High School Wrestling Season Begins Saturday
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
NORTH MANCHESTER -ÊWhen Manchester High School wrestling coach Pat Powers thinks about this season, the first thing he mentions is that he wants to avoid some hangups from last year.
"If I had my 'druthers,' I'd rather stay injury free and healthy through the season," said Powers. "Other than the usual flus and colds of the season, of course. Last year we had two guys with mono, one with a wrist injury and one with a kidney problem. If we can stay away from those two bugaboos, the year looks very good."
Another hurdle the Squires will have to overcome is low numbers.
"Our senior class last year graduated just two wrestlers, and most coaches would say that is great," said Powers. "But when you look at the fact that that class started out with nine and just two wrestled in their senior year, that's not real strong. Now the senior class we have has three, and the junior class has two. We have a total of five wrestlers who are juniors and seniors. Most schools have five wrestlers who are seniors and five wrestlers who are juniors.
"We don't have all that many, but the ones we have are good.
"On a 19-member team, 10 are freshmen, four are sophomores, two are juniors and three are seniors. We are definitely bottom-heavy."
Last year the Squires started the season strong, but the injuries Powers mentioned earlier caused Manchester to falter near the end of the season. The Squires had to forfeit matches in several weight classes because they did not have the personnel to fill the slots.
However, this year looks a bit different. Although the Manchester team is not large, Powers sees something in his guys.
"We have good athleticism and a strong work ethic," said Powers. "They work together and they work hard. If we can stay away from the illness and injuries, we should be in pretty good shape.
"The good part is that we have a big bunch of kids," said Powers. "We have good freshmen and a good sophomore class."
While many teams start the season this weekend, Manchester has a bit longer to prepare the young team members for competition.
"We start the season Monday the 27th, which is a little later than some teams," said Powers. "I think that's good for us. Usually we go a long way in football, and most of the wrestlers are football players. This year, of the 19 wrestlers, only two of them did not play football.
"Having a little more time to prepare is good for us."
Although Manchester has some obstacles to overcome, Powers is looking forward to the season.
"Things don't look too gloomy," said Powers. "We look optmistically on the season. If we can stay away from our two big bugaboos, we will be OK. We have fine, hard workers, and as the season goes on, we will become more experienced."
And experience, or lack thereof, is something that every area team will need to deal with.
"Most of our guys are pretty young," said Wawasee coach Kevin Taylor. "We have one senior on the team, but some weight classes are very inexperienced. We use matches early in the year to prepare for the state tournament later in the season. Right now we are working on conditioning to get in shape for the season. We are working on the basics, nothing fancy, singles, doubles."
Taylor's sentiment is echoed by NorthWood's coach Dennis Lewis.
"On paper, we have a pretty young, predominantly sophomore and freshman team," said Lewis. "We do have some good leadership from our juniors and seniors. We have a good core group, and we look to have a good season. I think we are getting better, and we should have a better season than last year."
Although his his team is young, Triton coach Sam Davis is optimistic about this season.
"We are an improving team," said Davis. "We still have to spots we will have to forfeit at the present time, but hopefully, they will be filled later in the year. The guys have worked hard in practice. We have a couple new guys this season who will really help us later in the year. We are inexperienced now, but we are building. We're trying to keep improving so we will have a lot better team at the end of the year."
Warsaw coach Tony Boley hopes his young team can step up to the challenge this season.
"We have some young guys who we hope can step up this season," said Boley. "John Milton, Adam Bott, Tanner Connealy, David Sumpter and David Ferguson are some returners we expect to do well. Nate Milton is injured right now, but we expect him to help a lot at 160. I think we will have a chance in the conference.
While Warsaw is a fairly young team this season, Boley and the Tigers have some high goals for themselves.
"We won the sectional three years in a row before losing last year, and we like to get it back this year," said Boley. "We'd like to advance to the state tournament as a team and finish in the top 10 at Mishawaka."
NORTHWOOD PANTHERS
Coach -ÊDennis Lewis
1999-2000 record -Ê7-8
Opening match - 7 p.m. Nov. 30 vs. Concord
Key returners -ÊTroy Cox (NLC and sectional champion), Brandon Garner (sectional champion, semistate qualifier), Josh Metzler (NLC champion, regional qualifier), Josh Snyder (regional qualifier), Neil Widmer (regional qualifier), Jaime Garcia (regional qualifier), Ben Murphy
Key losses -ÊJesse Espinoza (state qualifier), Nick Roelandts (state qualifier)
Outlook -Ê"On paper, we have a pretty young, predominantly sophomore and freshman team. We do have some good leadership from our juniors and seniors. We have a good core group, and we look to have a good season. I think we are getting better, and we should have a better season than last year." - Lewis
MANCHESTER SQUIRES
Coach - Pat Powers
1999-2000 Record -Ê6-13
Opening match -Ê7 p.m. Nov. 27 vs. White's
Key returners -ÊLucas Zapf (152), Matt Rhodes (171), Brandon Whitcraft (145), Dustin Burke (125, Regional qualifier), Grant Eberly (112), Ryan Shockey (130), Kyle Powers (189), Josh Staton (160)
Key Losses -ÊGabe Halverson, Nick Winters
Outlook -Ê"On a 19-member team, 10 are freshmen, four are sophomores, two are juniors and three are seniors. We are definitely bottom-heavy. The good part is that we have a big bunch of kids. We have good freshmen and a good sophomore class." -ÊPowers
TIPPECANOE VALLEY VIKINGS
Coach -ÊScott Smith
1999-2000 record -Ê11-9
Opening match -Ê9 a.m. Saturday in Warsaw Invitational
Key returners -ÊTim Miller (125), Nathan Shewman (135), Kevin Day (140), Tyler Kottkamp (189), Jake Long (171), Wes Ramsey (152)
Key losses -ÊNathan Strohschein (145)
Outlook -Ê"Our team goals are to improve on the 11-9 record. We'd like to move up in our placement in the conference and in the sectional. On three occasions last year, we were close to winning tournaments, and we'd like to get a win in one of those tournaments this year. Basically, if we continue to work hard, I think we have seven guys who can make it to regional and four who could advance to semistate. It all depends on how hard they work at it." -ÊSmith
TRITON TROJANS
Coach -ÊSam Davis
1999-2000 record -ÊN/A
Opening match -Ê9 a.m. Saturday in Warsaw Invitational
Key returners -ÊErrick Lemler (112 Sectional Champion last season, 125 this season), Tate Chapman (140 last season, 145 this season), Ryan Trieschman (HWT), Lee Ulmer (185)
Key Losses -ÊNone, no seniors last season
Outlook -Ê"We are an improving team. We still have to spots we will have to forfeit at the present time, but hopefully they will be filled later in the year. The guys have worked hard in practice. We have a couple new guys this season who will really help us later in the year. We are inexperienced now, but we are building. We're trying to keep improving so we will have a lot better team at the end of the year." -ÊDavis
WARSAW TIGERS
Coach -ÊTony Boley
1999-2000 record -Ê6-7
Opening match - host 9 a.m. Saturday invitational
Key returners -ÊAnthony Boley (119, State qualifier), Kris Hueber (215), Richard Wolfe (171)
Key losses -ÊJoey Navarro (HWT), Isaac Perry (171)
Outlook -Ê"We have some young guys who we hope can step up this season. John Milton, Adam Bott, Tanner Connealy, David Sumpter and David Ferguson are some returners we expect to do well. Nate Milton is injured right now, but we expect him to help a lot at 160. I think we will have a chamce in the conference. Northridge, the conference champions last year, has everybody back this year. Goshen should be tough. NorthWood has been young the past couple years, but I think they will compete for the conference this year,and Plymouth is always pretty good. We'd like to be in the running, too. We won the sectional three years in a row before losing last year, and we like to get it back this year. We'd like to advance to the state tournament as a team and finish in the top 10 at Mishawaka." -ÊBoley
WAWASEE WARRIORS
Coach - Kevin Taylor
1999-2000 record -Ê6-11
Opening match -Êhost 9 a.m. Nov. 25 invitational
Key returners -ÊEric Vallejo (103), Josh DeGood (125), Michael Hanlin (135), German Vallejo (140), Joe Thompson (145), Josh Roa (152), Lucas Speakman (160)
Key losses -ÊTom Bryan (HWT), Shane Heimann (171), Craig Jensen (215)
Outlook -Ê"Most of our guys are pretty young. We have one senior on the team, butsome weight classes are very inexperienced. We use matches early in the year to prepare for the state tournament later in the season. Right now we are working on conditioning to get in shape for the season. We are working on the basics, nothing fancy, singles, doubles. We are working the drills to perfection." -ÊTaylor
WHITKO WILDCATS
Coach -ÊRick Troxel
1999-2000 Record -Ê12-10
Opening match -Ê6:30 p.m. Nov. 28 at North Miami
Key returners -ÊJoel Schrader (112 last season, 145 this season); Chris Juricak (215), Nick Sprunger (171 or 189), Troy Grube (160), Lee Bowser (135), Gabe Langohr (140)
Key losses -ÊJordan Schrader, Drew Schilling, Jimmy Baumgartner, Nelson Ringle, Kevin Bird
Outlook -Ê"Because wrestling is an individual sport, it is always in flux. If we can get everybody back and keep everybody healthy, we should be able to field decent wrestlers across the board. We do not have a lot of seniors, so we don't won't have the stellar performances. Troy Grube is our only senior, and we will be shaky in some spots, but if we keep working hard we should be competitive." -ÊTroxel [[In-content Ad]]
NORTH MANCHESTER -ÊWhen Manchester High School wrestling coach Pat Powers thinks about this season, the first thing he mentions is that he wants to avoid some hangups from last year.
"If I had my 'druthers,' I'd rather stay injury free and healthy through the season," said Powers. "Other than the usual flus and colds of the season, of course. Last year we had two guys with mono, one with a wrist injury and one with a kidney problem. If we can stay away from those two bugaboos, the year looks very good."
Another hurdle the Squires will have to overcome is low numbers.
"Our senior class last year graduated just two wrestlers, and most coaches would say that is great," said Powers. "But when you look at the fact that that class started out with nine and just two wrestled in their senior year, that's not real strong. Now the senior class we have has three, and the junior class has two. We have a total of five wrestlers who are juniors and seniors. Most schools have five wrestlers who are seniors and five wrestlers who are juniors.
"We don't have all that many, but the ones we have are good.
"On a 19-member team, 10 are freshmen, four are sophomores, two are juniors and three are seniors. We are definitely bottom-heavy."
Last year the Squires started the season strong, but the injuries Powers mentioned earlier caused Manchester to falter near the end of the season. The Squires had to forfeit matches in several weight classes because they did not have the personnel to fill the slots.
However, this year looks a bit different. Although the Manchester team is not large, Powers sees something in his guys.
"We have good athleticism and a strong work ethic," said Powers. "They work together and they work hard. If we can stay away from the illness and injuries, we should be in pretty good shape.
"The good part is that we have a big bunch of kids," said Powers. "We have good freshmen and a good sophomore class."
While many teams start the season this weekend, Manchester has a bit longer to prepare the young team members for competition.
"We start the season Monday the 27th, which is a little later than some teams," said Powers. "I think that's good for us. Usually we go a long way in football, and most of the wrestlers are football players. This year, of the 19 wrestlers, only two of them did not play football.
"Having a little more time to prepare is good for us."
Although Manchester has some obstacles to overcome, Powers is looking forward to the season.
"Things don't look too gloomy," said Powers. "We look optmistically on the season. If we can stay away from our two big bugaboos, we will be OK. We have fine, hard workers, and as the season goes on, we will become more experienced."
And experience, or lack thereof, is something that every area team will need to deal with.
"Most of our guys are pretty young," said Wawasee coach Kevin Taylor. "We have one senior on the team, but some weight classes are very inexperienced. We use matches early in the year to prepare for the state tournament later in the season. Right now we are working on conditioning to get in shape for the season. We are working on the basics, nothing fancy, singles, doubles."
Taylor's sentiment is echoed by NorthWood's coach Dennis Lewis.
"On paper, we have a pretty young, predominantly sophomore and freshman team," said Lewis. "We do have some good leadership from our juniors and seniors. We have a good core group, and we look to have a good season. I think we are getting better, and we should have a better season than last year."
Although his his team is young, Triton coach Sam Davis is optimistic about this season.
"We are an improving team," said Davis. "We still have to spots we will have to forfeit at the present time, but hopefully, they will be filled later in the year. The guys have worked hard in practice. We have a couple new guys this season who will really help us later in the year. We are inexperienced now, but we are building. We're trying to keep improving so we will have a lot better team at the end of the year."
Warsaw coach Tony Boley hopes his young team can step up to the challenge this season.
"We have some young guys who we hope can step up this season," said Boley. "John Milton, Adam Bott, Tanner Connealy, David Sumpter and David Ferguson are some returners we expect to do well. Nate Milton is injured right now, but we expect him to help a lot at 160. I think we will have a chance in the conference.
While Warsaw is a fairly young team this season, Boley and the Tigers have some high goals for themselves.
"We won the sectional three years in a row before losing last year, and we like to get it back this year," said Boley. "We'd like to advance to the state tournament as a team and finish in the top 10 at Mishawaka."
NORTHWOOD PANTHERS
Coach -ÊDennis Lewis
1999-2000 record -Ê7-8
Opening match - 7 p.m. Nov. 30 vs. Concord
Key returners -ÊTroy Cox (NLC and sectional champion), Brandon Garner (sectional champion, semistate qualifier), Josh Metzler (NLC champion, regional qualifier), Josh Snyder (regional qualifier), Neil Widmer (regional qualifier), Jaime Garcia (regional qualifier), Ben Murphy
Key losses -ÊJesse Espinoza (state qualifier), Nick Roelandts (state qualifier)
Outlook -Ê"On paper, we have a pretty young, predominantly sophomore and freshman team. We do have some good leadership from our juniors and seniors. We have a good core group, and we look to have a good season. I think we are getting better, and we should have a better season than last year." - Lewis
MANCHESTER SQUIRES
Coach - Pat Powers
1999-2000 Record -Ê6-13
Opening match -Ê7 p.m. Nov. 27 vs. White's
Key returners -ÊLucas Zapf (152), Matt Rhodes (171), Brandon Whitcraft (145), Dustin Burke (125, Regional qualifier), Grant Eberly (112), Ryan Shockey (130), Kyle Powers (189), Josh Staton (160)
Key Losses -ÊGabe Halverson, Nick Winters
Outlook -Ê"On a 19-member team, 10 are freshmen, four are sophomores, two are juniors and three are seniors. We are definitely bottom-heavy. The good part is that we have a big bunch of kids. We have good freshmen and a good sophomore class." -ÊPowers
TIPPECANOE VALLEY VIKINGS
Coach -ÊScott Smith
1999-2000 record -Ê11-9
Opening match -Ê9 a.m. Saturday in Warsaw Invitational
Key returners -ÊTim Miller (125), Nathan Shewman (135), Kevin Day (140), Tyler Kottkamp (189), Jake Long (171), Wes Ramsey (152)
Key losses -ÊNathan Strohschein (145)
Outlook -Ê"Our team goals are to improve on the 11-9 record. We'd like to move up in our placement in the conference and in the sectional. On three occasions last year, we were close to winning tournaments, and we'd like to get a win in one of those tournaments this year. Basically, if we continue to work hard, I think we have seven guys who can make it to regional and four who could advance to semistate. It all depends on how hard they work at it." -ÊSmith
TRITON TROJANS
Coach -ÊSam Davis
1999-2000 record -ÊN/A
Opening match -Ê9 a.m. Saturday in Warsaw Invitational
Key returners -ÊErrick Lemler (112 Sectional Champion last season, 125 this season), Tate Chapman (140 last season, 145 this season), Ryan Trieschman (HWT), Lee Ulmer (185)
Key Losses -ÊNone, no seniors last season
Outlook -Ê"We are an improving team. We still have to spots we will have to forfeit at the present time, but hopefully they will be filled later in the year. The guys have worked hard in practice. We have a couple new guys this season who will really help us later in the year. We are inexperienced now, but we are building. We're trying to keep improving so we will have a lot better team at the end of the year." -ÊDavis
WARSAW TIGERS
Coach -ÊTony Boley
1999-2000 record -Ê6-7
Opening match - host 9 a.m. Saturday invitational
Key returners -ÊAnthony Boley (119, State qualifier), Kris Hueber (215), Richard Wolfe (171)
Key losses -ÊJoey Navarro (HWT), Isaac Perry (171)
Outlook -Ê"We have some young guys who we hope can step up this season. John Milton, Adam Bott, Tanner Connealy, David Sumpter and David Ferguson are some returners we expect to do well. Nate Milton is injured right now, but we expect him to help a lot at 160. I think we will have a chamce in the conference. Northridge, the conference champions last year, has everybody back this year. Goshen should be tough. NorthWood has been young the past couple years, but I think they will compete for the conference this year,and Plymouth is always pretty good. We'd like to be in the running, too. We won the sectional three years in a row before losing last year, and we like to get it back this year. We'd like to advance to the state tournament as a team and finish in the top 10 at Mishawaka." -ÊBoley
WAWASEE WARRIORS
Coach - Kevin Taylor
1999-2000 record -Ê6-11
Opening match -Êhost 9 a.m. Nov. 25 invitational
Key returners -ÊEric Vallejo (103), Josh DeGood (125), Michael Hanlin (135), German Vallejo (140), Joe Thompson (145), Josh Roa (152), Lucas Speakman (160)
Key losses -ÊTom Bryan (HWT), Shane Heimann (171), Craig Jensen (215)
Outlook -Ê"Most of our guys are pretty young. We have one senior on the team, butsome weight classes are very inexperienced. We use matches early in the year to prepare for the state tournament later in the season. Right now we are working on conditioning to get in shape for the season. We are working on the basics, nothing fancy, singles, doubles. We are working the drills to perfection." -ÊTaylor
WHITKO WILDCATS
Coach -ÊRick Troxel
1999-2000 Record -Ê12-10
Opening match -Ê6:30 p.m. Nov. 28 at North Miami
Key returners -ÊJoel Schrader (112 last season, 145 this season); Chris Juricak (215), Nick Sprunger (171 or 189), Troy Grube (160), Lee Bowser (135), Gabe Langohr (140)
Key losses -ÊJordan Schrader, Drew Schilling, Jimmy Baumgartner, Nelson Ringle, Kevin Bird
Outlook -Ê"Because wrestling is an individual sport, it is always in flux. If we can get everybody back and keep everybody healthy, we should be able to field decent wrestlers across the board. We do not have a lot of seniors, so we don't won't have the stellar performances. Troy Grube is our only senior, and we will be shaky in some spots, but if we keep working hard we should be competitive." -ÊTroxel [[In-content Ad]]