Brayden Curtis of Yorktown won his second wrestling state championship Saturday, when he won the 113 pound title at the IHSAA State Finals.
Curtis defeated Andrew Black of New Castle 6-0 in an All-Hoosier Heritage Conference final. A junior, Curtis finished his season undefeated with a 40-0 record. Black, the state runner-up, finished 55-4.
En route to the final, Curtis defeated Cathedral’s Caleb Oliver 5-1, Wheeler’s Jose Diaz 2-1 and Evansville Mater Dei’s Blake Bowman 5-0.
Curtis and Black were not the only two HHC wrestlers to compete under the lights. Yorktown senior Christian Hunt (48-1) was the state runner-up at 145. He dropped a 1-0 decision to Cathedral’s Jordan Slivka in the final after winning three decisions to advance to the championship match.
Five other HHC wrestlers placed at the State Finals. Yorktown senior Zach Todd (42-8) finished seventh at 106. Greenfield-Central senior Carter Noehre (33-2) placed fifth and Yorktown senior Alex Barr (48-3) sixth at 132. G-C senior Brad Lowe (42-6) finished sixth at 170.
As a team, Yorktown placed seventh with 50 points. New Castle finished 18th with 19 points, while Greenfield-Central was 25th with 15 points.
Curtis became the 16th Hoosier Heritage Conference state champion, and the second wrestler to win multiple titles, joining New Palestine’s four-time champion Chad Red. A year ago, he won the 106-pound title, while teammate Brad Laughlin, New Palestine’s Alec White and Delta’s Jacob Gray also won state titles.
Hoosier Heritage Conference state wrestling champions
1997: Donny Sands, Pendleton Heights, 145 (35-3)
2008: Kyle Ulrey, New Palestine, 152 (46-0)
2010: Ross Janney, Yorktown, 285 (52-0)
2011: Mason Todd, Pendleton Heights, 112 (32-0)
2012: Devon Jackson, Yorktown, 138 (52-0)
2013: Chad Red, New Palestine, 106 (48-0)
2013: Josh Farrell, Greenfield-Central, 152 (48-0)
2014: Chad Red, New Palestine, 120 (44-0)
2014: Rhett Hiestand, Yorktown, 160 (47-2)
2015: Chad Red, New Palestine, 126 (47-0)
2016: Chad Red, New Palestine, 132 (44-0)
2017: Brayden Curtis, Yorktown, 106 (43-0)
2017: Alec White, New Palestine, 126 (39-1)
2017: Brad Laughlin, Yorktown, 160 (46-1)
2017: Jacob Gray, Delta, 182 (42-2)
2018: Brayden Curtis, Yorktown, 113 (40-0)
