New Palestine High School

The New Palestine boys wrestling team will send five wrestlers to next week's IHSAA State Finals at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, as the quintet each finished in the top four of their respective weight classes at Saturday's New Castle semistate. Two - Gunner Butt (150) and William Glesing (285) will go as semistate champions. As a team, the Dragons tallied 116 points, finishing as semistate runner-up behind Cathedral (165). NP was ahead of third-place Roncalli (113.5). Zionsville (82.5) and Warren Central (71) rounded out the top five. Blake Doss (113), Butt (150), Gabe Flick (175), Colin Whetsel (215) and Glesing (285) all punched their State Finals tickets during the semistate. Three other Dragons - Sebastian Stilts (106), Zion Tavorn (157) and Isaiah Jones (190) - advanced to the ticket round, but were unable to advance. The Dragons had 11 wrestlers at the semistate. Each of the advancing wrestlers has two matches remaining for placement. At 150, Butt needed 43 seconds to pin Eastern Hancock's Aden Montgomery. He then won an 11-6 decision over Hamilton Heights' Simon Kuhn in the ticket round to clinch his fourth straight State Finals appearance. He pinned Hagerstown's August Golliher in 3:02 in the semifinals and won a 15-5 major decision over Zionsville's Hank Phenicie in the semistate championship match. Butt is 33-1 on the year. At 285, Glesing remained unbeaten with two big wins. He posted a 19-2 tech fall over Southmont's Diego Castillo, then won a 13-4 major decision over East Central's David Miller Jr. in the ticket round. He won a tight 3-2 decision over Zionsville's Dace Laugle-McNeil in the semis, and then used a second-period takedown to beat Warren Central's Jacari Markey 3-2 in the finals. Glesing takes a perfect 32-0 mark into the State Finals. Doss advanced with an 8-3 decision over North Vermillion's Emmett Walters and a 14-9 decision over Richmond's Robert Peacock at 113. He finished third, as he lost 19-4 to Cathedral's Tate St. Laurent in the semis, then beat Zionsville's Andrew Elmore 4-1 in the third-place match. He is 24-9. Flick became a first-time State Finalist at 175. He pinned Frankton's Caine Oakley in 5:10, then won an 11-0 major decision over East Central's Jaxsin Prater in the ticket round. In the semis, he pinned Noblesville's Warren Pollard in 5:48. He lost 5-2 to Rossville's Jacob Cole on a takedown in the final seconds in the title match. Flick is 26-7 on the season. At 215, Whetsel earned a return State Finals trip with two falls. He pinned Chatard's Jaxson Washburn in 1:01, then pinned New Castle's Trent Supinger in 3:46 in the ticket round. He won a 16-1 tech fall over Franklin Central's Andrew Harmon in the semis, then lost 9-8 on a late escape to Perry Meridian's Seer Goodwise in the final. Whetsel is 26-2 on the season.