. Jett will be really good, he already is, but he is a freshman at 170 and watching the matches from this past weekend, I think that showed a bit. Center Grove junior Noah Clouser might be the third best kid at this weight this weekend, but will have to go through Goodwin to get to the semi-finals. If he is somehow able to pull that off, he will likely get his third shot at Ruhlman. The only question about Clouser is again health. He may be fine, but he has injury defaulted each of the last two weeks. The good thing is he did wrestle for third at the semi-state, so maybe he is more hurt than injured.

Favorite: Cody Goodwin

Darkhorse: Kyle Harden

Best Friday Night Match: Noah Terry vs JaQuan East

Hoosiermat Top 8:

1) Cody Goodwin-Crown Point

2) Delaney Ruhlman-Bloomington South

3) Kyle Harden-Indianapolis Cathedral

4) Duke Myers-Bellmont

5) Noah Clouser-Center Grove

6) Aidan Costello-Hobart

7) AJ Cashman-Warren Central

8) JaQuan East-Kokomo

182

Ranked Wrestlers (13/16):

1) Orlando Cruz-Crown Point

2) De’Alcapon Veazy-F.W. Snider

3) Hunter Page-Monroe Central

4) Evan Tilton-Hamilton Heights

5) Luke Penola-Zionsville

6) Caden Brewer-Brownsburg

7) Bray Emerine-Floyd Central

8) Michael Durham-Warren Central

9) Kaden Lone-NorthWood

10) Laish Detwiler-Goshen

14) Julian Weems-Center Grove

15) Ethan Popp-Harrison (WL)

16) Brayden Tincher-Eastern Hancock

Weight Preview:

There are two guys at this weight with a shot to bring home the title. Crown Point’s Orlando Cruz was a runner-up at this weight a year ago and looks to capo off his career with a state title. Opposite of him is Fort Wayne Snider’s De’Alcapon Veazy. Veazy took 4th as a freshman in this weight, losing to the eventual state champ. Cruz and Veazy wrestled earlier this year with Cruz coming out on top, 3-2. Guys with outsides shots of preventing these two from meeting again are Avon’s Caden Brewer and Zionsville’s Luke Penola. Penola looked great this past weekend at New Castle, and while his path is not ideal, he is a hardnosed, wrestle for 6 minutes type of kid that can do it. Brewer, like Penola, does not have an easy path to get to the semi-finals having to go though two guys with a combined three losses. Brewer has wrestled a much tougher schedule than nearly everyone else in the bracket and that will be the difference in Friday night and Saturday morning matches. The biggest coin flip match at this weight, on paper at least, is between returning state placer, Evan Tilton of Hamilton heights, and Griffith’s Connor Cervantes. Having seen both wrestle this year and using the eye-test, I would take Cervantes in this match up between one loss seniors. Another good one you should make sure to watch is in the bottom half of the bracket between Floyd Central’s Bray Emerine and returning placer, Northwood’s Kaden Lone. Lone was a four coming out of the semi-state last year and pulled off the upset. This year he is the favorite to win Friday.

Favorite: Orlando Cruz

Darkhorse: Luke Penola

Best Friday Night Match: Evan Tilton vs Connor Cervantes

Hoosiermat Top 8:

1) Orlando Cruz-Crown Point

2) De’Alcapon Veazy-F.W. Snider

3) Caden Brewer-Brownsburg

4) Luke Penola-Zionsville

5) Michael Durham-Warren Central

6) Julian Weems-Center Grove

7) Bray Emerine-Floyd Central

8) Connor Cervantes-Griffith

195

Ranked Wrestlers (13/16):

1) Luke Hansen-Roncalli

2) Gunner Henry-Brownsburg

3) John Purdy-Castle

4) Reid Schroeder-Southridge

5) Christian Chavez-Mishawaka

6) Wyatt Woodall-Southmont

7) Armen Koltookian-Concord

8) Alex Deming-Rochester

9) Kaden McConnell-Center Grove

11) Chad Washburn-Kokomo

13) Neil Johnson-New Prairie

14) Orlan Foster-Connersville

19) Nash Shumpert-Elkhart

Weight Preview:

Roncalli’s Luke Hansen is my pick to win it this weekend, but he will have to run a gauntlet to do it. I knew coming in he would have to beat both Brownsburg’s Gunner Henry and Castle’s John Purdy to win it, but I did not think he would have to do it just to reach the finals. Henry beat Hansen last year on Saturday morning, but watching that match, it could have gone either way. Henry has looked vulnerable as of late so we will see, but we are jumping ahead because he will see an undefeated Alex Deming from Rochester first thing Saturday. Deming hasn’t seen the rigor that some of the other guys in this field have so we will see if that comes back to hurt him. On the bottom half, Mishawaka’s Christian Chavez was the victim of a 3-2 loss last year on Friday. This year he is a favorite to not only make finals, but to maybe take home a title. Chavez has a tough road like Hansen just to make the finals. Friday he has a tough Kaden McConnell from Center Grove, and if he wins there he will have Southmont’s Wyatt Woodall Saturday morning. Woodall is a giant even at this weight and his only loss of the year happened last weekend to Hansen. I would also not count out Purdy, who also took his first loss last week. Purdy was part of the big three title threats coming into the year and one loss does not change that for me.

Favorite: Luke Hansen-Roncalli

Darkhorse: Wyatt Woodall-Southmont

Best Friday Night Match: Christian Chavez vs Kaden McConnell

Hoosiermat Top 8:

1) Luke Hansen-Roncalli

2) Christian Chavez-Mishawaka

3) Reid Schroeder-Southridge

4) Gunner Henry-Brownsburg

5) John Purdy-Castle

6) Wyatt Woodall-Southmont

7) Alex Deming-Rochester

8) Orlan Foster-Connersville

220

Ranked Wrestlers (12/16):

1) Will Clark-Crown Point

2) Tommy Morrill-Columbus East

3) Brady Beck-Rochester

4) Nate Johnson-Center Grove

6) Austin Hastings-Noblesville

7) Alex Rose-Terre Haute South

9) Keagan Martin-Bellmont

11) Devin Kendrex-Mt. Vernon (Fortville)

13) Brandon Johnson-Lawrence North

14) Julante Hinton-F.W. Northrop

18) Jackson New-Yorktown

20) Cole Chicoine-McCutcheon

Weight Preview:

Crown Point’s Will Clark will win the weight class this weekend. No one has come close to him this year and he has killed everyone who has steeped on the mat with him, in Indiana at least. Columbus East’s Tommy Morrill, in my opinion, is the second best kid at this weight, but he will have Clark in the semis. This match is a rematch from the Al Smith finals where Clark won 11-3. Morrill will have the winner of Bellmont’s Keagan Martin and Mt. Vernon’s Devin Kendrex. This is my Friday night match to watch. On the bottom side of the bracket, Lawrence North is back at the state tournament with a shot to have their first finalist since Cameron Jones and Robert Samuels. Brandon Johnson has looked great this year and got on everyone’s radar with a big win over a returning state placer. Assuming he makes the semis, he will see the winner of F.W. Northrop’s Julante Hinton and Center Grove’s Nate Johnson. This may be another example of a tougher schedule getting a kid the win. This is Hinton’s third trip downtown and Johnson’s second. Both are looking to come away with their first state medals. Johnson is big for the weight having wrestled heavyweight a year ago. Another great Friday night match to watch is between Noblesville’s Austin Hastings and Brady Beck of Rochester. Beck took his first loss this past weekend, but he does have two wins over Hastings this year, beating him 3-1 in SV and 8-6. Both matches were super close, and I expect the same for the third one.

Favorite: Will Clark-Crown Point

Darkhorse: Brandon Johnson-Lawrence North

Best Friday Night Match: Keagan Martin vs Devin Kendrex

Hoosiermat Top 8:

1) Will Clark-Crown Point

2) Brandon Johnson-Lawrence North

3) Tommy Morrill-Columbus East

4) Nate Johnson-Center Grove

5) Brady Beck-Rochester

6) Julante Hinton-F.W. Northrop

7) Keagan Martin-Bellmont

8) Alex Rose-Terre Haute South

285

Ranked Wrestlers (12/16):

1) Kelton Farmer-Evansville Reitz Memorial

3) Leighton Jones-Brownsburg

4) Paul Clark-Crown Point

6) Dom Burgett-Hamilton Southeastern

7) Anthony Popi-Plymouth

8) Andrew Just-Franklin Central

9) Tyler Schott-Center Grove

10) Brayden Jellison-Elkhart

12) Aramis McNutt-Highland

14) Titus Waters-Muncie Central

15) Jordan Cree-Rensselaer Central

20) Zac Wurm-Adams Central

Weight Preview:

Well coming into the postseason, I thought Evansville Reitz Memorial’s Kelton Farmer was the favorite to win this weight class. Brownsburg senior Leighton Jones proved me wrong this past weekend as he killed my pick to win it. After winning the semi-state this weekend, he looks like he is ready to make his last run his best one. This is another weight where the two best kids at the weight are on the same side. Crown Point’s Paul Clark moved up after placing 4th a year ago at 220, and he hasn’t lost to anyone in Indiana this year except for Jones. The two will meet in the rematch where Jones should be the favorite. With that said if you look back at history, Clark performed better downtown than Jones has in his two other trips, so you cannot just write Clark off. I have been slow to get on the Titus Waters, Muncie Central, bandwagon but he is the only guy here to have not tasted defeat so far this year. His Saturday morning match against Farmer will be a good one with the winner there likely making the finals. Above them you have two super athletic, smaller heavyweights in Highland’s Aramis McNutt and Hamilton Southeastern’s Dom Burgett. Burgett is probably the better wrestler here, but McNutt is a tough out due to his explosiveness and strength. We also must consider that this is heavyweight where there will be a lot of close matches, and a lot of matches that are considered “upsets”.

Favorite: Leighton Jones-Brownsburg

Darkhorse: Dom Burgett-Hamilton Southeastern

Best Friday Night Match: Devin Kendrex vs Keagan Martin

Hoosiermat Top 8:

1) Leighton Jones-Brownsburg

2) Dom Burgett-Hamilton Southeastern

3) Paul Clark-Crown Point

4) Kelton Farmer-Evansville Reitz Memorial

5) Titus Waters-Muncie Central

6) Brayden Jellison-Elkhart

7) Aramis McNutt-Highland

8) Zac Wurm-Adams Central