Evan Stanley, a junior at Lowell Senior High School, captured 1st place at both the wrestling sectional, regional tournaments, and Semi State, earning a spot at the 2026 Boys Wrestling State Finals.
The biggest question was whether he could rise to the occasion and capture 1st place at state as well. Stanley was up against the best of the best in the 138-pound weight class on February 20 and 21.
At the state finals, Stanley was going into the matches with belief in his eyes of capturing a state championship. Last year, he fell short capturing third place after a tough loss.
Stanley was able to breeze through the first and second round defeating Elijah Hedges from Heritage Hills and Colt Goodman from Franklin Central.
Stanley entered the third round with confidence to be able to make it to the finals. He was able to come out of the third round with a final score 8-1. Going into the finals Stanley was full of excitement. He knew it was going to be a tough match.
Starting the match, Evan had to play extremely defensive and hope that it was enough to come out as champion. Stanley was able to get an escape, coming out on top with a 9-8 win over Tylin Thrine from New Castle.
In an interview with the Region Sports News, Stanley was asked, “How cool was that moment to finally share that state championship with them?” He replied very quickly with a heartfelt message, “That was great, that was like my thank you to them.” Stanley then went on to say, “I’ve said it before, you know that’s the best way to show gratitude to my parents, was to get that done.”
Stanley truly shows great gratitude toward his parents through wrestling, making sure to thank them any chance he gets. The Lowell community is extremely excited to see what Stanley’s future holds
