32 teams are set to compete over two days in one of the most grueling individual tournaments in the country Friday and Saturday and the Bellmont Braves have their sights set on individual glory in the two-day event.
The Braves, who are searching for their first individual title in more than a decade, did not receive a number one seed, but did get the #2 spot at 165 with Duke Myers. The Bellmont senior was placed behind Warren Central’s Waylon Cressell, a state champ in North Dakota last year who moved to Indiana in the offseason. Cressell defeated Myers in the offseason and that match was ultimately the criterion used to separate the two. That pits Myers on the same half of the bracket of the state’s #1 wrestler at 165, Anthony Rinehart of Crown Point.
The rest of the Bellmont lineup:
106-Ben Mills (15-8) unseeded
113-Ethan Curtis (14-9) unseeded
120-Henry Faurote (22-2) #7 seed. The tough Bellmont freshman was given a good seed after his great start to the season. A key win for him came back in November when he defeated Eastside’s Lane Snyder. That win gave Faurote a leg up on several other individuals vying for a top-eight spot. The seed protects Faurote from a potential early meeting against the top five in this weight, who are all ranked in the top seven in the state. Faurote’s first seeded opponent is likely to be #10 Cameron Woods of Portage, a ticket-rounder at the East Chicago semi-state a year ago.
126-Will Franze (15-8) unseeded
132-Keven Loshe (16-7) unseeded. The senior’s win percentage of 69.6% was just shy of the 70% mark of 12-seed Donald Bowie of Warren Central. Loshe will have to fight his way through the bracket without a seed.
138-Chandler Thomas (10-13) unseeded
144-Sam Wolpert (21-1) #10 seed. Without a placement in last year’s Al Smith and having not advanced to last year’s semi-state, Wolpert had to wait around until win percentage came into play and that left him at #10. With a win in the opening round, Wolpert will likely face Bloomington South’s Wyatt Cooksey, the #7 seed, who was a ticket rounder last year.
150-Blake Luginbill (21-2) #9 seed. The senior will have a chance to reach the quarterfinals if he can win his opener and then beat #8 seed Nate Anderson of Columbus East, who is 14-1 so far for the Olympians.
157-Isaiah Herman (0-0) unseeded. Coach Tim Myers noted Thursday night that Isaiah Herman is extremely excited about the opportunity to represent the Braves at Mishawaka and has worked very hard in practice this week to be prepared to score some points for the team.
165-Duke Myers (23-0) #2 seed
175-Xavior Palacios (18-5) #7 seed. Palacios has cradled his way to a good chunk of wins and one of those pins got him a nice seed. Xavior’s win over SB Riley’s Jeremi Scales, who is now 17-3, earned him a top-eight seed. Palacios will need to beat Columbus East’s Tyler Lake (12-3) to reach the quarterfinals.
190-Cole Mendez (15-2) #5 seed. Mendez will have every chance to prove himself with a good seed in this weight class. He will face Kaullin Price (14-5) of Elkhart in the second round if both wrestlers take care of their unseeded opponents in the opening match.
215-Keagan Martin (23-0) #4 seed. Martin finished third at 220 last year but had to settle for fourth behind nemesis Devin Kendrex of Mt. Vernon (Fortville). Kendrex defeated Martin on the first day of last year’s tournament, but Martin fought all the way back for third, while Kendrex was fifth. The two met on Friday at state and Kendrex won that battle, but Braves fans will be excited to know that Martin got revenge at IHPO in October. The top two seeds in this weight are defending state champion Will Clark and defending state runner-up Kaden McConnell.
285-Grady Baker (12-8) unseeded