Mishawaka's Zar Walker wins epic match to set epic tone at ...

EAST CHICAGO — With 1:01 remaining in the championship match, New Prairie’s Jeffrey Huyvaert hit on a deep single and desperately tried to pull his opponent, Mishawaka’s Zar Walker, over for a takedown.

He pulled and pulled, but Walker — who showed remarkable strength and balance — wouldn’t budge.

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?  In this case, Walker came out on top, scoring a 4-2 victory over the previously undefeated Huyvaert in the 144-pound weight class finale at Saturday’s East Chicago wrestling semistate.

Where are state finals? Where are the 2024 IHSAA state wrestling finals? Hint: It's not Indianapolis

It was an epic finish to an epic match. But that begs another question.  How many epic matches can there be in one high school wrestling tournament?

In Saturday’s case, a bunch. 

Take the 157-pound championship bout, where Mishawaka’s Beau Brabender was leading Merrillville’s Adrian Pellot by one point as time ran down, only to be hit with a stalling penalty at nine seconds remaining. Brabender then gave up a takedown with barely one second left on the clock, and Pellot celebrated an 8-6 victory over the previously undefeated Caveman.

Or the almost inexplicable overtime victory by Penn’s Wesley Harper over Munster’s Chris Bohn for the 150-pound title, with Harper getting credit — after the buzzer sounded — for a takedown he had made 27 seconds earlier.

And, by the way, that 7-5 victory came on the heels of Harper’s nail-biting 5-3 win over New Prairie’s Jayden Lewis in the ticket round.

'I gotta take what's mine.' Mishawaka wrestler Beau Brabender focused on semistate title

And there were more.

Semistates are always competitive, but this tournament had to have been one of the most intense ever, except in one respect:  The team score, where Crown Point’s No. 1-ranked Bulldogs showed why they will likely roll to a third consecutive state championship next weekend in Evansville.

Crown Point sent nine wrestlers into the finals and claimed seven individual semistate champs, routing the field by 159 points.

The Bulldogs scored 257 points, while Penn — with one champ — had 98 in second.

Rochester (83 ½) was third and Mishawaka (67) tied for fourth.

The top four finishers in each weight class advance to the state finals, starting Friday at Evansville’s Ford Center. Penn is sending five matmen to state, while Mishawaka and Plymouth each qualified three.  New Prairie and La Porte each advanced one.

“That (second-place finish) is nice but that’s not really what we were thinking about when we came over here,” said Penn coach Brad Harper. “Our goal is to push as many guys through as possible. Next week, our goal is not to just get on the podium, but to get our guys under the lights (into the championship round).”

Penn’s Brady Harper — the freshman brother of Wes Harper — finished second at 113, dropping a 1-0 decision to Crown Point’s Gavin Lewis.  Zymarion Hollyfield, a senior, took runnerup honors at 175, where he was unable to compete in the finals due to injury.

Vinny Freeman ran into a buzzsaw in the semifinals of the 190-pound class, dropping a 14-8 decision to eventual champion Kenneth Bisping of Lowell. The Kingman sophomore went on to place third, topping Mishawaka’s Trey Dunning in the consolation round.

The most shocking result of the day was Brabender’s runnerup finish, as the Mishawaka senior — ranked No. 1 in his weight class and undefeated at 42-0 — appeared to be in control against No. 2-ranked Pellot.  It was a rematch of last December’s Al Smith Invitational finale.

But in the final nine seconds, everything unraveled for the Caveman leader. “I don’t know, I may have let up a little too early,” said Brabender.

“All I can say is that I knew I had to wrestle a full six minutes,” said Pellot, now 37-1.

The pair could meet one more time at state, but it would have to be in the championship match.

“That would be fine with me,” said Brabender.

Walker’s victory over Huyvaert for the 144 title wasn’t necessarily a surprise. The speed he showed in countering Huyvaert’s moves caught the New Prairie sophomore off guard.

“I knew he was quick but I didn’t know he was that quick,” said Huyvaert, now 45-1.

Twice Huyvaert sank deep singles, only to have Walker counter successfully. Walker, meanwhile, scored critical points on a single leg and toss-over with nine seconds left in the second period.

“I went into the match and let it fly,” said Walker, a senior now 43-1. “When he made those shots, I just told myself to stay calm and collected.”

Wes Harper likes to live on the edge, but the sequence that gave him a 150-pound championship was bizarre. The Kingsman senior, 33-2, somehow turned a shot by Munster’s previously undefeated Chris Bohn into a takedown with one second remaining in the second period, scrambling on top as the buzzer sounded.

Then, in overtime, he got behind his opponent with 27 seconds remaining. But no points were awarded until Penn coaches successfully pleaded his case after the final buzzer sounded.

“I just have a weird style of wrestling,” said Harper. “I’m not like, go-go-go every second. I take time to size up the situation.”

“Yeah,” said coach Brad Harper, laughing. “We (Penn coaches) keep telling ourselves, ‘One more week and then we can graduate him.”

IHSAA WRESTLING SEMISTATE

At East Chicago

TEAM SCORES: Crown Point 257, Penn 98, Rochester 83.5, Mishawaka 67, Lake Central 67, Hobart 65 ½, Merrillville 63 ½, Plymouth 47, Harrison (Lafayette) 37 ½, Lowell 33, McCutcheon 31, Portage 31, Chesterton 30, New Prairie 28, Rensselaer Central 25, Munster 23, Hanover Central 22, Valparaiso 19, West Central 19, Delphi 12, Highland 12, North Newton 12, La Porte 10, Warsaw 10, River Forest 7, Calumet 4, Hammond Central 4, Seeger 4, Wheeler 4, John Glenn 3, Lafayette Jeff 3, South Bend Riley 2, Attica 2, Kankakee Valley 2. All others 0.

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

106: Mason Jones (Lake Central) pinned Teigan Newell (Crown Pt.) 1:03.

113: Gavin Lewis (Crown Pt.) dec. Brady Harper (Penn), 1-0.

120: Gavin Jendreas (Crown Pt.) tech. fall Cameron Woods (Portage), 20-4 in 5:30.

126: LT Hawkins (Crown Pt.) pinned Matthew Maldonado (Merrillville), 5:09.

132: Hayden DeMarco (Chesterton) dec. Sontonio Sessa (Crown Pt.), 5-0.

138: Clinton Shephert (Crown Pt.) tech. fall Luke Reid (Valparaiso), 21-6 in 5:26.

144: Zar Walker (Mishawaka) dec. Jeffrey Huyvaert (New Prairie), 4-2.

150: Wesley Harper (Penn) dec. Christophe Bohn (Munster), 7-5 in OT.

157: Adrian Pellot (Merrillville) dec. Beau Brabender (Mishawaka), 8-6.

165: Anthony Rinehart (Crown Pt.) dec. Brant Beck (Rochester), 3-0.

175: Aidan Costello (Hobart) won by medical forf. over Zymarion Hollyfield (Penn).

190: Kenneth Bisping (Lowell) maj. dec. Aleksandar Tatum (Hobart), 10-2.

215: Will Clark (Crown Pt.) pinned Jayden Bartoszek (Hanover Central), 3:21.

285: Paul Clark (Crown Pt.) dec. Brady Beck (Rochester), 6-3 in 2 OT.

CONSOLATION ROUND

106: Alonzo Chantea (Plymouth) pinned Grant Holloway (Rochester), 1:43. 113: Mario Orueta (Lake Central) pinned Beck Doughty (Rensselaer), 2:27. 120: Seth Aubin (Hobart) dec. Adrian Origel (North Newton), 3-0. 126: Layne Horn (Rochester) dec. Dylan Bennett (Penn), 3-0. 132: Hayden Fritz (West Central) dec. Dylan Fernandez (Harrison), 8-6 in OT. 138: Wesley Smith (Plymouth) dec. Josh England (La Porte), 9-4. 144: Marlone Kirksy (Merrillville) dec. Avery Stanley (Rensselaer), 8-4.

150: Kaptur Nowaczyk (Crown Pt.) pinned Chase Kasprzak (Lake Central), 0:47.  157: Griffin VanTichelt (Crown Pt.) dec. Javon Frost (Delphi), 3-1.  165: Isaac Sinks (Harrison) dec. Emilio Tirado (Lake Central), 5-2. 175: Ethan Popp (Harrison) dec. Aidan White (Crown Pt.), 3-2.  190: Vinny Freeman (Penn) maj. dec. Trey Dunning (Mishawaka), 9-1.  215: Cole Chicione (McCutcheon) dec. Alex Deming (Rochester), 12-7.  285: Anthony Popi (Plymouth) dec. Aramis McNutt (Highland), 5-2.

NOTE: Top four finishers in each weight class advance to IHSAA state finals in Evansville on Friday, Feb. 16.

Henke wins title at Fort Wayne

Northridge junior Travis Henke topped Bellmont’s Keagan Martin, 3-1, to win the 215-pound weight class at Saturday’s IHSAA wrestling semistate in Fort Wayne.

Otherwise, it was a difficult day for area wrestlers.

Henke was the only local qualifier to reach the finals in any weight class.  Northridge placed 15th in the final team standings, scoring 27 points.

Delta claimed the team title with 115, replacing two-time champion Rochester, which was shuttled over to the East Chicago semistate in an IHSAA realignment.

Bellmont finished second at 87 ½.

The top four finishers in each weight class advance to next weekend’s state finals in Evansville.

Elkhart’s Cameron Dews was third at 138.  Goshen’s Laish Detwiler finished third at 175. Keith Miller of NorthWood was fourth at 190.

IHSAA WRESTLING SEMISTATE

At Fort Wayne

TEAM SCORES: Delta 115, Bellmont 82 ½, New Haven 76, Western 71 ½, Cowan 52, Jay County 50, Fort Wayne Snider 40, Garrett 40, Leo 37, Prairie Heights 30, Bluffton 29 ½, Wawasee 28, West Noble 28, DeKalb 27 ½, Northridge 27, Manchester 26 ½, Wabash 24, Union City 22, Elkhart 21 ½, Adams Central 21, Oak Hill 20, Kokomo 19 ½, Eastside 19, Goshen 19, Maconaquah 19, South Adams 18, East Noble 15, Fort Wayne Northrop 15, Huntington North 15, Central Noble 13, Norwell 9 ½, NorthWood 8, Yorktown 8, Angola 6, Madison-Grant 6, Marion 6, Columbia City 4, Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger 4, North Miami 3 ½, Homestead 3 , Concord 2, Daleville 2, Heritage 2, Monroe Central 2, Peru 2, Tippecanoe Valley 2, Woodlan 2.  All others 0.

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

106: Jensen Boyd (Delta) tech. fall Julianna Ocampo (New Haven),  19-3.

113: Ayden Bollinger (Delta) dec. Jalen Sawyer-May (Kokomo), 4-1.

120: Tanner Tishner (Western) maj. dec. Henry Faurote (Bellmont), 10-0.

126: Bradin Daniels (Union City) dec. Cody Rowles (Jay County), 8-4.

132: Jackson Bradley (Cowan) dec. Tye Linser (Western), 2-1.

138: Tony Wood (Jay County) dec. Linkin Carter (Eastside),  5-0.

144: Easton Doster (New Haven) dec. Hagewood (Prairie Heights), 4-0.

150: Aidan Elkins (New Haven) pinned Jayden Jett (Cowan),  5:50.

157: Mitchell Betz (Western) pinned Teagan Clouse (West Noble), 3:13.

165: Duke Myers (Bellmont) dec. Kaeb Stebbins (Delta), 3-2.

175: Chase Leech (Garrett) dec. Braxton Russell (Delta),  5-2.

190: Elias Cressell (Wabash) pinned Eli Coolman (Delta), 5:16.

215: Travis Henke (Northridge) dec. Keagan Martin (Bellmont), 3-1.

285: Juan Cruz (Bluffton) pinned Ethan Dodson (Fort Wayne Snider), 4:42.

CONSOLATION ROUND

106: Rex Moore (Manchester) tech. fall Charlie Fleshman (Central Noble), 16-0. 113: Kaleb Salazar (Wawasee) dec. Karrington Cooper (New Haven), 8-2. 120: Kaid Jackson (Delta) dec. Hunter Douglas (Norwell), 2-1.  126: Drew Waldon (DeKalb) dec. Neal Mosier (Delta), 3-1 in OT. 132: Carter Fielden (Garrett) dec. Cole Stuffel (Yorktown), 11-8.  138: Cameron Dews (Elkhart) dec. Taiden Chambers (West Noble), 7-3.  144: Colt Bollenbacher (South Adams) maj. dec. Emilio Liscano (Oak Hill), 8-0.

150: Luke Teusch (Huntington North) pinned Brock Hagewood (Prairie Heights), 3:54. 157: Gavin Davis (Bellmont) dec. Kevon Russell (Fort Wayne Snider), 4-0.  165: Levi Abbott (Cowan) maj. dec. Ethan Smith (Fort Wayne Snider), 10-0.  175: Laish Detwiler (Goshen) pinned Ethan Farnell (Maconaquah), 4:30. 190: Donovan Blair (Wawasee) dec. Keith Miller (NorthWood), 2-0. 215: Julante Hinton (Fort Wayne Northrop) dec. Preston Duffy (Manchester), 6-3.  285: Isaiah Coolman (Leo) dec. James Hartleroad (DeKalb) 3-1 in OT.

NOTE: Top four finishers in each weight class advance to IHSAA state finals in Evansville on Friday, Feb. 16.