History Made: Maddox seizes Rocks’ first wrestling state title

By RICHARD TORRES

For The Reporter

INDIANAPOLIS – The celebratory backflip was ad-libbed, but the hug wasn’t.

Shortly after Westfield’s Connor Maddox had his arm raised in triumph inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse as the undefeated 106-pound state champion, the sophomore decided to take flight.

Once he stuck his impromptu backflip landing, Westfield’s first-ever individual wrestling state champion beelined to the corner of the mat, and he found himself weightless once again.

Embraced by his coach and father, Scott, it was the first thing Maddox thought about once he left the mat a perfect 34-0 following a dominant display at the 88^th annual IHSAA wrestling state finals on Saturday, Feb. 21.

With his feet dangling and his father’s green blazer sleeves wrapped around him, the mission was complete.

No more disappointment like the year prior. Just sweet victory.

“It feels great. I’m just super grateful. It’s not every day you get an experience like this,” Maddox said. “I’m just grateful and so incredibly humbled to be a part of something like this.”

Maddox’s flawless run was inspired by defeat – two to be exact.

Both occurred at the same venue and forced him to settle for a fourth-place medal at 106 as a freshman with a 40-3 record.

The first was in the state semifinals against eventual 2025 state champion Traevon Ducking of Brownsburg by decision 11-4. The next was in the consolation finals against Avon’s Case Bridge in sudden-victory overtime, 4-1.

Neither loss left Maddox. Instead, they fueled the top-ranked wrestler’s desire to return and conquer.

“Every day of the summer, just thinking about that, those two heartbreaking losses here last year,” Maddox said. “I didn’t want to ever experience that again. I just made sure I was ready to go this time and wasn’t going to go through that again.”

Maddox never came close to replication.

On the way to a second straight state appearance, Maddox was untouchable.

At the Frankfort Sectional, a pair of pins in 1:32 and 58 seconds paved the way to a repeat. A trio of pins at the North Montgomery Regional in 1:12, 32 and 35 seconds made it back-to-back titles.

During the New Castle Semi-State, Maddox’s postseason pin total reached eight straight at 1:54, 1:22 and 23 seconds. He secured his second-career semi-state title with a 17-1 technical fall in 2:15, a theme he continued at the two-day state finals in downtown Indianapolis.

“He’s been special all year. Nothing’s really been close. He’s been on a mission all year. It’s been pretty awesome to watch,” Westfield coach Tom Griffin said.

At state, Maddox ran through the bracket with four consecutive tech falls – the most by any wrestler at state this year – and 10:43 of mat time in total.

“Guys are coming in with a game plan. They’re trying to run away and squeeze a little bit, keep the match close, but I know that my offense is better than anybody’s defense here,” Maddox said. “I just got to keep coming, and they’re not going to be able to stop me for a whole six minutes.”

None of Maddox’s postseason matches went beyond the second period.

“It’s impossible to fail when you have the people around me that I do,” Maddox said. “It’s incredible how everything sort of came together, and how I was able to stay undefeated the whole season, but it’s not just me. It’s everybody.”

It was his father, his family, his teammates, his coaches and his school.

As the fourth state finalist in program history since 2012, Maddox made history, and the significance wasn’t lost in his excitement.

Instead, his win eased some of the anguish experienced by state runners-up Lukas Schaeffer (2012), Carson Eldred (2020) and Mihail Platonov (2022).

“It’s special, man. Westfield, as much credit as they don’t get, they deserve it all,” Maddox said. “Westfield is a phenomenal place. I’m incredibly grateful to be a part of something as special as Westfield and a part of something as special as that program.”

Ranked sixth in the nation by FloWrestling, more backflips could be in Maddox’s future.

“He’s just a special kid,” Griffin said. “The future’s bright. His expectations and the level which he competes at brings the entire room up.”