By E. Shawn Aylsworth
Managing EditorINDIANAPOLIS – So what was the story of the 70th Annual IHSAA Individual Wrestling State Finals held Feb. 15-16 at Conseco Fieldhouse? It’s that there were many stories. (
Click here for class-by-class state finals bracket results complete with records and rankings! Then
click here to watch all of HoosierAuthority.com's video coverage of the event! Title bouts featured in the highlights are at 112, 125, 135, 140, 152, 160, 171, and heavyweight.)
First you have senior Andrew Howe, a monster from Hanover Central who once again terrorized four opponents at 160 pounds en route to his third consecutive state title. The Wisconsin-bound Howe finished his career at 192-1, with the only loss coming as a freshman in the 130 state finals to another three-time state champ (Reece Humphrey of Lawrence North).
Next, there’s fellow three-time king Josh Harper of Mishawaka, a junior who captured the 125 title and has a very realistic chance in 2009 to become the rarest of rare – a four-time state champ (there have only been seven others). Harper also has just one career loss, that occurring in last year’s team state finals, heading into this year's team championships Feb. 23.
Perry Meridian senior Chico Adams ended his career in perfect fashion, going 53-0 in defending his heavyweight crown and piling up a 105-0 record the last two years heading toward the team finals Saturday at Center Grove. Watch out for his 3-2 finals victim, however – Winchester freshman Adam Chalfant may be on the road to three titles.
You have your revenge angle at 112, where Indianapolis Cathedral’s Brandon Wright reversed the outcome of last year’s 103 championship by topping top-ranked Camden Eppert of Anderson Highland. Then again, that maybe wasn’t a shocker as Wright had beaten Eppert the previous two weekends at the regional and semistates levels.
Want a giant killer? Then cue Portage seventh-ranked sophomore Sean McMurray, who got scalding hot at absolutely the right time in knocking off the Nos. 2 and 1 wrestlers in the opening and quarterfinal rounds at 135 before keeping Hobart senior Eric Galka from notching a third state title in the finals.
Then there were all the upsets – if you go by the state rankings, a whopping 53 in all non-consolation matches. Just look at 135 and 140, where you had a tourney-high eight shockers – including top-ranked Levi Rutledge getting pinned in the first period of the quarterfinals – at the former and five first-round upsets at the latter. In fact, back-to-back seventh-ranked wrestlers survived the carnage here to capture crowns.
Stay tuned for a thorough breakdown of each class and what happened … till then, here’s a bulleted-list glance at your 14 state champions (with obvious category crossovers):
• Two three-time state champions (125 Harper, 160 Howe)
• Six champions with a No. 1 ranking (125 Harper, 145 Cosgrove, 152 Ulrey, 160 Howe, 171 Samuels, Hwt Adams)
• Two champions with a No. 2 ranking (112 Wright, 119 Quiroga)
• One champ with a No. 3 ranking (215 Woods)
• Two champions with a No. 4 ranking (130 Churchard, 189 Stahl)
• Two champions with a No. 7 ranking (135 McMurray, 140 Sandefer)
• One champ with a No. 13 ranking (103 Raley)
• Eight undefeated champions (103 Raley, 125 Harper, 145 Cosgrove, 152 Ulrey, 160 Howe, 171 Samuels, 215 Woods, Hwt Adams)
• Four champions who defended their crown (125 Harper, 160 Howe, 171 Samuels, Hwt Adams)
• Four champions who finished second last year (112 Wright, 119 Quiroga, 130 Churchard, 145 Cosgrove)
• Eight champions that are seniors (130 Churchard, 145 Cosgrove, 152 Ulrey, 160 Howe, 171 Samuels, 189 Stahl, 215 Woods, Hwt Adams)
• Three champions that are juniors (119 Quiroga, 125 Harper, 140 Sandefer)
• Two champions that are sophomores (112 Wright, 135 McMurray)
• One champ that’s a freshman (103 Raley)
• Seven No. 1-ranked wrestlers who were beaten (103 Hawkins, 112 Eppert, 119 Rackley, 130 Marsh, 135 Rutledge, 189 Konrath, 215 Malone)
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