Boys wrestling state qualifier: Brant Beck

After going down in weight, Beck aims to win state

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Brant Beck

Rochester junior Brant Beck is new-school smart and old-school tough, and he’s combined those traits to make the IHSAA boys wrestling state finals for the third consecutive year.

He drew Gibson Southern sophomore Deacon Dressler and will wrestle him at state at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis at 6 p.m. tonight.

Beck was a state qualifier at 160 pounds in 2023, and he finished third at 165 last year.

This time, he made state at 157. He is ranked No. 2 with a 44-1 season record, according to IndianaMat.com. His only loss was to No. 1 Matthew Staples in a 9-4 decision in last week’s East Chicago semistate final.

“Obviously, it’s still exciting, but I’ve been there before, so I’m hoping to get farther than I did last year,” Beck said.

His 2023 run to state might already be considered legendary. In the sectional final at Peru, he upset previously undefeated Logan Farnell of Maconaquah one week after he lost to Farnell in the Three Rivers Conference final.

In his ticket match at the Fort Wayne semistate, he came from behind to beat Garrett’s Chase Leech. Leech went on to win state at 175 in 2024 and is currently wrestling at Indiana University.

Beck’s run ended in the first round at state against Sam Goin of Crown Point in a 14-6 loss. He was the only wrestler to last six minutes against Goin at state, who went on to win state and who is currently Leech’s teammate at IU.

Last year, he tore through the sectional and regional and then won his first three matches at semistate before suffering his first loss to Crown Point’s Anthony Rinehart in the final. He then made it to the state semifinals before losing a major decision to eventual champ Waylon Cressell. He finished third when he beat Rinehart by injury default.

He said he weighed 182 pounds at the end of football season in November. 

He said he lost the weight just through the intense practices in the Zebra wrestling room.

“At the beginning, it was hard but not anymore,” Beck said of the weight drop. “I’ve kind of gotten used to it.”

The work ethic might be old school, but he also does yoga and breathing exercises. He also watches film of his opponents. That is new school.

Beck said the breathing exercises are tied in with his style. He is an attacking ball of energy who keeps his opponent on the defensive. He described his style as a freshman as “go, go, go,” but he said he has modified his wrestling from the top position to get more falls.

Beck went 3-1 at semistate last week and is 127-9 for his career. He pinned Hobart’s Dominic Rivera in 3:01 and Lowell’s Tymothy James in 2:30 to clinch his state spot last week. Then came a 5-4 win over Crown Point’s seventh-ranked Griffin Van Tichelt in which he got the winning takedown with 17 seconds left.

“Nerve-wracking,” Beck said. “Just because I gave up a late takedown, and then I knew I had to stand up quick and get a takedown. I was down 4-2 when we went back up on our feet. … He’s pretty tough, a hard-headed kid. Just a mean kid, on the mat at least.”

Dressler is 39-2 and finished third at last week’s Evansville semistate. He is ranked No. 8.

He could potentially face No. 4 Christian Arberry, a Warren Central senior who is already a two-time state placer in his career, in the quarterfinals. No. 5 Jackson Bradley of Cowan or Van Tichelt is a possibility in the semifinals.

And that’s just to have a chance to get another shot at Staples. But the semistate loss to Staples was instructive.

“He’s a tough hand fighter,” Beck said. “He’ll hand-fight the hell out of you. I just have to work on clearing my head and hands and getting to setting up a shot and not just diving in. But he’s a tough kid.”

Rochester coach Tristan Wilson said that in tight matches like the Van Tichelt and Staples matches, opportunities are few, so Beck will have to take advantage when they occur.

“We know we have some positions that we need to clean up this week, but Staples is a very good wrestler, and in those really, really tight matches, there’s only a couple of opportunities that we get to score, and we just need to score in those positions,” Wilson said.

When asked what his goal is for the weekend, Beck’s answer was simple.

“Be a state champ. That’s it.”