Local Wrestlers Prepping For State Finals
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony Gadson-agadson@timesuniononline.com
“I’m just going to go out there and do the best I can do,” Warsaw freshman Kyle Hatch said about his mindset heading into the state meet.
The 106-pound Hatch, along with Tippecanoe Valley junior 132-pounder Devin Childers and fellow 132-pound Manchester junior Clayton Moore, will take to the mat Friday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, vying for a win and advancement to Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Throughout the postseason, each wrestler had to qualify in the top four of his weight class to keep his season alive through the sectional, regional and semistate rounds.
For Hatch, that journey began with a Plymouth Sectional title, followed by a runner-up finish at the Rochester Regional and a fourth-place finish at Saturday’s Merrillville Semistate.
Entering the state finals with a 33-7 record, Hatch will square off with Lakeland senior Lukas Long, who’s ranked 11th on Indianamat.com and comes in with a 37-2 record.
The two met in an invitational earlier this season, with Long getting the victory, but Warsaw assistant coach and father of Kyle, Daniel Hatch, is hoping for a better result this time around.
“We just need to go back and evaluate and fix the mistakes we made in that match,” Daniel Hatch, a 1992 Warsaw graduate, said.
For Kyle, his first year in high school wrestling has been a successful one, but one he credits with hard work and help from others.
“Dedication, the coaching staff and my teammates,” he said when asked about what's made him successful.
Entering the season with a goal of reaching semistate, therefore giving himself a shot at state, the Hatches had a simple gameplan in Merrillville.
“It was kind of like, ‘Let’s go out, pin our ears back and have a good time and wrestle our best. Let the chips fall where they may and see where we go from there,’” Daniel Hatch said. “It’s kind of the same expectation we have going into state. We’re just going to take it one match at a time.”
From Tippecanoe Valley, Childers is making his first trip to state, finishing fifth at the Merrillville semistate at 120 pounds as a freshman, then fifth at last year’s Rochester Regional.
This year, the 132-pound Three Rivers Conference champion began his postseason journey with a second-place finish at the Plymouth Sectional, then finished third at the Rochester Regional.
Bouncing back at the semistate, Childers opened up by getting a 10-3 decision over Delphi senior Walker Alderman, then got a 6-4 decision against Calumet senior Alec Norworul.
With his ticket to state already punched, Childers then upset Mishawaka sophomore Daniel Hesch, the 19th-ranked wrestler at 132 pounds, in the semifinals, 7-6.
“With about 40 seconds left in the final period, I tied him down, but with about six seconds, I went out-of-bounds and just took a shot on him and scored two with three seconds left,” he said.
Turning a one-point deficit into a one-point lead with three seconds remaining, the excitement from the win was felt in the gym.
“I just jumped up,” Childers said. “I was excited. After I got the win, I ran up to the stands. My dad was proud of me and so was everyone else.”
Childers went on to get pinned in 3:18 by McCutcheon senior Seth Carithers in the championship, however earning a trip to state was already complete.
“This was a major goal for me,” he said about reaching the state finals.
At state, the 41-4 Childers will square off against Heritage junior Sam Lovejoy (27-3).
“I wrestled him my freshman year and beat him,” Childers said. “That’s really all I know about him. I was supposed to wrestle him this year, but I guess he showed up sick or something (at an invitational).”
Childers may not know much about Lovejoy, but his fellow 132-pound TRC competitor Moore does, as he defeated him 15-10 in the semifinals of the Fort Wayne Snider Semifinal Saturday.
“I’d just tell him to wrestle smart and good luck to him,” Moore said when asked about any advice he’d have for Childers against Lovejoy.
Coincidentally, Moore will be facing Hesch in his first-round matchup Friday, and Childers had a little advice for him after having just defeated him Saturday in Merrillville.
“I’d just tell him not to tie up,” Childers said. “Hesch’s pretty good at tying up and taking shots.”
Moore may appreciate the advice, and the Peru Sectional champion has proven he’s capable of upsetting Hesch as well.
Prior to this year, the farthest Moore had gotten in the postseason was second place at regionals, which he accomplished at 120 pounds as a freshman and 126 as a sophomore.
This year, Moore followed up his Peru Sectional championship with a second-place finish at the Peru Regional, then placed second at the Fort Wayne Snider Semistate.
At semistate, Moore began his day with a pin over Adams Central sophomore Hunter Bates, then the 24-4 Moore secured his state finals berth by posting a 10-8 decision against Fremont senior David Schmucker.
Despite having already qualified for state, the gravity of his accomplishment didn’t hit him right away.
“At first, it didn’t quite sink in, but a little while later while I was celebrating with my parents, it kind of did,” he said. “It was a lot of relief, because I had worked so hard to get there.”
Like Childers, Moore didn’t relax after earning his pass to the state finals, as he then upset the 11th-ranked Lovejoy 15-10 in the semifinals.
“We’ve had close matches in the past, so beating him by that big of a margin was pretty cool,” Moore said.
“I would say I was in control for a lot of the match, but not all of it,” he added. “He scored some good points and some well-earned points.”
At state, Moore is looking to fall back on what’s gotten him this far, which has been pure determination.
“I’d say it’s heart,” he said about what it took to get this far. “I don’t like to get beat and I don’t usually give up on things. If someone beats me, it gives me more of a drive.”
And like most of the other wrestlers at the state meet, he has a simple game plan.
“I’m more focused on what I need to work on to get better and advancing as far as I can,” he said.[[In-content Ad]]
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“I’m just going to go out there and do the best I can do,” Warsaw freshman Kyle Hatch said about his mindset heading into the state meet.
The 106-pound Hatch, along with Tippecanoe Valley junior 132-pounder Devin Childers and fellow 132-pound Manchester junior Clayton Moore, will take to the mat Friday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, vying for a win and advancement to Saturday’s quarterfinals.
Throughout the postseason, each wrestler had to qualify in the top four of his weight class to keep his season alive through the sectional, regional and semistate rounds.
For Hatch, that journey began with a Plymouth Sectional title, followed by a runner-up finish at the Rochester Regional and a fourth-place finish at Saturday’s Merrillville Semistate.
Entering the state finals with a 33-7 record, Hatch will square off with Lakeland senior Lukas Long, who’s ranked 11th on Indianamat.com and comes in with a 37-2 record.
The two met in an invitational earlier this season, with Long getting the victory, but Warsaw assistant coach and father of Kyle, Daniel Hatch, is hoping for a better result this time around.
“We just need to go back and evaluate and fix the mistakes we made in that match,” Daniel Hatch, a 1992 Warsaw graduate, said.
For Kyle, his first year in high school wrestling has been a successful one, but one he credits with hard work and help from others.
“Dedication, the coaching staff and my teammates,” he said when asked about what's made him successful.
Entering the season with a goal of reaching semistate, therefore giving himself a shot at state, the Hatches had a simple gameplan in Merrillville.
“It was kind of like, ‘Let’s go out, pin our ears back and have a good time and wrestle our best. Let the chips fall where they may and see where we go from there,’” Daniel Hatch said. “It’s kind of the same expectation we have going into state. We’re just going to take it one match at a time.”
From Tippecanoe Valley, Childers is making his first trip to state, finishing fifth at the Merrillville semistate at 120 pounds as a freshman, then fifth at last year’s Rochester Regional.
This year, the 132-pound Three Rivers Conference champion began his postseason journey with a second-place finish at the Plymouth Sectional, then finished third at the Rochester Regional.
Bouncing back at the semistate, Childers opened up by getting a 10-3 decision over Delphi senior Walker Alderman, then got a 6-4 decision against Calumet senior Alec Norworul.
With his ticket to state already punched, Childers then upset Mishawaka sophomore Daniel Hesch, the 19th-ranked wrestler at 132 pounds, in the semifinals, 7-6.
“With about 40 seconds left in the final period, I tied him down, but with about six seconds, I went out-of-bounds and just took a shot on him and scored two with three seconds left,” he said.
Turning a one-point deficit into a one-point lead with three seconds remaining, the excitement from the win was felt in the gym.
“I just jumped up,” Childers said. “I was excited. After I got the win, I ran up to the stands. My dad was proud of me and so was everyone else.”
Childers went on to get pinned in 3:18 by McCutcheon senior Seth Carithers in the championship, however earning a trip to state was already complete.
“This was a major goal for me,” he said about reaching the state finals.
At state, the 41-4 Childers will square off against Heritage junior Sam Lovejoy (27-3).
“I wrestled him my freshman year and beat him,” Childers said. “That’s really all I know about him. I was supposed to wrestle him this year, but I guess he showed up sick or something (at an invitational).”
Childers may not know much about Lovejoy, but his fellow 132-pound TRC competitor Moore does, as he defeated him 15-10 in the semifinals of the Fort Wayne Snider Semifinal Saturday.
“I’d just tell him to wrestle smart and good luck to him,” Moore said when asked about any advice he’d have for Childers against Lovejoy.
Coincidentally, Moore will be facing Hesch in his first-round matchup Friday, and Childers had a little advice for him after having just defeated him Saturday in Merrillville.
“I’d just tell him not to tie up,” Childers said. “Hesch’s pretty good at tying up and taking shots.”
Moore may appreciate the advice, and the Peru Sectional champion has proven he’s capable of upsetting Hesch as well.
Prior to this year, the farthest Moore had gotten in the postseason was second place at regionals, which he accomplished at 120 pounds as a freshman and 126 as a sophomore.
This year, Moore followed up his Peru Sectional championship with a second-place finish at the Peru Regional, then placed second at the Fort Wayne Snider Semistate.
At semistate, Moore began his day with a pin over Adams Central sophomore Hunter Bates, then the 24-4 Moore secured his state finals berth by posting a 10-8 decision against Fremont senior David Schmucker.
Despite having already qualified for state, the gravity of his accomplishment didn’t hit him right away.
“At first, it didn’t quite sink in, but a little while later while I was celebrating with my parents, it kind of did,” he said. “It was a lot of relief, because I had worked so hard to get there.”
Like Childers, Moore didn’t relax after earning his pass to the state finals, as he then upset the 11th-ranked Lovejoy 15-10 in the semifinals.
“We’ve had close matches in the past, so beating him by that big of a margin was pretty cool,” Moore said.
“I would say I was in control for a lot of the match, but not all of it,” he added. “He scored some good points and some well-earned points.”
At state, Moore is looking to fall back on what’s gotten him this far, which has been pure determination.
“I’d say it’s heart,” he said about what it took to get this far. “I don’t like to get beat and I don’t usually give up on things. If someone beats me, it gives me more of a drive.”
And like most of the other wrestlers at the state meet, he has a simple game plan.
“I’m more focused on what I need to work on to get better and advancing as far as I can,” he said.[[In-content Ad]]
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