Brownsburg Wrestling Team Builds a Legacy of Strength & Resilience
The Brownsburg High School wrestling team is gearing up for a new season after winning the 2025 state championship during the 2024-25 school year.
In fact, they’ve had several wins in the years leading up to last season. It’s their third state championship with the IHSAA and the second in a row, and they’re making history while they’re at it.
As a team, the Bulldogs accumulated 243 points, topping Crown Point’s previous championship mark of 178 in 2022. They also tied with Bloomington’s seven individual state champions, a record set in 1949.
Coach Darrick Snyder says, in wrestling, individuals can win state in one of 14 different weight classes, and the entire team can also win state — which they did the last two years.
“It depends on the school you wrestle for,” Snyder says. “I’ve always been focused on the team as a whole. You want to be as good as you can be as an individual, and that’s probably how the majority of teams in Indiana focus. Some programs focus on the best handful of guys and how well they do, but we’re big on culture here and making everyone feel valued. The guys that win individual state titles couldn’t do it without the other guys in the room.”
This winter, there will be four returning state champions on the team, and Snyder is always impressed by their dedication and determination.
“For the last couple of years, we’ve had an incredible group of young men, very focused on training the right way,” he says. “We hold them to a high standard — by the way they train, but also how they act in the classroom and what they do in their free time.”
They continued returning to the mat even after injuries — and even a car accident.
Jake Hockaday, for example, had a torn anterior cruciate ligament, a torn meniscus and damage to his medial collateral ligament, yet he won his 136th career match using hand-combat techniques. Hockaday graduated and is wrestling for Nebraska this fall.
Parker Reynolds will return to Brownsburg wrestling this winter. He was involved in a car accident, and his hand injury resulted in doctors telling him wrestling would not be in the cards for his future.
However, Reynolds also defied the odds by entering state ranked sixth and winning the state title.
“Reynolds lost control of his car and hit a telephone pole. Then he came back and had the best tournament of his life and won a state title,” Snyder says. “He was relentless in his rehab to get back on the mat.”
Time and time again, Snyder is amazed by the team’s tenacity and dedication to the sport.
“They’re very resilient,” he adds. “They’re more like, ‘I tore my knee up, and that sucks, but what can I do to get better? Let’s see how we can adjust my style.’ It’s really the mentality of being focused on the process over the outcome.”
That attitude is evident to those around them.
High school sports photographer Justin Sicking has been following the Brownsburg wrestling team for a few years now.
After covering a tournament, some of the parents requested he continue throughout the season. It helped document their success last year, and he’ll join them again this year.
“These are some of the most down-to-earth, respectful young men I’ve had the opportunity to work with,” Sicking says. “It’s been a pleasure getting to know them, and they’re so hard working.”
In addition to IHSAA-sanctioned tournaments in November and December, the team takes advantage of extra practice and tournaments in the area.
The varsity team competes in the Ironman wrestling tournament in Ohio, which Snyder says is one of the toughest competitions in the nation — bringing in young men from all over the country to compete.
In addition, the National Wrestling Coaches Association hosts a dual state tournament — and the Bulldogs brought that title home too.
Despite the accolades, Snyder says they don’t focus on championships and state titles throughout the season. They simply focus on improvement and growth.
“It’s awesome to have these state championships, but we really just talk about getting better in this practice or in this week,” Snyder says. “Get better every day and every week, and just imagine how good you’ll be. We won’t talk about state for months because we’re just talking about getting ready for the next competition.”
It doesn’t hurt to have the entire community backing the team too.
“We’re really thankful for the support we receive,” Snyder adds. “We have a phenomenal coaching staff, the support from our administration is outstanding, and there are so many great parents involved in the program. To do what we do, it takes all of those components, and I feel fortunate to be the head coach at Brownsburg.”
The official start to the season is mid-November, though fans can catch some preliminary matches in the weeks leading up to competition.
