Just like the Chicago Bulls run the triangle, the Wawasee Warrior wrestling team hopes to do the same.

No, the Warriors aren't lacing up the sneakers and running up and down the basketball floor. And they're not mimicking Deion Sanders by playing two sports.

But they finished first in the Northern Lakes Conference during the regular season. Then they won the Northern Lakes Conference tournament.

Now up is the sectional. Win this, and the Warriors will have completed their triangle.

So far, the Warriors have made it look easy. They went 6-0 in the NLC. They won the NLC tournament last Saturday with 233 points, easily outdistancing the Plymouth Pilgrims, who had 186 points.

And now most people predict they will win today's East Noble Sectional. After all, they have won the sectional five years in row. This may be Scott DeHart's best team.

"We have a very talented group of individuals," DeHart said. "What I like most about this team is these kids who are seniors now freestyled for us back in the fourth and fifth grades. We have kids coming up now who have been in the program. That's a key."

The Warriors will compete against East Noble, Central Noble, DeKalb, Westview and West Noble in the 10 a.m. sectional. The Westview Warriors, who finished second last year, again appear to be the next-best team to Wawasee.

Wawasee has eight grapplers seeded first - Chet Wortinger (103 pounds), Jacen Hendricks (119), Kevin Carr (125), Darrell Carr (135), John Merchant (140), Jason Carr (145), Shaun Belin (152) and Rob Burke (160).

Wortinger, Merchant and the three Carr brothers were sectional champions last year. All three Carr boys advanced to state.

Westview has four top seeds, and East Noble and Central Noble have one each.

But for all of Wawasee's success this season, until this week, the Warriors were a team that could not find its way into the spotlight. They were undefeated in the NLC, but were they ever ranked? No. NorthWood and Goshen were ranked, and Wawasee took care of both.

After the Warriors won the tournament last Saturday, they went from no ranking the whole season to No. 14.

"I have no idea why the ranking happened all of a sudden," DeHart said. "That's the coaches association poll."

DeHart's team has won all year without the rankings, so the Warriors aren't going to get worked up over them now.

"Not a whole lot was said about the rankings," DeHart said. " The only ranking we want is at the end of the year. It's nice to be mentioned, but it's something we will sit back and look at the end of the season, not now. It's a nice reward for kids, because they have put the work in."

No, rankings mean nothing right now. Winning the sectional, now that means something to the Wawasee wrestlers.

"I think we can go as far as we want to go," DeHart said. "We have to approach every match like it's our last."

In other sectionals, Warsaw hosts Tippecanoe Valley, Triton and Plymouth at 9 this morning. Warsaw's Greg Patrick (119), Matt Zellers (145) and Steve Fribley (171) placed second in last week's conference tournament.

Whitko wrestles at the Manchester Sectional at 9:30 this morning. Whitko's Mark Rakoczy (152), Todd Grube (160) and Scott Barker (275) placed first in last week's Three Rivers Conference match. Rakoczy and Barker are undefeated this season, and Grube has only one loss.

WAWASEE RECORDS, SEEDS

103 - Chet Wortinger, 23-5, No. 1

112 - Travis Coy, 16-11, No. 2

119 - Jacen Hendricks, 9-8, No. 1

125 - Kevin Carr, 27-1, No. 1

130 - Ryan Johnson, 13-5, No. 2

135 - Darrell Carr, 26-1, No. 1

140 - John Merchant, 18-6, No. 1

145 - Jason Carr, 26-2, No. 1

152 - Shaun Belin, 27-1, No. 1

160 - Rob Burke, 14-6, No. 1

171 - Jeremy Walls, 7-7, No. 2

189 - Jesse Leonard, 7-7, No. 2

215 - Tom Bryan, 3-13, No. 5

275 - Jamie Salazar, 12-11, No. 2 [[In-content Ad]]