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Record-Setting Brownsburg dominates on its way to Repeat Title
INDIANAPOLIS – Historic. Dominating. Inspiring.
The nationally-ranked Brownsburg Bulldogs obliterated the record books during the 87th annual IHSAA boys wrestling state finals held inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday with a repeat run for the ages.
The Bulldogs crushed the state finals record for team points accumulated with 243, which toppled Crown Point’s previous championship mark of 178 in 2022, and tied Bloomington with seven individual state champions, a record set in 1949, to capture the program’s third state title all-time.
Brownsburg won the team state title last year inside Evansville’s Ford Center. For the encore in Indianapolis, the Bulldogs, who are ranked 17th in the nation by FloWrestling, tied a state record with eight championship-match qualifiers to outpace runner-up Center Grove (115.0).
The last teams to reach that qualifier feat were Terre Haute Wiley in 1923 and Bloomington in 1949.
Among Brownsburg’s seven weight-class champions, two were repeat winners, including the state’s 11th four-timer Jake Hockaday (23-0), who added a second straight 132-pound crown to his 106-pound title in 2022 and 120-pound run in 2023.
The Bulldogs’ 11 state qualifiers each advanced into the semifinals, as the program rolled to 22-0 to start through the first two rounds with no competitor placing lower than fourth.
Sophomore Braylon Reynolds (37-5) was runner-up at 138, while senior Caden Brewer (36-4) was third at 215, senior Maximus Forrester (37-4) was third at 285 and senior Mason Day (31-10) was fourth at 157.
“It’s representative of how hard we work in the room. We’re constantly grinding every day, focusing on getting better and the outcome shows,” Brownsburg top-ranked junior Revin Dickman said. “We wear our pride on our backs well. We don’t showboat. We’re not out there being rude. We’re out there to have fun and show what we have.”
The Bulldogs won their first four championship matches and their final three with fourth-ranked freshman, according to IndianaMat, Traevon Ducking (37-5) kicking off the run at 106.
Top-ranked freshman Case Bell (38-3) won the 113 title, followed by Dickman (28-1), a Virginia Tech recruit, at 120, marking the third straight state championship (106 in 2023, 113 in 2024) for the fifth-ranked wrestler in the nation.
Junior Tommy Gibbs (34-4) pinned to win at 144. Top-ranked senior Gunner Henry, a Wyoming commit, was first at 190, and fifth-ranked junior Parker Reynolds (32-7) won at 150.
Brownsburg posted 15 wins by decision, 10 by technical fall, eight by major decision and six by fall through the state finals with three decisions, two majors, a tech fall and a pin in the championship finals. The Bulldogs increased their all-time individual state championship total from 14 to 21 in one day.
“As well as they wrestled all year, tournament time came, and they elevated their game each week. I don’t even know if I can comprehend what they did today. To get 11 in the semis and eight in the finals and seven champs,” Brownsburg head coach Darrick Snyder said. “I did a lot of potential mockups, and that was pretty incredible.”
For Hockaday, a Nebraska commit, his run at four was record-setting and a testament to perseverance.
The nation’s fourth-ranked wrestler broke the state finals team scoring mark in the semifinals with his first of two wins by major decision following a pair of tech falls to start.
Remarkably, Hockaday became the state’s first four-timer since Crown Point’s Jesse Mendez (2019-2022) on one leg after suffering a severe knee injury on the first day of season practice.
With a fully torn anterior cruciate ligament, a torn meniscus and damage to his medial collateral ligament, Hockaday didn’t compete until December but found a way to finish the year unbeaten.
“I wasn’t really a hand fighter. I was more of a slick wrestler. This year, I had to become stingy, a mean wrestler to score with this,” said Hockaday, who intends to redshirt his initial year at Nebraska. “It happened for a reason. It was a blessing. The first night it happened I didn’t believe it. I was with my brother (Ryan). I wrapped it up in a bunch of tape. I have a video of it on my phone. I went out to the barn, and I was just hobbling around and fighting him on the mat. Bunch of pain. But it ended up working out.”
By solidifying his Greco-Roman style and hand combat techniques, Hockaday won his 136th career match with his knee supported by a brace and wrapped in a sleeve.
“Once we got the results back on his knee it was worst-case scenario, and I knew I wanted to talk to him, so I pulled him off to the side and I just said, ‘How are you doing? How are you handling this?’ And he said, ‘I have to think there’s a reason for this. I think this is so I can learn how to deal with adversity better, and so I can get better at my hand fighting for college,’” Snyder said. “I just took a step back and thought, man, if I was in that situation, I’d been angry, sad, and the entire time he has just turned it into a positive. We just kept saying, what a story. What a story this is going to be at the end of the year.”
Parker Reynolds, who was diagnosed with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome as a freshman, had surgery to address his condition two years ago and placed sixth at 144 as a sophomore. Prior to the state finals this weekend, Reynolds was involved in a car accident, which resulted in a hand injury.
“They told him he was never wrestling again, and he was patient and relentless in his rehab to get back on the mat,” Snyder said. “It was incredibly stressful and made a tough ending to his freshman year. I remember when he placed sixth last year, and we were standing on the floor, I said, ‘Parker, we’re going to come back next year at 100 percent. We got sixth at 75 percent.’ He goes, ‘Coach, I think I’m more around 60 percent.’”
At state, the two-time placer was at a similar percentage.
“His best move, everybody in the state knows, is the tilt. He couldn’t tilt the whole tournament because he didn’t have any grip on it, so it’s pretty cool that he was able to have this performance not being able to run his bread and butter,” said Synder, who also missed more than a month this season due to knee surgery and an ensuing infection.
The Bulldogs simply found a way.
“This team is just insane. Everybody on this team was laser focused. Prior years, we might have been coming off the rails towards the end of the season just wanting to get it done, but everybody here is locked in and loves wrestling,” Hockaday said. “It’s just dynasty now. Not even a family. Dynasty.”
Wildcats’ Schaefer Halts Bulldogs’ history
Evansville Mater Dei senior Isaiah Schaefer (43-3) wasn’t thinking about Brownsburg’s pursuit at state finals history, but a late third-period flurry during his 138-pound championship final provided the stopper.
With Brownsburg winning its first four of eight finals appearances prior, Schaefer capped the Bulldogs at seven weight-class titles behind a four-point swing in his match’s final 10 seconds.
Up 3-0 and later 3-1 to end the first period, Schaefer’s advantage flipped to a 5-3 deficit after Braylon Reynolds turned the tide with an escape and a takedown in the first 19 seconds of the second period.
Immediately following a stalling penalty point awarded to Schaefer, the four-time state-place winner went on the offensive with a takedown before the final horn to secure a 7-5 win by decision.
“I don’t know. It’s still really a blur for me,” Schaefer said. “I stopped thinking and started wrestling, and good things happen when you just wrestle. He’s a great competitor. Guys like that make me so much better. I’m so grateful for him. He has a bright future.”
Schaefer, the Wildcats’ 35th state champion all-time, beat Reynolds by decision 10-3 during the IHSWCA team state last month but lost to the two-time state place-winner in overtime, 7-4, during the Evansville Semi-State finals last weekend.
His clutch instincts secured his first state championship after placing seventh at 106 in 2022, seventh at 120 in 2023 and second at 126 in 2024.
“It feels great. I honestly wasn’t ready last year, and I think losing that state finals match was probably the best thing to ever happen to me,” the Purdue commit said following his 154th career win. “I’m just so grateful because it’s so much more about the community and how much work has been put in. I’m just like the face of that.”
No More Runner-Up
Four of five wrestlers that placed runner-up last year went home with state titles this time around, including Avon junior Nathan Rioux (44-1) at 126 and Merrillville senior Adrian Pellot (45-0) at 165.
Pellot, a Purdue commit, won his 140th career match by upholding his top-state ranking with a 9-6 decision in the finals against third-ranked Carmel senior Michael Major (40-4).
Pellot trailed Major 4-0 before slicing the margin to 4-3. The Pirates’ 14th state champion all-time prevailed with two unanswered takedowns. In 2023, Pellot was seventh at 152 and second at 157 in 2024.
Rioux, a state runner-up at 106 and 113 the past two years, lost to top-ranked Crown Point senior Gavin Jendreas (36-3) by decision 7-1 on Dec. 21.
In the rematch under the championship spotlight, second-ranked Rioux fought off a late takedown attempt by the Indiana University recruit in the final seconds to win by decision 4-1.
“It means a lot to do it. My brother (Luke Rioux) won it last year at the same weight so going back-to-back with him is so nice,” Rioux said. “Falling short the past two years motivated me so much more to finally go get this one.”
Luke Rioux was a two-time state-place winner in his prep career (sixth at 106 in 2022), while the eldest of the five brothers, Raymond, who wrestles at UIndy, was state runner-up at 126 twice (2019, 2020), sixth at 106 (2017) and third at 120 (2018).
Rising Stars Shine
A pair of freshmen collected their first state medals Saturday.
New Prairie’s Matthew Staples (45-0) won the 157 title and Lowell’s Kameron Hazelett (40-1) won at 285, as each defeated seniors in the finals to win.
Staples defended his top-state ranking with a 4-1 decision in the finals against three-time state placer Christian Arberry (41-4) of Warren Central.
Fifth-ranked Hazelett stymied top-ranked Lucas Szymborski of Crown Point (27-5) in the finals by decision 4-0, marking his fourth win in five matches against the Ball State football recruit.
Szymborski was a two-time state champion (170 and 190) at Cleveland High School in Tennessee with 157 career wins and a third-place finish at 160 in 2022.
More the Merrier for Cressell, Weaver
Warren Central junior Waylon Cressell (47-2) and Rossville senior Noah Weaver (49-1) each won their second straight state titles on Saturday.
Cressell, a Northern Iowa commit, won by tech fall in the 175-pound finals after winning the 165 title in 2024. The top-ranked Warrior was a North Dakota state champion at 170 in 2023 (West Fargo HS).
Weaver, who claimed his school’s first individual state title at 190 in 2024, scored a tech fall win in the 215 finals for his second overall. The top-ranked Purdue commit finished with 176 wins in his career.
Fastest Pins, Facts
The fastest pin at the state finals went to Brownsburg’s Case Bell in 24 seconds during his 113-pound opening round match … Bloomington South’s Evan Roudebush, a West Point commit, had the most pins (3) in the fastest total time (2:35) … Leo’s Isaiah Coolman and Roncalli’s Blake Getz had three pins apiece to tie for most … Brownsburg’s Tommy Gibbs had the fastest tech fall in 1:15.
Noah Weaver earns Ward E. Brown Mental Attitude Award
Senior Noah Weaver of Rossville High School was recognized by the IHSAA Executive Committee as this year’s recipient of the Mental Attitude Award, named in honor of Ward E. Brown.
Each year the Executive Committee selects a senior who was nominated by his principal and coach and was determined to have best demonstrated mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability during his four years of high school.
Weaver capped off his career tonight in the 215-pound state championship match a year after winning the 190 crown. He will finish his high school career an impressive 173-9 (or 172-10 with a loss).
Weaver is president of his class and the projected valedictorian with a GPA of 4.286. He volunteers with Local Heroes as a student mentor, is a 4-year member of 4-H, and is a part of Oakland Christian Church’s Media Team where he supervises the audio/visual team and manages live-streaming services.
He is the son of Matt and Nicole Weaver of Frankfort, Indiana and plans to attend Purdue University and major in Computer Science.
Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the proud corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented $1,000 to Rossville High School’s general scholarship fund in the name of Noah Weaver.
The award is named in honor of Ward E. Brown, the IHSAA's fourth commissioner who served from 1969-76.
87th Annual IHSAA Boys Wrestling State Finals
Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
Feb. 21-22, 2025
Top 10 Team Scores
1. Brownsburg 243
2. Center Grove 115
3. Crown Point 95.5
4. Avon 73.5
5. Warren Central 64
6. Lowell 55
7. Delta 52.5
T8. New Prairie 39
T8. Roncalli 39
10. Evansville Mater Dei 38
State Championship Results
106: Traevon Ducking (9) Brownsburg (37-5) def. Daniel Brown, Jr. (9) Center Grove (35-8) 8-1
113: Case Bell (9) Brownsburg (38-3) def. Peyton Schoettle (11) Roncalli (42-1) 8-3
120: Revin Dickman (11) Brownsburg (28-1) def. Mason Goelz (11) Avon (35-9) TF 17-0
126: Nathan Rioux (11) Avon (44-1) def. Gavin Jendreas (12) Crown Point (36-3) 4-1
132: Jake Hockaday (12) Brownsburg (23-0) def. Eddie Goss (12) Center Grove (32-8) MD 16-4
138: Isaiah Schaefer (12) Evansville Mater Dei (43-3) def. Braylon Reynolds (10) Brownsburg (37-5) 7-5
144: Tommy Gibbs (11) Brownsburg (34-4) def. Peyton Hornsby (10) Center Grove (34-7) Fall 0:38
150: Parker Reynolds (11) Brownsburg (32-7) def. Michael Ortega (12) Portage (41-5) 9-6
157: Matthew Staples (9) New Prairie (45-0) def. Christian Arberry (12) Warren Central (41-4) 4-1
165: Adrian Pellot (12) Merrillville (45-0) def. Michael Major (12) Carmel (40-4) 9-6
175: Waylon Cressell (11) Warren Central (47-2) def. Julian Weems (12) Center Grove (41-3) TF 16-1
190: Gunner Henry (12) Brownsburg (36-3) def. Michael White (11) Lawrence North (44-2) MD 16-5
215: Noah Weaver (12) Rossville (49-1) def. Jayden Bartoszek (12) Hanover Central (46-3) TF 17-2
285: Kameron Hazelett (9) Lowell (40-1) def. Lucas Szymborski (12) Crown Point (27-5) 4-0