However, life would get much tougher in the semifinal dual meet against Portage, a team that started the season ranked nationally before being out-pointed in a tournament by No. 49 Perry Meridian and losing a dual meet No. 38 Indianapolis Cathedral. A now full-strength Indians squad would split the matches seven apiece but lose the dual 32-28 to Brownsburg.
The Bulldogs were propelled by two pins, a forfeit, and a technical fall during the dual meet.
The match-opening pin came at 182 pounds by two-time state placer Nathan Walton against state qualifier Jeremy Torres. Portage would respond with a 10-4 decision at 195. At 220 pounds, Lawson Aiken of Brownsburg earned a second period pin over Chester Swopes in a key swing match; Aiken failed to get out of the regional last year, while Swopes made it to the semi-state level. Reily Peterson extended the Bulldogs lead to 18-3 with a forfeit at 285.
A pin from No. 19 Jacob Moran at 106 would cut the Portage deficit to 18-9 before a string of five tight bouts, three of which were won by the Bulldogs to extend the lead to 27-15 with four bouts remaining.
Freshman Kysen Montgomery pushed the Bulldogs' lead to 21-9 with a 2-1 victory over Ricky Hegedus at 113. A battle of state medalists at 120 saw Brock Peele of Portage win 3-1 in overtime over Drake Campbell. Another matchup of state medalist at 126 saw Colin Poynter rally from a 5-0 early hole against two-time state runner-up Ty Mills to earn an 11-7 victory via a late five point move. Brownsburg junior Drew Kreitzer would beat senior Alec Luna 4-1 at 132 pounds to set up the dual meet's inflection point.
The 138 pound match placed a pair of returning state runners-up at two-time state placers against one another. Which ever team won this match would be favored to win the dual meet based on the following four matchups. An overtime takedown for Brownsburg's Blake Mullkey yielded him a 3-1 victory over Kris Rumph.
No. 11 Kasper McIntosh and Donnell Washington would follow up with a major decision and pin for the Indians at 145 and 152 respectively. However, moving up one weight class, No. 2 Brayton Lee scored a 24-9 technical fall at 160 pounds to clinch the dual meet with one match remaining. In that last match, Drake Guerrero scored a 9-3 victory for Portage at 170 to create the final margin.
In the other semifinal match, Perry Meridian jumped out to 7-0, 16-6, and 19-10 leads against Evansville Mater Dei before consecutive pins from Clay Egli (126) and Eli Dickens (132) gave Mater Dei a 22-19 lead with five matches remaining. Returning state placer Matt Lee used two third period takedowns to upend senior Blaize Lowery 6-5 at 138 pounds to give the Wildcats a 25-19 lead despite the teams splitting the first ten matches at five-apiece.
The Falcons would close the dual meet with four consecutive victories to to win the dual meet 34-25, with two-time state placer Noah Warren securing the winner take most pin in 56 seconds at 170 pounds.
In the subsequent consolation match, fourth seed Portage would dominate third seed Mater Dei to the tune of a 37-13 victory in which the Indians won ten of the fourteen bouts. Consolation wrestling for fifth place saw Avon beat Columbus East 33-26, as the teams split the fourteen matches seven-apiece. In preliminary pool competition, Portage beat Avon 34-17 (9-5 matches), while Evansville Mater Dei beat Columbus East 35-24 (7-7 matches).
The championship dual meet between the pair of nationally ranked teams did not disappoint. The second-seeded Falcons jumped out to a 9-0 lead after a 4-3 decision for Austin Lane at 195 and a 38 second pin by Frank Hammond at 220.
The teams would alternate victories in the next four matches, as the top-seeded Bulldogs cut the deficit to 17-9. Notably, Reily Peterson got Brownsburg on the board with a pin at 285, freshman Alex Cottey scored a 24-7 technical fall at 106 for Perry Meridian, and Perry Meridian's Sam Fair beat Drake Campbell 8-4 at 120 in a match that pitted past state placers against one another.
Three successive bonus point victories for Brownsburg would turn that deficit into a 25-17 advantage with five bouts remaining. Three-time state placer Mills started with a pin at 126, Kreitzer continued the rally with another pin at 132, before Mullkey's 12-4 major decision finalized the run.
A pair of decision victories for Perry Meridian cut the deficit to 25-23 with three matches remaining. Those coming 5-0 for Jack Servies at 145 and 3-1 for Austin Rainbolt at 152. Brayton Lee answered with a 16-8 major decision for the Bulldogs at 160 to extend the advantage back out to 29-23.
A 5-0 decision for Brooks Davis at 170 was the seventh match victory for Perry Meridian, which created a winner take all showdown at 182 between a pair of two-time state placers. For the Falcons, Noah Warren bumped up to face Nathan Walton; it was Walton who won the match 8-5 with takedowns in each period to secure the 32-26 title match victory.
From an individual perspective, the performance of the day had to be from 2016 state champion Asa Garcia (Avon), who beat two state champions and a third state medalist on the day. Garcia beat Poynter of Portage 3-2 before using a takedown late in regulation and in overtime to beat state champion Alec Viduya (Roncalli) 7-5, and then in his last match of the day it was a 3-1 victory over state champion Cayden Rooks (Columbus East).
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