Tigers Finish 5-1 In NLC Dual Matches

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.

Diercks To Drive For ML Motorsports

Opportunity, it's been said, only knocks once. For Warsaw's ML Motorsports, an up-and-coming stock car team with aspirations of making it in NASCAR, opportunity knocked twice. Robert Yates, a household name in NASCAR, called ML Motorsports in late 2004 to try and set something up with the Warsaw-based team, hoping one of his young Robert Yates Racing development drivers could fill the void made with the dismissal of Jason Jarrett. ML Motorsports, however, hired Chad Blount. After the release of Blount following the 2005 racing season, Yates again called ML Motorsports. This time, the two racing organizations came to an agreement, and 25-year-old Justin Diercks will run a "handful of ARCA races and 12 to 18 Busch Series races," according to ML Motorsports Team President Ed Mullen.

Squires Falter At Home Against TV

NORTH MANCHESTER - In a high school boys basketball coaching career that has spanned 30-plus years, Bill Patrick has always been known to get the most out of what he has. In a 68-61 come-from-behind win at Three Rivers Conference rival Manchester Friday night, Patrick got the most out of his players, one in particular. After going through much of the season with a set-in-stone lineup, the third-year Tippecanoe Valley coach shuffled his starting lineup last night.The silver-haired, old school whip-cracker said he felt 5-foot-10 senior guard Drew Shafer was best suited coming off the bench. Patrick couldn't have been more right. In a win that upped Valley's overall season record to 10-4 and its TRC record to 4-1, six-foot junior Brandon Harmon got the start, but it was Shafer who came off the bench and scored 17 points, including 11 in the fourth quarter, when he hit three crucial three-pointers and two vital free throws.

Squires Prevail Over Saints

NORTH MANCHESTER - If it was possible to go back a few years ago, many people would look at two teams like Manchester and Bishop Dwenger and would have thought Dwenger would bring home the win.But in 1998, it's a different story. The Squires haven't had a year like this since the 1994-95 regular season when they went undefeated.Now, with a record of 11-2, the Squires had no problem defeating the Bishop Dwenger Saints 67-59 Saturday. "We played like we should play and that is winning the conference title," Manchester coach Gary Goshert said. The Squires started off on the right foot in the first quarter when Rex Reimer hit two three-pointers to contribute to their 9-2 run.Still early in the quarter, Saints coach Chris Johnson received a technical foul, and Dwenger went on an 11-7 run. "Manchester took advantage of offensive rebounds throughout the game.We weren't very successful on stopping Chris Enyeart either," Johnson said.

Tiger Wrestlers Go 2-2

CULVER - Warsaw's varsity wrestlers traveled to Culver Military Academy Saturday for a "super dual" involving five teams.Ê The Tigers finished the day with two wins and two losses.Ê Four Warsaw individuals went undefeated for the day: Matt Zellers (152 pounds), Steve Fribley (189), Steve McKinley (215) and Joey Navarro (275). Coach Tony Boley said the team worked hard with good attendance in practices during the recent school closings, so he was disappointed about the two team losses, noting that in each case the Tigers missed victory by only one individual match.Ê The Warsaw team scores were as follows: Lake Central 36, Warsaw 33; Fremont 42, Warsaw 40; Warsaw 54, Culver Military 25; Warsaw 46, Logansport 25.Ê The Tiger dual record for the season now stands at 10-2.

On The Court Basketball Previews

'Brill's Content' Got A Little Carried Away

When the promotional material for "Content" magazine came across my desk, I was thrilled. A new magazine devoted to a becoming a watchdog of the media, a consumer guide for people who watch and read the news.Pointing out the foibles of the press.Exposing the biased, the unethical, the slipshod and the inaccurate. I signed up for a subscription.I couldn't wait. I got the first copy this week, but I already knew what was in it because it was in the news since last week when the first copies were available. The editor and publisher is Steven Brill. Brill, at age 28, founded the monthly magazine "American Lawyer."Later he started "Court TV."He recently sold his interest in that venture to Time Warner for $20 million, according to Associated Press reports. The magazine arrived with the title "Brill's Content" on the front.That was different than the original "Content" title in the promotional material.

Warsaw Wrestlers Pounce On Concord

DUNLAP - Warsaw's dual wrestling season concluded with a solid 55-19 win against Concord, as the Tigers took seven out of 10 contests on the mat. Two Tiger sophomores who have thus far had rather tough seasons came away with satisfying wins.Coach Tony Boley said, "I was happy to see those two guys go out there and use the technique we taught them." After receiving a couple of forfeits at 189 pounds and 215, the Tigers sent Nate Wilson (275) to the mat to face Derek Dodson.Wilson went out on the attack, planning to win.As the Concord wrestler was warned by the official for stalling, Wilson nailed a takedown.Then in period two a stalling point was awarded to Wilson, who then summarily turned Dodson on his back and racked up a fall at the 2:44 mark. After another forfeit was awarded to Warsaw at 103 pounds, Kent Nielsen (119) lost 9-3 in his match against Sean Allison.The team score was then 30-3, in favor of the Tigers.

Covering Sports Can Be A Real Kick

Working for a small daily newspaper is never dull. It's always interesting to see how readers react to what we print. Sometimes, it's absolutely amazing. Consider this. Parents of kids involved in sports seem to complain about coverage more than parents of kids who get arrested for committing crimes. I'm serious. Once in a while we get a call because a parent wants to keep Junior's name out of the paper or because we printed a story when Junior got arrested. But much, much more often we get calls from parents of student athletes who want their kids' names in the paper more often. And we get calls about the placement of local sports stories. One reader even went so far as to inform us that "you only put our game on the front page of the sports section when we lose." That's just absurd. So I'm going to try to explain how and why we cover what we cover when it comes to sports.

Vikings Win OT Thriller

ROCHESTER - There is just something about a rivalry that can make a game much more interesting.The gym fills up faster, the students sections compete to be the loudest and fans should always expect the unexpected. Valley's 90-83 overtime win over conference nemesis Rochester Friday night is a perfect example of this. Valley improves to 9-3 and 4-0 in the TRC, Rochester falls to 3-7 and 1-3.Rochester's Deric Beck led all scorers with 29 points.Jarvis Shepherd paced the Vikings with 28. Perhaps Shepherd's biggest shot of the night came in the waning seconds of the final quarter with Valley facing a three-point deficit. "In situations like that I want to shoot it," said Shepherd."When it left my hands it felt so pure, it was so exciting.I'm confident in my shot and I proved that tonight." Shepherd's three-pointer with two seconds remaining sent the game into overtime knotted at 73.

Whitewater Just Won't Go Away

The recent convictions in Little Rock weren't a big surprise to me. No matter how much supporters of President Bill Clinton want to pooh-pooh Whitewater, it just doesn't seem like it is going to go away anytime soon. And now, with close Clinton adviser and pal Bruce Lindsey drawn into the mess as an "unindicted co-conspirator," things are really going to heat up in the White House. I will be the first to admit that much of what is going on in Arkansas may be politically motivated.But with all the indictments and convictions, it looks as if there is substance to the investigation. It all goes back to the late 1970s, when Bill and Hillary Clinton teamed up with James and Susan McDougal to become co-owners of Whitewater Development Corporation. Jim McDougal also was the owner of Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan, a financial institution that later failed at taxpayers' expense.

Valley Girls Win TRC Title

AKRON - Tippecanoe Valley played host to the Southwood Knights Friday night in a Three Rivers Conference girls basketball game.The Vikings outlasted the Knights 62-53. Valley started the first quarter with a run.Valley outscored the Knights 11-1 in the first four minutes of the quarter.The Knights scored their first field goal of the game at 3:58. Valley was outscored 9-5 for the rest of the quarter to bring Southwood within six at 16-10. "Chelsey Rhoades did a great job for us in the first.She had to play some tough defense tonight.It kind of takes the legs out of a person.It's not good when your best shooter starts to get tired," Valley coach Gary Teel said. Valley started the second quarter with a 5-0 run to go up 21-10.Southwood then scored six straight points to take its first and only lead of the game at 24-23.The Vikings then outscored the Knights 10-3 the rest of the quarter to take a 34-27 halftime lead.

On The Court Basketball Previews

WARSAW AT CONCORD Tipoff: 6:15 p.m.Friday in Dunlap Coaches: Al Rhodes, Ryan Culp Records: Warsaw 9-3, 2-2; Concord 4-6, 1-2 Last Game: NorthWood 75, Warsaw 66; SB St.Joe 81, Goshen 79 4OT Last Year: Warsaw 67, Concord 46 Matchup: With two losses in the NLC, the Tigers have been all but eliminated in the NLC race.NorthWood has beaten Northridge and Warsaw and is leading the NLC with a 3-0 record.At this time, Ricky McKenzie is not playing for Concord.Warsaw 6-foot-6 senior frontcourt player Steve Siebenmorgen missed the NorthWood game.Siebenmorgen, who suffered a concussion in a December game, hit his head in practice again last week.He missed the NorthWood game after losing his balance during the NorthWood/Warsaw junior varsity game.Doctors have diagnosed him as having a second concussion.He will be evaluated on a week-to-week basis.He definitely will miss the Concord game.

East Chicago Central Too Much For Warsaw Girls

If it wasn't certain how much senior guard Julie Seiss means to the Warsaw girls basketball team, Friday night's 51-36 loss to visiting East Chicago Central cleared things up. Seiss left the game with 4:25 left in the third quarter after sustaining an injury to her surgically repaired right shoulder and her team down 26-23. While Seiss returned to start the fourth quarter it was too late as the Cardinals outscored Warsaw 13-4 during the Butler-bound guard's absence to push their lead to double digits at 39-27. With Seiss out the Tigers looked uncertain on offense and mismatched on defense. Seiss' defensive assignment for the night came in the form of Purdue signee DeeDee Jernigan.Jernigan was held to just three points in the first half while being guarded by Seiss and managed just four points in the final quarter. During that decisive 4:25 span in the third quarter, Jernigan scored six points and created havoc on the defensive end.

Warsaw Girls Roll Over Concord

Since losing to Perry Meridian by three points in overtime in the Lady Tiger Tournament the Warsaw girls basketball team had won their last two games by an average of 24 points. Saturday night was a similar story as the ungracious host dismantled Concord 64-30. While the Tigers weren't burning the nets from the field, they held the Minutemen to 25 percent shooting, including a scoreless fourth quarter.Concord kept it fairly close for one quarter. Strong interior play by Jacyln Leininger and Janna Knisley coupled by the outside presence of Hilary O'Connell proved to be too much for Concord. Both teams came out sloppy to start the game.Leininger scored the first points of the game at 6:15 in the first.

The Truth Isn't Always What Sounds Right

It's funny how simple truths elude politicians when they are trying to further their agendas. Recently, there was a good example of this when politicians were screaming for price controls in the oil industry to bring down gas prices. Of course it sounds good when you blame the people in the other political party for fiddling while Rome burns.W should be taking action.W should be putting price controls in place to curb inflation of gasoline prices. That sounds really good to regular folks shelling out $2 per gallon.And, of course, members of W's administration sound really callous when they say that price controls don't work and we should let the market control the prices. Callous as it may sound, they are right. Just about any economist will tell you that artificially lowering prices generally increases demand. But what needed to happen to bring gas prices down was for demand to decrease.

Tiger Grapplers Fall Again

Warsaw wrestlers continue to struggle, losing Wednesday at NorthWood 44-30.The Tiger scoring came by way of a forfeit and five wins on the mat, three by falls and two by narrow decisions. Winning matches for the Tigers were Anthony Boley (103 pounds), David Sumpter (140), Nick McKinley (152), Isaac Perry (160) and Richard Wolfe (171). NorthWood's victories came convincingly with five falls, a technical fall and a solid decision. Warsaw's Tanner Connealy (112) was pinned by senior Jesse Espinoza in 1:32.Espinoza, who is ranked No.12 in the state, now boasts a 23-1 record.Warsaw's Chris Riley (119) was pinned by another senior, Nick Roelandts, in 1:15.ÊAdam Bott (130) scored a takedown but was outscored 7-4 by Brandon Garner.

Manchester Begins 1999 With Win

NORTH MANCHESTER - A sign taped to the upstairs railing at Friday's Manchester/North Miami boys basketball game said it all. The sign simply read, "Let the Games Begin." And after nearly two weeks of inclement weather and numerous cancellations and postponements, the games did begin, and the Squires started the new year the same way they ended the previous year, with an impressive win. Led by Eric Swan's 21 points and another 17 from Rex Reimer, the Squires topped the Warriors 62-37, upping their record to 8-1 overall and 4-0 in the Three Rivers Conference.North Miami fell to 4-7 overall and 1-3 in the TRC.Kenny Hanson led the Warriors with 28 points and six rebounds. The rest of the North Miami roster produced nine points.

On The Court

TIPPECANOE VALLEY AT SOUTH BEND WASHINGTON Tipoff: 6:30 p.m.Saturday in South Bend Coaches: Bill Patrick (Valley), Milt Cooper (S.B.Washington) Records: Valley 9-3, Washington 8-4 Last Game: Valley 53, Caston 44; Washington N/A Last Year: Valley 86, Washington 76 Matchup: The Vikings enter this weekend on a five-game win streak and are averaging nearly 60 points per game.Brandon Eaton leads the Viking offense with his 21.7 points per game average.The 6-4 senior also pulls down 5.4 rebounds per game.Brandon's brother, 6-3 freshman Trey Eaton, averages 11.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest.The Panthers are led by Scott Davis, Micah Williams, Derek Graham and Jaron Parchman, all of whom score in double figures.Scott and Graham each average around eight rebounds per game.

Neighbors, ACACs Kill Meijer Proposal

I was disappointed with the Warsaw City Council's decision to deny Meijer a chance to build a store on Husky Trail. Meijer asked to rezone property from residential to commercial.Nineteen acres at the site already are zoned commercial, but the remaining 20 or so acres are residential. The plan commission, after taking some heat from neighbors in the area, denied the request. The city council then had to decide whether to abide by the plan commission's recommendation. The council tabled the request a couple times, asking Meijer for more traffic details and to downscale their development plans. Finally, earlier this week, the city council denied Meijer's rezoning request. There will be no Meijer store on Husky Trail. Meijer offered to spend approximately $750,000 to rework the intersection of U.S.30 and Parker Street to improve an existing traffic trouble spot. But we turned them down.