LINDEN — The number of state-placer banners hanging in the North Montgomery wrestling room is continuously growing.
All coming since the start of the 2012-13 season, there are seven banners representing wrestlers from the Charger program that have placed in the top-8 at the state finals.
Yet none of them have been for a state champion — and this weekend Drew Webster hopes to make history as the first North Montgomery wrestling state champ.
The senior is ranked No. 2 in the state at 220 pounds and carries a perfect 41-0 record into Friday night’s first round match against Mishawaka’s Jonathan Thomas at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
Webster, who placed fifth at 220 as a junior, is hoping to become the fourth Charger wrestler to place twice at the state finals. Nick Borta became the first North Montgomery wrestler to place at the state finals, placing seventh at 152 in 2013, and sixth at 160 in 2014. Seth Johnson placed fourth at 106 in 2017 and eighth at 132 in 2019. Drew’s brother, Tanner, placed sixth at 170 in 2016, and became the first Charger to make the finals in 2017 at 170, but finished as the runner-up.
“It would really show what people can do if you work as a team,” Webster said. “I know Nick, Tanner, Seth, and I we traveled and worked together to get better, and so did the whole generation of wrestlers. You can see the success that has built up in the program. I think that shows what a community can do if they really strive and hopefully I can be up there with my brother, Seth, and Nick as two-time placers and just prove even more what working as a team can do.”
Placing isn’t the end goal though, and Webster is ready to take North Montgomery wrestling to a place it’s never been before.
“The main goal has always been to win state,” he said. “Just having the experience and it’s going to boost my confidence going into Friday night. It’s the state tournament and it’s the end of the road and the last tournament of the year. Of course everybody that is there is the top people in the state, so it’s not going to be easy Friday night, but I’ve still got to wrestle the way I have been all year.”
Webster has been dominate, recording 38 pins in 41 matches this season, including nine out of 10 matches in the state series. The ability to win close matches will be key though as the competition continues to stiffen this weekend.
“I think he just has to be able to win that close match,” North Montgomery coach Bryce McCoy said of the difference from last year to the upcoming state finals. “He has to expect a close match every match. And I think as long as he’s aggressive and finds a way to win those close matches, he’s going to be fine. He’s just got to come ready to wrestle and hopefully he will be one of the guys we talk about for years to come to the generations coming up through North Montgomery wrestling.”
If Webster wins on Friday night, he will wrestle the winner of Oak Hill’s Fred Durben and Martinsville’s Micah Dodson. Another win in the quarterfinal would likely pit him against No. 1 ranked Evan Bates from Chesterton in the semi-finals.
Drew’s oldest brother Ty won 94 matches and was a state qualifier as a senior in 2013, while Tanner placed twice at the state finals and is the all-time win leader in North Montgomery history with 155 wins. Drew currently sits at 117, just two behind Alex Foster (Class of 2005) for fourth all-time.
He knows the only way to beat big brother is a state championship.
“Yeah it’s on my mind,” Webster said of chasing down his brother. “The ultimate goal is to surpass Tanner and wind up winning a state title. I know he didn’t get it done, and that was his ultimate goal, and if he would have gotten it done I would have been one of the happiest brothers in the world, and I know if I get it done he will be happy for me too.”
From a program with no state placers just seven years ago to the brink of its first state champion, Webster hopes to cement his generation of wrestlers as the best in the history of North Montgomery.
“We’ve had the opportunity and the capability of having state champions on Saturday night, we just haven’t gotten it done,” he said. “So hopefully being the first to do so would just solidify the success as a program over the past 10-15 years.”
