February 21, 2015

Two Individual Champions Spur Penn To First Wrestling State Championship
Chase Osborn and Kobe Woods both completed unbeaten seasons to help spur Penn to the 2015 IHSAA Wrestling state championship at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Osborn (39-0) claimed the 182 pound state title with an 8-6 win over Western's Casey Hinkle while Kobe Woods (44-0) took a 7-2 decision from Warren Central's Courvoisier Morrow at 220 pounds. Teammate Drew Hildebrandt finished as the runner-up at 113 pounds falling 5-2 to East Noble's Garrett Pepple, who claimed his first title in his third straight appearance in a final match.

Penn scored 79 points for the weekend to claim the school's first wrestling championship. Brad Harper is the Kingsmen coach. Defending state champion Indianapolis Cathedral finished as the runner-up with 73 points, Evansville Mater Dei was third with 60, Merrillville was fourth with 52 and Lowell fifth with 45.5.

Lowell joined Penn with a pair of state champions as sophomore Colton Cummings carried off the 106 pound trophy with a 8-0 major decision over Brownsburg freshman Tyler Mills. Drew Hughes was the other Red Devil champ winning the 160 pound title with a pin of Crown Point's Darden Schurg.

New Palestine's Chad Red completed his third consecutive undefeated season winning the 126 pound title to finish 47-0. He claimed the 120 pound title last season and the 106 crown as a freshman. The junior is 139-0 for his career.

Tommy Cash of Lawrence North repeated at 138 pounds with a pin of Evansville Mater Dei freshman Joe Lee. Cash was the first of three wrestlers on the evening to pin all four opponents this weekend joining Indianapolis Cathedral's Blake Rypel at 195 and Merrillville's Shawn Streck at 285. Rypel pinned Perry Meridian's Tristen Tonte and Streck pinned Richmond's Nathon Trawich in the final match of the evening.

Mishawaka's Tommy Forte claimed this second championship of his career in his third consecutive final match appearance. The senior delivered a 9-3 decision over Lebanon's Kellen Van Camp at 152. He was the 2013 champ at 138 and was runner-up at 145 last year.

This was the first year the championship matches have been televised live as Fox Sports Indiana carried all 14 weight classes.

Attendance for the weekend: 9,928 for Friday's first round, 8,932 for Saturday's quarterfinal semifinal rounds, and 10,528 for the championship/consolation finals for a total of 29,388.

The 77th Annual IHSAA Individual Wrestling State Finals
Feb. 20-21, 2015
Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

Top 10 Teams  
1. Penn 79
2. Indianapolis Cathedral 73
3. Evansville Mater Dei 60
4. Merrillville 52
5. Lowell 45.5
T6. East Noble 37
T6. Perry Meridian 37
8. Portage 36
9. Danville 35
10. Ben Davis 33


State Championship Match Results
106: Colton Cummings (10) Lowell (45-1) def. Tyler Mills (9) Brownsburg (36-7), MD 8-0.
113: Garrett Pepple (12) East Noble (46-0) def. Drew Hildebrandt (11) Penn (38-1) dec. 5-2.
120: Brock Hudkins (11) Danville (33-0) def. Sawyer Miller (12) South Adams (44-1), SV-1 3-1.
126: Chad Red (11) New Palestine (47-0) def. Gaige Torres (11) Portage (37-3), dec. 9-2.
132: Nick Lee (10) Evansville Mater Dei (35-0) def. Jordan Vaughn (11) Franklin Central (43-6), MD 16-5.
138: Tommy Cash (12) Lawrence North (45-2) def. Joe Lee (9) Evansville Mater Dei (34-2), Fall 3:11.
145: Jacob Covaciu (11) Merrillville (44-1) def. Steven Lawrence (11) Portage (38-4), SV-1 7-5.
152: Tommy Forte (12) Mishawaka (37-0) def. Kellen VanCamp (12) Lebanon (45-2), dec. 9-3.
160: Drew Hughes (11) Lowell (44-0) def. Darden Schurg (12) Crown Point (40-4), Fall 3:06.
170: Dylan Lydy (12) Ben Davis (46-0) def. Ben Harvey (12) Indianapolis Cathedral (45-2) SV-1 3-1.
182: Chase Osborn (12) Penn (39-0) def. Corey Hinkle (12) Western (47-1), dec. 8-6.
195: Blake Rypel (11) Indianapolis Cathedral (46-0) def. Tristen Tonte (10) Perry Meridian (43-2), Fall 3:13.
220: Kobe Woods (11) Penn (44-0) def. Courvoisier Morrow (12) Warren Central (43-3), dec. 7-2.
285: Shawn Streck (11) Merrillville (46-0) def. Nathon Trawich (12) Richmond (48-3), Fall 5:34.

 

Penn's Chase Osborn wins Ward E. Brown Mental Attitude Award
Chase Osborn of Penn High School was named winner of the 2015 Ward E. Brown Mental Attitude Award by members of the IHSAA Executive Committee.

Osborn (39-0) was a finalist the last two years finishing as the state champion at 182 after a runner-up finish at 170 last year. He became the first Penn wrestler since 1971 to claim a state title. Besides four years of wrestling, he played four years of football for the Kingsmen and was a First Team Academic All-State selection.

The senior is a two year member of the Distributive Education Class and has also been involved in several volunteer projects at Penn.

He is the son of Mark and Melanie Osborn of Mishawaka. Osborn is undecided on his college choice to this point but is interested in studying marketing.

The award is named in honor of the IHSAA’s fourth commissioner (1976-1983) in 1985. Recipients of the award must be nominated by their principal and coach and must excel in mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability in the sport.

The IHSAA Executive Committee presented a scholarship check for $1,000 to Penn High School in the name of Chase Osborn. Since 1989, more than $800,000 in college scholarships have been presented to deserving high school students in Indiana.