Redemption. That’s all that can be said about the feelings for the Wawasee wrestling program heading into the Plymouth Sectional this weekend.

The kids are aware. The coaches are aware. The fan base is aware. And it’s time to bring the trophy back to Syracuse.

Brackets were released Thursday after Wednesday night’s seeding meeting, and Wawasee head coach Frank Bumgardner took some time to offer thoughts on each of the 14 brackets at Plymouth. Action at Plymouth is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., the top four individuals from each weight class will qualify for the Penn Regional on Feb. 4, their finish pitted against the Mishawaka Sectional placer (1 v 4, 2 v 3).

We’ll start with 106, where Kaleb Salazar will lead off against Plymouth’s Jaden Eskew. We’ll continue down the list to 285 in the same manner.

106 first round: Kaleb Salazar (27-4) v. Jaden Eskew of Plymouth (2-7)
Optics: The bracket is Salazar’s to win in his quest for a first state finals appearance. A potential NLC finals rematch could pit Salazar against Warsaw’s Bryce McNees in Plymouth’s final.
Bum: “We’ve seen Eskew before and Kaleb has a pin against her. He just needs to go out and take care of business. Score pins on the way through.”

113 first round: Cam Senter (23-8) v. Drake Shilling of Warsaw (8-13)
Optics: The bracket won’t be a walk through for the defending NLC champ, as Senter could have to beat Plymouth’s Alonzo Chantea and the Academy’s Cole Meiser to get the posterboard.
Bum: “The Academy kid and Cam grew up wrestling together, he’s OK. If Cam is on, he’ll be fine. Against Warsaw, we just have to get out quick and dominate. Chantea is a tough kid, he’s good. That could be a good semi-final.”

120 first round: Luke Stuckman (6-5) v. Connor Olesen of Triton (2-8)
Optics: A really good draw for Stuckman, who has part-timed with the starting lineup the second half of the season, and now has to win just one match to be a regional qualifier. Elias Garza of Warsaw sits atop the bracket, Braxton White of Plymouth as a potential semi-final for Stuckman.
Bum: “We saw this bracket unfold, it’s an amazing draw. It’s huge for Luke. Just one win gets him to the next round. Even if he loses a semi, he’s still in good shape against potentially Bremen or Academy.”

126 first round: Colten Sutton (9-9) v. Emily Jones of Triton (5-16)
Optics: Sutton gets the top seed in the bracket on the strength of working over Warsaw’s Isaiah Martinez at the NLC two weeks ago, Martinez the two-seed in the grid. Sutton needs just a win over Jones to reach the regional, a big step in what has been a much more productive second half of the year.
Bum: “He just can’t lose focus. It’s helped him to win matches, build that confidence, and he needs to continue that this weekend. It’s all right there in front of him, he can be a sectional champ if he focuses on the task at hand. He’s in a better spot mentally, he’s turned to faith and has a bigger understanding of what’s happening. He’s got a lot of good people around him.”

132 first round: Titus Taylor (19-7) v. Kyle Cummins of Triton (9-19) or Jonah Skiles of LaVille (21-12)
Optics: Taylor is the lone competitor at 32 who will have to wait to find out who he will deal with first, drawing a bye to the quarters. Whether its Triton or LaVille, Taylor has a good shot to likely see Valley’s Galvin Shambaugh in the semis, the seasoned senior Shambaugh one of the better competitors off Valley’s roster. Up top is Bremen’s Reece Greene and Plymouth’s Chris Firebaugh, both with 20-plus win seasons under their belts to date.
Bum: “I feel like whoever comes out of the bottom of the bracket is going to win it. Titus has beaten Firebaugh already, did it at the NLCs to get to the final in a match that wasn’t even as close as the scoreboard stated. What matters for Titus is just stay focused, try to limit mistakes and he should be fine.”

138 first round: Logan Stuckman (24-6) v. Braxton Yates of Triton (7-10) or Brayden Reed of LaVille (15-12)
Optics: This bracket is Stuckman’s to win. No offense to the others, but with a forfeit into the semis and a top seed with a lot of green underneath, Stuckman should find himself in the title match, likely against a Seth Wright of Plymouth whom Stuckman has beaten handily this year.
Bum: “We’ve seen this match 100 times before and we know how this is going to go. That’s from the Plymouth coach…”

145 first round: Ethan Rodriguez (24-7) v. Dylan Goff of Bremen (8-17)
Optics: Rodriguez has two matches to win to get to the ticket round, and needs to take care of business against Bremen and then Kevin Huang of Culver Academy. Should Rodriguez get three wins, he’ll get a rematch with highly-ranked Wesley Smith of Plymouth, whose only loss this season is to Aiden Torres (at the Al Smith, 4-1), who is the top-ranked 45 competitor in the state.
Bum: “Ethan has to win early, plain and simple. Get ready from the start, go and attack. This is an opportunity for us to score some bonus, get some takedowns, get some pins and then go see what happens against Wesley in the final.”

152 first round: Hunter Miller (27-4) v. Luca Giordano of Plymouth (4-5)
Optics: Getting to the championship and winning it shouldn’t be out of the spectrum for Miller, just staying healthy after a rough trip through the NLC tournament was an outgoing concern for the senior. After a couple weeks on the mend, Miller could have a good dual in the semis against Warsaw’s Danny Moon before a possible clash with LaVille’s Justin Brown in the final.
Bum: “In several coach’s opinions, Danny Moon was the second best kid in the bracket. We’ll see him in the semis, but Hunter just needs to separate and score a lot of points along the way.”

160 first round: Carson Nine (10-14) v. Bryson Brown of Warsaw (17-12)
Optics: For as much as Warsaw and Wawasee seem like they see each other, Nine and Brown haven’t met this season. Nine has several good wins, and a few stinkers mixed in and could use a redux of last year’s sectional success to spring him into the regional round for a second straight season. Mason Slepp of LaVille is the top seed and would be Nine’s semi-final. An upset there could pit Nine against Plymouth’s Cadyn Smith in the title match.
Bum: “We see a lot of paths for Carson to get to the regional. If he beat’s Warsaw, it’s just the one win. If he has to get back, there are still a lot of options, which set up well for him to succeed even with a loss.”

170 first round: Gavin Malone (27-4) v. Ethan Sailors of LaVille (7-5) or Nolan James of Bremen (18-12)
Optics: Malone has already earned a regional berth as the top seed by way of two forfeits in his pod. So his first match will be a semi-final. Win and its the final against potentially Elijah Cox of Triton, who wrestled Cam Zimmerman at 170 in last year’s sectional final. Justin Garrett of Plymouth is also lurking on the bottom half of the bracket.
Bum: “This weekend we need to just dominate this bracket, score a lot of points. No worries of getting to the final, and we like our chances against Cox if he gets there. That match last year Zimmy was able to blow that championship open late and win it.”

182 first round: Cam Zimmerman (19-7) v. Vincent Prater of Triton (19-10)
Optics: A pair of 19-match winners meet for a chance to advance. Winner gets LaVille’s Jon Ziola in the semis, who is the top seed, and Zimmy avoids both the NLC contenders – Warsaw’s Coo Walters and Plymouth’s Matt McCrum – who land on the bottom half of the breakdown.
Bum: “We were really happy with how this one drew out. Zimmy can beat the LaVille kid. We put pressure on him from the opening whistle, Ziola doesn’t like that style, which Zimmy obviously is really good at. Let McCrum and Walters fight it out on the bottom side, we’ll see them in the final.”

195 first round: Donnie Blair (22-10) v. Esai Lemler of Triton (18-9)
Optics: Blair has a tough road to hoe to get a sectional championship out of possibly the most balanced bracket in the tournament. A win over Lemler gets Blair to Penn next week, but also gets him a date with Valley’s Bazle Owens in the semis, who is once again having a big season. Nathan Rosas of Warsaw and Paul Dewitt of LaVille are also having nice campaigns, Rosas beating Blair at the NLCs head-to-head.
Bum: “This is not an ideal spot to be in for the bracket. We thought Bazle and Donnie were the top two, but the loss to Warsaw at the NLC absolutely killed that. We feel good if we get Warsaw in a rematch, but we have to beat the Valley kid first, and he’s tough. He’s having a good season. Bottom line is Donnie just needs to be ready for whoever is in front of him, he can still win this bracket.”

220 first round: Derek Morrison (7-18) v. Dalton Alber of Tippecanoe Valley (28-5)
Optics: Morrison has been really close to breaking through on several occasions, but just hasn’t gotten over the hump yet. It’s coming. His first-round match with Alber is tough, the Valley junior claiming 28 wins and has been impressive. The top half has an undefeated Jon Neese of LaVille leading the way.
Bum: “Go get ’em. There’s a lot of cliché stuff you can say here, but you never know. The numbers are what they are. This isn’t a great bracket for Derek to get through, and the path to get back isn’t great either. But you never know.”

285 first round: Eleazar Vazquez (12-17) v. Alex McFadden of LaVille (10-5)
Optics: Much like Morrison, Vazquez will have to pull off a major upset to get to next week. While there is a good shot against McFadden, the ticket round will be against top seed Tony Popi of Plymouth, the newly crowned champ of the NLC. One match at a time for X.
Bum: “All things considered, Eli didn’t have a great week of practice this week. Can he put it together? Sure. But it’s Popi’s bracket to lose here and I think everyone knows that.”