The dust has settled on IHSAA wrestling semi-states, and there are just nine wrestlers from East Central Indiana headed to state.
Four semi-states were held Saturday, Feb. 14, in East Chicago, Fort Wayne, New Castle and Evansville. Most of the area’s semi-state qualifiers competed in the Fort Wayne Semi-state at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, including wrestlers from Blackford, Cowan, Delta, Jay County, Muncie Burris, Wes-Del, Winchester and Yorktown. Meanwhile, New Castle and Shenandoah’s semi-state qualifiers stayed closer to home at the New Castle Semi-state.
The nine state qualifiers from East Central Indiana include five Delta Eagles, two Cowan Blackhawks, one New Castle Trojan and one Yorktown Tiger. They will compete in the IHSAA wrestling state finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse with the first round set for Friday, Feb. 20, followed by quarterfinals, semifinals and championships on Saturday, Feb. 21.
Delta wins Fort Wayne Semi-state
Delta continued to show why it is East Central Indiana’s premier wrestling program by winning its third team semi-state title in a row. The Eagles sent just five wrestlers to Fort Wayne and still outscored Bellmont’s 12-man team and Garrett’s 10-man team.
All five of Delta’s wrestlers won the semi-state title for their respective weight classes — freshman Karson Kahalekomo (106 pounds), senior Kaid Jackson (113), sophomore Reed Wicker (120), junior Jensen Boyd (132) and junior Sam Mosier (144). All five of them also won sectional and regional titles en route to the state finals, and Saturday marked the second semi-state titles in the careers of Boyd (106 in 2024), Wicker (106 in 2025) and Mosier (132 in 2025).
The Eagles didn’t just win every match — they dominated. Of the 20 total matches wrestled by Delta wrestlers, 18 of them were decided by fall or technical fall.
Cowan’s Jackson Bradley, New Castle’s Tylin Thrine win titles
Seven of East Central Indiana’s nine state qualifiers were semi-state champions. In addition to the five from Delta, Cowan senior Jackson Bradley won at 157 pounds in the Fort Wayne Semi-state, while New Castle senior Tylin Thrine won at 138 in the New Castle Semi-state. It was the fourth semi-state championship in Thrine’s career (126 in 2023, 132 in 2024 and 2025) and the third for Bradley (132 in 2024, 157 in 2025).
Bradley won his first match via pin in 1:14, then followed it up with a 15-0 technical fall in 1:36 to punch his fourth ticket to state. The Purdue commit clinched a spot in the title bout with another 15-0 technical fall, setting up a semi-state title bout with Eastside senior Linkin Carter in a matchup of IndianaMat’s top-two 157-pounders.
As expected, it was a very even matchup, but Bradley survived to win a 4-3 decision. Joining him at state will be sophomore Cowan teammate Ashton Goney, who placed third in the 150-pound bracket.
Meanwhile, Thrine continued to build his resume as perhaps the most accomplished wrestler in New Castle’s rich history. Ranked No. 3 in the state at 138 by IndianaMat, he dominated on his way to the title bout by pinning his first opponent in 1:06, winning a 21-2 technical fall in the ticket round and then pinning his semifinals opponent in 1:09. He faced Warren Central junior Donald Bowie — ranked No. 8 by IndianaMat — in the championship match and won a 7-2 decision.
Thrine won a state championship at 126 as a freshman and finished third at state the last two years at 132. He will look to return to the summit and finish his career as a state champion next weekend.
Yorktown’s Jackson Webb continues to defy the odds
Yorktown senior Jackson Webb qualified for state as the 113-pound runner-up at Fort Wayne. He won a 13-3 major decision in the first round, then emphatically punched his ticket to state with a 53-second pin in the quarterfinals. He won another major decision, 18-9, in the semifinals before facing Delta’s Jackson in the title bout for the second time in as many weeks. Jackson got the better of his Delaware County rival once again with a 10-3 decision victory.
The fact that Webb is headed to state is a minor miracle. The senior had dealt with a dislocated knee that forced him to miss the last five weeks of the regular season. Webb returned just in time for the sectional and has worn a bulky brace over the injured right knee throughout the postseason. Outside of the regional and semi-state championship bouts with Jackson, Webb has been dominant in the postseason with three wins by first-period pins and two by major decisions.
East Central Indiana boys wrestling state qualifiers
106 pounds
113 pounds
120 pounds
132 pounds
138 pounds
144 pounds
150 pounds
157 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: 9 East Central Indiana wrestlers qualify for IHSAA wrestling state finals
Reporting by Cade Hampton, Muncie Star Press / Muncie Star Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
