Three area Wrestlers were victorious in their opening match in The State Finals at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Bryer Hall from East Central pinned Duke Myers of Bellmont (8-4) in 1:40 in the first round of the 170 # Weight Class. Hall (32-0) will face John Purdy of New Castle (32-1) in the Quarterfinals.
Fellow Trojan teammate Kole Viel was also victorious in his opening match with a 7-2 win over Ian Clifford of Columbia City (28-4) in the 220 # Weight Class. Viel (28-3) will square off against Jason Strek of Merrillville (31-1) in the Quarterfinals.
Evan Shaffer of Connersville started his State Finals quest with a pinfall against Brock Donati of Penn (21-10) in 3:29 in the second fall. Shafer (39-0) moves on to the Quarterfinals against Brayden Erb of Western (33-1).
Four other area grapplers saw their seasons wrap up with first-round defeats on Friday. EC’s Blake Wolf (28-4) was defeated by Cheaney Schoeff of Avon (34-5) by a 7-2 score. Brother Ben Wolf of The Trojans came up short against Javen Estrada of Crown Point (30-2) by a 10-0 Majority Decision. The fifth EC grappler to participate in The State Finals, Ryan Bovard (24-8), finished his season on the short end to Eli Pack of Culver Academies (20-0) by a 15-0 Technical Fall at 4:43 in the third round. Eli Otto of South Dearborn (35-5) was defeated by Hayden Watson of Center Grove (31-4) by a 6-3 decision.
Congratulations to our Wrestlers wrapping up their seasons and the best of luck to our grapplers in their quest for a State Crown!