Warsaw sends three wrestlers to compete in tonight's state finals at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.

At 152 pounds, Matt Zellers, with a record of 37-3, reached the finals by taking first place at the New Haven semistate in the Fort Wayne Coliseum.Ê

Adam Harter (112) takes a 35-8 record to the state finals, along with Joey Navarro (275), whose season record is 36-6.

These Tigers have been hard at work in the practice room with quite a few other team members. Although for them the regular season is over, they are looking ahead to the upcoming freestyle season, and several are serving as sparring partners for Warsaw's three state competitors. Harter is working with Tim Roe and the two Milton brothers, Nate and John. Zellers practices with Adam Galvin, Richard Wolfe and Isaac Perry. Navarro is being tag-teamed by Steve McKinley, Kris Hueber, Joel Burner and coach Steve Ferber.

Coach Tony Boley's emphasis is the team rather than just the individual, and a large contingent is traveling together to Indianapolis to provide moral support and encouragement for Harter, Zellers and Navarro.Ê

Two hundred twenty-five wrestlers are slated to compete in the event, including 16 from each of the 14 weight classes. Boley said, "At this level anyone can win.Ê Rankings and season records don't count anymore.Ê It's all mental now.

"Everyone is beatable. Everyone."

ÊJoey Navarro

In round one, Navarro, who finished fourth at Fort Wayne, will confront Ryan Lee (39-1) from Michigan City. Lee was the champion at the Merrillville Semistate. Earlier in the season Navarro took on Lee at the Mishawaka tournament and was the victim of a pin in 3:36, so Navarro has his work cut out for him.

Boley said, "Navarro is a smart wrestler. He doesn't make many mistakes and he knows how to capitalize on the mistakes of his opponent."Ê Boley said that after reviewing film of Navarro's earlier meeting with Lee, the coaches were able to show Joey some opportunities that could be exploited to help bring about an upset in that all-important first round match.

ÊAdam Harter

Harter, a third-place finisher at the semistate runs into Ryan Alb (38-2) of Lake Central.

Harter was beaten by Alb earlier this season in a close match at the Lake Central Invitational. In that match Harter grabbed the first take down and was ahead 3-1 before Alb came back to win 6-3.Ê

"He is so much better since the sectional," Boley raved about Harter. Harter has a great chance to advance, and a good indicator is the fact that at the semistate he nearly upset the champ, fourth-ranked Matt Birner of Peru.Ê Birner ended up winning the semifinal match against Harter by a narrow 5-3 score and then went on to soundly beat Jimtown's Billy Moyer in the finals 9-0.

Meanwhile, Harter has already beaten Moyer in a previous meeting.Ê

ÊMatt Zellers

ÊZellers (152) runs into Bobby Dinn (30-9) of Warren Central, a fourth-place finisher at the New Castle semistate.Ê

"Zellers has had some bad luck in the past with sickness and injury," said Boley. "This year we kept him out of the match against Concord because of an elbow injury, and he was a little off for a few matches due to a concussion.Ê Right now he is wrestling real well and he has lots of confidence."

ÊTakedowns are the major key to success in all wrestling, especially in the state tournament. Zellers knows how to wrestle on his feet. He has scored 161 takedowns so far this season to lead the team in that category. He also knows how to escape. He has scored 36 escapes this season, just about one for every one of his matches this season.

"Zellers is looking good," Boley emphasized. "He beat Kyle Hadley [of Leo] at the semistate, and Hadley had been ranked No. 1 throughout the season.Ê Zellers is a vastly improved wrestler, and he is healthy."

ÊCoach Tony Boley

Tony Boley himself is a story for Warsaw wrestling.Ê He set aside a successful program at Elwood to come home to Warsaw. When he started at Elwood in 1985-86, the team record was 4-10. The program saw steady improvement to the point of ending the season in 1994 with a record of 22-1-1 and then 25-1 in 1995. Now Elwood is among the final eight schools pursuing the wrestling team state championship.

With few exceptions, everyone on the current Elwood team was coached by Boley in the freestyle program. Many of Boley's former varsity wrestlers help with the coaching at Elwood, or they just show up at the practices to work with the team.

Of course, Boley's focus is the individual state finals this weekend and then he will pour it on in the all-important freestyle season.Ê

First-round matches are on Friday, and wrestlers who lose will be eliminated, while those who win will move on to Saturday's competition.Ê Wrestling at the state finals in Indianapolis begins today at 6 p.m. Saturday sessions are at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., with the consolation round at 5 p.m.Ê The championship matches begin at 7:30 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]