The REPORTER
Fishers’ Xavier Smith can call himself a two-time All-American wrestler, and he did it in the span of a few days.
Westfield’s Connor Maddox competed in the 16U Men 100-pound class in both Freestyle and Greco-Roman, reaching the Round of 32 in the latter event. (Manford Photography)
Smith was among several Hamilton County wrestlers that represented Indiana last week in the 2024 USMC/USAW 16U and Junior National Championships at Fargo, N.D. Wrestling at 175 pounds, Smith placed fifth in the 16U Men Freestyle event, then turned his attention to the 16U Men Greco-Roman bracket, where he would finish in third place at 175.
Smith was seeded sixth in the Greco-Roman competition. He began in the Round of 128 with an 8-0 victory over New York’s James Capasso, then cruised past Utah’s Kody Wilson 8-0 in the Round of 64. Smith continued to roll in the Round of 32, beating Georgia’s Ethan Secoy 10-2, then took care of another Georgia wrestler, Dylan Reel by another 10-2 score.
Those victories put Smith into the quarterfinals, where he defeated Illinois’ Brody Kelly 9-4. But his main draw run came to an end in the semifinals, where he lost to California’s Isai Fernandez 9-0.
Smith moved to the consolation round, but his good showing in the main bracket placed him in the semifinals. In that round, Smith cruised past Iowa’s Brayden Koester 11-2. In the third-place match, Smith faced Kelly again, and the result was a victory again. Smith won the third-place bout 4-0, finishing the Greco-Roman tournament with a 7-1 record.
Four other county wrestlers competed in the Greco-Roman portion of the tournament. Here are their results:
Noblesville’s Jackson Apple won one match each in both the main and consolation brackets in the 16U Men 285-pound Greco-Roman division. (Manford Photography)
– Westfield’s Connor Maddox wrestled in the 16U Men 100-pound division. He received a bye in the opening round (Round of 64), then beat Ohio’s Chance Wuhr 10-1 in the Round of 32. Maddox lost to Oregon’s Drew Dawson 8-0 in the Round of 16, sending him to the consolation bracket, where he was edged out in his first match 5-3 to New Jersey’s William Webb.
-Noblesville’s Jackson Apple wrestled in the 16U Men 285-pound weight class. He won a Round of 64 bout 7-3 over Alabama’s Martin Thomas but lost in the Round of 32 8-0 to Iowa’s Brady Hagan. In the consolation bracket, Apple won a hard-fought match 12-9 against Illinois’ Payton Vigna before losing to Ohio’s Chandler Moore 11-0.
– Fishers’ Julian Burgett competed in the 16U Men 190-pound division. After a bye in the Round of 128, he lost to Missouri’s Jace Renfro 8-0 in the Round of 64. Burgett dropped a close match in the consolation bracket, losing Wisconsin’s Brock Schmidt 7-5.
– Hamilton Heights’ Michael Cain competed in the Junior Men 165-pound class. He received a bye in the Round of 128, then lost to Minnesota’s Griffin Lundeen 9-0. Cain dropped a 9-0 consolation match to Wisconsin’s Damiano Cappellini.