Southeastern’s Burgett, Fishers’ Ingalls, Carmel’s Major & Powell will compete
By RICHARD TORRES
For The Reporter
INDIANAPOLIS – At this stage of the wrestling postseason, there are no easy victories and even tougher defeats.
On opening night of the 85th annual Indiana High School Athletic Association’s wrestling state finals on Friday, Hamilton County’s 14 state qualifiers endured both.
By the conclusion of both first-round sessions inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis, four of the 14 moved on to today’s placement rounds, while the others had their seasons conclude.
“It’s unforgiving,” Hamilton Heights head coach Gary Myers said. “Listen, everybody trains hard here. There’s not a kid here that’s not good.”
The four lone advancers from the county included three programs: Hamilton Southeastern’s Dominic Burgett (36-2) at 285 pounds, Fishers’ Griffin Ingalls (39-4) at 126 and Carmel’s Michael Major (26-0) at 138 and Nathan Powell (19-2) at 160.
Among those who faced defeated earlier than anticipated was Hamilton Heights senior Evan Tilton (48-2), who was ranked third in the state at 182 pounds, according to Indianamat.
Tilton led his elimination round match early on 2-0, but the score and momentum swung in his opponent’s way by the second period.
A 4-0 rally by Griffith senior Connor Cervantes (42-1) put him in control en route to a pin in 5 minutes, 50 seconds.
“He was really good, and I wasn’t ready for him,” Tilton said. “I planned for things that he did not do. He was really good at pushing the pace and keeping constant flow of aggression to keep me on defense the whole time. He was really good at that.”
This year marked Tilton’s second trip to the state finals. As a junior he placed eighth at 182.
“It feels good to be here again, and things didn’t all go my way, but I learned from it,” Tilton said. “It feels good to be back down here. I love the environment.
“These years (at Hamilton Heights) have meant the world to me. I have great teammates and coaches. I’ll never have them again.”
The Huskies might never have a leader like Tilton either. In his three varsity seasons, the Huskies posted a 65-4 dual meet record and won a pair of team sectional titles.
“I was just saying, to get here one time is awesome. To get here again, that’s tough,” Myers said. “He’s been a great leader. He’s everything you want in a leader. It’s brutal to be standing here now. I know what he wanted, and I know what we thought we could get through this tournament. For it to come down to this is brutal.”
The harsh nature of the state finals proved widespread.
HSE 13th-ranked junior Zach Lang (34-8) was eliminated at 152, falling to Wawasee’s 14th-ranked Hunter Miller (36-6) by decision 3-0.
Royals’ teammate 10th-ranked senior Zack Wagner (36-7) was pinned by Crown Point’s second-ranked Cody Goodwin (22-4) at 170 in 4 minutes, 31 seconds.
At 113, Carmel’s 18th-ranked senior Jackson Elliott (31-8) lost in the opening round to Brownsburg’s top-ranked Preston Haines (29-9) by major decision 14-1.
Noblesville 152-pound junior Carter Richardson (32-15) lost to 15th-ranked Merrillville sophomore Adrian Pellot (37-5) by decision 5-3.
Millers’ fourth-ranked junior Austin Hastings (37-5) lost a tough opening-round match to second-ranked Brady Beck (42-1) of Rochester by decision 3-2.
Westfield’s Porter Temples (30-15), a 113-pound sophomore, lost by fall in 1 minute against fifth-ranked junior Charlie LaRocca (39-2) of Center Grove.
Shamrocks’ eighth-ranked Ike O’Neill (38-5), a senior 145-pounder, dropped his first-round match by decision 9-4 against Evansville Central’s 23rd-ranked Luke Robards (39-3).
At 152, Westfield senior Jason Rooney (25-12) had his career close by major decision 13-1 against Mishawaka’s seventh-ranked Beau Brabender (41-4).
Guerin Catholic 120-pound junior Peter Nguyen (39-5), who was ranked 10th in the state, drew a tough first-round matchup and lost by major decision 15-3 against second-ranked Jake Hockaday (30-4) of Brownsburg. Hockaday won the 106-pound state title in 2022.
On the other end of the spectrum, Carmel’s Major, who is ranked sixth in the state, kept his unbeaten streak intact by besting Prairie Heights’ 17th-ranked Brock Hagewood (33-6) by decision 7-4 to press on.
Major, a sophomore, was making his second-career state appearance and will contend for top-eight placement for the first time. He will meet New Prairie’s fifth-ranked freshman Jeffrey Huyvaert (49-1) in the next round.
Carmel 138-pounder Michael Major won his first-round match at the IHSAA state wrestling finals Friday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, one of four Hamilton County wrestlers to advance to today’s quarterfinals. Major is unbeaten at 26-0. (Frank Brown)
Greyhounds’ seventh-ranked senior Nathan Powell took care of Cascade’s 13th-ranked Michael Hutchison (41-6) by decision 4-2. Powell draws Maconaquah’s second-ranked Logan Farnell (46-1) in the quarterfinals.
Ingalls, a senior, pushed through to his first medal-round placement after being a first-time state qualifier at 126 in 2021-22.
The 14th-ranked Tiger breezed past Lake Central’s 16th-ranked Guillermo Rivera (34-8) by major decision 8-0 on opening night. Ingalls will wrestle Center Grove’s 13th-ranked Hyatt Yeager (33-8) next.
Hamilton Southeastern’s Burgett, who was ranked 12th in the state, pinned Eastern Greentown’s Tyler Wright (37-5) in 1:45 to advance into medal contention. The senior will face Highland’s 10th-ranked Aramis McNutt (43-2) in the quarterfinal round.
Wrestling resumes today at 9 a.m. with the semifinals to follow. Consolation matches are scheduled for 4:30 p.m. and the championship finals will begin at 7:30 p.m.