If we had a time machine available to go back to a year ago this week, we spoke about a Wawasee duo going to the IHSAA State Finals, celebrating a stack of career accomplishments with a grand finale. Two seniors who everyone expected to be there, their own pressure to perform probably their own biggest deterrents. And Kaleb Salazar and Donnie Blair both checked off their boxes, reaching the state finals to close out magnificent senior seasons and careers as Warriors.

Fast forward 362 days, and those same levels of outward expectations were not heavily placed upon our two Warriors in the state finals this year. To say that junior Derek Morrison and sophomore Cavan Tom didn’t have the ability, the drive or the makeup to reach Indianapolis as individuals is not true. We know their work ethics are high and their talent is limitless. But to put a dollar on each of their squares given their previous season or seasons, and it’s remarkable to think how far these two have come.

“I’ve just tried to stay consistent and wrestle the way I know how to wrestle,” Morrison said shortly after competing at the Fort Wayne Semi-state, his first appearance in the third leg of the state ladder. “I had to get more technical in my approach and trust in my ability.”

Morrison had an up-and-down sophomore season, often lacking confidence in his ability to score points against more accomplished opponents. That changed as a junior, as he immediately opened his season with a win at Bellmont and just continued from there. Reaching the finals of the Al Smith Invite in late December, Morrison had lost just once all season to that point, and really was coming into his own. His only major kryptonite this season has been Northridge’s Travis Henke, who owns four wins over Morrison, otherwise Morrison has lost to just two other wrestlers, and one of them Morrison got revenge over at the semi-state in North Miami’s Hartley Hoover, which drew the biggest reaction from Morrison to date.

“I’m very excited to be heading to state,” offered Morrison. “You wrestle all these tournaments, all the work in the offseason, all the sacrifices. It’s the place you want to be.”

Morrison (35-6) opens his first IHSAA State Finals against Penn’s Malachi Evans (37-8). Despite Wawasee and Penn crossing paths on a couple occasions this year, the two did not meet. Evans was fourth at the Al Smith Invite, and was third out of the East Chicago Semi-state getting two tech falls and a pin amongst his three victories last weekend. Morrison was 3-0 before running into a loss to Henke in the Fort Wayne final.

The 215 bracket is arguably the most stacked showcase of the state tournament, where 15 of the 16 finalists are ranked in the top 25 on Indiana Mat. Of those, No. 1 Noah Weaver of Rossville could likely be a second-round opponent of Morrison’s if the two both win Friday night. Weaver and Tell City’s Ethan Schraner are in the same pod as Morrison, and No. 2 Caden Brewer of Brownsburg could be a semi-final opponent.

Tom laughed about his roller coaster season shortly after taking third at the Fort Wayne Semi-state. A disappointing showing at the Northern Lakes Conference Championships was followed a week later with a sectional championship at Elkhart. The 144-pound sophomore then dropped down to fourth at the regional after taking a pair of losses following his ticket punch at Goshen. Tom wasn’t going to let his wild ride end at Fort Wayne, upsetting the top seed in his pod, Fort Wayne Snider’s Kenji Quoi, then upsetting Wabash’s Corbin Goshert in the ticket round.

No shame in a loss to No. 9 Brody Hagewood of Prairie Heights in the semis, but closing with another impressive win in the third-place match, and Tom heads to state with that winning taste.

“I was just looking to stay steady in my approach,” said the soft spoken Tom.

Tom’s weekend in Indy is going to be a tough one, at least in the opinion of Indiana Mat. Tom draws Peyton Hornsby of Center Grove (31-6) in round one, and while both were in the 144 tourney at the Al Smith, the two didn’t run into each other in the run of play. Tom bowed out of the Classic before the place rounds while Hornsby finished third, part of his lofty ranking status. Hornsby’s only loss of the semi-state was to No. 2 Tommy Gibbs of Brownsburg in the championship round.

If Tom (33-10) pulls the major upset and makes it to Saturday, he’ll potentially have to pull off the biggest upset of the tournament to keep his dream alive with a likely undefeated and unbeaten Jeffrey Huyvaert of New Prairie awaiting. No. 3 Bryce Doss of New Pal is also on the top half of the 144 bracket.

Added Tom, “Feels good to be going to state. I’m feeling like all the work is starting to pay off.”

IHSAA Wrestling State Finals
Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis
Tickets: $15/session; $30/full pass
Livestream: ihsaatv.org

Friday, Feb. 21, 2025
Session 1
1:30 pm ET – Gates open
2:30 pm ET – Parade of Champions
2:45 pm ET – Presentation of Colors and National Anthem
3 pm ET – First Round Weight Classes 106 – 144
6 pm ET – First Round Weight Classes 150 – 285

Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025
Session 2
8 am ET – Gates open
9 am ET – Quarterfinals begin with Semifinals to follow
Fieldhouse cleared of all spectators following Semifinals
Session 3
3:30 pm ET – Gates open
4:30 pm ET – Consolation matches
7 pm ET – Introductions of State Championship participants
Approx. 7:24 pm ET – Presentation of Colors and National Anthem
7:30 pm ET – State Championship matches begin