Warsaw Freshman Advances At Wrestling State Finals
Posted
Anthony Gadson-agadson@timesuniononline.com
INDIANAPOLIS — Warsaw freshman Kyle Hatch overcame a 9-3 third-period deficit to advance to today’s quarterfinals in the 106-pound class of the IHSAA state wrestling finals. Facing Lakeland senior Lukas Long in the opening round of the state finals at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis Friday night, Hatch got a 13-12 victory, moving on to today’s action. In the quarterfinals, Hatch will square off against New Palestine freshman Alec White (36-7), who posted a 19-3 technical fall over Corydon Central sophomore Mason Kaufer Friday night. Entering the state finals with a 34-7 record, Hatch was the No. 4 seed from the Merrillville Semistate, while Long was the top seed from the Fort Wayne Snider Semistate. Putting the odds even more against him was the fact Long had defeated Hatch 14-5 in the finals of the East Noble Invitational earlier this season. However, when it mattered most, Hatch and his father, Warsaw assistant coach Daniel Hatch, devised a new scheme. “From that experience, Dan came up with a game plan for Kyle – a different way to attack him on his feet,” Warsaw head coach Justin Smith said Friday night through a phone conversation. “To Kyle’s credit, he executed it perfectly and it worked.” Early, the execution may have been there, but the score wasn’t. After scoring a late takedown in the second period, Hatch was within 7-3, but that momentum swiftly changed when the senior posted a takedown of his own early in the third, going back on top 9-3. A six-point lead is often comfortable, especially at the state finals. Knowing the odds were against Hatch, Smith began to have some doubts creep in. “When Long came back and got a takedown in the third, that’s when everybody was like, ‘Well, Long’s a senior and he’s 37-2,’” Smith said. “It did look like, for a minute, that Kyle’s run was going to come to a close, but I give that kid all the credit in the world. He kept wrestling and his conditioning is phenomenal.” Continuing to push the pace, Hatch recorded four-straight takedowns and Long had to take an injury timeout with 40 seconds remaining. Back in the match, down 12-10, Hatch benefitted from a late stalling call on Long, which was followed immediately by a takedown, giving him a 13-12 lead with three seconds remaining. The quick turnaround should have made Hatch’s emotions boil over, but instead, he wasn’t aware of the stalling call, which awarded him the go-ahead point. “Kyle thought it was 12-12 when time ran out, so he thought he was going to overtime,” Smith said. “He ran back to center, ready for overtime, but we were jumping up and down and the whole place was cheering. We were going crazy, then Kyle looked up at the scoreboard and realized he had won.” Moving on the quarterfinals, the Warsaw contingent is now looking to take this as far as they can. “We said all along the goal was to get to Saturday and anything after that is a bonus,” Smith said. “He’s top 8 at least, but he’s hungry.” Quarterfinals begin at 9:30 a.m., followed by the consolation round at 5 p.m. and championships at 7:30 p.m. The action may be seen at ihsaatv.org In other area action, Manchester junior Clayton Moore and Tippecanoe Valley junior Devin Childers each lost Friday night. With both wrestling at 132 pounds, Childers dropped a narrow 7-6 decision to Heritage junior Sam Lovejoy, while Moore fell 9-6 to Mishawaka sophomore Daniel Hesch. Childers’ season ends at 41-5 and Moore’s final record is 24-5.
