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Five Warsaw wrestlers finished among the top three places to advance through the Goshen Regional to the Fort Wayne semistate tournament.Ê
Matt Zellers (152 pounds) and Joey Navarro (275) were regional champions, while Adam Harter (112) and Steve McKinley (215) grabbed runnerup honors.Ê Isaac Perry (160) advanced as a third-place finisher.
"We wrestled pretty well," Warsaw coach Tony Boley reported, "but a couple guys didn't have a very good day."
Boley was expecting a few more wrestlers to advance, "but at this level," he said, "you can never relax or you'll get beat."
Regarding Zellers, Boley's comment was, "What can you say? He was up to his usual tough level. He just went out there and got the job done.
"Joey meant business, working hard, pushing it, pushing it and won his championship."
Only four of the 12 Tigers who traveled to Goshen were eliminated in the first round.Ê Freshman Anthony Boley (103) was a quick victim of a 39-second pin at the hands of Nick Ianarelli of Elkhart Memorial, who went on to take the championship.
Ianarelli, a senior, is ranked second in the state. John Milton (119) lasted into the final period of his first-round match when he was pinned by NorthWood's Jesse Espinoza. Adam Bott (125), who won his first varsity match at the Warsaw sectional, was pinned in round one of the regional by Josh Thacker of Elkhart Memorial. Kris Hueber (171) just simply did not have a very good day, ending his great season by giving up a close 7-6 decision to Ryan Faulsitch of Bremen.
Three Tigers won opening matches by ending their seasons in later rounds. In his first match, Tim Roe (130) pinned Michael Van Auken of Fremont in 3:51. In the semifinal, Roe lost 4-0 to eventual champion Shuyler Barkes of Goshen, now ranked fifth in the state. In the consolation match, Roe came out on the losing end of a 8-4 decision to Chris Glaub of Plymouth to conclude his Tiger season.
Glaub participated as an alternate, receiving a call Friday evening before the regional. He replaced Triton's representative, who was unable to participate for medical reasons. After defeating Roe in the consolation round Glaub is now on his way to the semistate.
Sophomore Richard Wolfe (145) is undoubtedly the most improved of all the Tigers, but he ended his season in the consolation round, falling to Nathan Kuhn of Prairie Heights at 2:59.Ê Earlier in the day, Wolfe had been pinned by Shaun Barnett of Jimtown at 1:29, although in round one Wolfe pinned Bremen's Brian Baker in 1:35.Ê
"It was a great experience for Richard to come this far," Boley said. "As he continues to improve, he will have a great career ahead of him."
Two seniors concluded their careers as Warsaw wrestlers.Ê "Steve Fribley had a tough weight class," said Boley.
He won his first round match with a 4-3 victory over James Stembel of Bremen. Then in the semifinal Fribley was a victim of his old nemesis, Chris Leffert of Concord, by a pin at 4:28. In the consolation round, Fribley faced Jimtown's Chris Smith in a rematch after Wednesday's dual meet overtime win (3-1). Fribley came out the 7-3 loser at Goshen to conclude his Tiger career.
Among those advancing to the semistate, one Tiger will make the trip by way of a third-place finish at the regional. Perry won by pinning Brandon Sweet of Angola in 4:12.ÊPerry's only loss of the day came in the semi-final when he was pinned in 30 seconds by Brian Goss, one of four champs for Jim Pickard's Goshen Redskins. In the consolation match, Perry beat Ben Rader (5-1) of Plymouth to take third place and move on to the semistate.
Harter took second place after nailing his first two opponents with quick pins. David Blea of Northridge was his first victim at 1:33, and in the semifinal Harter crunched Eric Bryan of Fremont in 1:12.Ê
In another rematch against Jimtown, Harter met Billy Moyer. Wednesday Moyer was the loser (3-0), but at Goshen, Harter seemed to relax for just a moment and came out on the short end of a 2-3 decision.
Steve McKinley (189) went to the finals by way of a 26-second pin of Matt Miller of Fremont. In the semifinal, McKinley avenged his Wednesday 5-0 loss to Matt Hurtt of Jimtown with a convincing win by the same 5-0 score. Going into the regional, Hurtt stood at No. 14 in the state. McKinley became regional runnerup when he lost a 10-5 decision to No. 4 Aaron Ramey of Prairie Heights in the finals.
Warsaw's two champions were Zellers and Navarro. Navarro (275) wrestled his way to the finals by pinning Rafael Amorim of Lakeland (2:27). At the regional level very few "heavyweights" are just heavy. They are generally strong and quick, like Travis Davis, one of Jimtown's state champion football players. In the semifinal at Goshen, Navarro fought out a tough 3-1 decision over Davis to move to the finals.Ê
In the championship round, Joey defeated Shay Beaver of Plymouth by a 5-0 decision for the win.
Zellers (152), the Tiger's "takedown king," developed his skill through freestyle wrestling and with a driving work ethic in the practice room. In the first round he dominated Goshen's Nick Roberts with a relentless string of takedowns and back points, racking up an 18-3 tech fall in just four minutes. The semifinal match was the toughest for Zellers as he gritted out a 4-1 decision of Nick Vilders of Prairie Heights. In the final Zellers pinned Greg Owens of Northridge at 3:27 to grab his regional championship and move on with his four teammates to the Fort Wayne semistate at Memorial Coliseum.
Other area wrestlers advance at Goshen
Nick Roelandts (112) of NorthWood advanced to the semistate after taking third place by pinning Eric Bryan of Fremont in 2:45. Roelandts lost to eventual champ Billy Moyer of Jimtown in the semifinal.
Panther Ben Becker (140) goes to Fort Wayne on the strength of third-place finish. In the consolation round, Becker edged out Tory Owens of Northridge by a close 2-1 decision.
NorthWood's Brandon Wiley (103), Travis Middaugh (125) and Todd Martz (130) were eliminated in round one. Jesse Espinoza (119) fell out in the consolation round when he was pinned by Goshen's Nick Cochran.
For Triton, Josh Hooley (135) advances to the semistate by way of a third-place regional finish, winning his consolation match in a 10-4 decision over Mike Nekolite of Plymouth. Triton wrestlers eliminated in round one included Errik Lemler (112), Matt Wanemacher (140) and Jason Lemler (152).
Tippecanoe Valley standout David Reese moves on to Fort Wayne after taking third place in a tough 8-6 overtime win against Ryan Faulsitch of Bremen.
Concluding Matches for Warsaw
at Goshen Regional
* Advancing to Semi-State/ np = did not place
Anthony Boley (103) np, pinned by Nick Ianarelli, 1st Elkhart Memorial (:39)
*Adam Harter (112) 2nd, dec by Billy Moyer, Jimtown (2-3)
John Milton (119) np, pinned by Jesse Espinoza, 4th Northwood (5:02)
Adam Bott (125) np, pinned by Josh Thacker, 4th Elkhart Memorial (1:20)
Tim Roe (130) 4th, dec by Chris Glaub, Plymouth (4-8)
Richard Wolfe (145) 4th, pinned by Nathan Kuhn, Prairie Heights (2:59)
*Matt Zellers (152) 1st, pinned Greg Owens, Northridge (3:27)
*Isaac Perry (160) 3rd, dec Ben Rader, Plymouth (5-1)
Kris Hueber (171) np, dec by Ryan Faulstich, 4th Bremen (6-7)
Steve Fribley (189) 4th, dec by Chris Smith, Jimtown (3-7)
*Steve McKinley (215) 2nd, dec by Aaron Ramey, Prairie Heights (5-10)
*Joey Navarro (275) 1st, dec Shay Beaver, Plymouth (5-0)
Concluding matches for other area wrestlers at Goshen Regional
* Advancing to Semi-State/ np = did not place
Brandon Wiley (103) np Northwood, pinned by Jason Eash, 2nd Lakeland (1:31)
Errik Lemler (112) np Triton, pinned by Nick Roelandts, 3rd Northwood (:49)
*Nick Roelandts (112) 3rd Northwood, pinned Eric Bryan, Fremont (2:45)
Jesse Espinoza (119) 4th Northwood, pinned by Nick Cochran, Goshen (2:08)
Travis Middaugh (125) np Northwood, maj dec by Robbie Rasler, 3rd Prairie Heights (5-14)
Todd Martz (130) np Northwood, pinned by Tim Kidder, 2nd Northridge (:44)
*Josh Hooley (135) 3rd Triton, dec Mike Nekolite Plymouth (10-4)
Matt Wanemacher (140) np Triton, default to Brent Schlosser, 2nd Fremont
(16-3)
*Ben Becker (140) 3rd Northwood, dec Tory Owens Northridge (2-1)
*David Reese (171) 3rd Tippecanoe Valley, dec Ryan Faulstich Bremen (8-6 ot)
