ROCHESTER — Regional wrestling tournaments will be capturing the attention of many sports fans this weekend. Four local schools will have grapplers in action. Triton, Warsaw and Wawasee will all be in competition at Rochester looking to punch tickets to East Chicago’s Semi-state. Meanwhile Whitko returns to its sectional site, Carroll, with hopes of advancing to New Haven.

The biggest challenge for all wrestlers this week will be the “win or go home” tag that comes with the opening round matches. Wrestlers must win their first match in order to have a shot of moving on to semi-state.

Gage Waddle

TRITON

Ron Brown’s squad advanced seven out of the field at Plymouth with one champion in Gage Waddle.

Waddle enters Rochester with with a 35-2 and will be the No. 2 seed at 160 pounds. Waddle will be at the bottom of the bracket and begin his day with a match against South Bend Riley’s RZ Teague (27-15). Waddle won all three of his matches at the sectional with pins. Penn junior Jarrod Swank (22-2) will be the top seed in the bracket.

Bryce Swihart (25-8) took fourth at the sectional and will have his work cut out for him at 113 as the No. 7 seed. The junior will wrestle No. 2 seed Penn senior Austin Slates (30-3) in the opening round.

Malachi Greene (32-5) will represent the Trojans at 120 and will be the No. 4 seed in that bracket. Greene was a sectional runner-up last week. 35-1 Drew Hildenbrandt will be the top seed at 120 and the most likely opponent for Greene if Triton’s senior can top South Bend Washington’s Solomon Siafa (23-8) in the opening round of Saturday’s tournament.

Another fourth place finisher at the sectional was Adonic Salinas. The senior enters the 126-pound tournament with a 26-15 record and will face No. Seed Ryan Hardesty of Mishawaka who boasts a 22-4 record.

Nick Harker will represent Triton at 145 after taking fourth at the sectional. Harker brings in a 22-17 record and will have to face top seeded Austen Laughlin of Riley. Laughlin boasts a 40-2 record.

James Snyder, a freshman, brings a 23-17 mark into the 152-pound bracket. Snyder will be the No. 7 seed and wrestles No. 2 seed Kassius Breathitt (38-4) of Riley.

The final qualifier for Triton is John Salinas at 182 pounds. Salinas enters with a 23-16 mark and will wrestle No. 1 seed Austin Faulkner (26-8) of Mishawaka.

WARSAW

The Tigers carried five wrestlers into the regional after finishing sixth as a team at Plymouth.

Kyle Hatch leads Warsaw into the regional with a 36-0 record. Hatch ran through the sectional tournament at 138 and will look to do the same at Rochester as the No. 1 seed. Hatch starts his day with a match against No. 8 seed Chris McCormick (27-13) of Riley. The No. 2 seed in the bracket will be Penn’s Trace Manspeaker (29-9).

Gustavo Cartejena entered the sectional field unseeded but worked his way to the championship match. That effort gives the freshman a No. 4 seed at Rochester. Cartejena will bring his 15-20 record into the first round for a match with St. Joe’s Matthew Cysewski (13-14).

Luis Juarez will also be a No. 4 seed as the senior will represent the Tigers at 182. Max Chaffee (19-14) will be the opponent for Juarez to start his day with. Juarez brings a 15-19 record into the tournament.

Andrew Brock will represent the Tigers at 200 following a runner-up finish at Plymouth. Brock, 30-9 this season for Warsaw, will wrestle South Bend Clay’s Jared Horban (17-7).

Alec Haines will be the final representative for Warsaw at Rochester as the senior brings an 18-11 record into the 285-pound bracket and will start his day with Penn’s William Vakalahi (25-8).

WAWASEE

Wawasee finished fourth as a team at the sectional and advanced six to the regional with Tristin Ponsler and Braxton Alexander leading the way.

Ponsler will enter his third regional as the No. 2 seed at 132. Ponsler (31-3) will wrestle Marian’s Nate Szajko (23-14) to start the day. Tondrew Tyler (38-1) will be the top seed in the bracket. Ponsler claimed his second sectional title last week at Plymouth.

Tristin Ponsler

Alexander will look to continue his fantastic freshman campaign as he enters the 113-pound tournament as the No. 1 seed. Alexander was the No. 2 seed at the sectional before going on and winning the title. Darnell Anderson (17-15) out of Riley will be Alexander’s first opponent. If the freshman makes the title match he will most likely face No. 2 seed Austin Slates of Penn (30-3).

Ricardo Romo (12-7) will represent Wawasee at 106. The Warrior sophomore will wrestle Vincent Calhoun of Adams (28-13). Romo will be the No. 6 seed. Romo was third at the sectional.

At 160 it will be senior Zac McKee representing the Warriors. McKee (23-11) was the runner-up at the sectional and will face Luke Sinkovics (22-13) of Mishawaka in the opening round.

Alejandro Castro comes in at 182 for Wawasee. The freshman brings a 12-9 record to the table and will be the No. 6 seed wrestling against Mason Cao of Clay (28-3). Castro was third at the sectional.

At 195 Jeremiah Dilley will represent Wawasee. Dilley pulled an upset as the No. 3 seed to get to the championship at last week’s sectional before falling to Plymouth’s Nate LaFree. Dilley (20-14) will be the thee seed at the regional and wrestle Brock Staton of Mishawaka (8-4). LaFree will again be the top seed in the class.

WHITKO

Dillon Alma will be the lone Wildcat at the Carroll Regional this weekend. Alma (26-13) enters as the eight seed at 170 pounds. The junior will wrestle top-seeded Taylor Garton of Leo (20-15). If Alma advances he will face either Brandon Kocks (18-9) or Tate Burns (36-2).