By RICHARD TORRES
For The Reporter
PENDLETON – As predicted, the eighth-ranked Cathedral Fighting Irish won the Pendleton Heights Regional wrestling team trophy last Saturday afternoon, but the Noblesville Millers made sure the rest of the standings didn’t unfold as projected.
A week after claiming the Elwood Sectional team title over runner-up Alexandria and rival Hamilton Heights, the Millers (138.5) finished second at regional with 10 semi-state qualifiers overall, including three individual weight-class champions.
Cathedral (204.0) advanced 11 wrestlers with six individual champions, but the Millers and fifth-place Hamilton Heights (62.0) made their push with five Huskies moving on to the New Castle Semi-State next weekend.
Huskies’ senior Michael Cain (42-1), who is ranked fifth at 165 pounds, according to IndianaMat, claimed his third-career regional title with a pin in 1 minute, 31 seconds to start his day and a pair of technical falls through the semifinals and finals in a combined 4:32.
“I’m really pushing the pace. This just helps me open up,” Cain said. “I think I’m going to be sitting good at semi-state. I’m going to show who I am this year. I worked hard all offseason, and I’m ready to prove who I am.”
Cain, a state qualifier in 2023-24, finished fourth at 157 pounds as a junior during the New Castle Semi-State. A three-time sectional champion, Cain is looking to end his career with a state medal.
“The goal is to place at state. Place or win. We’re going for the championship, obviously, but I’m going to keep working hard like I have been,” Cain said. “I’m just ready to put on a show from here on out.”
Cain has 170 career wins, the most in Hamilton Heights program history, but a 7-2 loss by decision during the IHSAA state finals opening round kept him from a podium finish at Evansville’s Ford Center.
“The job is not done. Now, we have to get to the state and get atop of that podium. That’s our job,” Hamilton Heights coach Gary Myers said. “It’s going to be brutal to get to the final four (at semi-state) and once we’re there it will be brutal, but if we want to get to the top of that podium, we have to do well at the semi-state. We can’t come in fourth.”
Hamilton Heights had two third-place finishers at regional in Simon Kuhn (29-4) at 138 and Justin Tilton (30-7) at 144. Aiden Furst (29-12) and Cooper Doucette (31-11) both placed fourth at 150 and 120, respectively.
The Millers entered regional without a single ranked wrestler compared to Cathedral’s seven, but freshman Zach Nekolite (35-7) at 126, junior Jackson Apple (27-5) at 285 and sophomore Cale Metzler (20-21) at 215 each won individual weight-class titles.
“I’ve been working hard all season. I took a bunch of tough losses, and I just really came out today and showed how good I really am,” Metzler said. “Semi-state was my goal all year, and I finally made it. I didn’t make it out of sectional last year, so this is big for me.”
Metzler lost to 25th-ranked Jonah Ellis (30-1) of Frankton by decision 4-3 in the sectional semifinals last week. The two collided again in the regional semifinals with Metzler scoring some revenge with a pin in 3:00 to hand Ellis his first loss of the season.
The Millers weren’t expected to contend this postseason after losing three starters to injuries, including Aidan Kincaide, who was fourth at state as a 157-pound freshman.
“Our kids have battled adversity all year. That’s kind of been the big theme, losing a couple starters and a state-placer, so we’re young. We had eight freshmen at sectional, so they’ve gotten tougher. That’s the big thing,” Millers assistant coach Andrew Fleenor said. “When you face adversity, I think it helps make you tougher, and I think that came out today.”
The Millers had five wrestlers place third, including Kai Kaohi (29-16) at 106, Blake Weimer (16-21) at 120, Isaac Suddarth (20-19) at 132, Mason Presits (31-12) at 150 and Yan Tioua (32-11) at 190.
“It was a good day. We knew we had some decent draws, and it was just a matter of going out there and wrestling hard, and our guys did that,” Fleenor said. “The big surprise was Cale. He battled today. He upset an undefeated kid who we lost to last week. That was big time for him.”