INDIANAPOLIS — Watching from the entryway, Mt. Vernon junior Chris Wilkerson saw his older brother have his hand raised in victory.
He knew he had to follow suit.
Not long after Chase Wilkerson won his 126-pound match with a 5-2 overtime win on Mat 2 during Friday night’s IHSAA state wrestling finals at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Chris Wilkerson stepped onto Mat 1 with the same goal in mind.
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Win and advance.
With a hard-fought 1-0 victory, Chris joined his older brother in today’s final day of the state tournament and earned a spot on the podium.
“I can’t even realize what’s going on right now,” Chris Wilkerson said. “Because he won, I won. We do the same things. I see him win, it makes me want to win more. It’s going to be an experience we can never have again, since he’s a senior. It’s going to be a great experience no matter what happens tomorrow.”
Joining the brothers somewhere on the podium will be Greenfield-Central junior Cooper Noehre, who had a big day himself.
Noehre, ranked third in the 152-pound weight class, used two third-period takedowns to secure a win against Bloomington South’s Ellisston Ross, 7-2, and advance to today’s quarterfinals.
It was Noehre’s 100th career win, and it came on about as big of a stage as it could. The victory felt good, but the Cougars’ junior has bigger things in mind.
“At the end of the day, it’s not the goal,” Noehre said. “I want to be on top. I think overall I wrestled my match. First time I was ever here, a little bit of nerves were there. Got the first match out of the way. Now I’m feeling a lot better about myself.”
Nerves were a common theme. Of the four county wrestlers who competed Friday night, only Chris Wilkerson had wrestled on the state stage before.
That didn’t stop the nerves from being there for him, especially after a 0-0 first period against Harrison’s Anthony Poindexter.
“My stomach was just … I was thinking in my head, ‘You’ve just got to do it now. You’ve gotta do it now.’ I did it how I do it,” Chris Wilkerson said. “I played my own match. I realized what was going on, what position I was in … Boom, 1-0 win. Now I’m on the podium. It feels great.”
His older brother felt the nerves, too.
Chase Wilkerson took on JJ Conway from Floyd Central in the first round. He was amped up. He was nervous.
But once he got in the match, the nerves settled. Once he got into overtime, he knew what he needed to do, and he got the reversal he was looking for to advance with a 5-2 win.
“It’s awesome, man,” Chase Wilkerson said. “It’s so cool. It’s something I’ve been dreaming about since I was little, so I’m happy to finally make that happen.”
The only county wrestler who was defeated Friday night was New Palestine’s Christian White. The sophomore fell in the opening round, 8-1, to Harper Dedman of Oak Hill.
White took the loss hard, but as a sophomore, he has several years to build on the experience of advancing to and competing on the state level.
“I think this is definitely going to fuel his fires the next couple of years,” New Palestine coach Alex Johns said. “Coming here and losing stinks. But there’s a lot to appreciate and a lot of good things to say, and I think he cherishes the moments in this building. Just a couple of years back his brother was here and was successful. I think that kind of motivates him. He’s on the right path.”
Looking ahead, the Wilkerson brothers each face big opponents in this morning’s quarterfinal round, with Chase meeting No. 1-ranked Jesse Mendez of Crown Point, who ran his record to 39-0 with a quick pin Friday. Chris will face No. 3 Conner Gimson from Jimtown, who improved to 43-1 on the year with a fall in the first round.
Noehre will meet No. 16 Isiah Levitz from Prairie Heights, who advanced with a 3-0 decision Friday night.
The mindsets for the three Hancock County wrestlers will be a bit different, just as their matchups are.
Noehre sort of expected to be here. He’s got somewhat of a target on his back, being one of the state’s top-ranked wrestlers.
People know who he is, and he is fine with that. He said he will try to stay calm and collected and wrestle like it is any other match. He has big goals, and he has a lot of confidence heading into the quarterfinals.
“Pretty much take it one match at a time and just be me,” Noehre said. “If I’m wrestling my match, I don’t believe anyone can beat me.”
Having success at state is about more than just himself.
He’s wrestling, in part, for a friend. His best friend, Gavin Rose, didn’t get the opportunity to be at state this year due to a leg injury sustained a few weeks ago.
“This year is for both of us,” Noehre said. “I want to do big things. It’s just an amazing opportunity overall to represent Greenfield-Central like this.”
While Noehre is somewhat of a favorite, the Wilkerson brothers will be underdogs, something they have grown kind of accustomed to this year.
It doesn’t matter. They want to win, too. They are fired up, and they are ready to try to pull off some upsets.
“It feels amazing, to be honest, knowing that both of them, all their hard work is going to get paid off with a podium spot,” Mt. Vernon coach Chad Masters said. “Now it’s just cake. We’re going to go in tomorrow morning being underdogs. Just go out and wrestle, give it all you’ve got. Pull the upset and wrestle for bigger things, now. Just be ultra aggressive. At this point, let’s go take the matches. I love winning matches, but let’s just take the match. They’ve got the skill to do it. I think tomorrow, they’re just going to let it rip.”
“We weren’t predicted to be here,” Chris Wilkerson said. “Why stop now? Keep going. Keep winning, making upsets. We plan on doing everything we can to win this thing, upset everybody, turn heads.”