Tickets were up for grabs very early Saturday morning as the IHSAA Goshen Wrestling Regional went right to ticket rounds for six Wawasee Warriors.

Four were able to punch their ticket to the next round of the state tournament, the Fort Wayne Semi-state next Saturday at the Memorial Coliseum.

A breakdown of the six Wawasee wrestler’s days, as well as quotes from head coach Jamie Salazar.

113 – Kaleb Salazar, 1st

Salazar didn’t give up a point in his first two matchups, completely swarming both Dominic De’Anda of West Noble and Kaiden Braden of Concord, winning by tech fall (17-0) and major decision (12-0) to advance to the finals. In a rematch of a Salazar win in November, East Noble’s Kaelan Fuller was once again opposite Salazar in the regional championship, and a blistering start had Salazar work into a quick takedown, only for the match to begin a grind to end the first. The second period was completely fueled by reversals, Salazar getting three while Fuller had two to build an 8-4 Salazar lead. Salazar gave up nothing until the final moments of the match, an inconsequential reversal in the last five seconds to conclude the match at 8-6 in favor of the Warrior senior, his third straight regional championship and fourth semi-state appearance.

“Kaleb honestly just needed a couple days to rest and heal up. His body was a little banged up so the healing time seemed to help him. We just reminded him that he belongs here, he belongs in these big moments. A lot of people in the stands and the community believe in him, he just had to make sure he was ready mentally, and he did that.”

120 – Jaxon Senter, DNQ

Senter entered his first regional with a lot of momentum following a third-place finish at last week’s sectional. Paired against Lakeland’s Zac Brown, Senter hit a shot during the first period and had a glimmer of a near fall position, but couldn’t get the hold fast enough as Brown immediately worked out for a reversal. It fell apart for Senter in the second as Brown came off bottom and worked to a takedown just 22 seconds into the frame and soon into a pin to eliminate the senior in his final high school match.

“Jax did some nice things in this tournament and you have to tip your cap to him for the work he put in to be in his first regional.”

126 – Cameron Senter, 2nd

Senter, a sectional champion a week ago, came into the regional with all the momentum in the world and looked the part in the first two rounds, scoring pins over Fremont’s Corbin McCullough and Prairie Heights’ Boston Baas to make the championship round. DeKalb’s Drew Walton spoiled a NLC and sectional rematch between Senter and NorthWood’s Will Hahn, as Waldon beat Hahn 6-2 in the semis. In the championship, Waldon played defense about as well as one could on Senter, who mounted no real offensive push in a 4-2 final in favor of the Baron.

“Cam wrestled a good match, just got stuck in a couple spots the DeKalb kid took advantage of. Not too worried about it, it was a good final for both of them.”

144 – Ethan Rodriguez, 2nd

Another one riding a wave of momentum after a big weekend at the sectional, Rodriguez was rolling after a first-round pin of Fremont’s Jacob Foster and second round fall over DeKalb’s Jadon Teague. Where Rodriguez had stayed pretty consistent in his first two wins, the same could have been said for Prairie Heights’ Brody Hagewood, who put on a clinic in the final. Hagewood immediately scored a takedown in the first and it was just on from there, getting a pair of near fall threes to end the period, then with six seconds left in the second, got a reversal directly into a near fall to take a commanding 12-0 lead. The 18-3 tech fall championship for Hagewood has him squarely among the favorites to move on as the No. 2-ranked wrestler in the Fort Wayne Semi-state.

“Ethan ran his stuff well in the first two rounds, but that kid in the final was on a mission. Hat’s off to him.”

157 – Carson Nine, DNQ

Nine has been one of the more responsive wrestlers in the Wawasee program this season. A penchant for finding wins in precarious spots, Nine has shined in the moment. He nearly did it again in his opening round match against Riley Cearbaugh of Prairie Heights. Getting into trouble on three separate occasions through the first five minutes of the match, Nine trailed 7-0 with very little hope of survival. But here came Nine, getting an escape from Cearbaugh’s takedown in the third, then somehow got a roll on the Panther into a near fall that looked like it had potential for the next chapter in Nine’s wild ride novel. But Cearbaugh managed to slither out of the cradle, leaving Nine trailing by one, and an escape made it two as time expired on Nine’s junior season.

“Man, I thought Carson was going to pull out another one, but just gave up too much before he started scoring points. He had a great season.”

190 – Donnie Blair, 1st

Blair was bound and determined this week to not just qualify for semi-state, but to win the regional outright. And he knew it was going to likely require a fifth tussle with NorthWood’s Keith Miller in the semis. And after Blair pinned Angola’s Gavin Willis in the ticket round, that fifth matchup was set up. And like the sectional semi-final, Blair didn’t allow an inch to Miller. Rare is the high school match with no scoring, but that was where these two were after two periods as Blair held Miller off bottom for a full two minutes in the second period, setting up his chance to score to start the third. And Blair did, getting the escape as the only points of a 1-0 semi-final win. That set up another sectional rematch, where Blair and Elkhart’s Kaullin Price met in the final for the second straight week. And like the sectional matchup, Blair was the aggressor and the point scorer, getting a pair of takedowns and an escape before Price could score in an eventual 5-1 win, Blair’s first regional posterboard.

“We’ve been reassuring Donnie all along that his shot is a good shot. He’s also been going through some personal things and that’s actually helping him focus on wrestling. We’re just letting him know that what has been working for him can get him to where he wants to go, just refining some things at this point. Proud of him for winning his first regional.”

Salazar, Cameron Senter, Rodriguez and Blair will move onto the Fort Wayne Semi-state, needing two wins to reach the IHSAA State Finals in two weeks. Hit up Track Wrestling for full breakdowns of the Goshen Regional and upcoming brackets for Fort Wayne.