Marion County Preview
December 19, 2019
106
Two stellar freshman headline this weight this weekend. Roncalli's Bryce Lowery comes in undefeated and looks to join his brother as a county champion. On the other side of the bracket though is another tough freshman in Perry Meridian's Keaton Morton. Morton comes in with 1 loss coming to the second ranked kid in the state. Also in this bracket is Warren Central's Zach Dray who has been in and out of the rankings throughout the season. He is a bigger, older 106 pounder, and could make his way to the finals.
HOOSIERMAT PICK: Bryce Lowery-Roncalli
Ranked Wrestlers:
#6 Bryce Lowery-Roncalli
#15 Keaton Morton-Perry Meridian
113
This weight is Alex Cottey's weight to lose. The Perry Meridian falcon has gone 2 for 2 at county and is looking to continue his path to 4 county titles. It's hard to see anyone pushing him this year. On the other side of the bracket is 5th ranked Logan Carrender of Lawrence North. Carrender finished 3rd last year after falling to county in the semi-finals a year ago. I don't see anyone preventing this rematch from happening.
Ranked Wrestlers:
#1 Alex Cottey
#5 Logan Carrender-Lawrence North
HOOSIERMAT PICK: Alex Cottey-Perry Meridian
120
120 is going to be one of the toughest weight in the tournament. There are 3 ranked wrestlers, and a bunch of state and semi-state level guys at the weight. Carlton Perry of Warren and Logan Galbraith are both returning state qualifiers, and will be looking for their first county title. Lawrence Central's Antonio Jefferson has finished as a runner-up the past 2 years, and is looking to take the next step up on the podium. Outside of the ranked guys, there are 3 other wrestlers that were a round away from state. Lawrence North's Anthony Hughes, Perry Meridian's Andrew Haggerty, and Roncallli's Kody Glithero add a lot of depth to this weight. All the guys at this weight are all close in level, so I believe this weight will come down a lot to who shows up on Saturday.
HOOSIERMAT PICK: Antonio Jefferson-Lawrence Central
Ranked Wrestlers:
#8 Antonio Jefferson-Lawrence Central
#10 Carlton Perry-Warren Central
#Logan Galbraith-North Central
126
Roncalli's Brayden Lowery will look to join elite company as he competes for his 4th county championship. He will have his hands full though, with another county champ in Warren Central's David Pierson. Both are coming off county titles a year ago. Other wrestlers in this weight are Franklin Central's Ashton Brandon and Lawrence Norths Jeremiah Henderson. Pierson and Lowery will wrestle in the finals.
HOOSIERMAT PICK: Brayden Lowery-Roncalli
Ranked Wrestlers:
#2 Brayden Lowery-Roncalli
#7 David Pierson-Warren Central
132
This weight has 2 ranked guys,b but there are four wrestlers that can win this weight. Warren Central's Aundre Beatty comes in as the only guy in this weight with state experience, and is a slight favorite to to win it all. Roncalli's Sam Slivka is super tough and will wrestle you the whole 6 minutes, making him a kid you can't count out. Both these guys will have tough semi-final matches with Ben Davis's Diesel Duncan and Lawrence Central's Dayshaun Wilkerson probably getting the 3 and 4 seeds at this weight.
HOOSIERMAT PICK: Aundre Beatty-Warren Central
Ranked Wrestlers:
#7 Aundre Beatty-Warren Central
#12 Sam Slivka-Roncalli
138
There is no favorite at this weight, but its really a 3-man race. Southport's Luke Goodwin is having a good year so far and has put himself in a good sport to be the 1 seed at this weight. North Central's Sebastien Bryant has put the state on notice with his major decision of Aundre Beatty earlier in the year. The third wrestler in the mix is Warren Central's Jeivan Ross. He is a hard one to gauge because one day he doesn't look great and the next dad he's one of the best in the state at the weight. Bryant has been the most consistent thus far, and while he may not be the best from a pure wrestling stand point he hasn't had the downs the other 2 have.
HOOSIERMAT PICK: Sebastien Bryant-North Central
Ranked Wrestlers:
#8 Luke Goodwin-Soutport
#9 Jeivan Ross-Warren Central
#15 Sebastien Bryant-North Central
145
This weight isn't being won by anyone other than Alec Viduya. The Roncalli Rebel is just too good for anyone in this weight, or the state for that matter. He should roll to another county championship. The most interesting mat at this weight will be in the semi-finals between Warren Central's Jajuan Anderson and Perry Meridian's Brady McKivitz. Both wrestlers are very accomplished and have had good season being in the line-up for the first time.
HOOSIERMAT PICK: Alec Viduya-Roncalli
Ranked Wrestlers:
#1 Alec Viduya-Roncalli
#7 Jajuan Anderson-Warren Central
#14 Brady McKivitz-Perry Meridian
152
This weight is headlined by 2 returning county champions. Warren Central's top ranked Brice Coleman returns to defend his title at 152. Roncalli's Tyce Freije is up 2 weights from last year as he looks to add another county title to his already impressive list of accomplishments. The other wrestler in the mix here is Perry Meridian's Noah Baker, who can never be counted out due to him being so good on top. I look for Coleman to defend his title, and his number 1 ranking, this weekend and take home his second county championship.
HOOSIERMAT PICK: Brice Coleman-Warren Central
Ranked Wrestlers:
#1 Brice Coleman-Warren Central
#5 Tyce Freije-Roncalli
#12 Noah Baker
160
This weight starts a stretch of wide open weight classes. There isn't really a favorite. Lutheran's Dante Akins is probably the best guy at the weight and will look to get his first county title. Southport's Josh Moore and Warren Central's Deyonte Allen are the other two guys at this weight.
HOOSIERMAT PICK: Dante Akins-Lutheran
Ranked Wrestlers:
NONE
170
This is the next weight without any clear cut favorites. I would give Perry Meridian's JaJuan Dale the slight nod here due to his body of work thus far. Warren Central's Damon McClain is dangerous in every position and has the tools to make a run. I look for him to be across from Dale in the finals. Southport's Simon Mpole is a big strong kid that looks to have made a jump from a year ago and could make a run to the finals as well.
HOOSIERMAT PICK: JaJuan Dale-Perry Meridian
Ranked Wrestlers:
NONE
182
Aiden Warren has made the county finals the last two years and I don't see that changing this year. This weight has 3 top 8 kids in it and 2 returning county champions. Aiden Warren is up 4 weight from 145 a year ago and is still the favorite. Lutheran's Hayden Filipovich had a good offseason and is coming off a season where he only took 2 loses and won the county. He will look defend his title, but may be on the outside looking in as I see North Central's Bradley Harrington making the finals.
HOOSIERMAT PICK: Aiden Warren-Perry Meridian
Ranked Wrestlers:
#2 Aiden Warren-Perry Meridian
#5 Bradley Harrington-North Central
#7 Hayden Filipovich-Lutheran
195
This weight is open as well. Franklin Central's Gavin Keesee has a slight edge over the field here as he looks for his first county title. We may have a rematch of the Capital City Classic where Keesee was able to beat Perry Meridian's Tyler Goodall in tie breakers. Outside of those 2 there's Lutheran's Logan Beard, and Lawrence North's Excell Brooks, who make the finals a year ago.
HOOSIERMAT PICK: Tyler Goodall-Perry Meridian
Ranked Wrestlers:
NONE
220
This is the toughest weight of the tournament with 5 ranked guys, 3 in the top 10. North Central's Cameron Brown comes in ranked 6th and looks to have picked up after getting hot at the end of last year. Deshawn Young, Franklin Central, is the returning champ at this weight is probably the top seed here. He looks to become a 2-time champ this weekend. Warren Central's Alex Hernandez had a great offseason, but has come back to earth a bit after a few early season loses. Hernandez is big and strong though, and is a tough match-up for anyone at the weight. A surprise at this weight this year, Southport's Kyven Carter has picked up some solid wins this year, and looks to continue a solid season so far. Perry Meridian's Jeff McClure has dropped a match to Carter this year, but that may be more of an outlier as he has pinned everyone else he has wrestled this year, including previously 7th ranked Van Beynen. The winner of weight is anyone's guess, and a really good, state level kid will end up 5th at this weight.
HOOSIERMAT PICK: Jeff McClure-Perry Meridian
Ranked Wrestlers:
#6 Cameron Brown-North Central
#8 Deshawn Young-Franklin Central
#10 Alex Hernandez-Warren Central
#12 Kyven Carter-Southport
#13 Jeff McClure-Perry Meridian
285
While heavyweight doesn't have the names, or amount of ranked kids, but is still a very tough weight. Franklin Central's Antone Alexander and Warren Central's Dennis Hubbard are the 2 favorites to make the finals here, and will wrestle for something like the 10th time. Perry Meridian's Kevin Mendoza has wrestled well to this point in the season, but has been unable to get over the hump against better guys at the weight. Roncalli sophomore Aaron Butts is at this weight, and has enough wrestling experience to navigate this field.
HOOSIERMAT PICK: Antone Alexander-Franklin Central
Ranked Wrestlers:
#10 Antone Alexander-Franklin Central
#13 Dennis Hubbard-Warren Central
TEAM RACE
This should be a close team race this year. The team race is going to come down to which team can get the most out of there "bad kids". The team that can get a kid to place in a weight where they aren't very good will be the team to take home to title. All three of the teams in this race have holes, and they all will have about 4 champs each. The roll players on each team will determine the champ.
HOOSIERMAT PICK: Warren Central
Ranked Teams:
#5 Warren Central
#6 Perry Meridian
#11 Roncalli
