GOSHEN - In a Northern Lakes Conference battle, Warsaw's wrestlers were narrowly edged by Goshen, 39-37, Thursday evening.

"It never feels good to lose, but our guys have heart," said Warsaw head coach Tony Boley. He went on to stress to his team the importance of every match, noting, "If just one of us does not get pinned we win."

Wrestling commenced at 215 pounds with Evan Readle falling victim to Ben Shrock in 1:50, then Nate Wilson (275) was pinned in 1:25 by Jason Edlund. At 103, Johnny Mattson battled Zac Bechtel but came out on the short end, losing 6-1. The Tigers were down as a team by a score of 15-0.

Freshman Kent Nielsen (112) got a win for the Tigers when he pinned Sean Roberts in 2:31. Nick Missos (119) was dispatched by Goshen's Braden Barkes in just 38 seconds, and then Andrew Lauster (125) fought into the third period but wound up pinned by Goshen's Justin Hernandez in 5:49. The meet score was 27-6.

Matt Elvidge (130) dominated Ty Cooper, allowing only escape points when Elvidge decided it was time to score another of his nine takedowns. Elvidge finally squashed Cooper with just a breath of time to spare, at 5:59. Elvidge (135) came through with a fall, nailing John Johnson in 1:03.

After the crucial forfeit at 140 pounds, Andy Keener (145), a freshman, took on senior Josh Garcia. In period one, as Keener slipped attempting a throw, Garcia scored a takedown on the edge of the mat with just two seconds remaining. Then dominating period two, Garcia quickly scored an escape, a takedown and a two-point nearfall to put the score at 8-0. Keener chose a neutral position to start the third period and immediately scored a takedown. Then Keener cut Garcia loose and scored the takedown he had been attempting all evening, a throw that took Garcia to his back for the fall, at 5:43.

Warsaw's Bobby Derbyshire (145) out-tussled Josh Jones, wining 4-2 on the strength of a pair of takedowns. Blake Deaton (160) battled valiantly against Goshen's senior strongman, A.J. Lantzer, fighting off pinning combinations twice. Deaton was finally out-muscled at 5:41. Tom Lowe (171) crushed Zech Elliot in 1:02.

The best the Tigers could now hope for in the final match was a tie in points, if Joel Perry (189) could pin his opponent. Perry went up against Mike Huddleston, whose sole objective was to avoid being pinned. Perry scored a takedown in period one, and early on Goshen was warned for stalling. In the second period after Warsaw was awarded a penalty point for Goshen stalling, Perry scored a three-point nearfall, but was unable to finish it. Perry could not get the fall in period three as Huddleston was called for stalling two more times. Perry ended up winning by a 13-2 major decision, but the scrappy Redskin squad did what they had to and came out on top in the team score, 39-37.

"Of course we were rusty," said Boley. "since we haven't competed in nearly two weeks; but it is just a fact that every match counts. If we had avoided one pin, or just scored one more pin. we would win this one."

Assistant coach Anthony Boley added, "This kind of a loss hurts, but it should fuel the fire as we head into the post-season."

Warsaw, now 12-6, will take an NLC record of 2-3 to the final dual meeting of the season at Concord Tuesday. The conference championship tournament is to be held at Northridge Sat. Jan. 22, with the sectional taking place the following Saturday, Jan. 29, at Plymouth.

GOSHEN 39, WARSAW 37

103 - Zac Bechtel (Goshen) def. Johnny Mattson (Warsaw), 6-1

112 - Kent Nielsen (W) pinned Sean Roberts (G), 2:31

119 - Braden Barkes (G) pinned Nick Missos (W), :38

125 - Justin Hernandez (G) pinned Andrew Lauster (W), 5:49

130 - Matt Elvidge (W) pinned Ty Cooper (G), 5:59

135 - Chris Elvidge (W) pinned John Johnson (G), 1:03

140 - Ben Selman (G) ff

145 - Andy Keener (W) pinned Josh Garcia (G) 5:43

152 - Bobby Derbyshire (W) def. Josh Jones (G), 4-2

160 - A.J. Lantzer (G) pinned Blake Deaton (W), 5:41

171 - Tom Lowe (W) pinned Zech Elliot (G), 1:02

189 - Joel Perry (W) def. Mike Huddleston (G), 13-2, maj.

215 - Ben Schrock (G) pinned Evan Readle (W), 1:25

275 - Jason Edlund (G) pinned Nick Wilson (W), 1:25 [[In-content Ad]]