(LEFT) Hamilton Southeastern’s A.W. VanKirk is one of eight Royals wrestlers competing at the New Castle semi-state. (RIGHT) Hamilton Heights’ Simon Kuhn comes into the New Castle semi-state with a 37-2 record.
Top four in each class qualify for state
The REPORTER
On Saturday morning, 50 Hamilton County wrestlers will enter the New Castle Fieldhouse with one goal in mind: win two matches.
That’s what they need to do to qualify for the state finals. Those wrestlers will join others from across central Indiana at the New Castle semi-state, which begins at 9 a.m. in the country’s largest high school gym.
Each of the 14 weight classes has 16 wrestlers. The top four qualify for the IHSAA state finals, which take place Feb. 20 and 21 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
There will be four opening-round matches that feature two county wrestlers. Fishers’ Seth Lamb and Noblesville’s Blake Weimer will compete at 120 pounds, then Noblesville’s Brody Weimer and Hamilton Southeastern’s Cale Beattie will face off at 126 pounds.
Two 150-pound first-round matches are all-county bouts. Noblesville’s Luke Chastain takes on Westfield’s Graydon Staley, while Fishers’ James Schwartz will wrestle Hamilton Heights’ Simon Kuhn.
Fourteen Millers in the draw
If you’ve noticed the name Noblesville quite a bit, there’s a good reason. The Millers qualified all 14 of their wrestlers from the regional to the semi-state, the only program to achieve such a feat. Cathedral, who edged out Noblesville for the Elwood regional team trophy, is next with 12 wrestlers, while New Palestine qualified 11 and Roncalli advanced nine.
Among county schools, Hamilton Southeastern sent eight wrestlers to New Castle from the North Montgomery regional, along with Zionsville, the team champion there. Westfield, Fishers and Carmel all qualified seven for semi-state.
Guerin Catholic qualified four to semi-state, while Hamilton Heights advanced three.
Two local wrestlers are unbeaten. Westfield’s Connor Maddox is 26-0 at 106 pounds, while Noblesville’s Aidan Kincaide is 30-0 at 165. Meanwhile, Kuhn is 37-2, as is Fishers 215-pounder Julian Burgett.
Here is a complete list of Hamilton County qualifiers. Live scoring will be available at this link.
106: Nolan Culp, Hamilton Southeastern (25-4); Connor Maddox, Westfield (26-0); Rafe Liechty, Guerin Catholic (18-3), Henry Antrobus, Noblesville (26-10).
113: Eli Kincaide, Noblesville (26-12); William Lakes, Hamilton Southeastern (28-11); Brayden Head, Westfield (28-8).
120: Seth Lamb, Fishers (34-6); Blake Weimer, Noblesville (19-19); Aiden Driscoll, Westfield (30-12); Carlo Federici, Carmel (24-11).
126: Kolter Galloway, Hamilton Heights (24-5); Gabe Liechty, Guerin Catholic (23-3); Brody Weimer, Noblesville (34-4); Cale Beattie, Hamilton Southeastern (30-14).
132: Zach Nekolite, Noblesville (17-4); Will Hruskoci, Fishers (29-10); Joseph Dunasky, Guerin Catholic (16-13); Kase Powell, Hamilton Heights (28-9); Trevor Humburg, Westfield (23-13).
138: Justus Suddarth, Noblesville (28-12); Parker Culp, Hamilton Southeastern (34-9); Alic Washburn, Westfield (25-12).
144: Isaac Suddart, Noblesville (19-9); Tyler Elliott, Carmel (25-7); Max Inman, Hamilton Southeastern (20-10).
150: Luke Chastain, Noblesville (28-12); Graydon Staley, Westfield (25-11); James Schwartz, Fishers (15-19); Simon Kuhn, Hamilton Heights (37-2); Jaxen Timmons, Carmel (18-11).
157: Kyle Howard, Noblesville (17-17); Ezekiel Kramer, Fishers (22-18); Dylan Lane, Hamilton Southeastern (25-4).
165: Aidan Kincaide, Noblesville (30-0); Austin Yunker, Carmel (14-7); Cohen Davis, Hamilton Southeastern (28-6).
175: Eli Isen, Carmel (15-8); Evan Nicholls, Noblesville (16-4).
190: Camden Funk, Fishers (32-8); Yan Tioua, Noblesville (22-8); Gavin Adkins, Carmel (18-14); Jack Hubbard, Guerin Catholic (16-4); Jon Stryker, Westfield (25-11).
215: Julian Burgett, Fishers (37-2); Cale Metzler, Noblesville (27-13); Will Massey, Carmel (16-10).
285: Ryan Dungee, Fishers (25-11); Jackson Apple, Noblesville (16-10); A.W. VanKirk, Hamilton Southeastern (31-8).
