Congratulations go out to Jim Tonte’s Warren Central Wrestling team on their IHSAA Wrestling state championship, defeating Brownsburg 105.5 to 83. For Warren Central, it was the school’s second state title in the sport and first since 1980. Warriors coach Jim Tonte won his fourth state title with his previous three coming while coaching Perry Meridian. He is the first coach to win two state and Marion county titles with two separate schools. He joined Warren in 2015 after a celebrated 18 year career at Perry Meridian. The finals were held at Banker’s Life Fieldhouse on Feb. 19 and 20.
Coach Tonte said that all 14 core wrestlers went to sectional, regional, and semi-state and 8 went on to the state finals. “It’s kinda cool,” he said. “We had a great core of kids when I got here, and we built on that. This is a pretty special group of kids.” The team score was the highest in Indiana IHSAA history.
The Warriors put four in the championship matches but junior Trent Pruitt was the only one to claim a title, taking a 7-3 decision from Portage’s Steven Lawrence to finish 45-2 at 152 pounds. Keyuan Murphy at 106, Matt McKinney at 138 and Tristen Tonte at 195 pounds each settled for a runner-up finish.
“I’ve always been a team oriented kinda guy,” Tonte noted. “I work with a great group, with great support. We worked with the kids, held them accountable, and they rose up.” However, more importantly, he said, “We’ve got kids who just love to wrestle.”
The day after finals, Tonte noted that the kids were back at the Warren Wrestling Academy, working hard. “This is pretty much a year-round sport; we only take off August.” For more information on the Warren Wrestling Academy schedule, visit warrenwrestlingacademy.com
Other local teams also performed admirably at the state finals, with Cathedral finishing third and Lawrence North tying for eighth place with Avon. New Palestine student-athlete Chad Red of New Palestine claimed his fourth individual state championship, becoming only the ninth in state history to achieve the milestone. He completed a perfect 183-0 career record, and became the third Indiana wrestler to go undefeated his entire career.
