Senior Rory Nolin will be one of three Warsaw wrestlers competing in the semi state on Saturday (File photo by Nick Goralczyk)

Warsaw wrestling coach Justin Smith knows that all three of his wrestlers set to compete in the semi state Saturday are capable of punching their tickets to the State Finals.

He also knows just how much of a challenge that will be too.

“I would love for all three of them to advance to State,” said Smith. “Are they all capable of that? Yes. It’s going to take tremendous wrestling on their part for that to happen. We know that.”

The Warsaw trio of Kyle Hatch, Rory Nolin and Andrew Brock headline a group of 10 prep grippers who will take part in the Merrillvlle Semistate Saturday.

The top four finishers in each weight class at Merrillville earn a spot in the State Finals Feb. 20-21 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Hatch, who earned a regional title at 120 at Rochester last weekend, is a proven commodity. The sophomore standout is 39-1 on the season. Hatch placed fourth at 106 the semi state a year ago and went on to place eighth at State. He rallied to beat previously undefeated Jake Hartman of South Bend Clay 6-4 in overtime to win his regional championship last Saturday.

“I do think that it’s important that Kyle has wrestled at Merrillville before,” Smith said. “It just makes it that much easier for him to know what to expect. He’s going to have to wrestle well in the first two rounds.

“Kyle is definitely still hungry. He’s been working hard and I think that he will perform well on Saturday. I’m confident in him and a semi state championship is something to shoot for. But you can not take anything for granted. There are no givens at this level. Every wrestler there on Saturday is a quality wrestler.”

Senior Nolin was third at 195 and junior Brock third at 220 in the regional round. Nolin is 34-5 and Brock 33-9.

“We’ve just worked on their strengths and getting in quality workouts this week,” said Smith of preparation. “We’ve stuck to our routine and built confidence for both Rory and Andrew. That’s what you need at this level.”

Triton will have the largest representation with four wrestlers. Seniors Nate Spangle (170) and Justin Hefner (heavyweight), junior Gage Waddle (160) and sophomore Malachi Greene (106) will compete for the Trojans.

Triton senior Nate Spangle is one of four Trojans going to the semi state (File photo by Nick Goralczyk)

“These four guys have put in a lot of time and work to get here,” said Triton coach Ron Brown. “We expected them to. No one outside of our program expected them to and that was definitely a motivator.

“My main hope is for all of them to compete at the highest level that they can on Saturday. They all have a great chance. We’ve scouted our opponents and our kids are confident and ready to go. They are up for the challenge.”

Spangle, who was second at the regional, is 35-4. Greene is 32-9, while Waddle is 27-8 and Hefner 26-13. This will be the first semi state appearance for all four on Saturday.

A pair of experiened semi state grapplers will represent Tippecanoe Valley at Merrillville. Senior Devin Childers (132) and junior Garrett Bell (182) both wrestled there a year ago. Childers earned a second place finish at 132, while Bell was eliminated in the first round. Childers then went on to drop a tough 7-6 decision in the first round at the State Finals.

“I think last year’s experience does help them,” said Valley coach Scott Smith. “They have an idea what to expect and nothing will be brand new to them.

“Devin’s goal is to get back to State. If he wrestles his style and his matches he has a great chance. I also think Garrett has a great opportunity too. Both of them are wrestling well. Both are really experienced and very competitive. The are both laid back until they get on the mat or in a competitive situation.”

Childers is 39-2 and Bell 37-3 on the season. Both placed second at the regional.

Tristan Ponsler will take to the mat Saturday for Wawasee. The junior placed third at the regional at 126.

“To win and move on has always been my goal for all of our wrestlers,” said Wawasee coach Paul Meyer. “The biggest key for Tristan is to maintain his focus, take one match at a time and work his offense to dictate the pace of each match.”

Ponsler is 40-2 on the season.

The Merrillville Semistate features wrestlers from regionals at Rochester, Calumet, Crown Point and Logansport. Action begins Saturday with first-round matches at 9:30 a.m. EST.

Warsaw sophomore Kyle Hatch hopes to climb to the top of the podium again on Saturday. Hatch was a regional champion last weekend at Rochester (Photo provided by Scott Gareiss)