Here are the top high school wrestlers in the South Bend area heading into the 2023-24 season

A new IHSAA wrestling season is just getting started, and with it comes changes.

Over the summer, the National Federation of State High School Association passed new recommendations for what the weight classes in wrestling should be, based on how many weight classes a state wants to have. The IHSAA has traditionally gone with 14 divisions, with the middle weight classes seeing the biggest change.

The six smallest weight classes – 106, 113, 120, 126, 132 and 138 pounds – as well as the 285-pound heavyweight division were not changed by the NFHS. The seven weight classes in between 138 and 285, though, are slightly modified from a season ago. The changes are 145 is now 144, 152 is now 150, 160 is now 157, 170 is now 165, 182 is now 175, 195 is now 190 and 220 is now 215.

“It’s frustrating because they changed them (in 2012), so now we were building guys up and getting more football guys up to those weight classes,” veteran Penn head coach Brad Harper said. “… I just wish they would quit changing it because it messes things up. As coaches, if your program is doing it right, you’re building for each weight class. You don’t want to rebuild – you want to reload. Now, I’m rebuilding in the middle because we added a weight.”

Another change is the location of this year’s state finals. With the NBA All-Star game coming to Indianapolis in February, the wrestling state championships will instead be held at the Ford Center in Evansville. It is only a one-year change, with the finals returning to Gainbridge Fieldhouse for the 2024-25 season.

Penn begins the season ranked tied for 10th with Avon in the Indiana Mat team rankings, with Mishawaka right behind at 12. They are the only two teams from the South Bend area ranked in the top 20 to begin the year.

“I’m actually pretty excited,” said Harper of his team. “We have some young kids on the team that will be stepping up in the lineup that I’m excited to see what they can do. We had a really good summer, so I think if it all comes together, we could surprise some people.”

As a new high school wrestling season gets underway, here is the top returner in each weight class from the South Bend area.

Note: the current grade of each wrestler is listed below, even when talking about past season’s accomplishments.

106 pounds: Penn freshman Brady Harper

You can’t call a freshman a returner since he wasn’t in high school last year, but coach Harper’s nephew comes in ranked ninth amongst 106-pound grapplers by Indiana Mat. The only area state qualifier in this weight class last year, Mishawaka’s Xavier Chavez, graduated in the spring. Returning area semistate qualifiers at 106 from last season are New Prairie junior Caleb Halfacre, Penn sophomore Travis Sears, NorthWood sophomore Naima Ghaffar and Jimtown sophomore Aden Hartman.

113 pounds: Mishawaka sophomore Joshua Kite

No area wrestlers advanced to state in this weight class last year. Kite was the closest, reaching the semistate semifinals before being eliminated. He finished with a 30-11 record. Others who qualified for semistate at 113 last season who return this year are John Glenn junior Brody King, Penn junior Ryan Schmidtendorff and Goshen senior Cole Hinkel.

120 pounds: Goshen senior Cole Hinkel

LaPorte’s Ashton Jackson has graduated after a decorated prep career, leaving a void at the top of this weight class. Per Indiana Mat, Hinkel is moving up to 120 for Goshen, as he’s ranked 20th in the weight class by the publication. Semistate qualifiers returning are Fairfield junior Matthew Senn, Goshen junior Emmanuel Callazo Macias and Penn senior Dylan Bennett.

126 pounds: Penn senior Dylan Bennett

Another weight class mover, Bennett enters the season ranked 15th at 126 pounds by Indiana Mat. No area wrestlers qualified for state in the weight class last year, with returning semistate qualifiers being Penn junior Braden Ashe, Plymouth sophomore Coen Kraemer, Mishawaka sophomore Will Mason and Northridge senior Graysen Beasley.

132 pounds: Penn freshman Angelo Vargo

Mishawaka senior Zar Walker placed seventh at state in this weight class as a junior last year but is expected to move to the 150-pound mark this year. That leaves the door open for the likes of Vargo, an incoming freshman who’s highly touted by Indiana Mat, earning the No. 5 ranking at 132 pounds. Other than Walker, area semistate qualifiers returning from last year are Bremen senior Reece Greene and Elkhart senior Cam Dews.

138 pounds: Plymouth senior Wesley Smith

An instance where the new weight classes take effect, Smith placed eighth at state at 145 pounds last year. With that class now at 144, Smith will move down to 138, where he is ranked fourth overall by Indiana Mat heading into the season.

This is also the weight class that saw New Prairie sophomore Jeffery Huyvaert place fourth in at state last year, going an impressive 50-3 in his matches. He will be moving up to 144 this season. The other area semistate qualifiers from this weight class returning this year are Penn senior Wesley Harper, Plymouth senior Seth Wright and Concord sophomore Brycen Brosamer.

144 pounds (formerly 145): New Prairie sophomore Jeffrey Huyvaert

As mentioned above, Huyvaert had an impressive freshman campaign at 138 pounds. Now, he’ll look to improve on that at 144. Penn’s Wesley Harper has also moved up to this weight class, giving the South Bend area the fourth and eighth ranked wrestlers in the class going into the season, respectively, per Indiana Mat.

Other area semistate qualifiers at this weight class returning are New Prairie junior Jayden Lewis (state qualifier) and South Bend Riley junior Trayvon Fleming.

150 pounds (formerly 152): Mishawaka senior Zar Walker

This is where Walker will compete after going 43-3 at 132 pounds last year. He’s ranked fourth in the preseason Indiana Mat rankings, putting him squarely among the contenders to win a state title at 150.

Semistate qualifiers from the area returning are Penn senior Bryce Denton, New Prairie junior Hayden Whitenack and Mishawaka senior Beau Brabender, the latter of which was a semistate champion before finishing fourth at the state finals.

157 pounds (formerly 160): Mishawaka senior Beau Brabender

Brabender will look to make another run at a state title this year, moving from 152 to 157 pounds. He is also ranked fourth in his weight class by Indiana Mat heading into the season. Semistate qualifiers returning are Riley senior Marques Young, Plymouth senior Caydn Smith and Goshen senior Jonathan Flores.

165 pounds (formerly 170): Penn senior Zymarion Holland

Holland snagged the No. 6 preseason ranking by Indiana Mat at 165. He qualified for semistate at 170 last year but did not advance to the state finals. Other semistate qualifiers back are Glenn senior Mason Kobelt and Elkhart senior Ethan Freedline.

175 pounds (formerly 182): Goshen senior Laish Detwiler

Detwiler placed eighth at the state finals at 182 last year and enters this season ranked fourth in the new weight class by Indiana Mat. Detwiler finished 43-7 as a junior a season ago.

This is the weight class that Penn sophomore Vincent Freeman competed at last year as well, placing sixth at state. He will be moving up to 190 this season. Other returning semistate qualifiers include New Prairie senior Aidan Ziegler and Riley senior Jeirmi Scales.

190 pounds (formerly 195): Penn sophomore Vincent Freeman

The oldest son of the Notre Dame football head coach is out to make a name for himself, riding a strong freshman campaign into the No. 4 spot at 190 pounds in Indiana Mat’s preseason rankings. No other area semistate qualifiers from last year return from this weight class.

215 pounds (formerly 220): LaVille junior Jonathan Neese

The only area wrestler ranked in the top 20 of this weight class by Indiana Mat, Neese checks in at No. 16 after going 31-2 last year and qualifying for semistate. Joining Neese as returning semistate qualifiers are Northridge junior Travis Henke and Fairfield junior Breckan Maran.

285 pounds: Plymouth senior Anthony Popi

Popi went 42-5 last year, qualifying for state in the heavyweight division. He’s ranked 6th in the Indiana Mat preseason rankings for the class, while Penn junior Brody Brown is 16th. Only one other area semistate qualifier returns in New Prairie senior Christian Johnson.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Penn, Mishawaka lead South Bend area wrestling teams heading into 2023-24 season