News

WRESTLING SECTIONALS BEGIN SATURDAY
The start of the winter state tournament season is marked this Saturday at 32 sectional sites in the 73rd Annual IHSAA Wrestling State Tournament Series.

Three hundred and thirteen schools will be represented this weekend by 5,888 athletes with the top four contestants in each of the 14 weight classes advancing to one of 16 individual regionals on Saturday, Feb. 5.

While competing as individuals, participants also will be accumulating points for their school on Saturday as the championship school will advance its entire team into the separate team tournament. The 16th annual team tournament begins with regionals on Wednesday, Feb. 2, at eight locations. Pairings were announced last Thursday.

Results from Saturday’s wrestling sectionals will be posted at www.ihsaa.org as they become available from the host sites.

73rd Annual Individual Wrestling State Tournament
Sectionals
Date: Saturday, Jan. 29, 2011.
Admission: $5.
Advancement: The top four place winners in each weight class advance to the regional tournament. Also, the championship team in the individual sectional tournament advances to the regional round of the team tournament.
Individual State Tournament | Team State Tournament

Notables

Defending Sectional Team Champions
Avon, Bellmont, Bloomington South, Castle, Crown Point, Eastern (Greentown), Evansville Mater Dei, Fountain Central, Franklin Community, Hamilton Southeastern, Harrison (West Lafayette), Homestead, Indianapolis Cathedral, Jasper, Jeffersonville, Jennings County, Jimtown, Logansport, Merrillville, Mishawaka, Munster, New Castle, Noblesville, Perry Meridian, Peru, Portage, Prairie Heights, Roncalli, South Dearborn, Wawasee, Whitko, Yorktown.

Active Sectional Championship Streaks (3 or more years)
34: Evansville Mater Dei.
20: Bellmont.
11: Mishawaka, Perry Meridian.
8: Castle, Crown Point.
6: Merrillville.
5: Indianapolis Cathedral, New Castle, Yorktown.
4: Peru.
3: Avon, Munster.

Most Consecutive Sectional Championships
34 by Evansville Mater Dei, 1977-2010.

Top 10 All-Time Sectional Championships
40: Evansville Mater Dei.
36: Bellmont, New Castle.
33: Bloomington South.
30: Indianapolis Cathedral, Lafayette Jefferson, Logansport.
29: Castle, Hobart.
28: Jasper, Richmond.

 

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HOOSIER HIGH SCHOOL CONNECTIONS TO SUPER BOWL XLV
Two players and a strength coach who prepped in Indiana high schools are among the teams that will square off in Super Bowl XLV on Sunday, Feb. 6, in North Texas.

Harding High School’s Trai Essex, a 2001 graduate, is in his sixth year as a member of the AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers providing depth this season at both guard positions. Essex was an all-state football player for the Hawks and an all-conference selection as a junior in basketball.

Merrillville High School product Mike Neal, a 2005 graduate, is a rookie defensive end currently on the injured reserve list for the NFC champion Green Bay Packers. Neal was an all-state football player as a prep senior and also lettered twice in basketball before going on to play football at Purdue.

Mark Lovat, the Packers Strength and Conditioning Coordinator, is a 1988 Carmel High School graduate where he played baseball and was a member of the Greyhounds 1986 Class 5A state championship football team. He went on to play baseball at Butler where he graduated in 1992.

Four others that played collegiately in-state include Steelers wide receiver Antwaan Randle El, who played at Indiana from 1998-2001; Arnaz Battle, another Steelers wide out who played at Notre Dame from 1998-2001 and; second year tight end Eugene Bright, a Steelers practice squad member who played at Purdue from 2004-07. Ryan Grant, a fourth year player out of Notre Dame during the 2001-04 seasons, is currently on Green Bay’s injured reserve list.

Five coaches involved in the big game also have spent time inside the state lines.

Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Bruce Arians was once a Colts assistant coach while Randy Fichtner, the team’s quarterbacks coach, is a Purdue graduate and also coached wide receivers in West Lafayette.

Tom Clements, the Green Bay quarterbacks coach, played at Notre Dame and was an assistant coach there. Jimmy Robinson, who mentors the Green Bay wide receivers, spent one season with the Colts organization in the same capacity. Mike Trgovac works as defensive line coach and also held the same job at Ball State and Notre Dame.

Thanks to IHSAA Athletic Administration intern Drew DeHaven, a Delta High School and Ball State University graduate, for researching this information from each team’s respective NFL website.

 

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GIRLS BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT PAIRINGS SHOW THIS SUNDAY
First round sectional matchups in the 36th Annual IHSAA Girls Basketball State Tournament presented by Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance will be announced this Sunday (Jan. 30), beginning at 7 pm ET / 6 pm CT.

The state tournament pairings shows may be seen on television, heard on radio or viewed via webstream at www.ihsaatv.org.

Seven affiliates of the IHSAA Champions Television Network (listed below) will air the 90-minute show throughout the state originating from the Indianapolis studios of WTTV-4, the network’s flagship. Jerry Baker along with Western girls basketball coach Kathie Layden, will host the program.

Listeners also may tune into any of the affiliates of the IHSAA/Methodist Sports Medicine Championship Radio Network (also listed below). Bob Lovell will be the voice announcing the pairings for that program.

At approximately 8:30 pm ET / 7:30 pm CT, complete brackets will be available on the IHSAA website.

The boys basketball tournament draw is scheduled for Sunday, February 20 at 7 pm ET / 6 pm CT.

IHSAA Champions Television Network Affiliates
Clarksville, “Indiana’s 9” WNDA-9.
Evansville, “News 25” WEHT-25.
Fort Wayne, “Indiana’s NewsCenter” WISE-33.
Indianapolis, “Indiana’s 4” WTTV-4.
Kokomo, WTTK-29.
Merrillville, “Lakeshore Public Television”, WYIN-17.
South Bend, WHME-46.

IHSAA/Methodist Sports Medicine Championship Radio Network

License City, State	Call Letters	Frequency	Band
Austin, IN	WXKU	92.7	FM
Batesville, IN	WRBI	103.9	FM
Berne, IN	WZBD	92.7	FM
Boonville, IN	WBNL	1540	AM
Centerville, IN	WHON	930	AM
Crawfordsville, IN	WCDQ	106.3	FM
Crawfordsville, IN	WIMC	103.9	FM
Elkhart, IN	WCMR	1270	AM
Elkhart, IN	WCMR	105.3	FM
Evansville, IN	WGBF	1280	AM
Ferdinand, IN	WQKZ	98.5	FM
Greencastle, IN	WREB	94.3	FM
Hammond, IN	WJOB	1230	AM
Indianapolis, IN	WFNI	1070	AM
Jasper, IN	WITZ	104.7	FM
Kendallville, IN	WAWK	1140	AM
Loogootee, IN	WRZR	94.5	FM
Louisville, KY	WKJK	1080	AM
Louisville, KY	WKRD	790	AM
Madison, IN	WORX	96.7	FM
Michigan City, IN	WEFM	95.9	FM
Mt. Vernon, IN	WRCY	1590	AM
Mt. Vernon, IN	WYFX	106.7	FM
New Albany, IN	WNDA	1570	AM
Plymouth, IN	WTCA	1050	AM
Portland, IN	WPGW	1440	AM
Portland, IN	WPGW	100.9	FM
Rensselaer, IN	WLQI	97.7	FM
Richmond, IN	WKBV	1490	AM
Rochester, IN	WROI	92.1	FM
Rockville, IN	WAXI	104.9	FM
Santa Claus, IN	WAXL	103.3	FM
Shelbyville, IN	WSVX	1520	AM
Shelbyville, IN	WSVX	96.5	FM
Sullivan, IN	WNDI	95.3	FM
Warsaw, IN	WRSW	1400	AM
Warsaw, IN	WRSW	107.3	FM
Washington, IN	WAMW	107.9	FM
Washington, IN	WAMW	1580	AM
Winchester, IN	WZZY	98.3	FM

 

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STATE STATISTICAL LEADERS
The following lists of statistical leaders are compiled by VarVee.com, the IHSAA’s official statistics gathering partner. The IHSAA encourages each of its member schools to participate by registering at www.varvee.com and updating statistics by each Monday through the end of the season.

Girls Swimming & Diving: State Leaders
Boys Swimming & Diving: State Leaders
Wrestling: State Leaders
Girls Basketball: State Leaders
Boys Basketball: State Leaders

 

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NEWS & NOTES FROM AROUND THE STATE
Have an interesting note? A conference or school record, coaching milestone or something else of interest? Please e-mail IHSAA Sports Information Director Jason Wille at jwille@ihsaa.org.

Fort Wayne South Side junior Rapheal Davis scored a school record 53 points in a 79-72 loss at Fort Wayne Northrop on Jan. 18. Davis broke the former record of Tom Bolyard, whose previous mark was 48 points. Davis was 25 of 27 from the free-throw line, while hitting 11 field goals and two three-pointers. Northrop was led by sophomore Bryson Scott’s 30 points. Davis’ output was the second-highest point total this season just behind Oregon-Davis’ Zach Richie who poured in 55 in a Dec. 15 game.

The Greenfield-Central men’s basketball team set a new school record connecting on 20 straight free throws in the Cougars 69-62 win over Shelbyville on Jan. 22.

The Greenfield-Central wrestling team set a new school record for most wins in a season with 21. The team stands at 21-5 for the season. Josh Holden recorded his 100th career coaching victory this past Saturday when the team defeated Mt. Vernon.

On Nov. 11th, Rensselaer Central Lady Bomber basketball coach Jeff Marlow won his 100th career game with a victory over North White 64-31. Marlow is currently in his 12th season overall, and eighth with the Lady Bombers.

On Dec. 18th, Rensselaer Central senior forward Allie Mattocks set a new school record with seven three-pointers in a game at Sheridan. The school record helped Mattocks score a career high 35 in Rensselaer Central's 54-52 Hoosier Conference victory. Three days later, sophomore center Emilie Ziese set a new school record with six blocked shots in a game. The effort came in a 45-39 win over Calumet at home.

The Penn girls swimming team won their 16th consecutive Northern Indiana Conference (NIC) championship with 124 consecutive dual meet victories dating to 1995. The NIC record is held by Elkhart Central which won 126 consecutive duals in 14 years (1981 to 1995) under Hall of Fame coach Karen Leeth. Penn’s string of victories has been led by three coaches, Lisa Bottorff, Dan Vogelgesang and current coach, Jess Preston.