Out of the darkness they walk — wrestlers on the verge of competing in the biggest match of their lives.
Their list of mat qualifications already announced, each strides — usually deliberately — into the rays of the spotlight focused on the center of the floor inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
A state championship is on the line, and anywhere from 10,000 to 13,000 spectators have settled into their seats, anxious to watch the state’s best.
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Introductions during the state wrestling finals are an experience like no other in Indiana high school sports, a goosebump-elevating moment that sets the stage for each championship match.
The matches take place beneath the spotlight, with the remainder of the expansive venue in near or total darkness.
“It was probably the best part of my life, but my adrenaline was going so fast that I wanted to wrestle right then,” said Burk VanHorn, a former Franklin 160-pounder whose runner-up finish as a junior in 2016 is the most recent time a Johnson County wrestler experienced the spotlight.
“Wrestling under the lights is something I had dreamed about since I was a kid,” he added.
Since 2000, Johnson County wrestlers have made the walk a total of 23 times. Three were by Ethan Raley, a 2011 Indian Creek graduate with a pair of state championships and a runner-up finish.
Raley experienced the top of the awards podium as a 103-pound freshman and at 135 as a senior.
“I loved the atmosphere. It’s just a great experience altogether,” Raley said. “It’s a whole different animal once you’re in that final match. Nerves would set in about 15 minutes before, but once I stepped on that mat I knew all the hard work I had put in was about to pay off.
“You couldn’t see the crowd, but if that’s what you’re thinking about, your head isn’t in the match.”
The spotlight tradition is believed to have started in the late 1980s, when the state finals took place inside Market Square Arena. It moved to its current home, then known as Conseco Fieldhouse, in 2000.
Franklin senior Bryce Hasseman and Whiteland senior Jason Fryar were among the first titlists in the new building at 160 and 275 pounds, respectively.
Franklin wrestler D.J. Smith advanced to the title match as a senior in 2014 and went on to defeat East Noble junior Garrett Pepple 5-3 to cap a 39-1 senior season at 113 pounds.
“It was definitely a very unique opportunity. As a high school wrestler, that’s everyone’s goal,” Smith said. “The difficult part is trying to stay focused, because it’s something you’ve never done before. But once the whistle blows, the nerves go away and it’s back to doing the same old thing.”
Last season, freshman Alec Viduya picked up Roncalli’s first individual state championship in 35 years by scoring a 7-4 victory against Jimtown’s Hunter Watts in the 113-pound final. It represented the fifth time a Rebels wrestler experienced the spotlight since 2000; Josh Kieffer did it twice, earning runner-up honors in 2009 and 2011.
Rebels second-year coach Wade McClurg, who grew up in Beech Grove, remembers his first exposure to the spotlight as a 9-year-old among the cheering throng at Market Square Arena.
“In 1998 my family went to watch Steven Bradley capture a third consecutive state championship. I will never forget longtime announcer Kevin Whitehead proclaim, ‘He’s the best, he’s the best. Three times for Beech Grove’s Steven Bradley’.
“I knew right at that moment that this was something that I wanted to be part of. It truly is the greatest spectacle in all of high school sports.”
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Local wrestlers seek state championships
For seven wrestlers from Johnson County high schools (and four more from Roncalli), the road to a state championship begins tonight with first-round matches at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.
A look at how the draw shapes up for each of the area competitors:
113 pounds
Center Grove’s Alex Petro and Roncalli’s Brayden Lowery are on different sides of the draw. Petro, ranked 12th, opens up against No. 6 Andres Moreno of Lowell, while third-ranked Lowery faces Fort Wayne Carroll’s Joe Just, the lone unranked wrestler in the bracket.
Should they advance to Saturday, Lowery’s road is the bumpier of the two. His quarterfinal opponent would be either No. 5 Blake Boarman of Evansville Mater Dei or No. 16 Danny Tolin of Chesterton — and he could face either No. 1 Brayden Curtis (Yorktown) or No. 2 Jose Diaz (Wheeler) in the semis. Petro would see either fourth-ranked Andrew Black of New Castle or No. 8 Brayden Shearer of Garrett in the quarterfinal.
120 pounds
Freshman Tyler Fuqua of Franklin faces a stern test right off the bat in his first state appearance — top-ranked Hunter Watts of Jimtown, who comes in with a sparkling 40-1 record.
Should he pull off the upset, Fuqua would move into a second-round match against either No. 4 Tylor Triana of Hobart or unranked Logan Wagner of Zionsville.
The 120-pound postseason has been fairly chaotic, with Fuqua one of five unranked wrestlers among the final 16.
126 pounds
Roncalli’s Alec Viduya, who won the 113-pound title as a freshman, is one of three former state champs in the 126-pound mix this year. The sophomore is ranked third in the class behind Asa Garcia of Portage, the 2016 champ at 106, and Cayden Rooks of Columbus East, last year’s winner at 120.
Tonight, Viduya will be up against 14th-ranked Tanner Schoeff of Central Noble. Should he win, he’d see either No. 4 Colin Poynter (Portage) or No. 12 Brycen Denny (Monrovia) in the quarterfinal round Saturday. Rooks is a potential semifinal foe, with Garcia looming as a possible opponent in the final.
160 pounds
Ranked first in his weight class all season, Center Grove’s Gleason Mappes suffered his first loss of the season against Nick South of Columbus East in the title match of the Evansville Semistate last weekend. A chance at redemption against the fifth-ranked South would have to wait until the state final, though, and the road there is a difficult one.
First, Mappes faces a tough test tonight against No. 6 Hunter Reed of Columbia City. Either No. 3 Diego Lemley (Chesterton) or No. 12 Brooks Davis (Perry Meridian) would be up next in the quarterfinal, with second-ranked Jack Eiteljorge of Carmel among the possible semifinal foes.
Mappes beat Eiteljorge and Lemley earlier this season, both by decision.
170 pounds
Elijah Mahan of Roncalli, ranked 11th, opens up tonight against third-ranked Carson Brewer of Avon. If he can survive that test, he would be up against either No. 15 Delton Moore (Manchester) or No. 18 Cody Crary (Munster) in a Saturday morning quarterfinal.
Top-ranked Noah Warren of Perry Meridian is a possible semifinal opponent, while the other side of the draw features No. 2 Zack Fattore of Hobart, No. 4 Jordan Rader of Peru and No. 5 Kameron Fuller of Jeffersonville.
195 pounds
Three locals are in the mix here — fifth-ranked Grant Goforth of Indian Creek, No. 6 Sam Hansen of Roncalli and unranked Shane Stits of Center Grove — and all three are in the top half of the bracket.
Goforth wrestles tonight against unranked Dan Wickersham of Northridge. He could face a quarterfinal matchup with Hansen, who is up against No. 15 Rockne Hurley of Penn in his first-round bout.
Stits is matched up with seventh-ranked Jackson Saveio of New Haven tonight. He would face either No. 9 Tremor Bynum (Pendleton Heights) or No. 10 Bryson Ford (Benton Central) in the second round, with Goforth or Hansen both looming as possible semifinal opponents.
220 pounds
Whiteland’s Ryan Hammond is one of two remaining unbeatens in his weight class, with the other — top-ranked Mason Parris of Lawrenceburg — a potential semifinal opponent.
First, the sixth-ranked Hammond must contend with No. 7 Landan Burton of New Palestine in his first-round match tonight. Either Chandler Schumm (Adams Central) or Nate LaFree (Plymouth), both unranked, would be up next in the quarterfinal round.
285 pounds
Garrett Curtis of Whiteland, ranked 19th and fresh off a semistate championship, opens up tonight against unranked Tyler Majors of Lawrence North. A victory would put him into the quarterfinal round against either No. 5 Donnie Crider of West Lafayette Harrison or unranked Gabe Watkins of Marion.
Possible semifinal foes for Curtis include top-ranked Isaiah McWilliams of South Bend Washington. On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 Eli Pokorney of Chesterton and No. 3 Dakota Ault of Fort Wayne North Side clash in what might be the marquee match of tonight’s first round.
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IHSAA Wrestling State Finals
At Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
Today
First round, 6 p.m.
Saturday
Quarterfinals and semifinals, 9:30 a.m.
Consolation matches, 5 p.m.
Championship matches, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets: $8 per session or $20 for both days (children 24 months and younger are free)
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