Coming into their own Classic, the Wawasee wrestling squad knew they would have to go through No. 3 Bellmont in order to return the title.

The Warriors also knew they would have to forfeit in two weight classes. They took this all in stride, and gave the Braves a run for their money in the final match of the afternoon losing out 42-30. Wawasee gave up 12 points on forfeits.

"We challenged them (the Warrior wrestlers)," Wawasee coach Scott DeHart said. "We told them this is our house, and people are coming into our house, and it's time we defended it. The kids stepped up, and they accepted the challenge, and we're real pleased with that. I'm tickled to death.

"I thought our kids came out and accepted the challenge that they had before them and they performed," he said. "This is a good group of kids, they've worked hard in the offseason. They worked extremely hard in the room to this point and we should see a lot of good things from them."

On their way to the finals the Warriors demolished the competition, beating up on Northern Lakes Conference opponent Northridge 48-24, only giving up one match to Columbia City 70-6, and finishing off the Gold Pool by beating Dwenger 66-12.

Bellmont also cruised through their Green Group; 57-6 against Clay, 62-13 with Lakeland, and 61-8 against Whitko.

Against Bellmont the Warriors took an early lead with a win from 103-pounder Chet Wortinger.

"That didn't surprise me," DeHart said. "He is a sophmore, he went to semi-state last year, and he was a national team qualifier this spring. He works extremely hard. Chet is gonna show some people. This is Chet's year, he's gonna wrestle very well, and he's gonna stay in your face for six minutes."

Then the seesawing began.

Travis Coy lost in 112-pound match, followed by a win from freshman Shane Hieman, and a loss by senior Troy Hendricks, and then the surprise of the afternoon.

Kevin Carr came into his final match undefeated, and looked to be the heavy favorite, but his Bellmont opponent wrestled him tough and won a one-point decision.

Kevin's older brother, Darrell, was next, and revenge was on his mind. He came onto the mat like a man on a mission and pinned his opponent in a little over a minute. Carr has yet to be defeated so far this season with a 5-0 record.

In the 140-pound weight class, Ben Heiman was delt a controversial blow when he was pinned, much to the dismay of the very pro-Wawasee crowd, and the Wawasee coach.

"The referee called it one way and I thought it went the other way, but it's his call. I wouldn't want to be him, but that's not the difference of the match," DeHart said.

Jason Carr won his 145-match, as well as Outstanding Wrestler honors, and Wawasee won the 152-pound class as Shaun Belin took a decision.

The Warriors dropped the next three weight classes to give Bellmont the 42-24 lead with one match to go.

Wawasee looked to sophomore heavyweight Jaime Salazar to close things out with a win. Salazar delivered the bill in an exciting three-round match, pinning his opponent in the final seconds.

"I thought we could wrestle down below with them, and I knew up top that they were very strong, so we had to wrestle well at the lower weight classes," DeHart said. "When you look at the score we lost by 12 points, and we gave them two forfiets, so we wrestled them even on the mat and we're very pleased with that.

"We got a couple matches earlier that I wasn't so sure we were gonna get, and they got a couple matches I thought we were gonna get, so it was nit and tuck, back and forth," he said.

Whitko did not fair as well as Wawasee finishing 1-4 with sixth place. Bright spots for the Wilcats included 189-pounder Robbie Nieto who went 4-0, heavyweight Scott Barker who also finished at 4-0, and 160 pounder finished 3-1.

"With each match we improved a great deal," Whitko coach Brian Balsmeyer said. "With nine first-year wrestlers there will be a lot of learning on the mat. The kids fought hard and never quit. With this attitude we can only continue to improve."

Wawasee's next match will be Thursday at Warsaw, and Whitko will host Northfield also on Thursday. Both are conference matches.

!end

Brown To Compete In NFL Contest At RCA Dome

BY JEFF HOLSINGER, Times-Union Sports Writer

Adam Brown, 15, was watching the NFL Quarterback Challenge on television with his brother and some of his friends. A number popped up on the screen for those interested in competing in the NFL Punt, Pass and Kick competition.

"They give you a number to call, and I called it," Brown said. "Then they give you a bunch of other numbers. They give you a choice of either Ligonier or Goshen, and I picked Goshen."

Brown is a freshman at Wawasee High School, and he was a quarterback on the junior varsity football team this fall. He competed in the NFL competion at Goshen. He went up against five or six others and won there.

That sent him to Churubusco for the second round. He won there, going up against 10-15 others.

His reward? He will compete in the competition Sunday at the Buffalo Bills/Indianapolis Colts game at the RCA Dome. Against how many, he doesn't know.

Kicking and punting will take place before the game. Passing, naturally Brown's favorite part of the competition, will take place at halftime.

Brown talked about what the judges look at.

"Length and accuracy," he said. "They put a line on the field. Say you throw 60 yards. Say it's 10 yards off the line. They subtract the 10 yards off the 60."

Asked if he expected to make it this far, Brown didn't hesitate.

"Oh no, no, no," he said.

Brown also swims and runs track. Football isn't even his favorite sport. Swimming is.

Shoot, football never attracted his attention until the last five years.

"My brother always used to ask me if I wanted to go out and throw the football," he said. "Most of the time I said no. It wasn't until I was like 10 or 12 when I started playing football."

And here he is. At the RCA Dome. He and his parents - Scott and Kaylon Wise - were given three free tickets to the game. He will probably meet some of the players.

And it could get even better.

"If you win there, you go to the AFC Playoffs and do it all over again," Brown said. "You win there, you go to Super Bowl." [[In-content Ad]]