Published: February 15, 2007 10:37 pm            

In from cold, on to mat

Wrestlers grapple with difficult conditions before state meet

Every wrestler faces a week of excitement, anticipation and stress as he prepares to take part in the state finals.

This year, you can throw in shoveling.

This week’s heavy snowfall has thrown a wrench into the equation for wrestlers in much of the state. Missed school days also mean missed practices. Wrestlers have been forced out of their routines and have had to find alternate forms of exercise to maintain weight.

One good thing is that the effect of the snow is virtually universal, not limited to one area of the state. Wrestlers from all around the state will gather in Indianapolis today for the opening round of the Individual State Finals at Conseco Fieldhouse. The quarterfinals, semifinals and finals continue Saturday.

“Of course, we’d like to keep our routine the same,” Eastern coach Craig Standish said. The Comets are sending 119-pounder Chad Barrett to state. “The only plus we’re getting out of this thing is that the kids get to sleep in. We’re hoping that everyone in the state is equally disadvantaged.”

Kokomo 119-pounder Eddie Castro and Western 140-pounder Trevor Dickey both shoveled snow to supplement lost practice and workout time. Maconaquah 135-pounder Seth Verbosky spent a lot of time either on a treadmill or jumping rope. And he spent some time wrestling with older brother Dustin.

With so much time at home, Western 125-pounder D.J. Shepherd tried to stay out of the kitchen.

“Most of the state’s been affected by this, so it’s not like we’re the only ones stuck at home around food,” he said.

Western coach Chad Shepherd feels that by now, the wrestlers left are so dedicated to workouts — snow or no snow — that the lack of practice time shouldn’t have much of an effect.

“It changes the routine a little bit, but to be honest with you, the technique is all the same. The kids you’ve got wrestling [tonight], it’s a pretty safe bet they’ve been doing something on their own all season. Very few of them just go to wrestling practice and that’s all they do. I’d say 90 to 95 percent of them go home, run on a treadmill, go to a gym, do something.

“The weight thing, that might be a little bit of an issue for some people, but I’ve got seniors. I don’t think I have to worry too much about their weight.”

In the first round of the state finals, semistate champions face fourth-place finishers from other semistates, while second-place wrestlers face third-place kids. Below are capsules on the locals competing at state.

Shepherd and Dickey

The Panthers take two seniors to state. D.J. Shepherd is making his third trip to state. Dickey is making his first.

“It’s a big load off my back finally making it down,” Dickey said of reaching state. That’s been his goal since eighth grade. “I can’t wait to make some noise down there and place pretty high this year.”

With his previous experience at state, D.J. Shepherd has the highest expectations, but doesn’t let himself look ahead to Saturday.

“The next match is the most important,” he said. “You can’t look ahead. Right now, [tonight is] as important as a championship match.”

D.J. Shepherd recently broke the Howard County victory mark of 154 victories set by Kokomo’s Anthony Hobbs last season. The Panther senior now has 163 wins. He finished seventh in the state in 2004 and fourth in 2005, both at 103 pounds. Today, he faces Griffith senior Steve Siokos, the fourth-place finisher at the Merrillville Semistate last week.

Chad Shepherd scanned the 125-pound bracket for possible matchups and was impressed.

“I’m not sure that’s not the most loaded weight class down there as far as having studs all over,” Chad Shepherd said. “It’s just a jam-packed class. But if he’s wrestling like he’s wrestled the past few weeks, he’s going to be hard to beat.”

Dickey was third at Fort Wayne last week. He has 138 wins in his career, including one this season over his first-round opponent, Rushville sophomore Keith Duncan.

“He feels pretty confident about that but like I told him, it’s a month-and-a-half later and the kid’s at the state finals for a reason,” Chad Shepherd said of the Dickey-Duncan match. “If we can win that match, I think he’ll wrestle the [Eric] McGill kid from Munster. He won state at 103, he won state at 112. This kid, he’s for real. But I think [Dickey] can wrestle with anybody in the state. If he can win his first two matches, I’m pretty optimistic.”

Kokomo’s Castro

The Wildkat senior, who won the 103-pound class at Fort Wayne last week, scrambled this week to get workouts in. The snow threw off his usual routine of being up by 4 a.m., and in his car by 4:45, headed to the Kokomo Family YMCA for pre-dawn workouts. Castro said his chief worry “now is making weight for one, and then once I get on the mat, my goal is to take more shots than my opponent and wrestle aggressively.

“I’m a little nervous. I’m there, I’m at state, but I still have a lot of work to do.”

That work begins today against Lawrence North’s Brandon Nelsen.

“[Nelsen] is a freshman with 12 losses,” Wildkat coach Rob Leavitt said of the LN wrestler. “Now, they wrestle good competition week in and week out, but we feel he’s a 103-pounder with 12 losses. I feel we should have the upper hand. Eddie’s done a good job of not looking past [tonight].”

Leavitt wants to get Castro to Saturday, where every wrestler in the top eight is assured a medal.

“Immediately, my goal is to get a medal around his neck and I honestly believe if we’re able to make it out of Saturday morning [the quarterfinals], there’s no reason he can’t make it to the finals. He’s had a couple tough draws at Fort Wayne [in the semistate] the last couple years and this year it seems like everything is lining up good for him. He’s got a great opportunity.”

Castro can hardly wait.

“It’s exciting knowing that all this work paid off,” he said. “I sacrificed everything to get here. At first I was like, is it worth it? I sacrificed all the things I like to do.

“After I look back at it, it was worth it.”

Castro is tied with Hobbs for the top career victory mark at Kokomo with 154 wins.

Eastern’s Barrett

The 119-pound Comet sophomore finished fourth at the Fort Wayne Semistate and has to face a semistate champ in Mishawaka senior Nick Wisejahn. The Comet crew was a little down about finishing fourth at Fort Wayne, until researching Wisejahn and determining that Barrett had a fighting chance.

“We’re looking at it as it’s about 50-50,” Standish said. “I think they’re very evenly matched and it’s going to boil down to what it should boil down to: Whoever comes out [tonight] and wrestles better is going to win.”

After digesting his matchup, Standish said Barrett told him “I like my draw.” That’s just what the Comet coach wanted to hear.

“That’s the response as a coach you’re looking for,” he said. “I want to put a kid on the mat that expects to win.

“Chad’s not in it for the experience. It’s a great honor to wrestle in the state finals, [but] he’s down there to do more than say, ‘I wrestled one time in the state finals.’ He’s down there to accomplish something.”

Barrett’s confidence increased after advancing through Fort Wayne to state. As a freshman, his season stalled out at the semistate.

“I learned a lot [at the semistate],” Barrett said. “Obviously I learned … you’ve got to take advantage of the opportunities you have to score, and I also learned that you have to be prepared for every match and be prepared to leave it all out there because you don’t know how many more chances you’re going to get.”

Maconaquah’s Verbosky

The Maconaquah senior took third at Fort Wayne last week and now faces Mishawaka sophomore Steven Sandefer in Verbosky’s first trip to state. Maconaquah coach Bob Freije said at this point, what will separate winners from losers isn’t physical anymore.

“He’s going to be focused,” Freije said of Verbosky. “At this point of the season, physical ability gets you this distance, now it comes down to who has the mental capacity to stay focused, stay with your game plan, knowing what you do well.”

For the Brave 135-pounder, that means scoring points.

“He’s a great points guy,” Freije said. “He finds ways to get points. He’s pinned a lot this year, but he wins on mental preparation.”

Verbosky said the wrestler with the most desire will come out on top.

“I just know at this level, it’s not any more of a ‘can I beat this kid or not?’ You know you can beat them. You just have to want it more. Everybody’s fair game. You’ve got to take them out of their game plan, can’t let them take you out of your game plan.”

Freije is rooting for his wrestler, and also rooting for his area. Miami County has five wrestlers at the state meet and Howard County four. It’s a boost to get a big haul of locals down to Conseco after just two area kids made it last season.

“We represented the area a lot better this year,” Freije said. “North Miami got a guy through too. It’s just going to be a great week. It’s exciting to watch these young men grow. The Western guys, the Peru guys, the Eastern guys — getting to see them at state with us is just great for our area.”

Peru’s trio

Unbeaten 160-pound senior Derrick Duke leads Peru’s contingent, joined by junior 112-pounder Zachary Leffel and junior 152-pounder Elliot Corner.

Duke reached the state meet as a freshman at 135 pounds, and placed eighth as a sophomore at 152. He meets Culver Academies junior Branden James today. James took fourth in the semistate round.

“I was shocked that [James] got fourth,” said Peru coach Andy Hobbs, who is familiar with the Culver wrestler and thinks highly of his abilities. “His weight class, and Elliot’s, there’s a lot of opportunities early in the tournament to get pretty deep. Derek’s got a great bracket for him. His match [today] is tougher than his Saturday morning match. But the way he’s been wrestling lately, he’s been physically dominating everyone.”

Leffel, who was third at Fort Wayne, meets Warsaw sophomore Justin Brooks today. The Tigers have seen Brooks wrestle but haven’t faced him on the mat.

“He’s a really intense 112-pounder,” Hobbs said of Brooks. “We saw him at Mishawaka for two days. [Leffel] is going to have to match his physical hustle and try to get him in a situation where we’re in control score wise, and not give him any easy points. That first takedown is usually huge.”

Corner, who was fourth at Fort Wayne, faces Northview senior Chris Dean, a semistate champ.

“Elliot’s been coming on as of late,” Hobbs said. “He’s got [14] losses but Elliot’s probably our best kid in terms of wrestling on his feet. He’s really come on lately on top, he’s really gotten better from the bottom position. If he can make it a points match and keep it close and get the first takedown, with a lot of hustle, he’ll be through hopefully.”

Around the area

Tipton sophomore Levi Rutledge took third place among 130-pounders at the New Castle Semistate last week. Today he meets Chesterton senior Andy St. Germain.

“We’ve got to stay focused and wrestle the way we wrestle,” Tipton coach Tom Knotts said. “[Rutledge] is good on his feet, and he’s really good on top. He pinned a kid from Westfield to get third [in New Castle].”

Rutledge is making his first trip to state after falling in the semistate round as a freshman. Knotts doesn’t think that the lack of state experience will be a problem for the Blue Devil sophomore.

“Levi’s experienced,” Knotts said. “He’s wrestled a lot. He’s been wrestling freestyle and Greco-Roman a lot. He’s experienced a lot but he has to step it up another level to be really successful.”

• Clinton Central junior Tye Bowman was fourth at 112 pounds in the Merrillville Semistate and faces unbeaten Brown County sophomore Mitchell Richey today.

• Hamilton Heights senior Wes Bullock finished third at New Castle in the 160-pound class and faces Evansville Memorial sophomore Tanner Wedding today.

        

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