Crawfordsville and Southmont wrestlers have reached the final round before the state finals of the 2025 state series.
Lose your first match and go home. Win your first and wrestle for a trip to the state finals.
That’s what is at stake for six county wrestlers on Saturday at the New Castle semi-state.
For Crawfordsville senior Braeden Hites, it’s a third-straight trip to the semi-state, with one final chance to qualify for state.
“It means a lot, since I’ve made it three straight years and I’ve gotten kind of bad pulls (draw) and this year I’ve got a pretty good pull (draw), and it’s exciting to get to wrestle and hopefully advance,” Hites said. “I think I’ve been working really hard as well. Everyone is beatable. It doesn’t matter what your ranking is. For there to be so many good guys there, it’s motivating to go and win.”
At 175, Hites will carry his 27-3 record into a first round match against Anderson’s Jensen Shyrock (23-4).
Athenian senior Landon Vaught suffered his first loss of the season at the regional last week, but is ready to go heading into his first round match against Indianapolis Cathedral’s Caden Rodgers (14-15).
“I know I can beat anybody, no matter who it is,” Vaught said. “So I’m just going to go out there and wrestle and not focus on my other opponents, and just focus on my offense. I’m just grateful to still be wrestling as a senior to make it this far.”
At 150, Crawfordsville’s Aiden Hutchison will carry his 25-4 record into Saturday as the only freshman in the 150 pound bracket.
“My goal all year was to make it to the money round at the semi-state,” he said. “As the only freshman in the bracket, I’ve got nothing to lose.”
Hutchison will wrestle North Central’s Jessie Franklin (38-2) in the first round.
Taiga Koyanagi (21-7) will join his senior teammates by competing at 106 against Perry Meridian’s Colin Clark (25-9). Koyanagi feels like he’s wrestling the best of his career at the end of his senior season.
“At conference I was second, but at sectional I got better, and at the regional even better,” the senior said.
Southmont freshman Lukas Scott is also in the 106 bracket.
“I worked really hard to get to this point,” Scott said. “I’ve seen that a lot of progress needs to be made, I wish I would have won last weekend, so I have a lot of work to put in.”
Scott was the runner-up at the regional and will take his 35-2 record against Warren Central’s Bryson Kirk (33-4).
Southmont sophomore Camden Laney has navigated a tough bracket at 138 and will take his 30-7 record against Pendleton Height’s Alex Heineman in the opening round.
“I’ve been putting work in the whole summer and this year,” Laney said. “Last year I didn’t really do what I wanted to in the postseason, so I’ve always been working my butt off in the room, and my teammates have been pushing me.”
