INDIANAPOLIS -ÊThe Carrs have improved yet again.

The Carr brothers -ÊDarrell, Jason, Kevin - have each advanced to the state finals in their wrestling careers. But when Jason won his 160-pound state title match Saturday, it marked the first time one of them finished first.

Jason beat Evansville Mater Dei's Nick Miller (40-8) 7-3 in the finals.

Jason, a senior, finished the season 44-0.

"I've been working extremely hard for this," Jason said. "I told myself I would win, no matter what. I not only wanted to win, but I wanted to dominate my weight class. I kept that in my mind the whole way through.

"I've always wanted to win a state championship. That's what I've been working toward."

Jason had advanced to the semistate but no further each of the three previous years.

Kevin, a junior, has gotten a step closer to winning a state title each year in school. He placed fifth his freshman year, fourth his sophomore year and second this year.

Kevin lost 11-2 in the finals to Fort Wayne Snider's Anthony Lapsley, the guy he beat 10-3 one week ago in the semistate title match. Kevin finished the year 44-2, with both losses coming to Lapsley. Lapsley is 38-1.

One other local grappler placed at state. Wawasee's Chet Wortinger, a junior, placed eighth. Wortinger, who entered with a 38-5 record, knocked off Portage's Eric Keith (44-2) in Friday's first round.

Wortinger then lost his second-round and consolation match to finish the year with a 39-7 record.

Darrell Carr, now a freshman wrestler at Manchester College, placed second in the state finals as a senior at Wawasee.

Asked what this says about the Carr brothers - each has placed at least second at state - Jason said: "We work hard to get where we're at. We're not stopping here. Darrell's wrestling in college, Kevin has another year here, and I have high school nationals coming up."

Several other competitors from the area went to state but lost their Friday first-round matches and did not place. They included Wawasee's Ryan Johnson (135), Warsaw's Aaron Banks (140) and Chris Wilson (160), and Whitko's Ben Watson (119).

1998 STATE WRESTLING FINALS

Friday/Saturday results for local wrestlers

At Market Square Arena

Wawasee (4)

112 - Chet Wortinger (39-7)

First round -Êdefeated Eric Keith (Portage/44-2) 9-5

Second round -Êlost 11-2 to Jeff Lewis (Franklin Central/36-3)

Consolation round - was pinned by Curtis Van Ness (Evansville Mater Dei/44-2), 1:21

135 -ÊRyan Johnson (32-7)

First round -Êlost to Collin Bumgardner (Western/44-4) 9-3

145 -ÊKevin Carr (44-2)

First round -Êdef. Nate May (Bloomington South/19-9) 18-8

Second round - def. James Oliver (Rensselaer/40-4) technical fall (22-4)

Semifinals -Êdef. Stephen Minton (New Albany/52-5) 15-2 (major decision)

Championship -Êlost to Anthony Lapsley (Snider/38-1) 11-2

160 -ÊJason Carr (44-0)

First round -Êdef. Don Franzen (Sheridan/34-8) 16-2 (major decision)

Second round -Êpinned Joel Baker (LaPorte/36-3), 2:57

Semifinals -Êdef. Lee Dora (Indianapolis Cathedral/44-2) 9-2

Championship -Êdef. Nick Miller (Evansville Mater Dei/40-8) 7-3

Warsaw (2)

160 - Chris Wilson (32-9)

First round - lost to Lee Dora (Indianapolis Cathedral/44-2) 6-2

140 -ÊAaron Banks (34-10)

First round -Êlost to Chad Boukal (Greenwood/32-4) 6-1

Whitko (1)

119 -ÊBen Watson (21-5)

First round - lost to Tanner Yates (Center Grove/28-6) 3-2 [[In-content Ad]]