Law of the Land: East senior, state runner-up is The Republic Wrestler of the Year - The Republic

The last two years of Kade Law’s high school wrestling career went a lot smoother health-wise than his first two.

After illness and injury in his first two season, the Columbus East standout stayed healthy the past two years, and as a result, ended up on the podium at the state finals. He finished third at 160 pounds as a junior and was state runner-up at 160 this season, earning The Republic Wrestler of the Year honors.

“I think it was my best year, as far as my overall performance,” Law said. “Junior year was pretty good. Junior and senior year treated me well. The one thing that was awesome about this year is, I didn’t have any injuries. I felt good. Some of the guys got sick, and I stayed healthy throughout the whole season, which was a blessing.”

Law was a three-time state qualifier. He became the third East freshman ever to qualify for state in 2019, but only after battling through asthma issues at the beginning of the season and a broken nose during the postseason.

The following year, Law battled a knee injury that led to his defeat at the Evansville Semistate.

“I think Kade throughout his high school career and this year really overcame some obstacles to get to the point where he was at, and to finish as a three-time qualifier and two-time placer was outstanding,” East coach Chris Cooper said.

“I think throughout my high school career, I had a lot of obstacles to face to get to where I’m at,” Law added. “Freshman year, having two nose surgeries the week of regional and semistate. My sophomore year, I had a knee injury I went out with at semistate, and just the recovery process from that, just getting confidence in my shots again, it took awhile. It was hard mentally, but I was able to battle through it.”

Cooper said when he overcame those issues, he became a better wrestler.

“The hard part of it was his mental game — being able to learn how to deal with nerves, learn how to deal with his own expectations and others’ expectations,” Cooper said. “It’s one thing to be a good wrestler — he’s always been a good wrestler — but to be able to put the entire package together, both the physical and the mental, was something where he really grew as a person this year.”

Law finished 136-22 for his career, taking seventh in the Olympians’ all-time wins list. He recorded 52 pins and a school-record 515 takedowns, breaking former state champion and current Indiana University wrestler Graham Rooks’ 487.

“I like to take people down, and I like to get to my leg attacks and just one right after another,” Law said. “It breaks the other guy, and that’s my goal whenever I step on the mat — just to dominate.”

This year, Law went 41-3 with 20 pins. All three of the losses came against Floyd Central’s J Conway. Two of those were in overtime, including the 160-pound state final.

“He had a great year,” Cooper said. “Of course, he wanted to win. Any kid at that level wants to be a state champ. We just came up a little bit short, but there’s no shame in losing to J Conway. He’s a two-time champ, he’s a quality wrestler. Those two wrestlers are very similar, so it’s very tough to score points.”

“I feel pretty good about it,” Law added. “Obviously, I wanted to win, but I got the closest thing to it. I got to wrestle underneath the lights, and I had a good season. I didn’t have very many close matches besides the semifinals and finals. I had about four close matches, and the other ones, I pretty much dominated. I wish I would have pulled through and got first (at state), but it was an experience that will be with me the rest of my life.”

Prior to the season, Law committed to continue his wrestling career at Purdue. He figures he will redshirt his first year.

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Law said. “I’m excited. They’ve already talked to me about enrolling in summer school and just getting on campus as soon as possible this summer and wrestling with them throughout the offseason and right into the season. I’ll definitely redshirt, just to take that year to grow. But as far as all the opens and stuff, I think I’ll definitely be competing in them.”

The Republic All-Area Wrestling team:

Kade Law, Columbus East: The senior was sectional and regional champion and semistate and state runner-up at 160 pounds.

Ashton Hartwell, Columbus East: The senior was sectional and regional champion and finished third at semistate and eighth at state at 285 pounds.

Tommy Morrill, Columbus East: The junior was sectional and regional champion, finished second at semistate and was a state qualifier at 220 pounds.

Noah Lykins, Columbus East: The senior was sectional and regional champion, finished third at semistate and was a state qualifier at 120 pounds.

Liam Krueger, Columbus East: The junior was sectional and regional champion and a semistate quarterfinalist at 113 pounds.

Reece Fisher, Columbus East: The senior was sectional and regional champion and a semistate quarterfinalist at 138 pounds.

Jaden Durnil, Columbus East: The senior was sectional and regional champion and a semistate quarterfinalist at 182 pounds.

Tristan Statler, Columbus East: The senior was sectional champion, regional runner-up and a semistate quarterfinalist at 170 pounds.

Eli Pollitt, Columbus East: The senior was sectional and regional champion and a semistate qualifier at 152 pounds.

Nate Anderson, Columbus East: The senior was sectional runner-up, regional champ and a semistate qualifier at 132 pounds.

Josh Schrader, Columbus East: The junior was sectional champion, regional runner-up and a semistate qualifier at 195 pounds.

Kenton Wilson, Columbus East: The senior was sectional champion, finished third at regional and was a semistate qualifier at 145 pounds.

Justice Thornton, Columbus North: The freshman was sectional and regional champion and a semistate quarterfinalist at 126 pounds.

Liam Curfman, Columbus North: The freshman was sectional champion, regional runner-up and a semistate qualifier at 106 pounds.

Honorable mention

Brown County: Chris Luckey, Brandon Phelps. Columbus East: Bo Wagner. Columbus North: Bryce Abner, Keller DeSpain, Josiah Green, Bryce Hawkins, Alexander Lozano, Liam Phillips, Jason Shuey, Jared Slocum II. Jennings County: Bryce Barnes, Gage Gasper, Peyton Hayden, Lane Kirchner, Colton Ross, Evan Sochacki, Teagan Trotter.

source: https://www.therepublic.com/2022/03/20/law-of-the-land-east-senior-state-runner-up-is-the-republic-wrestler-of-the-year/

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