Columbus East is sending wrestlers to Saturday’s Jasper Semistate in all 14 weight classes, but Noah Lykins might have the biggest source of motivation.
Lykins lost in the semistate quarterfinals at 113 pounds as a sophomore last season. That round is known as the “ticket round” because the top four in each weight class qualify for state.
“I have wanted to make it to state every year in high school, and the past two years that I haven’t made it to state have definitely been fuel for this year,” Lykins said. “I think I have a really good chance of going to state this year.”
Lykins, who lost in the first round at semistate as a 106-pounder as a freshman, will be seeking his first trip to state. At 30-2 and ranked No. 8 at 113, he has the second-best record and third-highest ranking of the 16 competitors in his bracket.
East coach Chris Cooper credited Lykins’ big junior season to improved mental toughness.
“He’s been great,” Cooper said. “He’s been at that level for awhile, but it’s just a matter of him kind of putting his game together and getting to that point where he expects to go out and beat good kids. In the past, we might compete with them. This year, he’s just at a whole different level. Just his approach and focus during his matches has made a big difference. His mental toughness for sure is at another level than it was last year.”
That mental toughness helped Lykins get through an offseason without much competition due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He and some of his teammates were able to get in some work wrestling in 145-pounder Eli Pollitt’s pole barn.
“It was pretty tough because I feel like the offseason is when you improve the most,” Lykins said. “I wasn’t able to improve that much because of (the pandemic).”
Still, he was able to maintain his weight and return to the 113-pound class this season.
“Once I got my weight down for the first time, I kind of just stayed steady with eating pretty well and not going crazy on food or anything,” Lykins said.
Lykins has breezed through the sectional and regional on his way to semistate. At Saturday’s Jeffersonville Regional, he pinned his opponent in less than a minute in the first round and scored second-period technical falls in the semifinals and finals.
“I feel like I did really good my very last round,” Lykins said. “I was kind of goofing around my first two rounds. I wasn’t really wrestling my best, and then the finals, I dialed it in.”
During the regular season, Lykins avenged one of his two losses, reversing his fortune against Perry Meridian’s Keaton Morton, who is ranked No. 13 at 120 pounds. His other loss came against Center Grove’s Reese Courtney, who is ranked No. 7 at 113.
Courtney is in the upper half of Saturday’s semistate bracket, while Lykins is in the lower half, so they could meet in the finals.
“I’ve been really looking forward to it,” Lykins said. “I’m going to try to wrestle better and hopefully win.”
First up for Lykins on Saturday will be West Vigo junior Torie Buchanan (16-7). A win likely would set up a ticket-round match against Whiteland junior Joey Buttler (27-6), who is ranked No. 20.
Looming in the semifinals could be Tell City sophomore Coy Hammack (28-0), who is ranked No. 6.
Lykins, who wrestled one year as a kid, then quit before starting back up in middle school, said he wasn’t a good middle school wrestler. He credited the Olympians’ high school program with making him better and pushing him to improve each year.
“I think maturity plays a big role and just being a year older has made a big difference,” Cooper said. “He’s kind of stepped up and been one of the leaders on the team. The guys he wrestles with are younger than him, so he’s turned into that leadership role, which in turn I think has really helped his wrestling game.”
