Several Valley wrestlers competing for semistate berths

Hunter Tickel, The Tribune-Star, Terre Haute, Ind.
Updated ·3 min read

Feb. 2—With the Tribune-Star coverage area boasting 31 qualifiers for the wrestling regional at Bloomington South High School, it's going to be a Saturday filled with numerous Wabash Valley implications.

One win — that's what's required for the boys from Terre Haute North and Terre Haute South, West Vigo, Sullivan and Northview to book a ticket to the semistate at Evansville's Ford Center the following Saturday.

Sixth-year North coach Beau Pingleton is prepping senior Logan Wenzel (27-11) of the 182-pound weight class to spar with Tell City sophomore Ethan Schraner.

It's a rematch of the Bo Henry Classic on Dec. 17, which also took place in Bloomington, won by Wenzel 10-3. Wenzel earned a third seed in this weekend's regional after that finish in the sectional.

Wenzel will look to earn his way to Evansville for the first time — he made semistate as an alternate last winter.

"It's one match at a time," Pingleton said. "We are not going to look ahead, but I think Logan's capable of being a regional champion. He is a really hard worker. He does all the right things. He is an outstanding kid. He is always getting recognized in some form or fashion outside of wrestling. I have all the faith in him."

North has budding wrestlers in sophomores Cain Godsey (106) and James Hastings (170), who came in fourth at the Bloomington North Sectional, to round out its squad.

"They know what to expect. They'll be ready," Pingleton said. "We are in a tough regional. They are ready to go."

Coach Gabe Cook has South primed to put a serious dent in the results for this field.

South, with back-to-back sectional team championships, will have 14 athletes competing in Bloomington — Colton Campbell (106), William Rader (113), Noah Fields (120), Josiah Dedeaux (126), Seth Brown (132), Coy Bender (145), Luke May (152), Collin Casad (170), Kyle Kennedy (182), Brandon Freeman (195) and Sean Murphy (285).

Then there's a trio of Braves that earned top seeds. Junior Kasey Stuart (138) is 25-8, senior Jorge Franco (160) is 32-4 and senior Alex Rose (220) is 31-3.

Sixth-year Northview coach Tony Sanabria has a deep squad too, with eight wrestlers at this event.

Senior Seth Cowden (126) touts 100 career victories and is fresh off of a sectional crown. He is looking for a third consecutive semistate spot.

"For Seth, it's just go out and do his job," Sanabria said. "Everything he's done for the past four years for us, go out and get a big win and just kind of advance. This will be his third time trying to go to semistate, so I think he understands the assignment, and he will be able to be successful with that — pretty easily I feel like."

Senior Richard Alexander (182) is 28-3 and is wrestling on this stage for the first time with Northview after sitting out last year after transferring.

"He's [come] out and wrestled tough for us and done a good job," Sanabria said. "He lost only three really close matches. He's done a good job overall. I think he should be able to advance pretty easily too and he should be able to compete for a regional title just like Seth will be able to."

Northview's regional squad is filled out by Preston Heiliger (138), Tyler Lee (160), Tommy Gilliam (170), Dalton Simmons (195), Devyn Orman (220) and Brandon Brewer (285).

West Vigo has four qualifiers — Caleb Spark (126), Brock Higgins (195), Preston Montgomery (220) and Region Hendricks (285).

Sullivan rounds out the Wabash Valley grapplers with a pair of athletes — Lloyd Haugher (132) and senior Lane Gilbert (120), a three-time state finalist with finishes of third, fourth and eighth respectively. This season, he's 34-3.