FORT WAYNE - You name the emotion, Saturday's wrestling semistate at Fort Wayne's cavernous Memorial Coliseum housed it.

Exhilaration. The euphoria of making it to the state finals, the last level. Twenty local grapplers competed at the semistate. Seven of them - Wawasee's Chet Wortinger, Ryan Johnson, Kevin Carr, Jason Carr; Warsaw's Aaron Banks, Chris Wilson; and Whitko's Ben Watson - placed in the top four and will wrestle at the state championship at Market Square Arena this weekend.

Vengeance. Kevin Carr, 41-1, experienced this when he beat Fort Wayne Snider's Anthony Lapsley 10-3 in the 145-pound championship match. Kevin's one loss? To Lapsley in late December in the Mishawaka Invitational. Lapsley's current record? 34-1. Kevin was a semistate champion last year as a sophomore in the 125 weight class.

"(Lapsley) beat me in overtime," a soft-spoken yet confident Kevin said. "He pinned me with two seconds left in overtime. I knew the key mistake I made.

"I figured it would be us. I knew I could take him."

Frustration. Wawasee senior Ryan Johnson can tell you all about that. He wrestled Bellmont's Ben Faurote in the 135 weight class championship match. Faurote had Johnson on his keister and cradled for the pin 39 seconds into the match.

The 32-6 Johnson, who lost to the 42-2 Faurote 8-7 only three days earlier, kicked a towel in the air in disgust. That towel managed to target the Bellmont huddle, where it fell among their wrestlers. Johnson reached in and snatched the towel off the floor and stalked away.

"Ryan had a real good match with him Wednesday and probably gave the kid a little fuel," Wawasee coach Scott DeHart said.

But arguably no other competitor experienced the emotions that clawed at Whitko senior Todd Grube.

Grube, a 35-0 grappler, drew the bye in the 160 weight class. All he had to do was win his second-round match to go to the state finals.

But Grube lost a 7-3 decision to Brian Goss, a 36-9 grappler from Goshen, in that round.

It's only when you talk to Whitko coach Brian Balsmeyer, the big man with the buzz cut sitting on the floor in the corner of the coliseum, that you find out why.

"He's had a tough week," Balsmeyer said. "His father had a heart attack on Wednesday. He's in the hospital now. I think that really took a toll mentally on him and wore him out physically as well. You combine that with the pressure of being undefeated ... he just didn't seem to be himself.

"I feel bad for him. Life throws you curveballs, but you still gotta step up to the plate."

So teammate Ben Watson went to bat for Grube. The 119-pound Watson, who was 18-3 coming in, won a 17-12 decision over Bishop Luers' Josh Lovejoy (28-15) in the first round.

It's what Watson did in the next round that could be considered a shocker. He not only beat but pinned Yorktown's Alonso Miller, a 39-3 wrestler who had drawn a first-round bye.

"We got some scouting reports that held true," Balsmeyer said. "We felt he would run out of gas as long as Ben kept it close early. He ended up pinning him."

Watson lost his third match but won his fourth to finish in third place. He had no more than walked off the mat after his last match when Grube, waiting nearby, wrapped his arms around him in a bear hug and lifted him off the ground. The deepest Watson, a senior, had gone in the tournament previously was fourth at regional as a sophomore.

If he could have, DeHart would have bear hugged his grapplers at once. Brothers Jason and Kevin Carr were champions. Johnson was a runner-up, while Wortinger placed third.

Jason Carr moved his record to 40-0. This day meant a great deal for him, considering what he went through last season. His brothers, Darrell and Kevin, competed at the state finals one year ago. (Darrell graduated.) Jason was ousted before them.

"During this time last year, I'd gotten sick," Jason said. "I had broken my hand a week earlier. I hadn't gone to practice all week. Then I went to Friday's practice and felt fine. I guess I wasn't ready. The kid beat me to end my season. After that, I had surgery on my hand. Right after I had the cast off my hand, I started working out again to get in shape for this year.

"Not being able to go down to state with my two brothers and my friend (former Wawasee wrestler) Shaun (Belin), that hurt. I had a hard time dealing with that."

While DeHart was thrilled to have two champions, the number he honed in on was four.

"I think four is the most Wawasee has taken (to the state finals)," DeHart said. "The kids have worked hard to be where they're at. These four are probably the hardest workers in the room day in and day out. It's fitting they're going down there.

"There's no secret formula, no secret move. It's just good, old-fashion hard work and sweat. I'm telling ya, that goes a long way."

A little luck went a long way for Warsaw's Banks. The way the brackets were lined up on paper coming in, Banks had to beat two grapplers with only two losses each to crack the top four.

Instead, Banks wound up with a bye and a second-round match with a 31-6 wrestler. Officials handed Banks the bye after Jimtown senior Ryan Kallamani, who owned a 40-0 record, was one of three Jimmies suspended for athletic code violations. Banks took Kallamani's spot.

The 34-9 Banks beat Adams Central's Craig Beer 5-0 in the second-round match. He lost his next match, but he beat Columbia City's Josh Ross 5-0 to finish third overall.

Also for Warsaw, the 32-8 Wilson finished fourth in the 160 weight class.

While the draw fell into place for Banks, it did not for Warsaw teammate Robbie Boley, who owned the best record of any Tiger at 35-3. Boley drew a bye in 125 weight class, then lost his second-round match to Bluffton's Ben Sprunger 14-12 in overtime.

Sprunger won the championship match. Boley put up the best fight. Small consolation for Boley, a senior, since he does not move on to the state finals.

"We got the two to state, which we're happy about," Warsaw coach Tony Boley said. "At the same time, we feel we should be taking two more. Robbie lost a really tough match in overtime. It wasn't the best draw. The kid's probably going to go on and win it (he did). Those things do happen.

"The other one was (Matt) Zellers. He had a tough draw. Once we got here today, we felt those two could have gone on."

The 152-pound Zellers won his first match but lost his second to another Bluffton kid, Curt Funk. Funk was the runner-up.

The state finals begin Friday evening. Odds are Balsmeyer and Boley will say the same thing this week that DeHart told his grapplers on Saturday.

"Today is only one tournament," he said. "There's a lot of kids who finished third and fourth at this semistate and the other semistate who may be state champions."

ADAMS CENTRAL SEMISTATE

Individual tournament/top four advance to state finals

Championship match results, current records

103 pounds -ÊDavid Lund (Delta/36-0) def. Nick Iannarelli (Elkhart Memorial/30-4) 4-1

112 - Nick Koons (Bellmont/38-4) def. Cameron Norris (Huntington North/40-1) 4-3

119 -ÊRandy Pursley (Bluffton/36-0) pinned Jason Beekley (Huntington North/39-4), 3:39

125 - Ben Sprunger (Bluffton/34-4) def. Andy Miesse (Bellmont/39-2) 6-2

130 - Seth Baumert (Woodlan/32-1) def. Darrell Roberts (Elkhart Memorial/44-4) 10-9

135 -ÊBen Faurote (Bellmont/42-2) pinned Ryan Johnson (Wawasee/32-6), :39

140 -ÊAndrew Yoder (Goshen/40-4) def. Aaron Schinbecker (Carroll/30-7) 19-4 (technical fall)

145 -ÊKevin Carr (Wawasee/41-1) def. Anthony Lapsley (FW Snider/34-1) 10-3

152 - Erik LeBeau (FW Concordia/40-0) def. Curt Funk (Bluffton/35-2) 7-0

160 - Jason Carr (Wawasee/40-0) pinned J.D. Craft (Muncie Central/39-2), 4:53

171 - Thomas Hammock (Bishop Luers/40-2) def. Matt Arvesen (Plymouth/26-3) 9-5

189 -ÊAnton Talamantes (Bishop Dwenger/33-0) def. Nathan Cress (Frankton/36-2) 24-9 (technical fall)

215 -ÊAaron Ramey (Prairie Heights/35-3) def. Matt Holmes (Northfield/40-4) 11-9

275 -ÊDan Denaut (Plymouth/29-0) pinned Andy Gibson (Elwood/37-7), 1:45

Consolation match results, current records

103 -ÊMatt Birner (Peru/41-2) def. Travis Rood (Bishop Luers/40-4) 2-1

112 -ÊChet Wortinger (Wawasee/38-5) def. Craig Adams (Frankton/40-4) 3-1

119 - Ben Watson (Whitko/21-4) def. Courtney Hurse (FW North Side/26-9) 5-0

125 - Lucas Johnson (Muncie Southside/34-8) def. Kevin Eubanks (Carroll/15-8) 9-6

130 -ÊTim Sloffer (Carroll/34-3) def. Nolan Rademaker (Oak Hill/29-3) 4-2

135 - Harley New (Wes Del/39-3) def. Nathan Kuhn (Prairie Heights/26-10) 8-7

140 -ÊAaron Banks (Warsaw/34-9) def. Josh Ross (Columbia City/25-10) 5-0

145 -ÊDusty Runkle (Carroll/27-9) def. Todd Mowery (Northfield/37-7) 5-4

152 - J.T. McVicker (Marion/27-3) def. Chad Johnson (Bellmont/39-8) 4-2

160 -ÊBrian Goss (Goshen/36-9) def. Chris Wilson (Warsaw/32-8) 7-2

171 -ÊPaul Ruble (Bellmont/35-8) def. Chris Mace (Muncie Southside/35-3) 9-3

189 -ÊBrian Wurm (Bellmont/41-5) def. Eric Fisette (Jimtown/34-7) 4-3

215 -ÊElzie Harty (Muncie Southside/32-6) def. David Cook (Plymouth/21-6) 7-2

275 - Keith Brown (Bremen/25-5) def. James Parke (Elmhurst/32-4) 3-1 (overtime)

Local results by individual

School, number of wrestlers, wrestler's name, weight/current record, results

Wawasee (9)

Chet Wortinger (112/38-5)

First round - drew the bye

Second round -Êdefeated Nathan Hartinger (Peru/37-6) 12-2 (major decision)

Third round -Êlost to Nick Koons (Bellmont/38-4) 8-2

Consolation round -Êdefeated Craig Adams (Frankton/40-4) 3-1

Travis Coy (119/31-11)

First round -Êlost to Jason Beekley (Huntington North/39-4) 10-3

Jacen Hendricks (130/25-13)

First round - drew the bye

Second round - lost to Nolan Rademaker (Oak Hill/29-3) 3-0

Ryan Johnson (135/32-6)

First round - drew the bye

Second round -Êdefeated Chad Sparling (Northfield/28-9) 8-5

Third round -Êdefeated Harley New (Wes Del/39-3) 7-6

Championship round - was pinned by Ben Faurote (Bellmont/42-2), :39

Tyler Cline (140/25-10)

First round - lost to Craig Beer (Adams Central/31-7) 6-4

Kevin Carr (145/41-1)

First round - drew the bye

Second round - defeated Kyle Hardley (Leo/36-4) 7-2

Third round -Êdefeated Todd Mowery (Northfield/37-7) 10-4

Championship round -Êdefeated Anthony Lapsley (FW Snider/34-1) 10-3

J.J. Davis (152/27-11)

First round - lost to Matt Zellers (Warsaw/33-10) 12-6

Jason Carr (160/40-0)

First round - drew the bye

Second round -Êpinned Richard Fisher (Jimtown/24-11), 1:05

Third round -Êdefeated Brian Goss (Goshen/36-9) 10-2 (major decision)

Championship round -Êpinned J.D. Craft (Muncie Central/39-2), 4:53

Jamie Salazar (275/34-6)

First round - drew the bye

Second round - lost to Keith Brown (Bremen/25-5) 2-1

Warsaw (6)

Adam Harter (112/16-8)

First round - pinned Travis Sibery (DeKalb/17-14), 1:02

Second round -Êlost to Cameron Norris (Huntington North/40-1) 16-3 (major decision)

Robbie Boley (125/35-4)

First round - drew the bye

Second round -Êlost to Ben Sprunger (Bluffton/34-4) 14-12 (overtime)

Aaron Banks (140/34-9)

First round - drew the bye

Second round -Êdefeated Craig Beer (Adams Central/31-7) 5-0

Third round -Êlost to Aaron Schinbecker (Carroll/30-7) 15-7 (major decision)

Consolation round -Êdefeated Josh Ross (Columbia City/25-10) 5-0

Matt Zellers (152/33-10)

First round -Êdefeated J.J. Davis (Wawasee/27-11) 12-6

Second round - lost to Curt Funk (Bluffton/35-2) 15-8

Chris Wilson (160/32-8)

First round - drew the bye

Second round - defeated Erick Braun (Bellmont/24-8) 9-4

Third round -Êlost to J.D. Craft (Muncie Central/39-2) 5-3

Consolation round -Êlost to Brian Goss (Goshen/36-9) 7-2

Steve Fribley (189/26-12)

First round -Êlost to Nate Canady (Monroe Central/33-3) 9-5

Whitko (2)

Ben Watson (119/21-4)

First round - defeated Josh Lovejoy (Bishop Luers/28-15) 17-12

Second round -Êpinned Alonso Miller (Yorktown/39-4), 5:42

Third round -Êlost to Jason Beekley (Huntington North/39-4) 18-11

Consolation round -Êdefeated Courtney Hurse (FW North Side/26-9) 5-0

Todd Grube (160/35-1)

First round -Êdrew the bye

Second round - lost to Brian Goss (Goshen/36-9) 7-3

Manchester (1)

Eric Sommer (215 pounds/25-7)

First round -Êpinned Jesse Kimmel (Churubusco/26-7), 5:01

Second round -Êlost to Elzie Harty (Muncie Southside/32-6) 5-4

NorthWood (1)

Jesse Espinoza (103/25-5)

First round -Êwas pinned by Kyle Hayden (FW Wayne/27-8), 1:57

Triton (1)

Brandon Chapman (125/29-7)

First round - lost to Ian Law (Delta/25-6) 2-0 [[In-content Ad]]