Vallejo Is Semistate Champ

MERRILLVILLE -ÊWawasee's Eracleo Vallejo grappled his way to a semistate championship at Merrillville Saturday and will take his 37-2 record to Conseco Fieldhouse for the individual tournament this weekend.

The top four placers from each of the four semistate events qualify to compete in the state tournament. This means that 16 wrestlers in each of the 14 weight classes will be vying for the top honors, a total of 224 of Indiana's finest.

In his first match Vallejo (112 pounds) took out Les Darlin of Crown Point by fall at the 2:57 mark. The Warrior's second match was not quite so easy as he narrowly got by a scrappy Calumet freshman, Chase Sakovich, in a tight 2-1 decision.

After this semifinal win Vallejo moved on to the finals to face Mike Lecuta of Portage.

Vallejo opened with a quick takedown, but Lecuta escaped and the two tussled on their feet until Vallejo nabbed another takedown with just six seconds remaining in period one.

After choosing neutral to begin the second period Vallejo quickly scored a textbook toes-in-bounds takedown at the edge of the mat and then cut his opponent loose to nab a fourth takedown and go up 8-2. The Portage sophomore managed to reverse control, but Vallejo got free for an escape and the two grapplers finished the period on their feet.

Period three had Lecuta in the control position but Vallejo lost no time in escaping and scoring a takedown to move the score to 12-4.

Vallejo strategically released his victim one more time, then fought him off until the win was sure and in the closing seconds gave up a takedown.

Vallejo earned his semistate championship in a solid 12-7 decision.

Grant Gibson (160) of Wawasee also advances to the state tournament after placing third. He first beat Seth Parker of Lafayette Harrison, then Dan Mellis of Crown Point.

Gibson was sent to a consolation match after succumbing 9-3 to Adam O'Neil of South Bend Clay, the eventual runner-up. Gibson earned third place by winning a battle against a solidly built Jeremy Kelly of East Chicago Central.

The two fought each other off in the scoreless first period. In the second period Gibson wrenched himself free for an escape with just 20 seconds remaining. Kelly got his own escape in the third period, but Gibson responded by taking him down. Kelly came up with one more escape in the final period, but it was too little too late and Gibson was the 3-2 winner.

Tippecanoe Valley

Lance Bailey (135), the lone representative of Tippecanoe Valley, won his opening match, then lost to runner-up Dallas Hesseltine of Portage in a 20-4 tech fall. Bailey ends his senior season in a very strong weight class at 35-5.

Triton

Triton's two entrants were both eliminated also. Tim Zick (125) won his opening match, but then lost in the quarter-finals to Paul Reed of Portage. Zick, a junior finishes up with a record of 37-6. Tate Chapman concludes his senior year with a 37-7 record after losing in the opening round.

Also of note is the advancement of another Northern Lakes Conference grappler, Matt Read of Plymouth (152), who took fourth place, losing a 3-0 war to Dan Wiggins of Valparaiso. He had been sent to the consolation round when he lost to the champion, unbeaten Austin Torres of Lake Central.

State Championship

State championship opening round wrestling at Conseco Fieldhouse begins on Friday, February 21, at 6:00 p.m., with Saturday's sessions beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Merrillville Semi-State Top Four Placers

103 Fernando Martinez (11 Highland 43-1) def. Santana Adame (10 Griffith 45-7), 4-0

Javier Salas (9 River Forest 30-6) def. Troy Hill (9 Portage 32-12), 8-4

112 Eracleo Vallejo (12 Wawasee 27-2) def. Mike Lecuta (10 Por 39-5), 12-7

Chase Sakovich (9 Calumet 33-3) def. Zach Helms (12 Twin Lakes 36-4), 8-3

119 Clay Williams (9 Por 37-5) def. Jose Escobedo (11 Grf 55-3), 2-1

Scott Berry (11 Pioneer 46-5) def. Steve Chico (12 Hammond Noll 45-8), 16-0 tech fall

125 Angel Escobedo (10 Grf 57-0) def. Ryan Jackson (11 LaPorte 38-6),

23-6 tech fall

Paul Reed (12 Por 37-6) def. Nick Yuknis (10 Hgh 31-15), 13-5 maj

130 Andrae Hernandez (11 Grf 57-0) pinned Kevin Hartman (12 South Bend Clay 40-2), 3:52

J.D. Showley (12 Rochester 42-4) def. Garret Stemmons (12 Boone Grove 38-11), 4-0

135 Alex Tsirtsis (11 Grf 58-0) def. Dallas Hesseltine (10 Por 39-5), 22-7 tech fall

Aaron Shearer (12 38-8) def. Matt Joseph (12 Rennselaer 38-4), 3-2

140 Darren Elkins (11 Por 44-0) def. Luke Triveline (12 Lake Central 40-3), 29-15 maj

Brent Hardy (12 Lafayette Jeff 35-4) def. Mike Burnison (12Valparaiso 34-9), 6-4 ot

145 Justin Mora (12 LkC 35-2) def. Shawn Kuhl (12 Clay 39-7), 8-4

Joe Urednick (11 LaVille 41-4) def. Ryan Bonek (12 Penn 35-12), 3-2

152 Austin Torres (12 LkC 41-0) def. Scott Gann (12 Mishawaka 9-4), 6-5

Dan Wiggins (12 Val 24-6) def. Matt Read (12 Plymouth 26-8), 3-0

160 Jim Schultz (12 Mish 39-0) def. Adam O'Neil (11 Clay 38-6), 4-3

Grant Gibson (12 Waw 33-6) def. Jeremy Kelly (11 E Chicago Central 40-12), 3-2

171 Alex Dolly (12 Mish 43-0) def. Derek Whitbeck (12 Roch 42-3), 8-1

Steve Kasten (12 Winamac 43-2) def. Dustin Thalmann (11 LaP 31-11), 1-1 ot criteria

189 Mark Markham (12 SB Riley 42-1) def. Mark Vlink (12 Crown Point 34-4), 6-0

David Martin III (12 Grf 55-1) def. David Schlueter (11 Laf Harrison 37-5), 5-3

215 Cortlan Booker (12 W. Laf 42-0) def. Durrell Kelley (12 Michigan City 42-2), 9-7

Chris Kasten (10 Wnmc 44-2) def. Nick Nicodemus (12 Mish 41-4) inj.default

275 Jonathan Sandburg (12 North White 43-0) pinned Brent Surface (1a Mich City 43-1), 3:18

Matt Overman (10 Mish 42-3) def. Tom Bemenderfer (10 Penn 36-8), inj. default