INDIANAPOLIS - Warsaw wrestler Justin Brooks (119) suffered just one loss in his senior season, and then with two more wins, earned fifth place in the state tournament Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse.
The Tigers' Adam Keener (152) was eliminated in a Friday-night loss.Meanwhile, Whitko's Daniel Rothgeb (125) had a win Friday night, but Saturday he was on the losing end of three matches to take eighth place.
The tournament overall was a remarkable affair, with several supposed locks finding themselves upset early on. Cashe Quiroga (125) of Lawrence North was upset in his effort to nab a second championship. He had been unbeaten when he was knocked off by freshman Jason Tsirtsis of Crown Point. Tsirtsis went on to win under the lights in convincing fashion with a 16-3 thrashing of Cathedral's John Grey.
Tsirtsis was among seven champions originating out of the Merrillville Semistate.
The older brother of Jason, Alex Tsirtsis (2001-04), is among the elite seven who have earned four championships.
Three-time champion Josh Harper (130) of Mishawaka was defeated in the semifinals, ending his effort to join the ranks of those few four-time state champs.
The lone representative from the Plymouth Sectional in the finals was Daniel Young (145), who became the first state champion out of the Culver Military Academy. He was leading 4-2 in his match against Gavin McGinley of Cathedral in the final minute, but was taken down and put on his back to fall behind, 7-4. In display that wowed the crowd, Young turned the tables and cradled-up McGinley to score the fall.
Though the tournament began with 25 unbeaten participants, only eight retained perfect records to become champions.
Brooks held a spotless record of 38-0 entering the tournament and added to it Friday night, scoring a first-period fall against Marquis Williams of Fort Wayne Snider at 1:55.
On Saturday, the first match for the unbeaten Tiger senior was against Camden Eppert of Anderson Highland. Last year, Brooks lost to Eppert 6-5 in a semifinal match, and this time in the quarter-final match Brooks could not generate any offense and came up short in a 3-0 loss. Eppert went on to win the championship later in the evening, upsetting returning champ Brandon Wright of Cathedral.
The quarter-final loss to Eppert moved Brooks to a wrestle-off in pursuit of fifth place. In that effort he first took on Justin Kieffer of Roncalli. The first period saw a defensive dance go scoreless, but in period two Brooks took control and scored a two-point nearfall. Kieffer squirmed out for a reversal with only three seconds remaining to tie up the score.
Brooks scored an escape in period three to earn the narrow 3-2 win.
In his final match, the veteran Tiger came out firing and scored an early takedown to grab a 2-0 advantage over Derek Bevans of Yorktown. In period two Brooks chose the down position and quickly scored an escape, followed by a careful takedown to put the score at 5-0. The concluding period had the wrestlers in the neutral position and ended with no additional score and a fifth place finish for Brooks.
"This was his best match of the day," Warsaw coach Justin Smith said of Brooks. "He got his offense going finally and started pulling the trigger. I am sure that in the back of his mind was the fact that this was going to be his last match so he wanted to come out and wrestle like he knows he can."
Brooks concluded his Tiger season with a fifth-place medal and a record of 41-1. Brooks is a four-time place finisher in the state tournament, taking fifth in 2006, and then fourth in both 2006 and 2007. His remarkable career record as a varsity Tiger stands at 159-11.
"I am proud of him," Smith said of Brooks. "He has had an excellent season. It is not the result that he ultimately wanted, but he will go on to bigger and better things. I am really proud of both boys, and as a first year coach, I can't ask for more than two qualifiers down here at state."
(State championship individual results and area wrestlers' concluding competition)
103 - Cody Phillips (49-0 Union County 9) pinned Dusty Kief (43-6 Franklin Community 10), 2:34
112 - Anthony Hawkins (42-0 Crown Point 11) def. Josh Kieffer (44-5 Roncalli 10), 2-1 ot
119 - Camden Eppert (39-4 Anderson Highland 12) def. Brandon Wright (48-3 Ind Cathedral 11), 3-2 ot
