When the IHSAA released the brackets on Sunday afternoon for this weekend’s Wrestling State Finals, Columbus East coach Chris Cooper and his four state qualifiers breathed a sigh of relief.
The path to Saturday’s medal rounds is challenging, but doable for the Olympian quartet, three of whom will be making their first state appearance.
“If I would have drawn the brackets, this is how I would have drawn them up for us,” Cooper said. “There’s some luck involved, and it definitely went in our favor.”
Wrestling begins at 11 a.m. today at Gainbridge Fieldhouse with first-round matches in the 152-through-285-pound weight classes. The 106-through-145-pound classes start at 7 p.m. today. Quarterfinals start at 9 a.m. Saturday, followed by semifinals. The third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches begin at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, followed by championship matches at 7 p.m.
Senior Kade Law is the lone East wrestler with state finals experience. Law qualified at 145 pounds as a freshman and finished third at 160 last season.
“I think that it definitely helps, knowing the flow of things and not letting the crowd get to you,” Law said. “But semistate also prepares you really well for that, just being at the Ford Center. I’m excited.”
Law (38-2), ranked No. 2 at 160, has a first-round matchup with seventh-ranked Penn junior AJ Steenbeke (30-3). In the second round, Law likely would face 10th-ranked Maconaquah junior Logan Farnell (44-1) and then possibly fourth-ranked Avon senior Landon Boe (38-1) in the semifinals.
Both of Law’s losses this season have come against top-ranked Floyd Central senior J Conway (33-0), the defending champion at 152 pounds. Conway edged Law in overtime in the Hoosier Hills Conference meet and 3-2 in Saturday’s Evansville Semistate title match.
“I definitely feel I’m where I need to be,” Law said. “I just need to make a few adjustments, and I think that it can change things around.”
“Kade is there to win,” Cooper added. “He lost two matches to J Conway, the state champ from last year. We have to figure out a way to beat him. His goal is to win a title, so I think it’s attainable.”
Fifth-ranked East junior Tommy Morrill (37-2) will face No. 10 Paul Clark of East Central (29-8) in the first round at 220 pounds. A win would put him in the quarterfinals against Cathedral sophomore Jackson Weingart (28-11) or 19th-ranked Fort Wayne Northrop sophomore Julante Hinton (36-6).
“Tommy has a fantastic draw,” Cooper said. “The kid who’s considered the favorite is on the other side of the bracket, so I think we have a good opportunity there. The semistate champ he drew into (for the quarterfinals) is from Indianapolis Cathedral, who Tommy’s already beat up at (Mishawaka’s Al Smith Invitational). So we feel good about that.”
Morrill’s likely semifinal opponent would be third-ranked Penn senior Juan Grange (26-2) or fourth-ranked Adams Central senior Blake Heyerly (42-1). Top-ranked New Prairie junior Christian Carroll (18-0) and second-ranked Evansville Mater Dei senior Nate Critchfield (33-0) are on the opposite half of the bracket.
“When the draws were happening, I was watching it live, and I was fortunate enough to get a really good draw,” Morrill said. “I think the whole team got a really good draw.”
That includes senior 285-pounder Ashton Hartwell, who is 34-3 and ranked No. 7. He will face 15th-ranked Portage senior Trey White (31-7) in the first round.
Hartwell would see either 10th-ranked Rochester senior Marshall Fishback (41-1) or 17th-ranked Frankton junior Hunter Brahnam (28-7) in the quarterfinals. Fifth-ranked Franklin senior Jacob Johnson (38-3), who Hartwell could meet in the semifinals, is the only wrestler ranked above Hartwell on his side of the bracket.
“I was happy with my draw,” Hartwell said. “You always have to show up and wrestle, but I’m planning on going into Saturday and placing high on the podium.”
Like Morrill, Hartwell will be making his first state finals appearance.
“I just feel like I’ve achieved what I’ve been working for the past four years,” Hartwell said. “It shows that your hard work pays off. It’s just like a relief knowing that you did it.”
Whle Law, Morrill and Hartwell will compete in today’s early first-round session, East senior Noah Lykins also will make his first state appearance at 120 poundsin today’s evening session. For a full story on Lykins, see Thursday’s Republic or visit therepublic.com
