Area Grapplers Advance To Semistate
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Jim Brenneman-
Blake Hoffer (145 pounds) and Chad Ulmer (189) were individual champions for the Trojans. Justin Brooks (112) is the lone Warsaw wrestler who came away with first place, protecting his unbeaten record.[[In-content Ad]]Along with these three champions, five other area wrestlers also advanced to the semistate round.
Triton
Triton coach, Sam Davis beamed about Hoffer.
"He pulled a match out when he was behind 8-4," said Davis. "He just kept working and got a reversal and a near fall in the closing seconds."
Hoffer got the championship with a come-from-behind 9-8 win over Mishawaka's Neal Kostry.
"All it boiled down to is that Blake just kept working," said Davis "He kept on attacking and finally got the move that counted. It is really special that he was able to beat a Mishawaka kid as well as they have been wrestling this year."
Ulmer last week lost to John Popi of Plymouth. However, at the regional this week, Ulmer pushed and shoved through three periods and a 1-1 tie, with each wrestler scoring only an escape. Twenty-five seconds into overtime, Ulmer scored a takedown for the 3-1 victory and the championship.
The other three regional qualifiers for Triton were defeated and bumped out of the running in their opening round matches.
Warsaw
Coach Tony Boley of Warsaw, reviewing the day's action, said, "In the first round we had five of seven wrestlers win, four by fall. We didn't wrestle as well as we have in the past, but we wrestled well enough to advance five to the semistate."
Brooks faced a very athletic Miguel Perez of South Bend Riley.
"Perez didn't care what his record was and just kept coming at him," said Boley. "In fact, at one point Perez had him on his back and Brooks was almost stuck. But Brooks came back and pinned the kid."
Brooks won all of his matches by fall en route to his championship, nailing Perez in the finals at 5:31, upping his season record to 32-0.
"We were hoping to have three champs," said Boley. "But now our second place winners will need to go to the semistate and wrestle in the first round against third place finishers from another regional. The guys who took third will need to beat runners up in order to stay in the chase."
Matt Elvidge was defeated for the first time this season, losing in the finals to Steven Sandefer of Mishawaka in a narrow 8-7 decision.
"I felt that he was being too cautious and not aggressive enough in his offense," said Boley.
This was a rematch of the finals at the Al Smith Invitational, which Elvidge won, but here Sandefer had the edge.
The Tigers had three-third place qualifiers. In the semi-final round, Adam Keener (152) suffered his second defeat this season, losing to Kyle Long of South Bend Washington. Long went on to win the championship and remains unbeaten at 36-0.
Keener had a rematch opportunity during the consolation round and was able to avenge last week's sectional loss in which he was surprised by Culver Academy's Kevin Dobbyns. This time Keener won handily by a score of 6-3 to take third place.
Paul Manbu (130) was blanked 7-0 in the semifinals by the eventual champion, Trent Reinoehl of Mishawaka. In the consolation bout, Manbu faced Plymouth's James Letsinger. Last year, every time they met, Manbu lost. However, this season, in two successive state tournament matches, Manbu has won and is now qualified for the semistate. Manbu took third place when he calmly pounded out an 8-2 victory over Letsinger.
Adam Keener (145) worked through his injury and wrestled well, coming away with a third place finish.
"Actually," said Boley, "his ankle is looking much better. He practiced yesterday and he really looked good today, although it is quite tender."
The younger Keener recorded a fall in his opening match and then lost in the semifinals. He came back with a solid 8-2 victory of Kyle Horn of Tippecanoe Valley in the consolation round.
Wawasee
Only the Warriors' Bobby Marcuccilli (119) qualified for the semistate. He lost 8-0 in the semifinals to the champion, Adam Guerra of Mishawaka.
In the consolation round, the freshman standout recorded his second fall on the day and was another example of avenging a loss from the previous week. Marcuccilli earned third place when he pinned Culver Community's Sectional champion, Jesse Good in 2:56.
Braxton Riley (215) and Paul Xanders (189) both lost in the consolation round, and with fourth-place finishes, must settle for roles as alternates, while two other Warriors were eliminated in first round losses.
Tippecanoe Valley
Qualifying as an alternate is no small thing. The Vikings received a phone call on Tuesday advising them that one of the Valley wrestlers would be able to compete in the regional. Isaac Yoder, who had a fifth-place finish in the sectional was called upon to replace the Plymouth wrestler who bowed out due to illness. Yoder moved up further in the bracketing when Triton's qualifier had to sit out due to injury.
Yoder wound up in fourth place in the regional and again waits as an alternate for the Merrillville Semitate, along with Horn (145) who also finished in fourth. Valley's other six regional qualifiers were bumped out after first-round losses.
Semistate wrestling in Merrillville begins at 9 a.m. CT Saturday
(Individual Results for Regional Competition)
103 - Paul Beck (Mishawaka) def. Alex Gregory (Penn), 4-0
Nick Nielsen (S Bend Riley) def. Jacob Schroder (Rochester), 7-0
112 - Justin Brooks (Warsaw) pinned Miguel Perez (SB Washington), 5:31
Matt Guerra (Mish) def. Cory Hildebrandt (Penn), 9-3
119 - Adam Guerra (Mish) def. Chuck Holmquest (Plymouth), 3-1
Bobby Marcuccilli (Wawasee) pinned Jesse Good (Culver Community), 2:56
125 - Josh Harper (Mish) def. Chase Lewandowski (Ply), 9-0
Zach Troxel (LaVille) def. Joe Vargo (SB Clay), 5-0
130 - Trent Reinoehl (Mish) def. Daniel Young (Culver Academy), 5-3 ot
Paul Manbu (War) def. James Letsinger (Ply), 8-2
135 - Joey Smith (Mish) def. Trace Hall (SBR), 3-2 ot
Juan Juarez (SB St. Joe) def. Zack Naas (Ply), 12-5
140 - Steven Sandefer (Mish) def. Matt Elvidge (War), 8-7
Tyler Lymburner (SBR) pinned Isaac Yoder (Tippecanoe Valley), :54
145 - Blake Hoffer (Triton) def. Neal Kostry (Mish), 9-8
Adam Keener (War) def. Kyle Horn (TV), 8-2
152 - Kyle Long (SBW) def. Brandon Mersich (Mish), 6-1
Andy Keener (War) def. Kevin Dobbyn (CA), 6-3
160 - Jordan Schultz (Roc) def. Huey Hudson (SBR), 12-0
Tim Forte (Mish) def. Andy Wiseman ((Penn), 5-2
171 - Branden James (CA) def. Caleb Norville (Mish) 10-0
Timmy Buckingham (SBR) pinned Adam Weis (Penn), 5:45
189 - Chad Ulmer (Tri) def. John Popi (Ply), 3-1 ot
Adam Penn (Penn) def. Paul Xanders (Waw), 17-1 tech fall
215 - George Malone (SBR) pinned David Balentine (Mish), 1:11
Drew Flora (Ply) def. Braxton Riley (Waw), 6-5
285 - Randy Morin (Mish) def. Justin Deurloo (Ply), 3-1
Mike Palmer (SBR) pinned Ben Long (Roc), :46
Blake Hoffer (145 pounds) and Chad Ulmer (189) were individual champions for the Trojans. Justin Brooks (112) is the lone Warsaw wrestler who came away with first place, protecting his unbeaten record.[[In-content Ad]]Along with these three champions, five other area wrestlers also advanced to the semistate round.
Triton
Triton coach, Sam Davis beamed about Hoffer.
"He pulled a match out when he was behind 8-4," said Davis. "He just kept working and got a reversal and a near fall in the closing seconds."
Hoffer got the championship with a come-from-behind 9-8 win over Mishawaka's Neal Kostry.
"All it boiled down to is that Blake just kept working," said Davis "He kept on attacking and finally got the move that counted. It is really special that he was able to beat a Mishawaka kid as well as they have been wrestling this year."
Ulmer last week lost to John Popi of Plymouth. However, at the regional this week, Ulmer pushed and shoved through three periods and a 1-1 tie, with each wrestler scoring only an escape. Twenty-five seconds into overtime, Ulmer scored a takedown for the 3-1 victory and the championship.
The other three regional qualifiers for Triton were defeated and bumped out of the running in their opening round matches.
Warsaw
Coach Tony Boley of Warsaw, reviewing the day's action, said, "In the first round we had five of seven wrestlers win, four by fall. We didn't wrestle as well as we have in the past, but we wrestled well enough to advance five to the semistate."
Brooks faced a very athletic Miguel Perez of South Bend Riley.
"Perez didn't care what his record was and just kept coming at him," said Boley. "In fact, at one point Perez had him on his back and Brooks was almost stuck. But Brooks came back and pinned the kid."
Brooks won all of his matches by fall en route to his championship, nailing Perez in the finals at 5:31, upping his season record to 32-0.
"We were hoping to have three champs," said Boley. "But now our second place winners will need to go to the semistate and wrestle in the first round against third place finishers from another regional. The guys who took third will need to beat runners up in order to stay in the chase."
Matt Elvidge was defeated for the first time this season, losing in the finals to Steven Sandefer of Mishawaka in a narrow 8-7 decision.
"I felt that he was being too cautious and not aggressive enough in his offense," said Boley.
This was a rematch of the finals at the Al Smith Invitational, which Elvidge won, but here Sandefer had the edge.
The Tigers had three-third place qualifiers. In the semi-final round, Adam Keener (152) suffered his second defeat this season, losing to Kyle Long of South Bend Washington. Long went on to win the championship and remains unbeaten at 36-0.
Keener had a rematch opportunity during the consolation round and was able to avenge last week's sectional loss in which he was surprised by Culver Academy's Kevin Dobbyns. This time Keener won handily by a score of 6-3 to take third place.
Paul Manbu (130) was blanked 7-0 in the semifinals by the eventual champion, Trent Reinoehl of Mishawaka. In the consolation bout, Manbu faced Plymouth's James Letsinger. Last year, every time they met, Manbu lost. However, this season, in two successive state tournament matches, Manbu has won and is now qualified for the semistate. Manbu took third place when he calmly pounded out an 8-2 victory over Letsinger.
Adam Keener (145) worked through his injury and wrestled well, coming away with a third place finish.
"Actually," said Boley, "his ankle is looking much better. He practiced yesterday and he really looked good today, although it is quite tender."
The younger Keener recorded a fall in his opening match and then lost in the semifinals. He came back with a solid 8-2 victory of Kyle Horn of Tippecanoe Valley in the consolation round.
Wawasee
Only the Warriors' Bobby Marcuccilli (119) qualified for the semistate. He lost 8-0 in the semifinals to the champion, Adam Guerra of Mishawaka.
In the consolation round, the freshman standout recorded his second fall on the day and was another example of avenging a loss from the previous week. Marcuccilli earned third place when he pinned Culver Community's Sectional champion, Jesse Good in 2:56.
Braxton Riley (215) and Paul Xanders (189) both lost in the consolation round, and with fourth-place finishes, must settle for roles as alternates, while two other Warriors were eliminated in first round losses.
Tippecanoe Valley
Qualifying as an alternate is no small thing. The Vikings received a phone call on Tuesday advising them that one of the Valley wrestlers would be able to compete in the regional. Isaac Yoder, who had a fifth-place finish in the sectional was called upon to replace the Plymouth wrestler who bowed out due to illness. Yoder moved up further in the bracketing when Triton's qualifier had to sit out due to injury.
Yoder wound up in fourth place in the regional and again waits as an alternate for the Merrillville Semitate, along with Horn (145) who also finished in fourth. Valley's other six regional qualifiers were bumped out after first-round losses.
Semistate wrestling in Merrillville begins at 9 a.m. CT Saturday
(Individual Results for Regional Competition)
103 - Paul Beck (Mishawaka) def. Alex Gregory (Penn), 4-0
Nick Nielsen (S Bend Riley) def. Jacob Schroder (Rochester), 7-0
112 - Justin Brooks (Warsaw) pinned Miguel Perez (SB Washington), 5:31
Matt Guerra (Mish) def. Cory Hildebrandt (Penn), 9-3
119 - Adam Guerra (Mish) def. Chuck Holmquest (Plymouth), 3-1
Bobby Marcuccilli (Wawasee) pinned Jesse Good (Culver Community), 2:56
125 - Josh Harper (Mish) def. Chase Lewandowski (Ply), 9-0
Zach Troxel (LaVille) def. Joe Vargo (SB Clay), 5-0
130 - Trent Reinoehl (Mish) def. Daniel Young (Culver Academy), 5-3 ot
Paul Manbu (War) def. James Letsinger (Ply), 8-2
135 - Joey Smith (Mish) def. Trace Hall (SBR), 3-2 ot
Juan Juarez (SB St. Joe) def. Zack Naas (Ply), 12-5
140 - Steven Sandefer (Mish) def. Matt Elvidge (War), 8-7
Tyler Lymburner (SBR) pinned Isaac Yoder (Tippecanoe Valley), :54
145 - Blake Hoffer (Triton) def. Neal Kostry (Mish), 9-8
Adam Keener (War) def. Kyle Horn (TV), 8-2
152 - Kyle Long (SBW) def. Brandon Mersich (Mish), 6-1
Andy Keener (War) def. Kevin Dobbyn (CA), 6-3
160 - Jordan Schultz (Roc) def. Huey Hudson (SBR), 12-0
Tim Forte (Mish) def. Andy Wiseman ((Penn), 5-2
171 - Branden James (CA) def. Caleb Norville (Mish) 10-0
Timmy Buckingham (SBR) pinned Adam Weis (Penn), 5:45
189 - Chad Ulmer (Tri) def. John Popi (Ply), 3-1 ot
Adam Penn (Penn) def. Paul Xanders (Waw), 17-1 tech fall
215 - George Malone (SBR) pinned David Balentine (Mish), 1:11
Drew Flora (Ply) def. Braxton Riley (Waw), 6-5
285 - Randy Morin (Mish) def. Justin Deurloo (Ply), 3-1
Mike Palmer (SBR) pinned Ben Long (Roc), :46
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