Wrestlers Grappling For Success
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
WARSAW TIGERS
Tony Boley begins his first year as Warsaw's head wrestling coach, replacing Rich Welborn, who resigned.
Boley's track record indicates he know's two things: wrestling and success. He coached at Madison-Grant from 1980 through 1985, where his teams had a 24-17 record. He then coached at Elwood from 1985 through last year, where his teams were a combined 180-64.
His overall record is 204-81-2. He won eight straight Central Indiana Conference titles at Elwood. His teams have won six sectionals.
His teams have gone 87-12 the last six years.
He talked about his goals at Warsaw.
"We'd like to get the numbers up," he said. "It's important to get football players out for wrestling, athletes out for wrestling. We want our kids to have tood takedowns, good technique. We want them to be in great shape."
His team competed in the Indianapolis Northwest Superdual last Saturday, where the Tigers as a team beat every opposing school. There Scott Snyder (103 pounds), Adam Harter (112), Greg Patrick (119), Robby Boley (125), Aaron Banks (135) and Matt Zellers (152) each went 5-0.
"Our lower weight classes are our strength," Coach Boley said. "We have more experience there. The kids in the upper weight classes, it's the first year for a lot of them."
Other wrestlers who figure into the mix for Warsaw include Carl Hartwell (145), Chris Wilson (160), Joe Moody (171), Jesse Harter (189), Stu McKinley (215) and Chris Wilson (heavyweight).
The Tigers have lost a grappler to an injury, Cory Patrick (140). Patrick has a separated shoulder.
The Tigers will have some inexperience as 14 sophomores and nine freshmen are on the team.
Boley knows all about the Northern Lakes Conference as a wrestling conference. NorthWood is traditionally a top 10 team in the state. Plymouth is strong every year.
"I've been in coaching long enough to know this is an extremely tough conference," he said.
WAWASEE WARRIORS
With 13 returning lettermen, the Wawasee Warrior coach Scott DeHart gets to work with an experienced bunch this season.
"A lot of kids are coming back with a lot of experience," he said. "We had 11 kids who placed in the state freestyle competition this summer."
Several Warriors who return advanced deep into last year's high school tournament. Junior Jason Carr (152), senior Darrell Carr (135), sophomore Kevin Carr (130) and senior John Merchant (145) each went to the state finals last year. Sophomore Chet Wortinger (103) went to the semistate as a freshman.
Shaun Belin (160), Troy Hendricks (125) and Shane Heimann (119) also figure to win several matches for the Warriors this season.
"Last year, we worked for the end of the season," DeHart said. "We defeated Fort Wayne Northrop, a state-ranked team, in the first round.
"This year, we're fairly solid from 103 to 160. We're off to a good start (win over Concord), but we will be tested soon. Hopefully we can wrestle Bellmont in the finals of our Wawasee Classic."
DeHart hopes his team, 1-0, can place in the upper half of teams in the NLC.
"Until somebody beats NorthWood, you have to look at them as the top dogs," he said. "Goshen and Plymouth could challenge. We hope we figure in there somewhere.
"This could be a year where everybody knocks everybody off during the season, so a lot could be figured at the conference match at the end of the year."
WHITKO WILDCATS
Brian Balsmeyer, in his third year as Whitko's wrestling coach, is coming off of an 11-15 year. Like DeHart at Wawasee, he will be working with several veteran wrestlers this season.
"We feel good about this season," Balsmeyer said. "We have good numbers out, good wrestlers returning. We have 30 on this year's team. We're actually able to fill out all the weight classes."
Whitko's top returners include junior Ben Watson (103 or 112), senior Mark Rakoczy (152), junior Todd Grube (160) and senior Scott Barker (275). Watson placed fourth at the regional. Rakoczy and Grube each were sectional champions. Barker was a sectional runnerup.
Other top wrestlers for the Wildcats include Ivan Hathaway (145), Josh Shepherd (171), Robbie Nieto (171 or 189), Jordan Schrader (112), Keith Bird (119), Jimmy Linn (189 or 215) and Mark Christian (215 or 275).
"We feel we have good depth," Balsmeyer said. "The pieces are falling into place. Last year, we just couldn't fill out a lineup card. Of the first six weight classes, we forfeited three. Now we don't have to do that.
"We're hoping improvement continues."
TIPPECANOE VALLEY VIKINGS
Last year, Tippecanoe Valley coach Scott Smith had seven wrestlers on his team. This year, he has nearly doubled that with 13. All but one is a football player.
Senior Chris Hoover (160) placed fourth at the regional last year. Sophomore Mark Wortley (171), who will wrestle at 189 this year, went to the regional as a freshman.
The Vikings will be inexperienced, as six of the 13 are sophomores. Smith has two seniors, Hoover and Brandon Wortley (145).
Smith looks from good things from Rafael Villalon (125), a sophomore who wrestled varsity as a freshman last year. Other wrestlers Smith will rely on include David Reese (152), Mike McNeal (171) and Russell Rhamey (140). Rhamey is just a freshman, but Smith says he's as hard-nosed as they come.
Smith hopes to be able to fill eight or nine weight classes each match.
"I think we surprised some teams last year," he said. "We didn't win many matches, but nearly every coach told me after matches that this was as an aggressive team as they had seen all year. We hope that continues. "
MANCHESTER SQUIRES
The Squires, coached by Pat Powers, are off to a 1-0 start after beating White's 42-33 Monday.
Manchester's Shane Hoffman (135), Dave Barrett (160), Eric Sommer (189) and Matt Mazerik (215) each pinned their opponents. C.J. Brown (112), Gabe Halverson (119) and Eric Wiley (125) each won by forfeit.
TRITON TROJANS
Triton, coached by Sam Davis, opened the season with a 53-24 Wednesday loss to John Glenn.
Brandon Chapman (112), B.J. Blackner (125), Dustan Bradley (135) and Daniel Sellers (145) picked up Triton's only wins, all by pins. [[In-content Ad]]
WARSAW TIGERS
Tony Boley begins his first year as Warsaw's head wrestling coach, replacing Rich Welborn, who resigned.
Boley's track record indicates he know's two things: wrestling and success. He coached at Madison-Grant from 1980 through 1985, where his teams had a 24-17 record. He then coached at Elwood from 1985 through last year, where his teams were a combined 180-64.
His overall record is 204-81-2. He won eight straight Central Indiana Conference titles at Elwood. His teams have won six sectionals.
His teams have gone 87-12 the last six years.
He talked about his goals at Warsaw.
"We'd like to get the numbers up," he said. "It's important to get football players out for wrestling, athletes out for wrestling. We want our kids to have tood takedowns, good technique. We want them to be in great shape."
His team competed in the Indianapolis Northwest Superdual last Saturday, where the Tigers as a team beat every opposing school. There Scott Snyder (103 pounds), Adam Harter (112), Greg Patrick (119), Robby Boley (125), Aaron Banks (135) and Matt Zellers (152) each went 5-0.
"Our lower weight classes are our strength," Coach Boley said. "We have more experience there. The kids in the upper weight classes, it's the first year for a lot of them."
Other wrestlers who figure into the mix for Warsaw include Carl Hartwell (145), Chris Wilson (160), Joe Moody (171), Jesse Harter (189), Stu McKinley (215) and Chris Wilson (heavyweight).
The Tigers have lost a grappler to an injury, Cory Patrick (140). Patrick has a separated shoulder.
The Tigers will have some inexperience as 14 sophomores and nine freshmen are on the team.
Boley knows all about the Northern Lakes Conference as a wrestling conference. NorthWood is traditionally a top 10 team in the state. Plymouth is strong every year.
"I've been in coaching long enough to know this is an extremely tough conference," he said.
WAWASEE WARRIORS
With 13 returning lettermen, the Wawasee Warrior coach Scott DeHart gets to work with an experienced bunch this season.
"A lot of kids are coming back with a lot of experience," he said. "We had 11 kids who placed in the state freestyle competition this summer."
Several Warriors who return advanced deep into last year's high school tournament. Junior Jason Carr (152), senior Darrell Carr (135), sophomore Kevin Carr (130) and senior John Merchant (145) each went to the state finals last year. Sophomore Chet Wortinger (103) went to the semistate as a freshman.
Shaun Belin (160), Troy Hendricks (125) and Shane Heimann (119) also figure to win several matches for the Warriors this season.
"Last year, we worked for the end of the season," DeHart said. "We defeated Fort Wayne Northrop, a state-ranked team, in the first round.
"This year, we're fairly solid from 103 to 160. We're off to a good start (win over Concord), but we will be tested soon. Hopefully we can wrestle Bellmont in the finals of our Wawasee Classic."
DeHart hopes his team, 1-0, can place in the upper half of teams in the NLC.
"Until somebody beats NorthWood, you have to look at them as the top dogs," he said. "Goshen and Plymouth could challenge. We hope we figure in there somewhere.
"This could be a year where everybody knocks everybody off during the season, so a lot could be figured at the conference match at the end of the year."
WHITKO WILDCATS
Brian Balsmeyer, in his third year as Whitko's wrestling coach, is coming off of an 11-15 year. Like DeHart at Wawasee, he will be working with several veteran wrestlers this season.
"We feel good about this season," Balsmeyer said. "We have good numbers out, good wrestlers returning. We have 30 on this year's team. We're actually able to fill out all the weight classes."
Whitko's top returners include junior Ben Watson (103 or 112), senior Mark Rakoczy (152), junior Todd Grube (160) and senior Scott Barker (275). Watson placed fourth at the regional. Rakoczy and Grube each were sectional champions. Barker was a sectional runnerup.
Other top wrestlers for the Wildcats include Ivan Hathaway (145), Josh Shepherd (171), Robbie Nieto (171 or 189), Jordan Schrader (112), Keith Bird (119), Jimmy Linn (189 or 215) and Mark Christian (215 or 275).
"We feel we have good depth," Balsmeyer said. "The pieces are falling into place. Last year, we just couldn't fill out a lineup card. Of the first six weight classes, we forfeited three. Now we don't have to do that.
"We're hoping improvement continues."
TIPPECANOE VALLEY VIKINGS
Last year, Tippecanoe Valley coach Scott Smith had seven wrestlers on his team. This year, he has nearly doubled that with 13. All but one is a football player.
Senior Chris Hoover (160) placed fourth at the regional last year. Sophomore Mark Wortley (171), who will wrestle at 189 this year, went to the regional as a freshman.
The Vikings will be inexperienced, as six of the 13 are sophomores. Smith has two seniors, Hoover and Brandon Wortley (145).
Smith looks from good things from Rafael Villalon (125), a sophomore who wrestled varsity as a freshman last year. Other wrestlers Smith will rely on include David Reese (152), Mike McNeal (171) and Russell Rhamey (140). Rhamey is just a freshman, but Smith says he's as hard-nosed as they come.
Smith hopes to be able to fill eight or nine weight classes each match.
"I think we surprised some teams last year," he said. "We didn't win many matches, but nearly every coach told me after matches that this was as an aggressive team as they had seen all year. We hope that continues. "
MANCHESTER SQUIRES
The Squires, coached by Pat Powers, are off to a 1-0 start after beating White's 42-33 Monday.
Manchester's Shane Hoffman (135), Dave Barrett (160), Eric Sommer (189) and Matt Mazerik (215) each pinned their opponents. C.J. Brown (112), Gabe Halverson (119) and Eric Wiley (125) each won by forfeit.
TRITON TROJANS
Triton, coached by Sam Davis, opened the season with a 53-24 Wednesday loss to John Glenn.
Brandon Chapman (112), B.J. Blackner (125), Dustan Bradley (135) and Daniel Sellers (145) picked up Triton's only wins, all by pins. [[In-content Ad]]