3A Team State Preview

Hoosier Mat 3A Team State Breakdown

 

On January 5th, 12 of the best teams in the state will meet in Fort Wayne to decide who is the best team in the state. There are four quarter brackets and each quarter bracket contains 3 teams. We will breakdown each quarter bracket and pick a winner, and then go from there.

 

Top Quarter Bracket

#1 Cathedral

#8 Avon 

Penn

 

Breakdown:

There will be a lot of great ranked matchups within this quarter bracket, particularly in the dual meet between Cathedral and Avon. Penn is a really solid team, but they most likely lack the fire power to keep up with the other two teams in the pool so it will most likely come down to the Avon and Cathedral dual. Although Cathedral beat Avon 43-21 at the beginning of the season, I expect this dual to be quite a bit closer this time for a couple of reasons. The first of those reason is that they now have a more complete lineup. Although they still appear to be forfeiting 106 and 285, they now have #1 ranked 182 Carson Brewer back and they also will no longer be forfeiting 195. The second reason is that I think that they are wrestling very well right now, highlighted by their 4th place finish at the Brecksville Invitational in Ohio. However, I still expect Cathedral to win as they will not be forfeiting any weights  and are coming off of an excellent showing at Al Smith.

 

Hoosier Mat Picks: 1. Cathedral 2. Avon 3. Penn

 

High Profile Matchups:

• Ray Rioux vs. Lukasz Walendzak

• Asa Garcia vs. Logan Bailey

• Andrew Wilson vs. Jaden Reynolds

• Alex Mosconi vs. Trae Reynolds vs Jeffrey Harper

• Elliot Rodgers vs. Nathan Conley

 

Second Quarter Bracket

#4 Brownsburg 

#5 Perry Meridian

Northridge

 

Breakdown:

Northridge is a solid team this year, but the winner of this pool will most likely come down to the dual meet between Perry Meridian and Brownsburg. Brownsburg has won this event the past 3 years, but will come in with the four seed due to losing one of the best senior classes in the history of Indiana. Perry has finished runner up in 3 of the last 4 team state events. Interestingly enough, this is a rematch of the team state finals the past two seasons, in which Brownsburg won both times. Although Perry is seeded higher, I favor Brownsburg due to the way the two teams matchup, as they have a distinct advantage in the lower weights and I think that will be tough for Perry to come back from. This dual will most likely come down to who wins the toss up matchups at 138, 152, 160, and 182. 

 

Hoosier Mat Picks: 1. Brownsburg 2. Perry Meridian 3. Northridge

 

High Profile Matchups:

• Alex Cottey vs. Logan Miller

• Kysen Montgomery vs. Evan Beasley

• Gabe Smith vs. Drew Kreitzer 

• Peyton Asbury vs. Brooks Davis

 

Third Quarter Bracket

#3 Warren Central

#6 Roncalli

Columbus East

 

Breakdown:

In my opinion this is the deepest quarter bracket, featuring a ton of ranked individual matchups. Columbus East has a bunch of really great individuals on their team, but I don’t think that they have quite the depth that Warren and Roncalli do. The Warren Central vs Roncalli dual is most likely to determine the winner of this pool. Unlike a lot of the other dual meets here, we have a pretty good idea of how this dual will look because a lot of the guys from each team met at the Marion County tournament. The teams are very deep from 106-138, with both teams having a lot of studs. However, starting at 145, Warren Central has an advantage for the rest of the dual. Don’t be surprised Roncalli turns around a couple of those rematches from County, but I still expect Warren central to win the dual meet. The Roncalli vs Columbus East dual meet could also be interesting, as a lot of their studs are at the same weight, but I expect Roncalli to win that due to their depth as a team.

 

Hoosier Mat Picks: 1. Warren Central 2. Roncalli 3. Columbus East

 

High Profile Matchups:

• Carleton Perry vs. Kody Glithero

• Brayden Lowery vs. Christ Stewart

• Jeremy Clark vs. Jevian Ross

• Cayden Rooks vs. Tyce Freije vs. Jared Rowlett

• Jake Schoenegge vs. Brice Coleman 

• Nick South vs. Elijah Mahan

 

Bottom Quarter Bracket

#2 Evansville Mater Dei

#7 Carmel

Portage

 

Breakdown:

This is another super stacked quarter bracket featuring 3 very solid teams. Headlining this group is Evansville Mater Dei, on the heels of a great dual victory over Perry Meridian. Mater Dei has an absolute murders row from 106-170, with only one unranked wrestler in that 10 weight class range. Seventh ranked Carmel is an extremely solid team this year, featuring a good wrestler at basically every weight class. They have been extremely dominant so far this year, their only defeat coming by two points to Roncalli while missing a couple upper weights due to football. Portage is a little down this year but they still have a lot of ranked wrestlers, and will be a tough out for anyone. Despite how good Portage and Carmel are, I expect Mater Dei to win this pool dominantly. Look for this pool to have a lot of high profile matchups, especially at the lower weights.

 

Hoosier Mat Picks: 1. Evansville Mater Dei 2. Carmel 3. Portage

 

High Profile Matchups:

• Alec Freeman vs. Suhas Chundi

• Jacob Moran vs. Cole Ross

• Blake Boarman vs. Ty Haskins

• Brock Peele vs. Kane Egli

• Kyle Hollman vs. Clay Egli vs. Rickey Hegedus

• Logan Hart vs. McCartney Parkinson

 

Projected Top Semifinal

#1 Cathedral vs #5 Brownsburg

 

Breakdown:

If this does end up being the semifinal, I think that this dual will be a lot closer than most people think it will be. As previously mentioned, Brownsburg graduated one of the best senior classes in the history of Indiana last year but they seem to have reloaded nicely. They have gained a couple good freshman and all of their starters from last year seem to have improved. These teams are pretty even in the lower and upper weights, but I expect Cathedral to go on a decent run starting at 145. This dual will come down to a couple of swing matches, specifically 126, 132 and 170, and how many bonus points each team’s studs get. Although I expect Brownsburg to make this dual closer than a lot of people expect, I still expect Cathedral to come out on top due to the strength of their middleweights. 

 

High Profile Matchups:

• Zeke Seltzer vs. KT Nelson

• Lukasz Walednzak vs. Evan Lawhead

• Drake Campbell vs. Logan Bailey

• Drew Kreitzer vs. Andrew Wilson

• Jordan Slivka vs. Peyton Asbury

• Tyler Wagner vs. Thierry Jean-Baptiste

 

Hoosier Mat Pick: Cathedral over Brownsburg, 31-22

 

Projected Bottom Semifinal

#2 Evansville Mater Dei vs #3 Warren Central

 

Breakdown:

This dual is probably the toughest one to breakdown of all so far. Mater Dei’s 106-170 is one of the best in the state, with 8 of those 10 being ranked top ten in the state. Warren Central, on the other hand, is extremely solid through all 14 weights. What they lack in star power compared to Mater Dei, they make up for with great depth. Like all duals at this level, it will come down to the toss up matches. For this particular dual, I think that the key matchups will be at 106, 113, 145, 152 and 160. At 106 4th ranked Alec Freeman of Mater Dei vs 5th ranked Carleton Perry of Warren Central will be a key matchup in this dual. They are both sophomores but it is the first year in the lineup for both of them, as they were both behind studs last year. They each have one loss in the state of Indiana, a decision loss to 1st ranked Alex Cottey. Another interesting one to take a look at is 160, where 10th ranked senior Aaron Taylor and 13th ranked freshman Gabe Sollars will collide. Like the 106 match, we don’t have many common opponents to indicate how this match will go so it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

 

High Profile Matchups:

• Alec Freeman vs. Carleton Perry

• Cole Ross vs. David Pearson

• Blake Boarman vs. Chris Stewart

• Kane Egli vs. Jevian Ross

• Matt Lee vs. Antuan Graves

• Eli Dickens vs. Brice Coleman

• Aaron Taylor vs. Gabe Sollars

 

Hoosier Mat Pick: Evansville Mater Dei over Warren Central, 27-18

 

Projected Final

#1 Cathedral vs #2 Evansville Mater Dei

 

Breakdown:

If seeds hold and this is the final, I think that this dual meet will be an absolute barn burner. Both teams are incredible from 106-170, however I think that Mater Dei has a slight advantage there because they have hammers at a couple weights that Cathedral does not which could lead to some big bonus points. However, I think that Cathedral holds a solid advantage in the upper weights and think that they will win 182-285. The key matchups in this dual come at 113, 126, 132, 145 and 152. One match to take a look at in particular is 2nd ranked Zeke Seltzer vs 4th ranked Cole Ross at 113. Freshman Zeke Seltzer is coming off of a dominant performance at the Al Smith, earning bonus points in all but one of his matches, and Cole Ross is currently undefeated on the year. This will be another good early test for the freshman and it will be a match with huge implications for the dual. Another key matchup for the dual will take place at 152 pounds between 1st ranked Elliot Rodgers and 4th ranked Eli Dickens. Rodgers has a ton of momentum right now, he is currently undefeated and is coming off of a dominant showing at Al Smith. Dickens is also riding a nice wave of momentum as he is also undefeated in the state of Indiana and is coming off of a big victory over returning state runner-up Sam Fair. This should be a great match between two guys who are both wrestling very well right now. With all things being considered, I expect Cathedral to win this one due to the advantage they hold in the upper weights. 

 

High Profile Matchups:

• Zeke Seltzer vs. Cole Ross

• Kane Egli vs. Lukasz Walendzak

• Logan Bailey vs. Clay Egli

• Matt Lee vs. Alex Mosconi

• Elliot Rodgers vs. Eli Dickens

• Jordan Slivka vs. Gabe Sollars

 

Hoosier Mat Pick: Cathedral over Evansville Mater Dei, 27-21