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EVANSVILLE – The Brownsburg Bulldogs locked down a pair of individual state titles and had eight of their nine state qualifiers medal Saturday night to upend defending state champion Crown Point inside the Ford Center in Evansville.

The Bulldogs captured their first IHSAA team wrestling state championship since 2016-17 with 124.5 points, followed by Center Grove with 121.5 and Crown Point in third with 121.0.

“People don’t understand. Our route is so ridiculous to go through the Mooresville Regional and the Evansville Semi-State. We have multiple dudes who are top-five guys that didn’t even get here,” Brownsburg head coach Darrick Snyder said. “So, for this group to pull off that performance when we’re missing a few of our best guys because of our route is pretty special. They never stopped believing.”

The Bulldogs entered the 86th Annual IHSAA Wrestling State Finals without a handful of standouts in two-time state placer Preston Haines, a senior at 120 pounds, former state-placing junior Mason Day at 157, and Tommy Gibbs, a state-ranked sophomore at 150.

On Friday night, the Bulldogs lost one competitor in the opening round, and in the morning session on Saturday, the number of championship contenders dwindled to two, but the program refused to settle for another runner-up team finale.

Brownsburg placed second as a team to Crown Point in 2021-22, marking the northwest Indiana Bulldogs’ first of two straight state championships with the repeat achieved in 2022-23. Brownsburg also took runner-up honors in 2015-16 and 2017-18.

“We had a really good opening round, and we told them we had a team title to chase,” Snyder said. “126 was a big one. We beat Crown Point head-to-head. Braylon Reynolds is a gamer. We had lost to him both times we wrestled him. Caden Brewer was a stud (at 215) and held on and had a late win in the quarterfinals. Those points were really important for what we needed to do.”

Individual state titles by sophomore Revin Dickman (41-2) at 113 and junior Jake Hockaday (37-2) at 132 proved essential. Dickman’s run marked his second straight after winning the 106-pound title in 2023.

Hockaday’s state championship was his third consecutive with titles already amassed at 106 in 2022 and 120 in 2023.

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“Jake and Revin are special because they’re great leaders and they care about their teammates,” Snyder said. “We always say, they have ice in their veins. Nothing changes no matter the situation. Big match, not a big match, they’re the same guy no matter what.They are the same dude every time, and that’s part of what makes them special.”

So are the Bulldogs, who entered the state tournament ranked second overall in IndianaMat’s Power Poll behind No. 1 Crown Point.

Third place finishes by Braylon Reynolds (27-11) at 126, Brady Ison (31-7) at 138 and a runner-up run by Gunner Henry (35-4) at 215 made it difficult for Crown Point and Center Grove to gain ground.

Center Grove’s 8-0 finish in the medal rounds, however, pushed them past Crown Point, which claimed one title at 215 behind senior Will Clark (33-3), who added his second career state crown. He won the 220 title in 2023 and placed fifth at 195 in 2022.

“It was pretty difficult. It took a lot of our whole team working and building up and building confidence. It’s amazing to have it back in Brownsburg,” Dickman said.

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Johnson caps inspired Center Grove finale

The Center Grove Trojans were third in the team standings until the final championship matches concluded.

A second straight state title by senior 120-pounder Charlie LaRocca (37-5), who won it all at 113 in 2023, followed by senior Wyatt Krejsa’s (40-2) first-career crown at 150 positioned the Trojans to leapfrog Crown Point.

Senior Nathan Johnson provided the final push.

A three-time state qualifier, Johnson (27-1) won his first state title by pinning Cathedral’s Hosia Smith in 1 minute, 47 seconds during the 285-pound finals to move the Trojans into second place.

“Everything is unpredictable at that state tournament. We just kind of told our guys you have to go out and wrestle every match like it’s a normal match. It doesn’t matter where you are in the bracket or who you’re wrestling, just go out there and wrestle the match,” Center Grove head coach Maurice Swain said.

Johnson was wrestling for himself, his team and his mother, Julie, who passed away after her nearly 11-year battle with cancer in October 2020.

“I’m glad I got this done for her today,” Johnson said. “I really appreciate her looking after me like a guardian angel. It’s pretty awesome.”

Ocampo turns in historic weekend

Julianna Ocampo of New Haven High School wasn’t the first female wrestler to ever compete in the IHSAA state wrestling state finals, but she will be known as the first to ever medal.

Ocampo (38-4), a junior, was ranked seventh in the state at 106 by IndianaMat this season, and she qualified for Saturday’s medal rounds with a pin in 5:46 over Plymouth’s Alonzo Chantea during Friday’s first round.

Ocampo lost her quarterfinal match Saturday morning before bouncing back in the consolation bracket to qualify for the fifth-place match. She lost by decision 3-0 to Avon’s Mason Goelz in the consolation finals for sixth place overall.

This season marked Ocampo’s third consecutive state finals appearance.

“It’s really special. It definitely was my goal to win that Friday night match and just give it everything I had. After the Friday night match, I knew I was going to make the podium, so it was just give it your all,” Ocampo said.

Kayla Miracle of Culver Academies was the first female wrestler to ever compete in the state finals in 2012.

Five wrestlers add to legacy

In addition to Dickman, LaRocca, Hockaday and Clark, Warren Central’s Kyrel Leavell joined the list as a multi-state champion.

Leavell (41-1), a senior, ran through the 138-pound bracket with an opening night technical fall, a pair of decisions and finally a pin over Crown Point’s Clinton Shepherd in the finals to win his second state title in three years.

Leavell was third at 113 in 2021, a state champion at 120 in 2022 and third at 132 last year.

“My eyes were forward on one goal, and to come out here and achieve means the world to me, man. It means so much because I worked so hard for this,” Leavell said.

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First-timers list expands

Roncalli 106-pound sophomore Peyton Schoettle (43-1), Avon 126-pound senior Luke Rioux (40-5), Krejsa and Warren Central sophomore 165-pound Waylon Cressell (41-1) each secured their first individual state titles.

Cressell’s state championship was the second of his career after winning the 170-pound crown as a freshman in North Dakota.

New Haven junior Easton Doster (39-0) won the 144-pound championship, which was the program’s and his first. Garrett’s Chase Leech (42-2), a senior, won the 175 title, marking a first for himself and the team.

“It literally means everything. I was born and raised in New Haven, Indiana. I had opportunities to switch schools and transfer, but I refused. I knew I was going to win a state title for New Haven High School,” Doster said. “Everything accumulated. I put everything on the line every single day at practice. I walked in here, I came, I saw, I conquered.”

Luke Penola earns Ward E. Brown Mental Attitude Award
Each year the IHSAA Executive Committee selects a senior who was nominated by his principal and coach and was determined to have best demonstrated mental attitude, scholarship, leadership and athletic ability.
Senior Luke Penola of Zionsville High School was recognized by the Committee as this year’s recipient of the Mental Attitude Award, named in honor of Ward E. Brown.

Penola capped off his career tonight as the 7th-place wrestler in the 190-pound weight class. He also is a three-time sectional champion and most recently earned Academic All-State recognition in 2024 with a cumulative weighted GPA of 4.1.

Penola is a proud member of the New Hope Christian Church where he volunteers, and is involved in the community through youth camps and clinics. He exemplifies values of compassion, empathy, and generosity having been awarded the Zionsville Community High School sportsmanship award in 2022 and 2023. 
He is the son of Rich and Cathleen Penola of Zionsville, Indiana and he plans to attend Hillsdale College to study Math and minor in statistics.

Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, the proud corporate partner of the IHSAA, presented $1,000 to Zionsville High School’s general scholarship fund in the name of Luke Penola. The award is named in honor of the IHSAA's fourth commissioner who served from 1969-76.

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86th Annual IHSAA Wrestling State Finals
Ford Center, Evansville
Feb. 16-17, 2024

Top 10 Team Scores

1. Brownsburg 124.5
2. Center Grove 121.5
3. Crown Point 121.0
4. Warren Central 71.0
5. Avon 52.0
6. Evansville Mater Dei 50.0
7. Floyd Central 42.0
8. Roncalli 39.5
9. Indianapolis Cathedral 39.0
10. Delta 32.5

State Championship Results
106: Peyton Schoettle (10) Roncalli (43-1) def. Mason Jones (12) Lake Central (39-1) 3-2
113: Revin Dickman (10) Brownsburg (41-2) def. Nathan Rioux (10) Avon (35-6) 5-0
120: Charlie LaRocca (12) Center Grove (37-5) def. Ty Henderson (11) Evansville Mater Dei (36-2) 3-2
126: Luke Rioux (12) Avon (40-5) def. Isaiah Schaefer (11) Evansville Mater Dei (39-3) 8-5
132: Jake Hockaday (11) Brownsburg (37-2) def. Hayden DeMarco (12) Chesterton (47-1) Fall 2:27
138: Kyrel Leavell (12) Warren Central (41-1) def. Clinton Shepherd (9) Crown Point (32-4) Fall 2:51
144: Easton Doster (11) New Haven (39-0) def. Zar Walker (12) Mishawaka (46-2) 6-4
150: Wyatt Krejsa (12) Center Grove (40-2) def. Hunter May (12) Floyd Central (26-2) 13-6
157: Mitchell Betz (12) Western (41-1) def. Adrian Pellot (11) Merrillville (40-2) 5-3
165: Waylon Cressell (10) Warren Central (41-1) def. Duke Myers (12) Bellmont (47-4) MD 12-4
175: Chase Leech (12) Garrett (42-2) def. Bray Emerine (12) Floyd Central (40-2) 3-2
190: Noah Weaver (11) Rossville (50-0) def. Gunner Henry (11) Brownsburg (35-4) 10-6
215: Will Clark (12) Crown Point (33-3) def. Brandon Johnson (12) Lawrence North (42-4) Fall 1:29
285: Nate Johnson (12) Center Grove (27-1) def. Hosia Smith (12) Indianapolis Cathedral (40-8) Fall 1:47