IHSAA semistate wrestling preview: Bloomington North's Trae Hopkins has 'nothing to lose'

It was only three months ago, as Bloomington North freshman Trae Hopkins looks back and sees someone he hardly recognizes in many ways.

A brash wrestler who had just picked up the sport not even a year ago was all fired up to begin his first high school season. It was just an intra-squad scrimmage and Hopkins was lined up against a lighter senior, 126-pounder Cas Crevello.

"I was so nervous that I just went out and tried to wrestle all hard and fast and ended up losing by one point to a teammate that I probably should have beat," Hopkins said. He got mad and let everyone know it.

“We had a big talk after the scrimmage," North coach Roy Bruce said. "There was head gear throwing and some not-nice words said. But, he was immediately willing to learn and listen, wanting to get better."

Boy, did he ever. Hopkins, a 132-pounder, managed to get through sectional by finishing third with a 5-4 win. And then he pulled off a 12-7 upset in the opening round at regional, completing a nice circle on his season and qualifying him for Saturday's Evansville Semistate.

“Just to show you, I qualified for semistate by beating the kid who won the first tournament of the year that I placed fourth in," Hopkins said. "He beat me (10-8) and I beat him 12-7, so I’ve gotten a lot better technique-wise. Even strength-wise, I’ve been working out a lot.”

It was 6-6 at one point, then 8-7 before he had the big finish.

“It was definitely the biggest match of my life so far," Hopkins said. "I was definitely the most nervous but I had been working to beat that kid all week. So I figured I’d just go out there and wrestle and if I lose, I wasn’t supposed to win in the first place.”

When he did, it was an eye-opener to the possibilities. Hopkins, now 22-13, will meet another freshman, Conference Indiana runner-up Cohen Long of Columbus North (28-8), in the opening round at the Ford Center, a place he wasn't ever pointing toward when the season began.

“It really gave me a lot of hope," he said. "It showed me I can do it. A lot of times, when I don’t believe in myself and I do it, it’s like, ‘Oh, wow, I really can do this.’”

Trae Hopkins has that 'extra little bit' on the mat

At the same time, Hopkins always expects to win when he's on the mat, even when he knows the odds are not with him. That is how he continually pushes himself.

“Intensity and willingness to scrap,” Bruce said. “You can’t teach intensity to a kid. You can teach all the techniques you want, but if they don’t have that extra little bit where they want to push you and break you —he came walking in with that.”

Hopkins just wants to win. He tried other sports, team sports mostly, basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, football, before he bumped into wrestling starting at Tri-North as an eighth-grader.

“Growing up, a lot of teams I was on, a lot of time I would lose and I felt like I did pretty good and I worked really hard," Hopkins said. "I just couldn’t succeed a lot. And then I found wrestling and it wasn’t like that.”

One-on-one, he controlled his own destiny. So last winter, Hopkins dug in.

"A security guy said 'I've got a kid who wants to start wrestling, mind if he comes down,'" Bruce said. "So over Winter Break last year, he jumps right into our practice. He didn't know what in the heck he was doing and he got thumped around a little bit and then disappeared at Tri-North for a little bit."

Bruce tried to keep track of him but lost touch, and then Hopkins showed back up when he got to North. "Who is this kid?" Bruce said. Hopkins had gone to some wrestling camps to get ready and was always there or at Edgewood for workouts.

"He always wants to learn," Bruce said. "And he's the last one in the room."

"The only thing I had going for me when I first started was my strength," Hopkins said. "Because I was just stronger than all the other kids.

"I really wasn’t good at it when I first started (in junior high). I was 0-9 then I won seven straight matches and ended up 7-10."

He was winning and he was hooked.

“It showed me that I could do it, because I had a lot of self-doubt," Hopkins said. "Ever since I got that first win, that first pin, I felt like I could do it if I worked hard enough.”

Settling into high school wrestling

Coming to North, there was a whole new learning process: Facing older wrestlers now regularly, picking up more technique and learning how to chain moves together. Learning how to anticipate his opponents' moves.

“It was definitely a lot harder," Hopkins said. "The biggest change was the physicality. It's a lot more physical and go, go, go.

"And it’s different knowing I’m wrestling older guys. Sometimes I have to tell myself to just calm down and know that they're older than me and I’m not supposed to beat them since I'm only a freshman. And I’ve got three more years to do this.”

It's not easy to think that way sometimes. Like anyone, he'd rather win now rather than later, so handling his own emotions has been a big part of the growing process.

"A lot of it is the seniors who have helped me mentally," Hopkins said. "Whether that’s in practice helping me push harder after a loss, talking to me and explaining things.”

"Kanye (Roberts-Grey) has done a great job with that," Bruce said. "He was a fiery guy before I got here and he's learned to do things the right way. He's taken Trae under his wing."

Bruce only wants to tame the fire, not quench it. Hopkins is in the right frame of mind heading to Evansville.

“This kid’s already beat me once, so I’ve got nothing to lose," Hopkins said. "I’m just going to go out there and have fun.”

So far, wrestling is just as fun as Hopkins hoped it would be.

“This has become my life," he said. "All I think about is this sport, really and all I want to be good at is this.”

Semistate lowdown for Bloomington-area wrestlers

Here's a quick look at what the area's other qualifiers will face in the opening rounds. Two wins will earn them a spot in the final four and a berth to the state meet:

At 106, South's Jaxsen Jean (29-8) will open against 12th-ranked Eli Ogle of Brownsburg (23-7) with eighth-ranked Talon Jessup of Columbus East (32-2), who made it to the second round last year, likely next.

113: Owen Valley's Eli Collier (31-8) opens with Carson Collier of Charlestown (31-7) then would come the winner between 10th-ranked Brennan Leonard of Martinsville (32-5) and eighth-ranked Caleb Schaefer of Evansville Mater Dei (30-5).

120: All four wrestlers in Edgewood's John Orman (26-6) foursome are back from last year's 113 bracket. The sophomore will open with Berke Eisenhauer of Heritage Hills (41-4) and a win likely sets up a rematch with Center Grove's Charlie LaRocca, who pinned Orman en route to winning the state title.

132: North's Trae Hopkins (22-13) will meet another freshman, Conference Indiana runner-up Cohen Long of Columbus North (28-8). Round 2 likely brings fourth-ranked junior Eddie Goss of Center Grove (30-4), a two-time state medal winner. As for South freshman Amrin Pratt (20-14), he opens with seventh-ranked senior Kellan Carter of Scottsburg (38-2). The winner is handed to No. 1 and two-time state champ Jake Hockaday of Brownsburg (29-2).

144: No. 8 Branson Weaver of Owen Valley (38-0) is looking for a return trip to state and has three semistate rookies in his bracket, starting with Josiah Green of Columbus North (26-14). Then it would be either Jordan Jewell of Greenwood (33-9) or Alexander Mercer of Evansville Harrison (35-4). No. 2 Parker Reynolds of Brownsburg is a likely semifinal opponent. South's Wyatt Cooksey (31-8) has a tougher challenge. He opens with Owen Trimpe of Franklin (28-11) but then likely faces No. 1 Reese Courtney of Center Grove (31-2), who was second at 138 last year.

150: Edgewood's Michael Neidigh (29-5) has a tough draw, starting with 14th-ranked Cale Bonenberger of Evansville North (35-3) and getting past him, it would likely be No. 1 Wyatt Krejsa of Center Grove (32-2), who was second at 145 last year.

157: North's Cael Hickok (23-3) will start against freshman Cody Fitts of North Posey (21-17) then he'll face another freshman, either Cascades' Lucas Farmer (29-10) or 20th-ranked Indian Creek's Elijah Guyer (20-7). No. 6 Silas Stits of Center Grove likely waits in the semifinals. He knocked South's Evan Roudebush out last year in the second round.

165: Roudebush (36-2) gets freshman Miller Clayton of Columbus East (19-13) for his opener, then the winner between No. 19 David Oyebode of Decatur Central (31-5) and No. 21 Matthew Pegram of Evansville North (33-6). Both were semistate qualifiers last year. In the other lower bracket, North's Jeremiah Casillas (24-10) is in a tough crowd with three ranked wrestlers, starting with No. 8 Oliver Hallett of Indian Creek (34-1), whose only loss is to 175 regional champ Brey Emerine of Floyd Central. The winner gets No. 12 Gage Eckles of Ben Davis (36-5), a state qualifier last year, or Spencer Turner of Mater Dei (28-9).

175: South's Tristian Hicks (18-19) has an interesting draw in ninth-ranked freshman Sam Howard of Boonville, who is 51-0. No. 14 Noah Sumner of Martinsville (33-5) is the next likely opponent.

285: Owen Valley sophomore Dylan Hale (33-8) drew 13th-ranked Ben Land of Jeffersonville (40-5), who was a semistate qualifier last year.

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on X @JimGordillo.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington North's Trae Hopkins amped for IHSAA wrestling semistate