Photos by Andre B. Laird.
It might seem cliche, but there are no easy matches at the state wrestling meet.
Huntington North High School senior Logan Randle, the Woodlan semi-state champion at 112 pounds, joins four other wrestlers in that class with only one loss on the season.
Nick Cooper, the HNHS 285-pounder who qualified fourth at the Woodlan semi-state, has two undefeateds in his class, and a one-loss wrestler as well.
The state wrestling meet will start Friday night, Feb. 19, at Con-seco Fieldhouse in Indi-anapolis, with first round matches. Those advanc-ing on will wrestle on Saturday, Feb. 20.
Randle, 41-1 on the season, will start his quest for a state title against Mason Todd of Pendleton Heights. The sophomore has gone 42-3 on the year.
Cooper, a junior, will put his 27-7 record on the line against Evansville semi-state champion Tyler Daughtery of Castle in the first round. Daughtery, a senior, has wrestled to a 42-2 mark on the campaign.
Joining Randle as one-time losers at 112 are Brenden Campbell of New Castle, a sophomore who is 52-1 and the New Castle semi-state champ; Paul Beck of Mishawaka, a senior who is 44-1; Bryan Kuhn of Evansille Reitz, a senior who is 42-1; and Kyle Ayersman of Lake Central, a sopho-more with a 36-1 mark and the Merillville semi-state champion.
At 285, semi-state champions James Travis of Merillville and Ross Janney of Yorktown still have unblemished season marks. Travis, the Merillville champion, is a senior with a 41-0 mark, and Janney, the Woodlan champ, is a senior with a 48-0 mark.
Dylan McBride of Crawfordsville, the New Castle semi-state champ, has suffered only one loss in 46 matches this year.