Carmel Crushes Wawasee's State Hopes
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
GREENWOOD - One group of people fueled Wawasee's wrestling team throughout the season.
The doubters.
Wawasee went 6-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference, but the Warriors were never ranked. Teams they beat, like NorthWood and Goshen, were ranked at one time or another.
Not until the Warriors won the season-ending NLC tournament did they show up in the coaches poll, and then they jumped from no ranking to No. 14.
The Warriors then went out and proved they deserved the ranking. They won the East Noble Sectional. They won the Churubusco Regional. Then they had their biggest win of the year, winning at No. 2 Bellmont 31-30 in the semistate.
Before you knew it, this group from Wawasee had worked its way into Saturday's state finals at Center Grove.
Eight teams were left in the tournament, and when you make it this far, there are no more surprises. Wawasee wrestled No. 3 Carmel (28-0) in the first round, and the Greyhounds ended the Warrior season with a 44-15 win.
Carmel dominated all year. The Greyhounds' closest match in the regular season was a 36-24 win over state-ranked Portage.
"Three hundred and sixty-two teams, or whatever it is, start the season," Wawasee coach Scott DeHart said. "Now we're down to eight. There are 350 or so teams not here. Our kids have nothing to be ashamed about.
"If it didn't hurt so much, it wouldn't mean so much."
Evansville Mater Dai, the top-ranked team in the state, beat Penn 32-18 in the championship match. Mater Dai, 24-0, knocked Carmel out 31-24 in the semifinals. Penn finished the season 32-3, while Carmel was 29-1.
An omen showed up early for the 14-4 Warriors. Chet Wortinger entered with a 29-8 record and wrestled in the 103-pound opening match.
He jumped out to a 2-0 lead and was leading 2-1 when he hurt his leg. Walking became a chore, but minutes later, he waved his coach off and finished his match.
He lost 5-2.
"Chet's been nursing a bum knee all year," DeHart said. "He just got it locked and caught. He showed a lot of heart and guts to come back. His comment was, 'I'm going.'
"He wrestled on one wheel at the state finals."
Carmel chipped away at the Warriors early. The Greyhounds won three of the first four matches by decision to take a 9-3 lead. Wawasee's only win came from Travis Coy, who won the 112-pound match 6-5.
Up in the fifth match was sophomore Kevin Carr, who owned a 41-3 record and was someone who won whenever the Warriors needed it. He moved up from the 125-pound weight class to 130 for this match. He lost 14-2, a major decision, and Wawasee fell behind 13-3.
The Warriors were behind 17-3 when Darrell Carr took care of business in the 140-pound match. Carr pinned Tim Griffin in 57 seconds, and the Warriors showed their first signs of life on the day.
His win brought Wawasee within 17-9.
Jason Carr, who owned a 35-3 record, then lost 3-2 in the 145-pound match.
Wawasee fell behind 20-9, but Shaun Belin was up in the 152-pound match. Belin, 38-3, was tossed around and fell behind early. He rallied. Down 11-5, he pinned Wes Addington with one minute to go.
Wawasee trailed by only five, 20-15.
Then the Warriors were done. They lost the last five matches to lose 44-15. Carmel's reigning state champions, John Kopnisky (160) and Todd Wright (189) pinned their opponents.
"These kids battled," DeHart said. "I expected to come out and compete, which we did. Travis Coy gets a win for us at 112. Belin's down five or six points and comes back and gets a pin.
"When the dust cleared, we were just going to have to look at the scoreboard and see what happens.
"This time we came up short."
Now, DeHart says, his team can sit back and enjoy their accomplishments, beginning with the trip to the state finals.
"How could we have not gained any respect this year?" DeHart asked. "Nobody knew who Wawasee was. All year we've taken people on. These kids have earned something. They should walk around with their heads held high."
DeHart loses four wrestlers out of the starting lineup - Darrell Carr, Rob Burke, John Merchant, Jeremy Walls - to graduation.
"We have a good group coming back next year," he said. "We lose four kids out of our lineup. That's not bad. The kids got to wrestle in the big show. They will want to come back.
"I think we got to the next level this year. Now we have to keep climbing."
1997 TEAM STATE FINALS
FIRST ROUND
CARMEL 44, WAWASEE 15
Wawasee individual results, season records, running team scores:
103 - Conor Johnson (CAR) def. Chet Wortinger (29-9) 5-2; Carmel 3-0
112 - Travis Coy (WAW/25-14) def. Andy Wright 6-5; 3-3 tie
119 - Chris Hinton (CAR) def. Jacen Hendricks (15-14) 5-2; Carmel 6-3
125 - Josh Collison (CAR) def. Troy Hendricks (8-3) 2-1; Carmel 9-3
130 - Brent Borrowman (CAR) def. Kevin Carr (41-4) 14-2, major decision; Carmel 13-3
135 - Carl Zenor (CAR) def. Ryan Johnson (19-10) 9-1; Carmel 17-3
140 - Darrell Carr (WAW/42-2) pinned Tim Griffin, :57; Carmel 17-9
145 - Matt Ross (CAR) def. Jason Carr (35-4) 3-2; Carmel 20-9
152 - Shaun Belin (WAW/39-3) pinned Wes Addington, 5:00; Carmel 20-15
160 - John Kopnisky (CAR) pinned Corey Hardin (1-2), 1:09; Carmel 26-15
171 - John Rolling (CAR) def. Rob Burke (20-9) 9-3; Carmel 29-15
189 - Todd Wright (CAR) pinned Jesse Leonard (13-21), 2:34; Carmel 35-15
215 - Ernie Muniz (CAR) def. Tom Bryan (5-16) 5-1; Carmel 38-15
275 - Chris Stewart (CAR) pinned Jamie Salazar (18-14), 5:22; Carmel 44-15
*Note: Wawasee loses five wrestlers overall to graduation. Listed are their career records and pins.
Rob Burke: 32-40, 16 pins
Darrell Carr: 149-16, 69 pins
Troy Hendricks: 45-32, 17 pins
John Merchant: 76-53, 33 pins
Jeremy Walls: 11-10, 4 pins [[In-content Ad]]
GREENWOOD - One group of people fueled Wawasee's wrestling team throughout the season.
The doubters.
Wawasee went 6-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference, but the Warriors were never ranked. Teams they beat, like NorthWood and Goshen, were ranked at one time or another.
Not until the Warriors won the season-ending NLC tournament did they show up in the coaches poll, and then they jumped from no ranking to No. 14.
The Warriors then went out and proved they deserved the ranking. They won the East Noble Sectional. They won the Churubusco Regional. Then they had their biggest win of the year, winning at No. 2 Bellmont 31-30 in the semistate.
Before you knew it, this group from Wawasee had worked its way into Saturday's state finals at Center Grove.
Eight teams were left in the tournament, and when you make it this far, there are no more surprises. Wawasee wrestled No. 3 Carmel (28-0) in the first round, and the Greyhounds ended the Warrior season with a 44-15 win.
Carmel dominated all year. The Greyhounds' closest match in the regular season was a 36-24 win over state-ranked Portage.
"Three hundred and sixty-two teams, or whatever it is, start the season," Wawasee coach Scott DeHart said. "Now we're down to eight. There are 350 or so teams not here. Our kids have nothing to be ashamed about.
"If it didn't hurt so much, it wouldn't mean so much."
Evansville Mater Dai, the top-ranked team in the state, beat Penn 32-18 in the championship match. Mater Dai, 24-0, knocked Carmel out 31-24 in the semifinals. Penn finished the season 32-3, while Carmel was 29-1.
An omen showed up early for the 14-4 Warriors. Chet Wortinger entered with a 29-8 record and wrestled in the 103-pound opening match.
He jumped out to a 2-0 lead and was leading 2-1 when he hurt his leg. Walking became a chore, but minutes later, he waved his coach off and finished his match.
He lost 5-2.
"Chet's been nursing a bum knee all year," DeHart said. "He just got it locked and caught. He showed a lot of heart and guts to come back. His comment was, 'I'm going.'
"He wrestled on one wheel at the state finals."
Carmel chipped away at the Warriors early. The Greyhounds won three of the first four matches by decision to take a 9-3 lead. Wawasee's only win came from Travis Coy, who won the 112-pound match 6-5.
Up in the fifth match was sophomore Kevin Carr, who owned a 41-3 record and was someone who won whenever the Warriors needed it. He moved up from the 125-pound weight class to 130 for this match. He lost 14-2, a major decision, and Wawasee fell behind 13-3.
The Warriors were behind 17-3 when Darrell Carr took care of business in the 140-pound match. Carr pinned Tim Griffin in 57 seconds, and the Warriors showed their first signs of life on the day.
His win brought Wawasee within 17-9.
Jason Carr, who owned a 35-3 record, then lost 3-2 in the 145-pound match.
Wawasee fell behind 20-9, but Shaun Belin was up in the 152-pound match. Belin, 38-3, was tossed around and fell behind early. He rallied. Down 11-5, he pinned Wes Addington with one minute to go.
Wawasee trailed by only five, 20-15.
Then the Warriors were done. They lost the last five matches to lose 44-15. Carmel's reigning state champions, John Kopnisky (160) and Todd Wright (189) pinned their opponents.
"These kids battled," DeHart said. "I expected to come out and compete, which we did. Travis Coy gets a win for us at 112. Belin's down five or six points and comes back and gets a pin.
"When the dust cleared, we were just going to have to look at the scoreboard and see what happens.
"This time we came up short."
Now, DeHart says, his team can sit back and enjoy their accomplishments, beginning with the trip to the state finals.
"How could we have not gained any respect this year?" DeHart asked. "Nobody knew who Wawasee was. All year we've taken people on. These kids have earned something. They should walk around with their heads held high."
DeHart loses four wrestlers out of the starting lineup - Darrell Carr, Rob Burke, John Merchant, Jeremy Walls - to graduation.
"We have a good group coming back next year," he said. "We lose four kids out of our lineup. That's not bad. The kids got to wrestle in the big show. They will want to come back.
"I think we got to the next level this year. Now we have to keep climbing."
1997 TEAM STATE FINALS
FIRST ROUND
CARMEL 44, WAWASEE 15
Wawasee individual results, season records, running team scores:
103 - Conor Johnson (CAR) def. Chet Wortinger (29-9) 5-2; Carmel 3-0
112 - Travis Coy (WAW/25-14) def. Andy Wright 6-5; 3-3 tie
119 - Chris Hinton (CAR) def. Jacen Hendricks (15-14) 5-2; Carmel 6-3
125 - Josh Collison (CAR) def. Troy Hendricks (8-3) 2-1; Carmel 9-3
130 - Brent Borrowman (CAR) def. Kevin Carr (41-4) 14-2, major decision; Carmel 13-3
135 - Carl Zenor (CAR) def. Ryan Johnson (19-10) 9-1; Carmel 17-3
140 - Darrell Carr (WAW/42-2) pinned Tim Griffin, :57; Carmel 17-9
145 - Matt Ross (CAR) def. Jason Carr (35-4) 3-2; Carmel 20-9
152 - Shaun Belin (WAW/39-3) pinned Wes Addington, 5:00; Carmel 20-15
160 - John Kopnisky (CAR) pinned Corey Hardin (1-2), 1:09; Carmel 26-15
171 - John Rolling (CAR) def. Rob Burke (20-9) 9-3; Carmel 29-15
189 - Todd Wright (CAR) pinned Jesse Leonard (13-21), 2:34; Carmel 35-15
215 - Ernie Muniz (CAR) def. Tom Bryan (5-16) 5-1; Carmel 38-15
275 - Chris Stewart (CAR) pinned Jamie Salazar (18-14), 5:22; Carmel 44-15
*Note: Wawasee loses five wrestlers overall to graduation. Listed are their career records and pins.
Rob Burke: 32-40, 16 pins
Darrell Carr: 149-16, 69 pins
Troy Hendricks: 45-32, 17 pins
John Merchant: 76-53, 33 pins
Jeremy Walls: 11-10, 4 pins [[In-content Ad]]