Penn claims wrestling regional after another epic battle with Mishawaka

Tim Creason
·6 min read

MISHAWAKA — Here is the ultimate wrestling trivia question:

In the past 32 years, only one school other than Mishawaka or Penn ever won the local IHSAA wrestling regional. Who was it?

Answer: LaPorte, which claimed the Clay regional in 1999, back when those titles were decided by dual meets.

Otherwise, since 1991, every regional championship has belonged to either the Cavemen or Kingsmen.

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And this year, it almost belonged to both. With four weight classes remaining in Saturday’s tournament at Penn, the two teams were tied, 187½ to 187½.

But, as happened at the sectional a week earlier, a late surge handed the team title to the Kingsmen, this time by five points.

Vincent Freeman of Penn celebrates after winning in the final at 182lbs during the IHSAA Wrestling Regionals Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023 at Penn High School.
Vincent Freeman of Penn celebrates after winning in the final at 182lbs during the IHSAA Wrestling Regionals Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023 at Penn High School.

Penn freshman Vinny Freeman scored a critical 14-6 major decision over Warsaw’s Jaxson Coo Waters in the 182-pound weight class championship. Then, Josiah Williams picked up a third place at 220 when John Aranowski of Saint Joseph had to withdraw due to injury.

Both were huge points for the Kingsmen, who went on to claim their third consecutive regional team title, 197 ½ to 192½.

It is Penn’s 12th regional championship in 13 years.

“It was a battle. Mishawaka is a solid, tough team,” said Penn coach Brad Harper. “But Vinny, man, he brought some energy for our team and locked it in for us. He’s coming on strong.”

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Penn advances 12 wrestlers to next week’s semistate meet at East Chicago, while Mishawaka is sending 10. The top four finishers in each weight class advance.

Ironically, Mishawaka finished second despite claiming more individual champs (five) than the Kingsmen (four).

Blue ribbons were spread around a bit, with Plymouth scoring two champs, Wawasee getting two and LaVille one.

“Penn came here and got the job done,” said Mishawaka coach Steve Sandefer. “All their guys did their jobs today and some of ours didn’t.

“All season long, we’ve emphasized bonus points, and we didn’t get enough of those today,” Sandefer said. “There were some matches we probably should have won where we didn’t, but I would rather take those losses this week than next week.”

Unlike the sectional, Saturday’s meet was relatively calm. A few fans had to be escorted out after one tried to climb over the railing to rush at Wawasee’s camp, but that situation was handled fairly quickly.

There was no rematch of the 170-pound matchup which got emotions boiling a week earlier.  Penn’s Zymarion Hollyfield was upset in the semifinals by Wawasee’s Gavin Malone, and so the path was cleared for Mishawaka’s Isaac Valdez to claim the title.

He scored a tech fall over Malone in the finale.  “The top of the podium is way better,” Valdez said.

Isaac Valdez of Mishawaka wrestles Gavin Malone of Wawasee in the final at 170lbs during the IHSAA Wrestling Regionals Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023 at Penn High School. Valdez won.
Isaac Valdez of Mishawaka wrestles Gavin Malone of Wawasee in the final at 170lbs during the IHSAA Wrestling Regionals Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023 at Penn High School. Valdez won.

Mishawaka’s largest lead was 8 ½ points, pushed considerably by Gunnar Sandefur’s 7-6 victory over Penn’s Dylan Bennett in an intense 120 title bout. A reversal with 1:10 remaining was the key.

“I knew the match was going to be tight and I knew that at the end, it was going to come down to who wanted it more,” said Sandefur. “All I was thinking was how much I wanted it and I knew I was going to win.”

But Penn was able to respond with a victory from Wesley Harper at 138, whose third-period escape held up for a 3-2 victory over Mishawaka’s Michael Robles.

“I thought I wrestled a great all-around match,” said Harper, who makes a habit of getting into extremely tight matches. “When it’s close, I’m fully confident that I can pull it out.”

Mishawaka’s other champs were Zar Walker at 132, Will Mason (126) and Christian Chavez, who improved to 36-0 with a 14-6 major decision over Tippecanoe Valley’s Bazle Owens at 195.

Penn’s other champs were Bryce Denton at 152 and AJ Steenbeke at 160.

Perhaps the most unknown champ — though he shouldn’t be — was LaVille’s Jonathan Neese at 220. He’s 30-1 this season after pinning Tippecanoe Valley’s Dalton Alber in the finale.  He only needed 25 seconds.

Jonathan Neese of Laville celebrates after winning in the final at 220lbs during the IHSAA Wrestling Regionals Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023 at Penn High School.
Jonathan Neese of Laville celebrates after winning in the final at 220lbs during the IHSAA Wrestling Regionals Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023 at Penn High School.

“I wasn’t expecting to beat him like that,” said Neese, “but I’m glad I got it done.”

Plymouth’s Wesley Smith is now 42-1 after winning at 145.

Heavyweight Anthony Popi is now 40-2 for Plymouth after beating Penn’s Peyton Kendall, 2-1, in the championship bout.

Popi, who is ranked No. 4 in the state by the Website, Indiana Mat, has a simple philosophy about competition.

“Go out, wrestle, be a man and just smack people in the mouth,” said Popi.

IHSAA WRESTLING REGIONAL RESULTS

At Mishawaka (Penn High School)  

TEAM SCORES: Penn 197 ½, Mishawaka 192 ½, Wawasee 129, Plymouth 92 ½, Tippecanoe Valley 45, Warsaw 39, South Bend Riley 33, LaVille 32, Bremen 30, Culver Academies 14, Triton 11, South Bend Saint Joseph 8. All others 0.

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND  

106: Kaleb Salazar (Wawasee) dec. Xavier Chavez (Mishawaka), 8-5. 113: Cameron Senter (Wawasee) dec. Joshua Kite (Mishawaka), 4-2. 120: Gunnar Sandefur (Mishawaka) dec. Dylan Bennett (Penn), 7-6. 126: Will Mason (Mishawaka) pinned Braden Ashe (Penn), 4:46. 132: Eleazar Walker (Mishawaka) pinned Reece Greene (Bremen), 2:33. 138: Wesley Harper (Penn) dec. Michael Robles (Mishawaka), 3-2. 145: Wesley Smith (Plymouth) dec. Evan Eutsey (Penn), 5-2. 152: Bryce Denton (Penn) dec. Beau Brabender (Mishawaka), 7-5.

160: AJ Steenbeke (Penn) pinned Caydn Smith (Plymouth), 0:46. 170: Isaac Valdez (Mishawaka) tech. fall Gavin Malone (Wawasee), 22-4 in 6:00. 182: Vincent Freeman (Penn) maj. dec. Jaxson Coo Walters (Warsaw), 14-6. 195: Christian Chavez (Mishawaka) maj. dec. Bazle Owens (Tippecanoe Valley), 14-6. 220: Jonathan Neese (LaVille) pinned Dalton Alber (Tippecanoe Valley), 0:25. 285: Anthony Popi (Plymouth) dec. Peyton Kendall (Penn), 2-1.

CONSOLATION ROUND  

(For 3rd Place)  

106: Bryce McNees (Warsaw) pinned Travis Sears (Penn), 0:39. 113: Ryann Schmidtendorff (Penn) pinned Cole Meiser (Culver Academies), 0:43. 120: Braxton White (Plymouth) dec. Elias Garza (Warsaw), 7-6. 126: Coen Kramer (Plymouth) pinned Colten Sutton (Wawasee), 3:00. 132: Galvin Shambaugh (Tippecanoe Valley) dec. Titus Taylor (Wawasee), 14-10. 138: Logan Stuckman (Wawasee) dec. Seth Wright (Plymouth), 8-2. 145: Ethan Rodriguez (Wawasee) dec. Trayvon Fleming (Riley), 13-10. 152: Hunter Miller (Wawasee) dec. Jamaiel Lowe (Riley), 6-4.

160: Marques Young (Riley) dec. Courtney Rider (Mishawaka), 8-6. 170: Elijah Cox (Triton) dec. Zymarion Hollyfield (Penn), 10-4. 182: Cameron Zimmerman (Wawasee) dec. Jeirmi Scales (Riley), 8-6. 195: Donovan Blair (Wawasee) dec. Paul DeWitt (LaVille), 6-1. 220: Josiah Williams (Penn) won by inj. forfeit over John Aranowski (Saint Joseph). 285: Zachary Schmucker (Bremen) pinned Henry Martello (Culver Academies), 1:17.

NOTE: Top four finishers in each weight class advance to IHSAA semistate at East Chicago on Saturday, Feb. 11.  

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: IHSAA wrestling regional at Penn High School