Two hundred twenty-four (224) wrestlers in all, 16 in each of the 14 weight classes, will begin the first-round competition on Friday. Two sessions will be used with weight classes 152-285 beginning at 11
am ET and weight classes 106-145 beginning at 7 pm ET. First-round winners will return to wrestle on Saturday with quarterfinal action beginning at 9:30 am ET and semifinal matches to follow after
all weight classes have concluded. Consolation bouts begin at 5 pm ET and championship matches under the spotlight are scheduled for 7:30 pm ET.
Team scoring will begin with Friday night’s preliminary matches. Scoring, per National Federation (NFHS) rules, will go to eight places and, additionally, two (2) advancement points will be awarded
per match for a championship bracket victory while one (1) point is earned for advancement in the consolation bracket.
Finally, points will be awarded to the top eight place-winners: 1st place: 16 points; 2nd place: 12 points; 3rd place: 9 points; 4th place: 7 points; 5th place: 5 points; 6th place: 3 points; 7th place: 2 points;
8th place: 1 point. In Six of last year’s state champions return, including one who hopes to join the elite list of four-time state champions, headlining this year’s field at the newly renovated and renamed Gainbridge
Fieldhouse.
Crown Point senior Jesse Mendez (37-0) returns as a three-time state champion and is the defending winner in the 138-pound class. He also won the 126-pound crown as a freshman and the 132 class as
a sophomore in 2020. Should he win again on Saturday night, he would become the 10th four-time winner in state history and the second from Crown Point joining Jason Tsirtsis who went 4-for-4 from
2009-12.
Cathedral senior Zeke Seltzer (39-1) is a two-time state champion and aims for his third crown this weekend. Stepping up to 132 pounds, he was last year’s 126-pound winner and the 120 pound
winner as a sophomore in 2020. He’ll also look to advance to his fourth straight championship final having finished as the runner-up at 113 in 2019. If Mendez and Seltzer advance to the championship match of their respective classes, they’ll join 20 others who have ever competed in four straight title matches.
Ashton Jackson (46-0) of LaPorte at 113, James Conway (33-0) of Floyd Central at 160, Brody Baumann (31-0) of Evansville Mater Dei at 170, and Gabe Sollars (34-2), also of Mater Dei, are all
returning state champions and have moved up one weight class from 2021. Mendez, Seltzer, Jackson, Conway, and Baumann lead a group of 19 wrestlers who enter the weekend without a loss.
Also of interest, this year’s state finals include two girls for the first time. Heather Crull of Northeastern (45-3) and Julianna Ocampo of New Haven (34-4) are both freshmen and competing in
the 106-pound class beginning on Friday evening. Kayla Miracle of Culver Academies was the first girl to compete in the state finals back in 2012. Defending State Champion Evansville Mater Dei is the defending state champion after winning the school’s 13th wrestling crown last year and it’s first since 2007. The third-ranked Wildcats are coached by Greg Schaefer and boast three semi-state champions of their six participants this weekend. Schaefer is one of only eight to win a title as both an athlete and a coach
For more info…. here is the link 2021-22 Wrestling State Finals Preview.pdf (ihsaa.org)
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