The first meets of the season for Hamilton County wrestling teams take place on Saturday.
One of the meets is the Hamilton Heights Husky Super 6. Noblesville will be in attendance as well, and is looking forward to another successful season after a relatively young group of Millers performed well last season.
Leading the way will be nine seniors, including three that qualified for semi-state last year: Dalton Huffman, Justin Johnson-Sparks and Gary Kitko. Sam Wertz was a regional qualifier. Also back are two sophomores that advanced to the regional, Timothy Alexander and Joseph Kitko.
Along with the experienced wrestlers, Noblesville has a large pool of freshmen, with 19 ninth-graders on this year’s roster. With all that, second-year Millers coach Michael Weimer is excited to start the season.
“I am pumped to see our team compete this weekend,” said Weimer. “We have been preaching all offseason, if you go out and compete to your maximum ability and for the TEAM, then great things will happen. This team looks 100 percent different from last year, and they will exciting to watch.”
Another team to watch this season is Sheridan. The Blackhawks will travel to Cloverdale on Saturday for a tournament there.
Sheridan is a small team, with a total of 13 athletes on the roster, six of them freshmen. But coach Steve Leonard noted that there is much experience on the roster, even with the new wrestlers.
“What I really like is, even with our freshmen, most of them have experience coming out of middle school, so I don’t have really any first-time wrestlers,” said Leonard. “Everybody has some experience. They’re conditioning well right now. They’re mat-savvy, so hopefully we’ll have a decent year from all the kids.”
The Blackhawks have three seniors on the team: Cian McGarr, Corbin Went and Ben Woodward, all of whom are multiple-year lettermen. Juniors on the team include Mace Bond, who placed sixth at 126 pounds at last year’s Frankfort sectional.
In other meets, Fishers will travel to the Western Invitational, while Hamilton Southeastern will compete at the John Hurrle Memorial Invitational, which takes place at Arsenal Tech.
NOBLESVILLE ROSTER
Seniors: Sebastian Dillon, Dalton Huffman, Justin Johnson-Sparks, Blake Killion, Gary Kitko, Zack Knoll, Ayden Rayl, Nathan Richardson, Sam Wertz.
Juniors: Josh Evans, Jeffrey Iles, Adam Rider, Dewayne Simpson, Zachary Vaughn.
Sophomores: Timothy Alexander, Joseph Kitko, Douglas Walkley.
Freshmen: Ethan Amburgy, William Cash, Emmitt Cole, Caleb Dean, Camden Duncan, Jacob Etchison, Cooper Frahm, Cazmier Gaines, Daniel Gallinoto, Quintin Loller, Jacob Long, Bryce Murray, Nicholas Myers, Jerry Pharis, Sean Sabel, Caleb Saylor, Keaton Sepiol, Cesar Sierra, Sethiah Stone.
SHERIDAN ROSTER
Seniors: Cian McGarr, Corbin Went, Ben Woodward.
Juniors: Mace Bond, Jake Leonard, Thomas Purciful.
Sophomore: Axel Aleman.
Freshmen: Austin Bond, Noah Ehrie, Eliah Garner, Alden Hamersley, Kaden Harrold, Gabe Holler.
Noblesville wrestlers Dalton Huffman (left) and Gary Kitko were both semi-state qualifiers last year for the Millers. The two are now seniors and will be part of an experienced group leading Noblesville this season. (Richie Hall/File photo)
Noblesville’s Timothy Alexander (pictured with Millers coach Michael Weimer) advanced to the regional last year as a freshman. (Richie Hall/File photo)