The second season is in full swing, and the IHSAA state tournament series opened Saturday with sectional rounds across the state.
Wawasee’s new sectional home is Elkhart, and the trek now east rather than west. With it, Wawasee faced off against seven other schools, all of which Wawasee has seen this year. The brackets had Wawasee come away with four champions, a runner-up and a third-place finisher to give the Warriors six advancers to the regional round next Saturday at Goshen.
Leading the way were champions Kaleb Salazar at 113, Cam Senter at 126, Ethan Rodriguez at 144 and Donnie Blair at 190. Carson Nine was runner-up at 157 and Jaxon Senter was third at 120.
Here’s a breakdown of the six advancers with quotes from head coach Jamie Salazar.
Kaleb Salazar: Salazar drew a bye into the semis and scored a tech fall of old sparring mate Luke Stuckman of NorthWood to make the final, setting up a rematch of the NLC final with Goshen’s Cole Hinkel. And much like the NLC battle, it was nip and tuck throughout with Salazar again the better man at the end. Salazar led just 4-2 with the clock winding down in the third, but pulled a beautiful slide out of Hinkel’s hold as the Goshen star was in desperation mode to get a late takedown, and Salazar rolled the fours with his fourth consecutive sectional championship.
“When you shoot, you’re unstoppable. With Kaleb, stay on the elbows, control the attacks, stay heavy and snapdowns and attacks. When he stays with it, he’s unstoppable.”
Jaxon Senter: A decision loss in the opening round left Senter having to claw back in the get-back matches, and he did so with a pair of decisions to make the third-place match where he met Northridge’s Braxton Lechlitner. Senter came off bottom to open the third and then scored a takedown to move up 5-2 to which a chippy end of the match on Lechlitner’s part didn’t spoil Senter’s first-ever trip to the regional round. In his first-ever sectional tournament as a senior. Assistant coach and proud dad Shawn Senter noted, and confirmed by mom, Starr Senter, that the Elkhart Sectional was the first time in family history that both Senter boys made the podium in the same tournament.
“Biggest thing with Jax, he just had to believe in himself. Do what you know well, focus on what you can master. He knows what he can do and what he can’t, and that’s been working for him lately. That kid has a lot of heart. Today was his time to shine and he made the most of it.”
Cameron Senter: What shaped up to another NLC championship rematch, Senter was dead focused on redemption after a disappointing last-second loss to NorthWood’s Will Hahn in the championship match. Two convincing pins put Senter on the center mat for the final opposite Hahn, and once again, the two gave no quarter for majority of the match. An escape each was all the scoreboard had until the 5:40 mark, where Senter finally found room off Hahn’s hip to get a turn and a two. The swagger typically associated with Senter also bled a look of relief as the clock hit zero for his second sectional title in as many years.
“You take a shot, sometimes you get it, sometimes you don’t. Set it up and see where it goes. Cam is a great scrambler. Cam, he had 12 shots today and that’s probably more than he had for half the season. When you shoot, you’re unstoppable.”
Ethan Rodriguez: Rodriguez was also looking to collect his second sectional title, and got back to the old Rodriguez that has been so good when he’s on. A pair of pins launched Rodriguez into the final, where Elkhart’s Cohen Lundy had barely advanced after a sudden victory in the semis. After Rodriguez left with a disappointing third at the NLCs a week ago, there would be no lingering effect as he absolutely put on a clinic in dismantling Lundy in the final in a 17-2 tech fall.
“He needed to realize he is the important one, and it’s not always about the sport. He just stuck to basics and didn’t do a lot of funky stuff. If it was there and presented itself, then he went for it but it wasn’t his go-to. He didn’t look for it first. That was a big contribution for him to get that title, and it’s his second after winning it his freshman year. As long as he’s cool, calm and collected, he is in good shape and can do what he did today.”
Carson Nine: A pin at 30 seconds of the first round against Fairfield’s Dirk Rumfelt sent an overjoyed Nine into his first sectional championship match. The junior was paired against Elkhart’s Brennon Whickcar in the final, and while Nine was his aggressive self on offense, Whickcar withstood most of the offense while mounting several shots of his own in a 15-4 Whickcar championship. The loss still leaves Nine in good shape for the regional as a two-seed with a realistic shot at a regional rematch.
“He’s been so clutch, but it’s his first time on the big stage, and, I don’t know, maybe just wasn’t his moment. We talked during the week, just get top four, just move on. Today was icing on the cake. We had a couple slips on some things where normally he gets, and it put us down five points pretty quick. It’s a learning experience. He was working on a lot of stuff, improving shots and taking shots instead of just throws, so that’s an improvement. He goes from fourth to runner up, that’s a huge improvement.”
Donnie Blair: In a loaded 190 bracket, it would take an impressive win somewhere for Blair to get his first sectional blue ribbon. That earmarked win came in the semis as Blair claimed bragging rights on NorthWood’s Keith Miller with a 2-1 decision, Miller and Blair in a third grudge match this season. On the other half, Elkhart’s Kaullin Price upset Fairfield steamroller Breckan Maran with a resounding pin, setting up a contrasting final. Blair’s quickness off the mat may have caught Price off guard on multiple occasions and Blair scored a seven-point second period to take a stunning 9-1 lead into the final round. A takedown in the third saw Blair in position to close out with style, and he got the mat slap with four seconds left to shut it down.
“Stay in position and not get extended when he shoots. That was a big thing with him, a lot of read shots or second step if he was extended and looking with the head up. There was a lot of technique that went into this, a lot of hand position and controlling the elbows. Donnie did a great job of that and he collects that first title.”
Other notes from the sectional: Two Warriors were called into duty this week that haven’t seen recent varsity action in Karlee Clevenger at 106 and Cavan Tom at 132. And both had moments to remember from their first sectional tournaments. Clevenger scored a pin over Elkhart’s Evan Amrien to reach the podium round, Clevenger eventually taking sixth overall…Tom hadn’t wrestled in varsity competition since November, but won a challenge match during the week to represent 132, and also had a pin to reach the podium round, taking down Goshen’s Dylan Alvarez. Tom was sixth in his class…Gaige Boyd also placed sixth at 138, scoring a fall over Goshen in his lone win of the day…NorthWood won the sectional team title, scoring 213 team points to top Northridge (192), Elkhart (166), Goshen (150) and Wawasee (147) as the top five spots…the Goshen Regional will feature the top four placers from Elkhart and West Noble, again a top-four moves-on scenario like the sectional to make the semi-state, which is in Fort Wayne in two weeks.