PORTLAND, Ind. — After two weeks of the IHSAA boys wrestling tournament, the season remains alive for 31 wrestlers from East Central Indiana.
Regionals were held across the state on Saturday, Feb. 7. The majority of East Central Indiana schools competed in Regional 8 at Jay County, which featured wrestlers from Blackford, Cowan, Daleville, Delta, Monroe Central, Muncie Burris, Muncie Central, Wapahani, Wes-Del, Winchester and Yorktown, as well as the host Patriots. Meanwhile, wrestlers from Blue River Valley, New Castle and Shenandoah wrestled in Regional 12 at Richmond.
Of the 80 regional qualifiers from ECI schools, less than half of them qualified for the semi-state round. Ten of the area’s 31 semi-state qualifiers won individual regional titles.
The action will continue with semi-states on Saturday, Feb. 14. Those who qualified from the Jay County regional will wrestle at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, while those who qualified from the Richmond regional will wrestle at the New Castle Fieldhouse.
Here are the top moments from the Jay County regional, as well as a list of all 31 East Central Indiana wrestlers who qualified for next week’s IHSAA boys wrestling semi-state:
Cowan’s Jackson Bradley wins fourth career regional title
The phenomenal Cowan wrestling career of Jackson Bradley is in its final weeks, and the senior added to his impressive list of accolades by winning his fourth regional title in as many years. Bradley won at 126 pounds as a freshman, 132 as a sophomore and at 157 each of the last two years. The Purdue commit is now 38-1 on the season, ranked second in the state at 157 by IndianaMat and 20th nationally by FloWrestling and has legitimate state title aspirations.
Bradley won his first two matches via technical fall — 16-1 over Bluffton freshman Cameron Simpson and 17-2 over Bellmont freshman Charles Faurote — before taking down Adams Central senior Maverick Dubach (No. 7 in the state per IndianaMat) in a 15-6 major decision in the title bout.
“Wrestling one of my friends always kind of sucks, but I love Maverick to death, so I know nothing out there’s personal,” Bradley said. “It’s all just wrestling, and I’m just out there having fun.”
As Jackson prepares to trade Blackhawk black and gold for Boilermaker black and gold, his head coach and father, Casey Bradley, is making the most of his son’s final season by cherishing every moment.
“Me personally, I’m just trying to enjoy it more,” Casey Bradley said. “Savor each and every practice, every competition, every single match, just enjoy it. I used to usually get nervous or try to do my best to hide that or keep those feelings in, but now, just trying to enjoy it more than anything.”
Delta produces five regional champions
All five of Delta’s sectional champions added regional titles to their steadily-growing resumes — freshman Karson Kahalekomo (106 pounds), senior Kaid Jackson (113), sophomore Reed Wicker (120), junior Jensen Boyd (132) and junior Sam Mosier (144). Jackson, Wicker and Mosier became regional champions for the second year in a row, while Boyd won his second regional title in three years.
“Definitely is one of those days that you’re excited for because you can move on and continue to wrestle,” Delta coach Cody LeCount said. “We had a little bit of everything. We had some matches where they were close, we had some matches where we had to fight through some adversity, and we had some matches where we just really outscored some people, so it was, I think, a good, fun overall day to continue to get better from.”
Kahalekomo made his IHSAA regionals debut with three matches that fell under the “really outscored some people” descriptor. He punched his ticket to semi-state with a 26-4 technical fall victory over Jay County sophomore Corbin Lothridge in the first round, then earned a spot in the title bout by pinning Bluffton senior Steven Frettinger early in the second period. In the championship match, Kahalekomo picked up another technical fall, winning 18-2 over Bellmont sophomore Jacob Binegar.
“I’m just super grateful for the people that I have around me,” Kahalekomo said. “Pushing me every day, making me better at wrestling and just a better human in general.”
Yorktown’s Jackson Webb battles through severe injury
Jackson Webb’s senior season at Yorktown was not what he had planned. The Tigers’ 113-pounder missed the last five weeks of the season with a dislocated right knee, and there were times when the postseason looked unlikely for him. However, Webb was able to fight through the injury and returned last week just in time for sectionals.
“I’m definitely blessed to be able to do it,” Webb said. “(It was) really hard for those five weeks I wasn’t able to wrestle, but I had therapy every single day. I can’t thank my trainer enough, every single day helping me get to the point I can now, and my coaches and teammates supporting me through it. Just blessed to be able to come back and keep going.”
On Saturday, Webb — sporting a bulky knee brace — clinched a spot at semi-state by pinning his first opponent in 1:36 and advanced to the championship by pinning his next opponent in just 57 seconds. Webb nearly pulled off the upset victory over Delta’s Jackson in the title bout with a near-fall at the end of the second period but ultimately lost a 13-8 decision.
“He’s just a worker,” Yorktown coach Jacob Stephenson said. “In the practice room every single day, he comes and brings it just as much or more than every other kid in our room. He’s in there constantly with me, and he worked his tail off just to get back and recover and be healthy enough to compete, so we’re really grateful for that.”
Wes-Del’s Luke Powers goes back-to-back
Wes-Del didn’t have a wrestling regional champion for over two decades until Luke Powers won the 215-pound weight class as a junior last season. He returned to Jay County on Saturday to defend his title as a senior and left as a back-to-back regional champion.
Powers pinned Bellmont junior Blake Christner in 1:36 to clinch a spot at semi-state, then picked up another pin of Bluffton senior Jake Boots in the semifinals. In the title bout, Powers didn’t surrender a point and left with a 13-0 major decision victory over Adams Central senior Ethan Funk.
“I think it was just the mindset,” Powers said. “I’m going to go out there, and it’s not going to be an easy match, but I’m going to go out there and fight my heart out and win. It’s really exciting going out there and winning it twice in a row, and I just couldn’t be happier.”
Winchester’s Wesley Hendrickson improves to 39-0
Winchester Community senior Wesley Hendrickson kept his season record unblemished by winning the 175-pound regional title. He dominated each of his first two matches, securing 16-0 technical falls over South Adams sophomore Nic Brewster in the first round and over Jay County junior Bryan Fields in the semifinals.
The championship match with Adams Central junior Zander Schwartz was much more competitive. Hendrickson jumped out to a 6-0 lead with a takedown and a three-point near-fall at the end of the first period, but Schwartz bounced back and took a 7-6 lead with a takedown and four-point near-fall midway through the second period. Schwartz’s advantage only lasted about ten seconds, as Hendrickson pulled off a reversal to get back in front and scored a two-point near-fall before the third period. After choosing bottom to start the final period, Hendrickson padded his lead with an escape followed by another takedown and would go on to win a 14-8 decision.
“I started wrestling a lot better this week,” Hendrickson said. “Fixed the things that I was messing up on last week, and it feels like it’s been paying off. I know I made one mistake, but I wasn’t going to let that cost me the match, so I just got to fight for everything I had.”
East Central Indiana boys wrestling semistate qualifiers
(All placements at Jay County regional unless otherwise noted.)
106 pounds
113 pounds
120 pounds
126 pounds
132 pounds
138 pounds
144 pounds
150 pounds
157 pounds
165 pounds
175 pounds
190 pounds
215 pounds
285 pounds
Contact Cade Hampton via email at cbhampton@muncie.gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @CadeHamp10.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: 31 East Central Indiana wrestlers advance to IHSAA boys wrestling semi-state
Reporting by Cade Hampton, Muncie Star Press / Muncie Star Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
