Area Grapplers Advance
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
ROCHESTER - In wrestling action at the Rochester Regional, six area wrestlers advanced to the Merrillville Semistate, including five from Warsaw and one from Triton.
Without question, teams that came through the Mishawaka Sectional dominated the regional.
Mishawaka advanced 11 through to semistate, including six champs. Penn brought 14 qualifiers to this regional and will take seven on to the semistate, among them four champs. Two other champs were also from that north sectional, while only two champs were from the south sectional at Plymouth - Rochester's Cory Fornal (140) and Warsaw's Matt Elvidge (135), the lone area champion.
Warsaw's Matt Elvidge recorded two falls to reach the championship. The Tiger sophomore thumped Mishawaka's Brandon Mersich in a convincing 18-4 major decision. Allowing Mersich only four escapes, Elvidge scored on takedowns, reversals, and two nearfalls.
In team statistics Elvidge leads the Tigers in wins, team points, major decisions, takedowns, tech falls, and major decisions. He now boasts a record of 37-1 as he leads the team to the Merrillville semistate.
Warsaw head coach Tony Boley expressed satisfaction on the team's effort, but noted, "Of course at this stage of the season the competition only gets tougher."
Boley went on to explain, "I thought we wrestled well, but at this level we will run into more close decisions, and in order to win those tight one or two-point battles we've really got to go out and go after it. When someone gets a lead on us they are just going to just hang on, so we need to come out and attack and be on full speed from the very beginning. But we're pleased taking five to the semi-state. The best we've done since back in the Fort Wayne Semistate days (1999)."
Among the current semistate qualifiers are three Tigers who earned runner-up honors, each in a rematch of early-season battles, in the championship round.
Justin Brooks (103) made his way to the finals with a couple of major decisions. Brooks now boasts a record of 33-2 after a second loss to Josh Harper of Mishawaka in the championship.
Although Brooks got a little closer this time, with an escape and a reversal, it was not enough against the three takedowns scored by Harper, who came out the 6-3 winner.
Andy Keener (145) won two simple decisions in the preliminary rounds to face a rematch with Mitch Miller, to whom he lost 5-1 earlier in the season. Keener made several shots at takedowns and missed one throw attempt, but came away with no points, as Miller won 5-0 on the strength of a second-period flurry of a reversal and near fall.
In opening-round matches Tom Lowe (171) nailed two falls (3:09 and 1:20), taking the lead among the Tigers with the most falls on the season.
The finals were yet another rematch for the Tigers when Lowe faced Mishawaka's Ian Hinton for the second time this season. In the Mishawaka Invitational Lowe was out-pointed 5-3 and at the Rochester Regional he was narrowly edged by No. 1 ranked Hinton, 3-2.
The other Tiger to advance to the semistate was freshman Adam Keener (140), who notched a first-round fall in 34 seconds. Then, following a semifinal loss to senior Ronnie McCollough of LaVille, Keener moved to the consolation round where he edged Triton's Richard Heiman, 5-4.
Among the other Tigers who qualified out of the sectional, Steven Palladino (112) and Hans Sale (275) were both eliminated in first-round losses, while Taylor Julian did not participate due to an injury.
Triton had only one semistate qualifier, sophomore Chad Ulmer (171), who nailed a quick 28 second fall in his opening match before losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Ian Hinton.
Ulmer came back to win a consolation match 2-1 against Jon McCollester of Penn to take third place and advance to the semistate.
Other regional competitors from Triton were eliminated, including Callie Prater (130) who took fourth place.
Richard Heiman (140), Adam Ulmer (152) and Harold Lemler (215) all finished fourth for Tirton.
All of the Wawasee Warriors were also ousted early on, but Chase Davis (119) wound up in fourth place after being edged 6-5 in a battle with South Bend Riley's Trace Hall.
These semistate qualifiers will now compete in the individual semistate at Merrillville beginning at 9 a.m. Central Time on Saturday. The top four finishers will earn advancement to the state championship tournament in Indianapolis the following weekend.
ROCHESTER REGIONAL
Championship matches (also listed are consolation matches)
103 - Josh Harper (Mishawaka) def. Justin Brooks (Warsaw), 6-3
Matt Gradeless (Penn) pinned Ryan Salata (SB Clay), 6:40 ot
112 - Nick Weisjahn (Mish) def. Steve Salinas (SBC), 6-4
Leonard Simpson (SB Riley) def. Trenton Reinoehl (Pn), 20-13
119 - Matt Brothers (Mish) def. Mike Genovese (Pn), 3-2
Trace Hall (SBR) def. Chase Davis (Wawasee), 6-5
125 - Jeremy Burnside (SBC) def. Clinton Leazenby (Mish), 7-3
John Girard (Culver Academies) pinned Travis Swihart (Pn), 5:26
130 - Steven Sandefer (Pn) pinned Scott Versyp (Mish), 1:47
Chris Lauer (SBC) pinned Callie Prater (Triton), 1:39
135 - Matt Elvidge (War) def. Brandon Mersich (Mish), 18-4 maj.
Joshua Shonkwiler (SB Washington) def. Clint Miller (Pn), 2-1 ot
140 - Cory Fornal (Rochester) def. Ronnie McCollough (LaVille), 2-1
Adam Keener (War) def. Richard Heiman (Tri), 5-4
145 - Mitch Miller (Pn) def. Andy Keener (War), 5-0
Kyle Long (SBW) def. Caleb Norville (Mish), 1-0
152 - Benji Dolly (Mish) def. Mike Robertson (SBR), 3-0
David Read (Ply) def. Adam Ulmer (Tri), 9-5
160 - Ian Mersich (SB Adams) def. Aaron Fornal (Roch), 16-7 maj.
Ronnie Kind (SBC) def. Alex Lee (Pn), 7-3
171 - Ian Hinton (Mish) def. Tom Lowe (War), 3-2
Chad Ulmer (Tri) def. Jon McCollester (Pn), 2-1
189 - Jeremiah Maggart (Pn) pinned Jamie Lukaszewski (Mish), 3:03
Dan Warren (Cul A) pinned Austin Rausch (Roch), 1:22
215 - Pat Day (Mish) def. George Malone (SBR), 7-6
David Balentine (Pn) pinned Harold Lemler (Tri), 2:26
275 - Andy Ginter (Pn) def. Todd Richard (SBC), 5-4
Randy Morin (Mish) pinned Mike Palmer (SBR), 3:58 [[In-content Ad]]
ROCHESTER - In wrestling action at the Rochester Regional, six area wrestlers advanced to the Merrillville Semistate, including five from Warsaw and one from Triton.
Without question, teams that came through the Mishawaka Sectional dominated the regional.
Mishawaka advanced 11 through to semistate, including six champs. Penn brought 14 qualifiers to this regional and will take seven on to the semistate, among them four champs. Two other champs were also from that north sectional, while only two champs were from the south sectional at Plymouth - Rochester's Cory Fornal (140) and Warsaw's Matt Elvidge (135), the lone area champion.
Warsaw's Matt Elvidge recorded two falls to reach the championship. The Tiger sophomore thumped Mishawaka's Brandon Mersich in a convincing 18-4 major decision. Allowing Mersich only four escapes, Elvidge scored on takedowns, reversals, and two nearfalls.
In team statistics Elvidge leads the Tigers in wins, team points, major decisions, takedowns, tech falls, and major decisions. He now boasts a record of 37-1 as he leads the team to the Merrillville semistate.
Warsaw head coach Tony Boley expressed satisfaction on the team's effort, but noted, "Of course at this stage of the season the competition only gets tougher."
Boley went on to explain, "I thought we wrestled well, but at this level we will run into more close decisions, and in order to win those tight one or two-point battles we've really got to go out and go after it. When someone gets a lead on us they are just going to just hang on, so we need to come out and attack and be on full speed from the very beginning. But we're pleased taking five to the semi-state. The best we've done since back in the Fort Wayne Semistate days (1999)."
Among the current semistate qualifiers are three Tigers who earned runner-up honors, each in a rematch of early-season battles, in the championship round.
Justin Brooks (103) made his way to the finals with a couple of major decisions. Brooks now boasts a record of 33-2 after a second loss to Josh Harper of Mishawaka in the championship.
Although Brooks got a little closer this time, with an escape and a reversal, it was not enough against the three takedowns scored by Harper, who came out the 6-3 winner.
Andy Keener (145) won two simple decisions in the preliminary rounds to face a rematch with Mitch Miller, to whom he lost 5-1 earlier in the season. Keener made several shots at takedowns and missed one throw attempt, but came away with no points, as Miller won 5-0 on the strength of a second-period flurry of a reversal and near fall.
In opening-round matches Tom Lowe (171) nailed two falls (3:09 and 1:20), taking the lead among the Tigers with the most falls on the season.
The finals were yet another rematch for the Tigers when Lowe faced Mishawaka's Ian Hinton for the second time this season. In the Mishawaka Invitational Lowe was out-pointed 5-3 and at the Rochester Regional he was narrowly edged by No. 1 ranked Hinton, 3-2.
The other Tiger to advance to the semistate was freshman Adam Keener (140), who notched a first-round fall in 34 seconds. Then, following a semifinal loss to senior Ronnie McCollough of LaVille, Keener moved to the consolation round where he edged Triton's Richard Heiman, 5-4.
Among the other Tigers who qualified out of the sectional, Steven Palladino (112) and Hans Sale (275) were both eliminated in first-round losses, while Taylor Julian did not participate due to an injury.
Triton had only one semistate qualifier, sophomore Chad Ulmer (171), who nailed a quick 28 second fall in his opening match before losing in the semifinals to eventual champion Ian Hinton.
Ulmer came back to win a consolation match 2-1 against Jon McCollester of Penn to take third place and advance to the semistate.
Other regional competitors from Triton were eliminated, including Callie Prater (130) who took fourth place.
Richard Heiman (140), Adam Ulmer (152) and Harold Lemler (215) all finished fourth for Tirton.
All of the Wawasee Warriors were also ousted early on, but Chase Davis (119) wound up in fourth place after being edged 6-5 in a battle with South Bend Riley's Trace Hall.
These semistate qualifiers will now compete in the individual semistate at Merrillville beginning at 9 a.m. Central Time on Saturday. The top four finishers will earn advancement to the state championship tournament in Indianapolis the following weekend.
ROCHESTER REGIONAL
Championship matches (also listed are consolation matches)
103 - Josh Harper (Mishawaka) def. Justin Brooks (Warsaw), 6-3
Matt Gradeless (Penn) pinned Ryan Salata (SB Clay), 6:40 ot
112 - Nick Weisjahn (Mish) def. Steve Salinas (SBC), 6-4
Leonard Simpson (SB Riley) def. Trenton Reinoehl (Pn), 20-13
119 - Matt Brothers (Mish) def. Mike Genovese (Pn), 3-2
Trace Hall (SBR) def. Chase Davis (Wawasee), 6-5
125 - Jeremy Burnside (SBC) def. Clinton Leazenby (Mish), 7-3
John Girard (Culver Academies) pinned Travis Swihart (Pn), 5:26
130 - Steven Sandefer (Pn) pinned Scott Versyp (Mish), 1:47
Chris Lauer (SBC) pinned Callie Prater (Triton), 1:39
135 - Matt Elvidge (War) def. Brandon Mersich (Mish), 18-4 maj.
Joshua Shonkwiler (SB Washington) def. Clint Miller (Pn), 2-1 ot
140 - Cory Fornal (Rochester) def. Ronnie McCollough (LaVille), 2-1
Adam Keener (War) def. Richard Heiman (Tri), 5-4
145 - Mitch Miller (Pn) def. Andy Keener (War), 5-0
Kyle Long (SBW) def. Caleb Norville (Mish), 1-0
152 - Benji Dolly (Mish) def. Mike Robertson (SBR), 3-0
David Read (Ply) def. Adam Ulmer (Tri), 9-5
160 - Ian Mersich (SB Adams) def. Aaron Fornal (Roch), 16-7 maj.
Ronnie Kind (SBC) def. Alex Lee (Pn), 7-3
171 - Ian Hinton (Mish) def. Tom Lowe (War), 3-2
Chad Ulmer (Tri) def. Jon McCollester (Pn), 2-1
189 - Jeremiah Maggart (Pn) pinned Jamie Lukaszewski (Mish), 3:03
Dan Warren (Cul A) pinned Austin Rausch (Roch), 1:22
215 - Pat Day (Mish) def. George Malone (SBR), 7-6
David Balentine (Pn) pinned Harold Lemler (Tri), 2:26
275 - Andy Ginter (Pn) def. Todd Richard (SBC), 5-4
Randy Morin (Mish) pinned Mike Palmer (SBR), 3:58 [[In-content Ad]]