February 13, 2001

Two defending state champions look for a repeat, while at least 12 first-time state champions will be crowned when the final round concludes this weekend (Feb. 16-17) in the 63^rd Annual IHSAA Individual Wrestling State Finals at Conseco Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis.

A field of 224 wrestlers – 16 in each of 14 weight classes -- representing 111 schools will be on hand Friday night when action begins at 6 p.m. Evansville Mater Dei and Lawrence North have the most wrestlers competing in the state finals with eight entrants each. There will be six athletes from Bellmont, Mishawaka and Portage, and five from Griffith. Five athletes in Evansville Mater Dei’s contingent were crowned semi-state champions last week, while Beech Grove and Bellmont each saluted four semi-state champions.

The 2000 state finals, the first conducted at Conseco Fieldhouse, attracted a final session crowd of 10,343. The two-day attendance total was a record 37,505. The record for one session (10,665) was set in the 1999 championship round.

Media members covering the Saturday portion of the IHSAA Individual Wrestling State Finals should note a format change for the semifinals round.

On Saturday morning, the second-round matches will begin at 9:30 as in previous years. The change involves the start of the semifinals round, which will begin immediately following the conclusion of the second round at approximately 11:30 a.m.

At the conclusion of the semifinals round – approximately 1 p.m. – competition will conclude for an afternoon break and the spectator seating area of Conseco Fieldhouse will be cleared. The gates will re-open at 4 p.m. for the consolation finals and championship matches. The consolation finals will begin at 5 p.m., followed by the introductions for the championship matches and the 14 bouts to determine the 2001 IHSAA state champions.

As in previous years, the media workroom at Conseco Fieldhouse will open at 4 p.m. on Friday and be available to working media members throughout Friday evening and all day on Saturday. The work area contains complimentary phones that will accept credit card and 800 calls. Soft drinks and snacks will be available.

This year’s field includes two returning champions from 2000. They are:

• John Sheets, a sophomore at Bellmont. He was the 103-pound champion in 2000. Sheets (45-0) has moved up to 112 pounds after taking the 103-pound title in 2000 with a 49-2 record.

• J.T., Young, a senior at Bloomington South. He was an undefeated champion at 135 pounds in 2000. Young (39-0) goes for another title, this time at 140 pounds.

In addition to Sheets and Young, 19 other wrestlers are undefeated. They are:

103 -- Aaron Clark (44-0), senior, Franklin Community.

119 -- Alex Tsirtsis (53-0), freshman, Griffith.

125 -- Cameron Sakon (46-0), senior, Indianapolis Cathedral; Andy Uhl (34-0), junior, East Noble.

130 -- Robert Maldonado (41-0), senior, East Chicago Central; Blake Maurer (38-0), freshman, Evansville Mater Dei.

140 -- Kevin Wilkinson (43-0), senior, Crown Point; Grant Woodka (37-0), senior, Elkhart Memorial.

145 -- Michael Escobedo (39-0), junior, Lake Central; Jimmy Huser (36-0), senior, Roncalli; Jarrod Lewis (35-0), junior, Norwell.

152 -- Michael Engberg-Bartley (42-0), senior, Lake Central.

171 – Randy Baker (44-0), junior, Bellmont; Richard Nehring (38-0), senior, Columbus North; Ben Wissel (39-0), senior, Richmond.

189 -- Charles Geyer (36-0), senior, Fort Wayne Elmhurst.

215 -- Tim Jones (41-0), senior, Lake Central; Jake O’Brien (39-0), sophomore, Franklin Central.

275 -- Gregory Wagner (43-0), senior, Fort Wayne Snider.

First-round pairings are available on the IHSAA website. Season records are included for each of the 224 wrestlers who will compete. The information can be accessed at Wrestling/2001 Individual State Finals Pairings.

Results will be posted on the IHSAA website continuously throughout the two days of competition. The results will be listed under Wrestling/2001 Individual State Finals Results.

Feb. 16-17, 2001

Conseco Fieldhouse, Indianapolis

Admission: $7 for one session; $15 for all sessions.

Session 1 -- Feb. 16, 6 p.m. (First-round matches in all weights). Doors open at 5 p.m.

Session 2 -- Feb. 17, 9:30 a.m. (Second-round matches). Doors open at 8:30 a.m.

Session 3 -- Feb. 17, 11:30 a.m. (Semifinals matches). Semifinals will begin immediately after second-round matches conclude.

Session 4 -- Feb. 17, 5 p.m. (Consolation finals and championship finals). Doors open at 4 p.m.

Press Room Telephone -- 317-917-2966 (for media use only).

Results -- Will be updated continuously throughout the tournament on the IHSAA website under Wrestling/2001 State Finals Results.

Directions -- Conseco Fieldhouse is located in the southeast quadrant of downtown Indianapolis, one block east of Meridian Street and two blocks south of Washington Street. It sits between Pennsylvania and Delaware streets, which parallel each other and Meridian Street. Delaware Street is one way north bound; Pennsylvania Street is one way south bound.

Public Entrance -- The public may enter from Pennsylvania Street or Delaware Street into a common lobby.

Media Entrance -- To gain admittance, the 2000-01 IHSAA State Finals Media Pass is required. The entrance is in the southeast corner of Conseco Fieldhouse adjacent to Delaware Street. The door is marked Media and Employee Entrance. This is at the opposite end of the building from the public entrance.

Parking -- Media and public parking is available near Conseco Fieldhouse. The nearest parking garage is the Virginia Avenue Garage, located directly east of Conseco Fieldhouse and accessible via Delaware Street.

Feb. 13-17 –Sectional Results will be posted each night under Girls Basketball/2001 Sectional Results.

Current -- First-round pairings for the individual state finals are posted under Wrestling/2001 Individual State Finals Pairings.

Feb. 16-17 -- Results will be posted continuously during the Individual State Finals. Results will be listed by weight class at the top of the Wrestling page.

Feb. 18 -- Heat sheets for the state meet will be posted under Boys Swimming/2001 State Finals Heat Sheets.

Seven teams go into the 26^th IHSAA Girls Basketball Tournament this week with perfect records. It’s the highest number of teams to go through the regular season unscathed in the past 10 years.

The list is led by two-time defending Class 2A state champion Fort Wayne Luers, and also includes Forest Park and Shenandoah in Class 2A. Wawasee and Franklin County are unbeaten in Class 3A, while the Class 4A list has Highland and Kokomo.

Kokomo completed its first unbeaten regular season – girls or boys – in school history with a 56-36 victory Feb. 6 at Carmel. The top-ranked Wildkats have won 42 straight home games during the course of five seasons and own four consecutive North Central Conference titles.

Shenandoah also became the first basketball team of either gender to go unbeaten when it recovered from a 24-17 halftime deficit to record its 20^th straight triumph 61-56 over Mt. Vernon (Fortville) in the regular-season finale.

It also was the first unbeaten regular season for Forest Park, Fort Wayne Luers, Franklin County, Highland and Wawasee.

Elsewhere, No. 9-ranked Northwestern (Class 2A), set a school record for victories in a season with 19. The Tigers closed the regular season by downing Delphi 81-42 on Feb. 8.

Class 4A – Kokomo (20-0), Highland (22-0).

Class 3A – Franklin County (20-0), Wawasee (21-0).

Class 2A – Forest Park (20-0), Fort Wayne Luers (21-0), Shenandoah (20-0).

Class A – None.

Junior guard Shanna Zolman scored 37 points last Saturday as Wawasee won 66-56 at Bremen. Zolman pushed her career total to 2,126 points and moved past 1985 Miss Basketball Jodie Whitaker of Austin into 10^th place on the state list. Zolman’s season total of 711 stands 13^th on the season chart. She tallied 759 points in 1999-00.

A complete list of the state’s top scorers is available at:

A complete list of the state’s top scorers is available at:

The 64th annual IHSAA Boys Swimming and Diving Tournament series begins Thursday (Feb. 15) with sectional competition at 20 sites. Preliminary action is Thursday, with championship competition on Saturday (Feb. 17).

The event champions at each of the 20 sectional sites will advance to the state finals Feb. 23-24 at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis. In addition, any contestant who equals or betters the state time standard in his respective event in the sectional championship or consolation finals also will qualify.

Additional information on the state tournament series, including a list of schools at each sectional site is available at:

Jackson Atoyebi, a senior at Culver Military, became the school’s career scoring leader Feb. 9 in a 45-38 loss to Bethany Christian. Atoyebi scored 22 points and moved his career total to 1,294.

Ashley Brattain, a junior at Lapel, broke the school record for three-pointers in a game Feb. 6 when she knocked in nine on the way to a career-high 33 points as the Bulldogs defeated Muncie Southside 71-36.

Jamie Clinard, a junior at Pike Central, set a school single-game record when she dished 16 assists Feb. 5 in a 74-57 victory over Northeast Dubois.

Katie Gearlds, a sophomore at Beech Grove, reached the 1,000-point mark for her career Feb. 6 when she tallied 31 points in a 77-51 victory at Monrovia.

Drew Gore, a senior at Monrovia, scored the 1000^th point of his career Feb. 9 as the Bulldogs defeated Greencastle 51-47. Gore tallied a game-high 22 points.

Ashley Hayes, a sophomore at Western, broke the school’s single-game scoring record Feb. 6 with 43 points as the Panthers defeated Carroll (Flora) 68-37. Hayes hit nine of 16 three-point attempts.

Hannah Herrold, a senior at South Central (Union Mills), broke the school’s single-game and season scoring records Feb. 6 in a 69-63 loss at Knox. Herrold scored 38 points and moved her season total to 372 points.

Robert Haney, a senior at Indiana School for the Deaf, grabbed a school-record 27 rebounds Feb. 6 as the Deaf Hoosiers defeated New Creations 90-44. The previous record was 24, set by Brian Bippus in 1987. Bippus is now the school’s athletic director.

Sarah Laird, a senior at Shelbyville, broke the school record for career three-point goals Feb. 6 when she hit four treys in a 94-54 victory over Morristown. Laird scored a career-high 29 points in the game and brought her career three-pointer total to 111.

Nicole Lesko, a senior at Jasper, scored the 1,000^th point of her career Feb. 3 as the Wildcats defeated Pike Central 80-37. Lesko scored a game-high 25 points.

Debbie Marr, girls basketball coach at Columbus North, celebrated her 100^th career victory Feb. 8 in a 75-61 triumph over Scottsburg.

Cindi Merrill, a junior at Noblesville, reached the 1,000-point mark for her career Feb. 6 as the Millers fell to Ben Davis 71-47. Merrill scored 21 points and moved her career total to 1,004.

Kristen Moore, a senior at Rushville, scored 26 points and pushed her career total to 1,024 Feb. 10 as the Lions fell to visiting Indianapolis Cathedral 72-64.

Ashley Powell, a senior at East Noble, tallied the 1,000^th point of her career Feb. 6 as the Knights topped Fort Wayne Dwenger 53-51. Powell hit four of four free throw attempts down the stretch to finish with 19 points. She’s the third girls basketball player in school history to score 1,000 points.

Plymouth clinched its first outright Northern Lakes Conference boys basketball title since 1982 by defeating Warsaw 48-43 on Feb. 9. The Pilgrims shared the league title in 1983, 1996, 1997, and 1998.

Speedway clinched its first outright conference title in boys basketball in 25 years Feb. 9 with a 70-44 triumph over North Putnam. Speedway finished West Central Conference play 6-0.

Jay Teagle, boys basketball coach at Jay County, celebrated his 100^th career victory Feb. 10 as the Patriots defeated Union City 66-50. Teagle is in his third season at Jay County and ninth overall. He previously coached at Caston and Knox.

Kristen Weddle, a senior at Terre Haute, reached the 1,000-point mark for her career Feb. 3 with 24 points in a 67-66 loss to Ben Davis. She left the game with 1,011 points.

Josh Weimer, a senior at Lakeland, became the second player in school history to score 1,000 points in his career. He reached the milestone Feb. 10 with a game-high 21 points as the Lakers defeated NorthWood 54-50.