North Posey boys’ wrestling holds end of season banquet

By Chris Morlan

On March 17, the North Posey boys’ wrestling team held their end of season awards banquet at the Wheel House in Poseyville, Indiana.

This exceptional group of young men embodied dedication and perseverance. Throughout the season, they consistently showcased a remarkable work ethic, inspiring others and proudly representing their school and community with integrity.

The numbers were low for participation in this team. That hurt this team through the season when it came to dual contests against another school with fourteen wrestlers in each of the weight classes. North Posey gave up a bunch of forfeits, losing six points each time this occurred.

If you could eliminate the forfeits, North Posey flat out defeated nearly every school they went against. In the Pocket Athletic Conference Team Meet last December, North Posey had a wrestler in 80 of those contests. The Vikings won 72 of those matches.

Hopefully the numbers will go up for participation in the future. North Posey coach Chad Hoehn is doing an exceptional job with this program. The Vikings went with seven wrestlers in the postseason. Six of those grapplers (Parker Wehmer, Aslan Templeton, Adam Gray, Samual Mort, Cody Fitts, and Tyson Barrow) advanced to the regionals.

Of those six wrestlers, three (Barrow, Templeton, and Wehmer) moved on to the semi-state and one (Barrow) punched their ticket to the state finals. All three wrestlers that qualified for semi-state will return for the 2026-27 season. This program is going in the right direction. North Posey could possibly send as many as three wrestlers, possibly more to state next season which would be a school record.

Tyson Barrow (38-5) in the 175-pound weight class. This was the second appearance by Barrow making it to the state finals. Only a junior and has one more chance to excel his senior year. During the sectional and regional, Barrow won the 175-pound weight class. In semi-state, Barrow finished fourth. At the state finals, Barrow lost his first match by a heartbreaking 5-4 decision.

Aslan Templeton (30-11) in the 138-pound weight class. Templeton advanced out of the sectional and regional rounds of the state tournament. In the semi state, Templeton was defeated in his first match by technical fall. A state finalist at the Indiana State Wrestling Association placed sixth in the 138-pound weight class.

Freshman Parker Wehmer (32-6) in the 126-pound weight class. Wehmer also advanced out of the sectional and regional rounds. He won his first match at semi-state with a pin. Only one match away from qualifying for state, Wehmer lost by technical fall. Wehmer also was a state qualifier for the ISWA Frosh-Soph State meet, placing third in the 132-pound weight class. Look for Wehmer to make some noise next season.

Cody Fitts (24-8) in the 165-pound weight class. Fitts finished second in the sectional round of the state tournament. At the regional, Fitts came up short by one match from qualifying for semi-state. During his freshman season, Fitts qualified for the semi-state.

Adam Gray (27-9) in the 144-pound weight class. Gray placed third at the IHSAA Sectional at Evansville Central. In the regional round of the state meet, Gray was eliminated in his first match. Gray also qualified for the ISWA state meet but did not place. At the Indiana State Wrestling Association Freshman-Sophomore South Qualifier, Gray won the 150-pound weight class.

Samual Mort (15-20) in the 150-pound weight class. Mort finished fourth at the Central Sectional in the 150-pound bracket. At the Castle regional, Mort was defeated in his first match ending his freshman season.

Caden Wright (13-19) in the 190-pound weight class. At the Central Sectional, Wright placed fifth in the 190-pound weight class against a tough field consisting of state runner-up Sam Howard of Boonville. Wright will excel and build off his freshman season with a great campaign.

Winning awards for the 2025-26 season for North Posey were Wright winning the 180-Award; Barrow with the Offensive Wrestler of the Year; Templeton winning the Chase Akers Mental Attitude Award; and Wehmer the Newcomer Award.

Photos from the banquet appeared in last week’s Posey County News.