INDIANAPOLIS – Wrestling standout Christian Mejia of Elkhart Memorial earned a runner-up finish Saturday night in the State Finals.

The Memorial sophomore lost in the finals to two-time state champion Colton Cummings of Lowell in the title match at 120 pounds in the season finale at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Cummings pinned Mejia in 3:40 in the championship bout as the two-day IHSAA State Finals came to a close.

Mejia finishes the season with a 45-5 mark.

Memorial also had a pair of other grapplers place on Saturday. Junior David Eli was fifth at 182, while senior Nick Ritchie took eighth at 170 for the Crimson Chargers.

Fairfield’s Blake Gloguski earned a fifth-place finish at 120 pounds. The senior topped senior Hunter Langeloh of Columbia City in the fifth-place match.

Jimtown had a trio of wrestlers earn places. Freshman Hunter Watts was sixth at 106, while junior Nick Mammolenti was sixth at 285. Junior Kenny Kerrn finished in seventh place for the Jimmies.

Chad Red of New Palestine became a four-time state champ and Warren Central ran away with the team title to highlight the State Finals.

In perhaps the most anticipated matchup in state finals history, Red claimed a 6-5 decision from Evansville Mater Dei’s Nick Lee at 132 pounds, a battle of two of the country’s best wrestlers. Lee took a 4-1 lead after the first period before Red turned the tables in the second taking a 6-4 advantage heading into the final frame. From there, Red burned the clock to become the ninth four-time state champion in state history and complete a perfect 183-0 career record (44-0 this season). He became the third Indiana wrestler to go undefeated for his entire career joining Indianapolis Cathedral’s Lance Ellis and Griffith’s Alex Tsirtsis. The New Palestine senior also joined Tsirtsis as the only undefeated wrestlers to win each of their titles in a different weight class. Lee was the defending 132 pound champion and suffered his first loss of the season to finish 16-1.

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.

The Warriors put four in the championship matches but junior Trent Pruitt was the only 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.

Warren Central finished with 105.5 points to outdistance runner-up Brownsburg’s 83 points. Indianapolis Cathedral placed third with 77 points, Portage ended fourth with 71 and Merrillville was fifth at 59. Defending state champion Penn placed seventh with 49 points.

Merrillville and Lowell each had two winners on the evening.

Merrillville’s Jacob Covaciu (42-0) and Shawn Streck (45-0) each repeated as champions. Covaciu claimed the 160 pound title to go along with his 145 crown a year ago while Streck repeated as 285 pound champion.

Lowell’s Colton Cummings (46-0) won the 106 pound title a year ago and moved up to win the 113 belt this season while teammate Drew Hughes (47-0) earned his second consecutive winning at 170 pounds after taking 160 in 2015.

Danville senior Brock Hudkins ended a perfect campaign at 47-0 for his second state title in a row winning it all at 126 pounds. Indianapolis Cathedral’s Blake Rypel also claimed his second crown dropping down to win at 182 after winning 195 last season.

A crowd of 12,643 witnessed Saturday night’s championship matches for a weekend total of 33,593, a new three-session attendance record.

State Championship Match Results
106: Asa Garcia, 9, Avon (36-6) def. Keyuan Murphy, 12, Warren Central (43-3), Fall, 1:55.
113: Colton Cummings, 11, Lowell (46-0) def. Christian Mejia, 10, Elkhart Memorial (42-5), Fall, 3:40.
120: Drew Hildebrandt, 12, Penn (46-1) def. Jeremiah Reitz, 11, Griffith (36-4), decision 5-3.
126: Brock Hudkins, 12, Danville (47-0) def. Gaige Torres, 12, Portage (35-5), decision, 8-2.
132: Chad Red, 12, New Palestine (44-0) def. Nick Lee, 11, Evansville Mater Dei (16-1), decision 6-5.
138: Brayton Lee, 10, Brownsburg (43-0) def. Matt McKinney, 12, Warren Central (46-4), TF-1.5 5:08 (20-5).
145: Joe Lee, 10, Evansville Mater Dei (32-2) def. Kasper McIntosh, 10, Portage (41-5), Fall, 0:42.
152: Trent Pruitt, 11, Warren Central (45-2) def. Steven Lawrence, 12, Portage (41-2), decision 7-3.
160: Jacob Covaciu, 12, Merrillville (42-0) def. Burk VanHorn, 11, Franklin Community (41-5), decison 3-0.
170: Drew Hughes, 12, Lowell (47-0) def. Hunter Mote, 12, Delphi (40-3), major decision 12-0.
182: Blake Rypel, 12, Indianapolis Cathedral (45-0) def. Cameron Jones, 12, Lawrence North (41-7), decision 4-2.
195: Jake Kleimola, 12, Lake Central (43-1) def. Tristen Tonte, 11, Warren Central (45-4), decision, 9-5.
220: Mason Parris, 10, Lawrenceburg (52-0) def. Gunnar Larson, 11, Avon (42-1), major decision, 13-4.
285: Shawn Streck, 12, Merrillville (45-0) def. Robert Samuels, 11, Lawrence North (44-7), decision, 9-5.