New Palestine High School

Three New Palestine wrestlers advanced to the second day of the IHSAA boys wrestling State Finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. All three will earn State Finals medals as top-eight placers. Gunner Butt (150), Colin Whetsel (215) and William Glesing (285) all won their first-round matches to advance. At 150, Butt improved to 34-1 with a 5-0 decision over Columbus North's Cohen Long. He took a 1-0 lead into the third with an escape, then posted a four-point near-fall at the horn to seal the victory. Butt will wrestle Cowan's Ashton Goney in Saturday morning's quarterfinals. Butt will become a four-time state placer with his advancement to Saturday. At 215, Whetsel took command of his match against Garrett's Aiden Hunt in the second period. After recording the first takedown and leading 3-1 after one, Whetsel surrendered a reversal to start the second to tie the match at 3-3. He then recorded an escape, takedown and a four-point near-fall to go up 11-3. Whetsel then started the third with a takedown and recorded the tech fall with another four-point near-fall to win 18-3. Whetsel is now 27-2 on the season. He will face Crown Point's Ceasar Salas in the quarterfinals Saturday morning. At 285, William Glesing remained unbeaten on the year with a very quick two-minute 17-2 tech fall over Michigan City's Lucas Nelson. Glesing took command with a takedown and a four-point near-fall to go up 7-0. After conceding two escapes, he quickly recorded takedowns to go up 13-2, then finished the match with a four-point near-fall at the end of the first period. Glesing is 33-0 on the year. He will face Terre Haute North's Griffin Osburn in the quarterfinals. Two other Dragons competed at the State Finals. At 113, Blake Doss dropped an 8-5 decision to Lake Central's Cruz Orueta. Doss finishes his season 24-10. At 175, Gabe Flick and Evansville Memorial's Conner Hoar traded escapes in regulation, but Hoar recorded a takedown in overtime to win 4-1 over Flick, who finished his senior season 26-8. Wrestling begins at 9 a.m. with the quarterfinal round Saturday morning at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The semifinals will immediately follow. Third, fifth and seventh-place matches will begin at 4:30 p.m., with the state championship matches slated for 7:30 p.m.