INDIANAPOLIS — Hunter Miller’s senior wrestling season at Wawasee High School wound up with him climbing the awards podium at the IHSAA State Finals.

One of four Warriors making their first appearance in competition at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, 152-pound Miller (37-8) finished sixth, bowing 6-2 to Tell City senior Tyce DuPont in fifth/sixth place match.

Miller defeated Hamilton Southeastern junior Zach Lang 3-0 Friday, Feb. 17.

On Saturday, Feb. 18, Miller was pinned in 43 seconds by Evansville Mater Dei junior eventual state runner-up Hunter May in the quarterfinals.

After that, Miller beat Merrillville sophomore Adrian Pellot 5-0 in the consolations and landed in the fifth/sixth place match.

The Warriors’ other State Finals qualifiers — juniors Donovan Blair (195) and Kameron Salazar (106) and freshman Cameron Senter (113) — lost in the first round on Friday, Feb. 17.

“We had a pretty good season,” said eighth-year Wawasee head coach Frank Bumgardner. “We were happy with how the kids responded. They continued to grow probably more than any other year we’ve had. They continued to develop throughout the season. That was a lot of fun.

“Obviously, the results speak for themselves.”

Brownsburg sophomore and eventual third-placer Gunner Henry topped Blair (29-14) by 17-6 major decision.

Milan freshman and eventual eighth-placer Matt Baylor beat Salazar (36-6) 11-7.

Kokomo junior and eventual seventh-placer Jalen May defeated Senter (31-11) 5-3.

At the Northern Lakes Conference meet, Salazar and Senter placed first, Miller second and Blair fourth.

Miller, Salazar and Senter finished first and Blair second at the Plymouth Sectional.

At the Penn Regional, Miller, Salazar and Senter were all first and Blair third.

Miller and Salazar were runners-up while Blair finished third and Senter fourth at East Chicago Semistate.

As a team, Wawasee placed ninth in Class 2A at the Indiana High School Wrestling Coaches Association State Duals, second at the NLC meet, first at the Plymouth Sectional, third at the Penn Regional and fourth at semistate.

The Warriors took 10 wrestlers to semistate and seven competed in the second round aka the “ticket” round.

“Whether we think this was one of the best Wawasee teams ever, those are two impressive facts for the program,” said Bumgardner. “We had a really good conference and dual season.

“We had a really good state series. The kids really wrestled well throughout the entire thing.”

Wawasee tied for 50th place in the State Finals team standings with six points.