A good showing by freshmen and sophomores helped the Tigers to a 48-26 win over the Plymouth Rockies. Warsaw wrestlers take 5-1 NLC dual record to the conference tournament at Northridge on Saturday.

ÊThe mood was subdued and serious as the Tigers warmed up prior to the match, although the team members practically wore out their vocal chords cheering the junior varsity wrestlers to a 30-27 win.

Warsaw coach Tony Boley was pleased with the grit shown by his underclassmen, who came through with big wins. In addition, even those who lost fought hard and did not roll over for the Rockies.Ê

"The young guys not getting pinned kept Plymouth from gaining any momentum," said Boley.

Freshman Anthony Boley (103 pounds) stubbornly refused to be pinned as Glenn Ringer had to settle for a 4-0 decision.Ê Adam Harter (112) put the Tigers in the lead as he pinned Alex Uceny in 1:17.Ê

Another freshman, John Milton (119), added to the Warsaw lead when he outlasted Tyler Keyser with a 4-0 victory.Ê Adam Bott (130), also a freshman, fought hard against Chris Hutchinson into the third period before he was finally pinned in 4:42, bringing the team score to 9-9 tie.

Then came senior Tim Roe (130), who would not be denied his trend of rolling over his opponents when he pinned Chris Glaub in 3:33, putting Warsaw back on top at 15-9.Ê Warsaw's Grady Randall (135) was introduced to varsity wrestling the hard way as he was put to mat in 1:12 by Mike Nekolite, knotting up the team score at 15-15.

A great match was wrestled by Warsaw's Joe Swanson (140), who frustrated the best efforts of John Funk, a junior.Ê Funk won with a 20-5 tech fall as he simply could not find a way to get freshman Swanson to stay on his back.Ê

This put Plymouth out in front 20-15 in the team score.Ê

In the case of Richard Wolfe (145), it almost happened too fast to see.Ê

Wolfe pounded Jared Baker to the mat in 34 seconds to put Warsaw in the lead for good, 21-20.

Matt Zellers (152) had to control himself to keep from winning his match by a tech fall as he took on freshman Chris May.Ê Zellers wanted to give the team six points, not just the five points awarded for a tech fall.Ê Ahead in the match by a score of 14-5, Zellers worked the "Tiger stuff" until he ground May to the mat in the final minute at 5:19.

Plymouth coach Bob Read made a strategic switch in the 160-pound weight class. He had pulled May down to face Zellers, moving senior Ben Rader, a Rockie football standout, up from 152 to take on Isaac Perry.Ê

Though Rader is an excellent grappler, the plan in such a move is to avoid a likely loss against Zellers and to go for what might have seemed an easier matchup.Ê But such was not to be the case.

Perry turned in a brilliant performance for Boley. Perry was alert, controlled and clear- headed. He grabbed the first takedown in period one, and as a result, was able to maintain the momentum through the entire match. He kept his head up, listened to his coach, and stayed on his toes, pounding out an excellent 8-1 win for the Tigers.

Kris Hueber's match at 171 was another that was easy to miss since he "didn't mess around," as one coach said.Ê Before the scorekeeper was able to tally up the previous match, Hueber had Plymouth's Joe Wright flattened at 35 seconds.

At 189 pounds, Matt Arvensen of Plymouth, who is ranked fourth in the state, showed why when he crunched Steve Fribley in 1:36.Ê Warsaw answered with a pin from Steve McKinley (215), who wrinkled up Mark Palbykin in 50 seconds.Ê Warsaw's Joey Navarro (275) tussled with Shay Beaver for two periods, scoring only an escape.Ê In the final period, Navarro turned up the heat and blistered the Plymouth junior, scoring the fall at 4:27.

Upperclassmen have led the way by example and a great work ethic.Ê

However, the coaching staff has been working hard to get more production out the new wrestlers. After the win at Plymouth, Warsaw's coaches had nothing but praise for the first- and second-year wrestlers.Ê

"Our younger guys came through and showed lots of heart," said Boley, while an assistant added raves about the two quick pins by the sophomores, Wolfe and Hueber.

Junior varsity wrestlers grabbing victories, all by pins, included Nick McKinley, David Sumpter, Nate Milton, Adam Galvin and Josh Meek.

The Tigers conclude their dual season 12-3 overall and 5-1 in the NLC heading into the NLC Tournament this Saturday and the sectional the Saturday following.

ÊWarsaw 48, Plymouth 26

103 - Glenn Ringer (P) def. Anthony Boley 4-0

112 - Adam Harter (W) pinned Alex Uceny (1:17)

119 - John Milton(W) def. Tyler Keyser 4-0

125 - Chris Hutchinson (P) pinned Adam Bott (4:42)

130 - Tim Roe (W) pinned Chris Glaub (3:33)

135 - Mike Nekolite pinned Grady Randall (1:12)

140 - John Funk (P) def. Joe Swanson tech fall (20-5 at 5:42)

145 - Richard Wolfe (W) pinned Jered Baker (:34)

152 - Matt Zellers (W) pinned Chris May (5:19)

160 - Isaac Perry (W) def. Ben Rader (8-1)

171 - Kris Hueber (W) pinned Joe Wright (:37)

189 - Matt Arvensen (P) pinned Steve Fribley (1:36)

215 - Steve McKinley (W) pinned Mark Palbykin (:50)

275 - Joey Navarro (W) pinned Shay Beaver (4:27) [[In-content Ad]]