Indian Creek High School junior wrestler Grant Goforth has more than just his wrestling skills to rely on when he gets on the mat.
“He’s the smartest kid on our team,” Indian Creek wrestling coach Pat Dowty said.
Not just the team, but one of the smartest in the school. Goforth owns a cumulative 4.42 grade-point average.
“He’s been shooting to be valedictorian since he was a freshman,” Dowty said. “When you have a kid that smart, you don’t have to teach him stuff over and over. You teach him once and they got it. His biggest thing is we got to push more and more. We have to get to that next level of intensity, and he will get there because he’s determined.”
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Goforth finished 30-12 at 182 pounds, losing in the first round of the state meet. Goforth captured Johnson County and sectional titles. He was second in the regional and fourth in the semistate.
“Grant is obviously coming off an awesome year and put a lot of time in during the summer,” Dowty said. “So I’m really excited to see what he can do at 195.”
Dowty said Goforth showed his toughness with his 5-2 decision over Tecumseh’s Jeremy McKinley (47-3) in a match that clinched his qualification for the state meet.
“It was the worst draw he could have gotten and he comes out and wins and shocks everybody,” Dowty said. “He wrestled the perfect match. He did everything we told him to do. He’s very coachable.”
Goforth, a two-year starting linebacker for the Braves’ football team, weighs 197, so 195 is the perfect fit. Dowty is not a fan of wrestlers cutting much weight.
“He could go to college and play football, so there is no need for him to be dropping weight,” Goforth said. “They tend to not work as hard as when they cut a lot of weight because they don’t have it in them. I think he’s strong enough (for 195). He’s put on a lot of muscle. He’s ready to step up.”
Goforth said he made strides during the summer.
“My stance has improved since the end of the last season,” Goforth said. “I’ve been shooting more. I’ve become more of an offensive wrestler. I haven’t been as passive as I was last year. My conditioning has gotten better.”
Aiming high, Goforth said his goals are to have an undefeated season and to capture a state title.
Goforth said he should get some good help in practice from his teammates, Joe Clevenger (170), Alex Tran (182) and Cameron Elmore (heavyweight) in the upper weight classes.
Goforth is passionate about both football and wrestling.
“I love them for different reasons,” Goforth said. “I plan to play football in college, but I’m going to go wherever I get offered.”
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Class: Junior
Age: Turns 17 on Dec. 6
Favorite subject: Math
Favorite way to relax: Hanging out with friends
Favorite movie: “Friday Night Lights”
Favorite musician: Kanye West
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Center Grove Trojans
Coach: Cale Hoover
Last year: 18-4; won Mooresville Sectional, third at Mooresville Regional
Who’s back: Logan Coyle, Sr. (38-5, sectional & regional champion); Gleason Mappes, Jr. (37-11, fourth in state meet at 160 pounds), Jonah Hays, Jr. (36-7, semistate qualifier); Julius Byrd, Jr. (14-11); Alex Petro, So. (19-8); Peyton Pruett, So. (21-11)
Who’s gone: Zak Siddiqui, Anthony Williams, Nick Summers, Rhett Mappes, Derek Lewis
New kids on the block: Garrett Stalnacker, Austin King and Shane Stits, juniors; Zayn Siddiqui and Jordan Latham, sophomores
Outlook: The Trojans have several kids who now have experience to go along with high-end talent. “We are looking for several of them to have outstanding seasons and win medals at state finals,” Hoover said. “Our junior class is very strong and will lead the way for the team.” However, Hoover said the roster lacks the depth the Trojans usually have have been used to seeing. “It will be essential for us to stay healthy while our younger team members develop,” Hoover said. Coyle captured sectional and regional titles last season.
Hoover says: “We expect another strong season. We return a lot of experience in the starting lineup. The lineup is very strong and experienced from 152 up. We should be a solid dual meet team, and have the high end ability that should help in individual tournaments.”
Franklin Grizzly Cubs
Coach: Bob Hasseman
Last year: 18-5; second in county meet and at Mooresville Sectional, fourth at Mooresville Regional
Who’s back: Trevor Reese, James Jones, Mat Ahlefeld, Jake Moore and Burk VanHorn, seniors; Manny Cheam, Gavin Frost, Chandler Mills, Nick Petrole, Ranger Soots and juniors; Tanner Vandeman and Dorian Maxwell, sophomores
Who’s gone: Quin York (two-time state place winner), Shane Wilkerson (three-time semistate qualifier)
New kids on the block: Corbin Reff, Andrew Hargis, Dillin Collins, Ethan Nash and Wyatt Strain, freshmen
Outlook: Hasseman said the Grizzly Cubs will lack depth in the lighter weights. VanHorn, state runner-up at 160 pounds, leads the returnees. Reese, a three-time semistate qualifier who was the county champion at 138, will likely move to 145 or 152. The Grizzly Cubs have 30 wrestlers.
Hasseman said: “We’re pretty experienced from 138 and up. We’re young at 106, 116, 125. We have to survive in the low weights. Most of my guys are football players so where they line up at, I don’t really know. We’ll be fairly competitive, depends how these young guys do. If they do well, we’ll be all right.”
Greenwood Woodmen
Coach: Jay Yates
Last year: Finished third in county meet, second in Mid-State Conference, seventh at Mooresville Sectional
Who’s back: AJ Montgomery, Sr. (semistate qualifier last season); Keeghan Overton, Jr. (semistate qualifier); Jacob Schrader, Jr. (regional qualifier); Cooper Borgerding and Nick Rockwell, seniors; Juron Franklin, Nick Willham, Jacob Stover and Miguel Partida, sophomores
Who’s gone: Robert Skirvin, Nick Ballard
New kids on the block: Jovany Sebastian, Chase Nute, Jackson Paris and Noah Wilham, freshmen
Outlook: The Woodmen have 11 returning starters, including Overton, who is ranked No. 1 in the state in the first poll of the season. Overton and Montgomery were conference champions last season. Yates said the Woodmen have just four freshmen on the roster and he does not expect any to start.
Yates says: “The core of our team will focus around Overton, Schrader, and Montgomery. These guys will lead the way and we are expecting a few others to step up in leadership positions and have very successful seasons. We look to have our best tournaments at county, conference and the state tournament this year.”
Indian Creek Braves
Coach: Pat Dowty
Last year: 15-8; third at Mooresville Sectional, fifth at Mooresville Regional
Who’s back: Joe Clevenger, senior; Tony Mosconi, Tyler Weltich, Brad Trietch, Alex Tran and Grant Goforth, juniors; Alex Mosconi and Bryce Woods, sophomores
Who’s gone: Elijah Dunn
New kids on the block: Trent Watkins, Owen Sego, and Cameron Elmore, freshmen. Gabe Pitzulo, sophomore (transfer from Franklin).
Outlook: The Braves look to improve on a third-place finish in the sectional and fifth-place finish in the regional, and hope to qualify for state as a team. “We had some rough draws at regional last year,” Dowty said. The Braves return two Johnson County champions in Mosconi and Goforth, but they will have to replace Dunn, a state qualifier who finished 40-4 last season.
Dowty says: “Tony Mosconi put on a lot of muscle of over the summer and is bumping up from 126 to 152. He’s looking very good in the room. We have a hole at 220 right now. At 285 we have a freshman, Cameron Elmore, who is a pretty tough kid.”
Whiteland Warriors
Coach: Dave Thompson
Last Year: 22-10; ninth at Mooresville Sectional
Who’s back: Aaron Adkins, Austin Denien, Garrett Curtis and Ryan Hammond, juniors; Brett Kenner and Jake Perry, sophomores
Who’s gone: Tommy Copeland, Matthias Ebeyer
New kids on the block: Ryan Hammond, junior (sat out last season due to injury)
Outlook: The Warriors gained a great deal of experience last season and plan to build on that for this year, Thompson said. Hammond had a 36-6 record as a freshman, losing in the first round of the 2015 state meet. Thompson said injuries from fall sports might slow the Warriors’ progress early in the season.
Thompson says: “We feel we will be better and more competitive this season. We have a solid group of returning wrestlers and new young wrestlers to fill in the other weight classes.We will be a young team again this year that gain valuable experience during the season. As we move toward the sectional, we will be more competitive. Not sure about freshmen or move-ins helping us right away. This might be the first time in years that we don’t have a large number of freshmen in the varsity lineup — maybe a good thing. We will have to wait and see.”
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