By Steve Krah

INDIANAPOLIS — Two Wawasee wrestlers and one NorthWood grappler guaranteed themselves a top-eight finish with victories Friday in the IHSAA State Finals at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Wawasee junior Geremia Brooks (132 pounds) and senior Elisha Tipping (285) both advanced for the Warriors while NorthWood sophomore Jake Lone (170) kept his 2017-18 season going for the Panthers.

Brooks (37-4) pinned Plainfield junior Logan Burdon in 5:17. Tipping (33-6) topped Yorktown sophomore Holden Parsons 3-2.
Lone (38-4) stayed on the offensive to defeat Portage senior Drake Guerrero 3-1.

Wawasee freshman Jace Alexander (40-5) dropped a 6-3 decision to Goshen senior Fernando Flores. Alexander, who spent a portion of the week in the hospital with an illness, fell to Flores for the second time, losing at the Northern Lakes Conference tournament in January.

Brooks will take on Indianapolis Cathedral’s Alex Mosconi in the quarterfinals in the 132 bracket, Mosconi 33-2 on the season.

Tipping will meet Mooresville tank Jalen Comer (38-7) in the heavyweight quarterfinal matchup.

Lone will have his hands full with top seed Noah Warren of Perry Meridian in his quarterfinal matchup of the 170 bracket. Warren is a gaudy 44-1 this season.

The quarterfinals are slated for 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, with the consolation round at 5 p.m. and finals at 7:30 p.m.