Wawasee senior Ethan Rodriguez is one of the major returners with a host of state tournament experience for the 2024-25 Wawasee wrestling roster. (File photo by Mike Deak)

Wawasee boys wrestling kicks off its 2024-25 campaign this evening at Bellmont, and fans will want to get a program at the door tonight in Decatur.

The Warriors bring back eight major returners, but the remainder of the roster is either a first-year or second-year athlete to the high school program, leaving plenty of question marks for second-year head coach Jamie Salazar heading into battle this season.

“The newbies are newbies for the high school program, but they have been in the feeder programs for a while now,” said Wawasee head coach Jamie Salazar. “It’s them biting at the bit and making that transition from the middle school levels to the high school. There’s a transition in size and speed up here, so we expect a few growing pains from the freshmen coming up. But having coach (Chet) Wortinger down at the middle school level, I’m not worried about much, he’s great about helping them prep to make that jump.”

Salazar, a former Wawasee High School and Manchester University standout, noted a few of the newer athletes could make an impact right away, pointing to a pair of freshmen that will dress varsity immediately in Moses Howard and Cylus Melching.

“Our younger kids have been adamant about getting in here in the preseason and working in the wrestling room, working in the weight room,” Salazar said. “I’d say about 60 percent of those kids who were coming in were freshmen. That was a very encouraging and surprising feeling to know, if anything, at least these kids will be in better shape.”

The core for the returners centers on an experienced senior class, including semi-stater Ethan Rodriguez and regional qualifier Carson Nine. Seniors Gaige Boyd, Alex Dibble, Trayvon Senders and Devin Sewell also have a host of varsity experience. Junior Cam Senter reached the state level as a freshman and semi-state as a junior, and classmates Derek Morrison and Thomas Sigsbee both have put in stretches of work at the varsity level.

“Cameron Senter comes back, he was a state qualifier two years ago and didn’t finish where he wanted last year, but he has a great mindset coming in this year,” noted Salazar. “Ethan Rodriguez was a state alternate a year ago. His loss in the semi-state was to the eventual state champion, the kid from New Haven who is committed to Rutgers. Derek Morrison, he made a lot of strides last year and was wrestling behind Donnie Blair and his run to state. He got a lot of hands-on experience, took a few shots up a weight class to get work in, and was impressive in some spots.”

Wawasee will have its two annual home invitationals, the November Duals on the 30th, and the December Duals just ahead of the Christmas holiday week, Dec. 21. While the program will maintain status with participants in the Al Smith Invite, pound-for-pound the toughest bracket gauntlet in the state, but Wawasee did not re-up in the IHSWCA Team State tournament. Wawasee will entertain East Noble (12/5), Concord (12/19) and Mishawaka (1/15) at the Hardwood Teepee in dual matches, the NLC will start the postseason run on Jan. 18 at Northridge, and the IHSAA Sectional kicks off the state series Feb. 1 at Elkhart.

“I kinda hate that we don’t have the Team State on the schedule, but we do still have the Al Smith, and it’ll give us some time to refocus a little after the holiday break,” noted Salazar. “You always want to be going up against the best of the best, and we got that with the Team State, but hey, it is what it is. We’ll keep working hard, keep getting better.”

Offered Salazar as an overview, “This year is somewhat of a coin flip for us. We don’t have that series of names that have been in the room forever, but we do have a few very strong returners and some kids we think can be that next generation of leaders in our program.”