Eight Is Quite Enough

Tony Boley sat in his chair sipping coffee, the picture of serenity amidst the cheering and yelling and wrestling.

As easy as the wrestling coach's cup of coffee went down, that was about as easy as the time Warsaw's wrestling team had in winning its Saturday invitational.

The Tigers went 5-0 in their seasonopener, dismantling Triton (70-3), Kokomo (61-16), Eastside (57-16), Tippecanoe Valley (74-0) and Whitko (45-24).

Whitko placed second with a 4-1 record.

Out of 14 weight classes, the Tigers had eight individual champions who went 5-0.

"I was really surprised we had eight kids go 5-0," Boley said. Scott Snyder at 103 (pounds) was a pleasant surprise. I knew Tim Roe at 119, Robbie Boley at 125, Greg Patrick at 130, Aaron Banks at 140 and Matt Zellers at 145 would all have a shot. Isaac Perry at 152 is only a sophomore. He just won the position and ends up going 5-0 and winning the thing.

"Chris Wilson at 160, I thought he had a chance."

Warsaw sophomore Joey Navarro wasn't the champion of his weight class, but he wrestled in the heavyweight bracket as a 206-pounder. He should have been in the 215 weight class, but he skipped that and wrestled in the 275 weight class.

All he did was go 4-1. His loss came in the last match of the day, a 4-3 decision to Whitko senior Mark Christian. He finished the match with a white bandage wrapped around his head several times after he began bleeding. Still, he came within two points of going undefeated.

"Joey Navarro," Boley said, "did a nice job."

When the fifth and final round arrived in mid-afternoon, Warsaw and Whitko each owned 4-0 records. Now they were scheduled to clash.

Boley was worried that 4-0 record might turn into 4-1.

"We looked at Whitko before the match," Boley said. "They had eight seniors. We had three. On paper, we figured it out, worst scenario, not knowing what they had or what we had. They beat us. Every time we put it down, they beat us."

This is why they wrestle the matches.

The Whitko team on paper was not the same Whitko team that wrestled on the mats.

Whitko's Keith Bird, a sectional champion last year, missed his weight (119) and was forced to wrestle in the 130 weight class. Teammate Ben Watson, a two-time sectional champion, is serving a suspension and can't wrestle until December. To start the match with Warsaw, the Wildcats forfeited the 103-pound match because they haven't found anyone to wrestle there yet. That put them down 6-0 before they wrestled their first match against the Tigers.

Whitko's lower weight classes are largely underclassmen, and by the time the 160-pound match arrived, Warsaw owned a commanding 42-9 lead.

Boley, Patrick, Banks, Zellars and Perry pinned their Whitko counterparts, and Warsaw won the 103- and 119-pound matches by forfeit.

Whitko's strength lies in the heavier weight classes. Todd Grube (171), Jimmy Linn (189), Robbie Nieto (215) and Mark Christian (275) - all seniors - either pinned or won decisions over their Warsaw opponents.

The four grapplers ended the day as champions in their weight classes with 5-0 records.

In other matches, Whitko beat Tippecanoe Valley (56-12), Triton (39-18), Kokomo (53-13) and Eastside (40-31).

"We wanted to look respectable," Whitko coach Brian Balsmeyer said. "I think we did that.

"From 171 and up, we were undefeated. Those are seniors. We had six seniors wrestle. Out of our seniors, we lost one match."

The Wildcats fell behind Eastside 23-0, but Whitko's veterans in the upper weight classes bailed them out.

Until the starting lineup is intact, Balsmeyer is prepared to see the Wildcats fall behind early. He only hopes it's not 23-0 every time.

"If we can keep it close with our younger kids, we'll be all right," Balsmeyer said. "By year's end, we can have a very good team."

Triton finished third with a 2-3 record and was followed by Eastside (2-3), Kokomo (1-4) and Tippecanoe Valley (0-5).