By JOSH BODE
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
The boys wrestling state tournament starts on Saturday, Jan. 31, and one of the state’s best wrestlers is from Hamilton County.
Westfield sophomore Connor Maddox is the No. 1 wrestler in the state at 106 pounds.
Last season, as a freshman, Maddox went 40-3 and was fourth in the state. This season, he is undefeated, with a record of 20-0.
Last month, Maddox won The Ironman, a prestigious national event in Ohio.
With the IHSAA state tournament looming, Maddox is hoping to use last year’s experience to his benefit as he hopes to win the championship this year.
“Obviously I fell short of my goal and what I wanted to win a state title, but it was still a cool experience,” Maddox said. “It was honestly kind of surreal watching that tournament so many times when I was little, just going every year and watching the finals. It was just cool to be a part of it and hopefully this year I can actually get it done.”
“Coming into his freshman year, we knew he was going to be really talented,” Westfield boys wrestling head coach Tom Griffin said. “Obviously, placing fourth as a freshman was pretty amazing. This past year though, he’s pretty much traveled all across Indiana and the Midwest to find training partners. So we know that he had taken a major step this year, so it’s been awesome to see that on the mat.”
Wrestling has always been a part of Maddox’s life.
“I’ve been wrestling, honestly, as long as I can remember, maybe three or four years old,” Maddox said. “I’ve been competing since I was about five. My dad was a wrestler back in the day, and my whole family wrestled. So I’ve kind of always been around it, and it’s done so much for me, the sport has, and fell in love with it from a very, very early age.”
This story originally appeared on WISH-TV at wishtv.com/sports/athlete-of-the-week-westfields-connor-maddox/
