(LEFT) Noblesville’s Luke Chastain finished third at 150 pounds during the Pendleton Heights wrestling regional on Saturday, Feb. 7. Chastain was one of 14 Millers wrestlers to place in the top four of their division and qualify for the New Castle semi-state. (CENTER) Hamilton Heights’ Kolter Galloway finished third at 126 pounds. (RIGHT) Guerin Catholic’s Rafe Liechty placed third at 106 pounds. (Mike Navarro)
The REPORTER
How could the Noblesville wrestling team top its sectional performance after qualifying all 14 of its wrestlers to the regional?
Weimer
It’s simple. Qualify all 14 wrestlers to the semi-state.
The Millers did just that at the Saturday, Feb. 7 Pendleton Heights regional. Noblesville had all 14 of its wrestlers finish in the top four of their weight class, thus sending them all to the Saturday, Feb. 14 New Castle semi-state.
The Millers battled with Cathedral all day for the team championship. The Irish pulled away during the final matches, scoring 237.5 points, with Noblesville scoring 215.5 points to take second. No other team at the regional was within shouting distance.
Cathedral had seven individual champions, but the Millers held their own, getting three individual winners. Freshman Brody Weimer was the first, sailing through the 126-pound division. He won his first match by fall, then took the next two by technical falls, beating Cathedral’s Jackson Lavin in the final.
Sophomore Zach Nekolite was the 132-pound champion. He won his first match by tech fall, got a first-period pin in the semifinals, then beat the Irish’s Gino Duncan by a 6-0 decision in the title match.
Junior Aidan Kincaide rolled through the 165-pound field. He won all three of his matches by pin, spending a total of 2 minutes, 21 seconds on the mat. Kincaide beat Cathedral’s James Grimme in the final to improve to 30-0 for the season.
Nekolite
Guerin Catholic finished in fifth place at the regional, scoring 40 points. The Golden Eagles were 4-for-4 at the meet: all four of their regional qualifiers advanced to the semi-state.
Rafe Liechty (106) and Jack Hubbard (190) had the best finishes for GC as they each placed third in their divisions.
Hamilton Heights took seventh place, totaling 37 points. The Huskies advanced three to semi-state, led by 150-pounder Simon Kuhn. He placed second at 150 pounds.
County results and semi-state qualifiers
106: 2. Henry Antrobus (Noblesville), 3. Rafe Liechty (Guerin Catholic).
113: 2. Eli Kincaide (N).
120: 4. Blake Weimer (N).
Kincaide
126: 1. Brody Weimer (N), 3. Kolter Galloway (Hamilton Heights), 4. Gabe Liechty (GC).
132: 1. Zach Nekolite (N), 3. Kase Powell (HH), 4. Joseph Dunasky (GC).
138: 2. Justus Suddarth (N).
144: Isaac Suddarth (N).
150: 2. Simon Kuhn (HH), 3. Luke Chastain (N).
157: 4. Kyle Howard (N).
165: 1. Aidan Kincaide (N).
175: 2. Evan Nicholls (N).
190: 2. Yan Tioua (N), 3. Jack Hubbard (GC).
215: 2. Cale Metzler (N).
285: 4. Jackson Apple (N).
