2026
If there was an aspect of Tripp Haisley’s wrestling career that could be considered a disappointment, it came at the very end when he missed out on a podium finish at the state finals.
The sheer fact that he returned to the state meet is an extraordinary accomplishment, one of many that add up to a brilliant season capping an outstanding career.
In 2025-26, the Madison-Grant senior won a Madison County championship, reached an individual milestone and helped his Argylls make program history. He advanced to the IHSAA State Finals in Indianapolis for the second straight year, becoming the first in program history to do so, and has been named The Herald Bulletin’s 2026 Boys Wrestling Athlete of the Year.
“It’s pretty crazy to think about, and I’m grateful for it,” Haisley said. “This is definitely an accomplishment that I’ve been striving for. I’ve always looked up to the other wrestlers in our area who have won this award.” Coming off a 40-win junior year, the 132-pounder won 34 matches this season, including his second consecutive Madison County title. He was runner-up at sectional and regional before punching his ticket for the state finals with a fourth-place showing at the Fort Wayne Semistate.
Standing on its own, Haisley’s season was a high achievement. But it becomes more impressive when you consider a Tommy John surgery in May that threatened his senior wrestling campaign.
While the injury happened during a baseball game for M-G last spring, his first thoughts were of wrestling.
“As soon as I tore it in the game, the first thing I thought was ‘I have to get back in time for my senior year of wrestling,’” he recalled. “The rest of this baseball season is out the window. I have to be back for wrestling season no matter what.”
Over the ensuing months, Haisley got help from physical therapist Hannah Zach and from his mother, Whitney, who is also a physical therapist.
While he was eventually cleared just days before the official start of wrestling, Haisley maintains he still is not 100% healthy.
“Strength-wise, I’m almost there, but I definitely did not wrestle at 100% this year,” he said. “It wasn’t fun. There were some times that it was pretty sore.”
Despite the injury, he grabbed his 100th win, the most coveted of individual wrestling milestones, and helped the Argylls to compete at the State Team competition for the first time.
That team achievement was his top highlight from his senior year.
“It was just a fun experience with my teammates and coaches,” he said. “That’s been a bucket list thing for my career.”
Beyond high school, that story plot has yet to be written.
“I have some opportunities to go wrestle at the next level, but I haven’t decided yet,” he said. “We’ll see.”
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