SYRACUSE - "I think a lot of people thought it would come down to us and Wawasee," said Warsaw boys swim coach Terry Aukeman after Saturday's sectional finals at the Wawasee Middle School pool. "And they were right."

When it was all over, it was the Warriors who hoisted the trophy over their heads with 348 points while the Tigers were second at 299. Plymouth was a distant third.

Wawasee started out ahead and stayed on top after every event, but Warsaw was never out of striking distance.

"We swam fantastic today," said Aukeman. "We had some individual winners and a couple of relays make it down to state. I am really happy."

For Wawasee it was a matter of depth that got them the win.

"Wawasee put quite a few guys into the top six after Thursday night. They did really well," said Aukeman.

Wawasee coach Roger Karns who earned his sixth boys sectional title on Saturday, couldn't say enough good things about Warsaw after the meet.

"I told our guys for over a month that Warsaw would be ready today... and they were," said Karns. "Warsaw is a tough team. They have good kids and are well coached. You have to hand it to them, they did a super job today."

For Wawasee's seniors this was a sectional three-peat.

While Warsaw hung tough all day, the winning margin was a lot wider than last year's one-point thriller.

"I told our guys we could do something special this year," said Karns, "and we did. I am really proud of them all. They have worked hard and they all did a good job."

One of the Wawasee seniors who made a big contribution in those three wins was Guy Simmons.

"These three years have been awesome," said Simmons. "The first two years we didn't think we had much of a chance but we worked hard and came through. This year was a little different with the talent we had. We just swam like we should have. The team really came together this year."

Both Wawasee and Warsaw will be well represented at this years state finals. After preliminaries Friday, the state finals will be held at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis on Saturday.

Those winning their events along with those bettering the state-cut time will qualify.

Representing Warsaw will be freshman Nate Taylor with his win in the 500-yard free and Michael Thallemer, winner in the 100-yard backstroke. Taylor also won the 100-yard breaststroke. The 400-yard relay team of Nate Long, Steve Lowrance, Taylor and Thallemer, will make the trip with their win in that event.

Thallemer, Taylor, Justin Cavender and Ryan Munsch will also represent the Tigers. They were second in the 200-yard medley relay but beat the state cut time by six-tenths of a second.

Wawasee will send freshmen Aaron Phillippe, winner in the 200-yard free and Jordan Rantz who won the 200-yard individual medly. Both Nik Conley and Guy Simmons will qualify from the 50-yard freestyle. Simmons was second to Conley but qualified by bettering the state's cut time. Wawasee also qualified two relay teams. Simmons, Rantz, Conley, and Tyler Karns qualified by winning the 200-yard medley relay while Simmons, Rantz, Conley, and Brook Singrey won the 200-yard freestyle relay.

Area teams also took the top five spots in diving with Warsaw's Will Kretsch winning the event and teammate Jake Keim in fifth. Tippecanoe Valley's Matt Eby was second and Wawasee's Dexter Anglin and Simon Beer took third and fourth. The top four will qualify for the diving regional Tuesday night at Oak Hill High School.

Karns summed up his day as such, "I thought this was a real nice team effort. We swam well in the prelims and got all 24 guys into the finals. This is terrific. I am really happy for these guys."

WAWASEE SECTIONAL

Team Scores - Wawasee 348, Warsaw 299, Plymouth 163, Bremen 143, Columbia City 134, Culver Military Academy 134, Huntington North 75, Tippecanoe Valley 60, Rochester 36, Manchester 34

200 medley relay - 1. Wawasee (Guy Simmons, Jordan Rantz, Tyler Karns, Nik Conley) 1:39.27, 2. Warsaw, 3. Plymouth, 4. Bremen, 5. Columbia City, 6. Hunt. North

200 freestyle - 1. Aaron Phillippe (Wawa) 1:49.02, 2. Nate Long (War), 3. Kris Cossairt (HN), 4. Kyle Rupert (B), 5. Matt Beck (Wawa), 6. Patrick Miller (P)

200 individual medley - 1. Rantz (Wawa) 2:01.58, 2. Dave Hochstetler (B), 3. Michael Thallemer (War), 4. Steve Dingeldein (Wawa), 5. Thad Wallin (War), 6. Brandon Sahlhoff (B)

50 freestyle - 1. Conley (Wawa) :21.61, 2. Simmons (Wawa), 3. Tyson Abner (CC), 4. Brook Singrey (Wawa), 5. Ryan Munsch (War), 6. Steven Lowrance (War)

Diving - 1. Will Kretsch (War) 385.30, 2. Matt Eby (TV), 3. Dexter Anglin (War), 4. Simon Beer (Wawa), 5. Jake Keirn (War), 6. Scott Secrist (Roch)

100 butterfly - 1. Jacob Vervynckt (P) :54.61, 2. Karns (Wawa), 3. Sahlhoff (B), 4. Bo Hall (Wawa), 5. Singrey (Wawa), 6. Josh Dietz (P)

100 freestyle - 1. Abner (CC) :48.30, 2. Conley (Wawa), 3. Rupert (B), 4. Hochstetler (B), 5. R. Munsch (War), 6. Jason Stealy (CMA)

500 freestyle - 1. Nate Taylor (War) 4:53.70, 2. Cossairt (HN), 3. Phillippe (Wawa), 4. Matt Beck (War), 6. Kyle Munsch (War)

200 freestyle relay - 1. Wawasee (Simmons, Rantz, Singrey, Conley) 1:28.79, 2. Warsaw, 3. Plymouth, 4. Columbia City, 5. Hunt. North, 6. Tippecanoe Valley

100 backstroke - 1. Thallemer (War) :54.66, 2. Simmons (Wawa), 3. Wallin (War), 4. Vervynckt (PP), 5. Jacob Meinika (CC), 6. Dietz (P)

100 breaststroke - 1. Taylor (War) 1:00.14, 2. Rantz (Wawa), 3. Mike Gunderson (Wawa), 4. Joe Stoller (B), 5. Nathan Kreider (CC), 6. Stealy (CMA)

400 freestyle relay - 1. Warsaw (Long, Lowrance, Taylor, Thallemer) 3:21.06, 2. Wawasee, 3. Bremen, 4. CMA, 5. Columbia City, 6. Plymouth [[In-content Ad]]