Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE -ÊPreparation and patience. These are two characteristics necessary for a tennis team to be successful.
Tuesday night in Syracuse the Wawasee Warriors had both against the Manchester Squires and got a 4-1 win.
"We came out focused and ready to play tonight," said Wawasee coach Phil Mishler. "We knew what we had to do to get it done, and we did it."
"Wawasee was the more prepared, more patient, smarter team tonight," said Manchester coach Eric Christainsen. "I don't think we were ready tonight. I think the guys were overlooking Wawasee. I've been reading the newspaper and seeing their results. They are a good team, and our guys just weren't ready for them."
Wawasee jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Josh Abrams defeated Manchester's Tyler Kelsey 6-0, 6-1.
However, that lead was short-lived as Squire Bart King defeated Scott Beasley. In the first set, Beasley went up 5-2 before King started his comeback.
King scored outscored Beasley five points to one to go up 7-6 and force the match into a tiebreaker. King won the tiebreaker 7-6, and then defeated Beasley 6-1 in the second set to give Manchester its first, and only, point of the match.
"Bart played very well at the No. 1 singles spot," said Christiansen. "He has been struggling with his confidence lately, and this match really helped him out. He got down in the first set, but he turned things around and got the win. This was a big match for him, a big confidence builder."
The next three points went to Wawasee, and the Warriors defeated the Squires 4-1.
At No. 3 singles, Evan Gerard outlasted Jeff Sincroft in a match that involved a tiebreaker. Gerard and Sincroft see-sawed back and forth until the score was 7-6 in Gerard's favor. He then won the tiebreaker 7-1. In the second set, Gerard defeated Sincroft 6-4.
"Evan Gerard went behind in the first set and then came back to win the tiebreaker," said Mishler. "He finished strong and won the second set. I was happy to see that."
At No. 1 doubles, Warriors Logan Pilcher and Mickey Ashpole teamed up to defeat Pieter Naragon and Nathan Bucher 6-3, 6-4 before Rosten Trobaugh and Seth Beer outlasted the Manchester duo of Sam Olson and Joey Zapf in a tiebreaker as well, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.
"We are capable of winning this match 4-1," said Christiansen. "But tonight, with our mindset, the 1-4 score was right. We played some close matches, but we just were not in the right frame of mind to get the win."
Wawasee improves to 10-6 overall and will play Warsaw in the first round of the Warsaw Sectional Saturday. Manchester finishes the regular season 8-7 and will face Wabash in the first round of the four-team Peru Sectional Thursday evening.
WAWASEE 4, MANCHESTER 1
Singles
No. 1 -ÊBart King (M) def. Scott Beasley 7-6 (7-6), 6-1
No. 2 -ÊJosh Abrams (W) def. Tyler Kelsey 6-0, 6-1
No. 3 -ÊEvan Gerard (W) def. Jeff Sincroft 7-6 (7-1), 6-4
Doubles
No. 1 -ÊLogan Pilcher/Mickey Ashpole (W) def. Pieter Naragon/Nathan Bucher 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 -ÊRosten Trobaugh/Seth Beer (W) def. Sam Olsen/Joey Zapf 7-6 (7-4), 6-4
JV -ÊWAWASEE 3, MANCHESTER 2
No. 1 -ÊJoey Szynal (W) def. Jon Cable 6-2, 6-3
No. 2 -ÊJohn Lundgren (W) def. Brad Simcoe 8-1
No. 3 -ÊDeno Migliorini (M) won by forfeit
Doubles
No. 1 -ÊTanner Alger/Zach Keim (W) def. Ben Knisely/Jason McDowell 7-4
No. 2 -ÊSimon Beer/Tony Bachtel (W) def. Mathis Miller/Eric Simcoe 6-0
Warrior Cross Country Team Reaches 6-0 In NLC
By Dale Hubler, Times-Union Sports Writer
NAPPANEE - Call Wawasee cross country coach Dave Stookey a dreamer, but Tuesday in a three-way Northern Lakes Conference meet with Northridge and NorthWood his dreams came true.
Stookey said after the meet he was dreaming of a one-point win or even a one-point loss to Northridge, a school rich in cross country tradition.
In topping Northridge 21-34, the Warriors placed in four of the top five spots, including first, second and third places.
"Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would go 1, 2, 3 on Northridge," Stookey said. "I guess our kids didn't want to give up the conference traveling trophy and a chance at the conference title. Our kids were really mentally prepared. Northridge is a quality team and they will be back."
The Warriors, who are 8-0 overall in dual and triangular meets and 6-0 against NLC competition, also beat host NorthWood 15-50. Northridge topped NorthWood 15-50 as well.
Warrior senior Rob Chalfant won the race in a time of 16:36. He was followed by teammates Ryan Stichter (16:54) and Flaco Perales (16:57) in second and third, respectively. Wawasee's top five runners also included a fifth-place finish by Luke Stoffel (17:20) and a 10th-place finish by Curt Farrell (18:02).
"Flaco, Ryan and Luke all ran terrific races," Stookey said. "Rob is getting to the point where he is 100 percent after his injury. He's not mentally 100 percent, but he's getting there."
In the NLC round-robin over the past three years, Wawasee boasts a 17-1 record. The Warriors have gone 12-0 the last two years in the NLC.
Andy Yoder led the NorthWood boys team with his 15th-place
time of 18:27. The rest of the Panther top five included Jothy Sarver (21. 19:05), Blain McDowell (24. 19:17), James Geleske (27. 19:39) and Jon Lechlitner (30. 19:49).
"As young as we are, and against teams of that caliber, I thought the guys ran well," NorthWood coach Mark Mikel said. "Half of our team is made up of freshmen and sophomores. We lack experience. This course typically runs 40 seconds slow. I knew we didn't have a realistic shot to upset either one of those teams. I wouldn't be suprised to see both of them running in Indianapolis Nov. 4."
Just as impressive as Wawasee was in the boys race, so was Northridge in the girls race.
Led by a first-place finish by senior Natalie Ewing, Northridge topped Wawasee 19-44 and NorthWood 18-41. NorthWood defeated Wawasee 20-42.
Ewing took first-place with a time of 15:34, 53 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Brittany Winchester of Wawasee. The Raiders took four of the first five places and six of the top 10.
After Winchester, the next Warrior to cross the line was Kayla Auer in 18th with a time of 17:53. Wawasee's Jessica Lundgren (18:11), Meghan Lantz (18:17) and Shannon Mumma (18:27) finished 21st, 22nd and 23, respectively.
"We only have seven girls," Stookey said. "I thought we would have a couple more that would really help, but some different things happened and it didn't work out. We're a better team than last year. Unfortunately, the rest of the conference is better than last year."
Wawasee's girls team falls to 1-7 overall and 1-5 in NLC action.
NorthWood was led by a sixth-place finishing time of 16:47 from Kara Huff. The Pathers also finished seventh and eighth with Cort Sandy (16:49) and Nina Bearss (16:54). NorthWood's top five was rounded out by Heidi Schneider (11. 17:25) and Teri Schuler (15. 17:45).
BOYS
Wawasee 21, Northridge 34
Wawasee 15, NorthWood 50
Northridge 15, NorthWood 50
Top 10 - 1. Rob Chalfant (W) 16:36, 2. Ryan Stichter (W) 16:54, 3. Flaco Perales (W) 16:57, 4. Ryan Nord (NR) 17:14, 5. Luke Stoffel (W) 17:20, 6. Kevin Yoder (NR) 17:30, 7. Luke Fisher (N) 17:48, 8. Nick King (NR) 17:53, 9. Jerad Craig (NR) 17:57, 10. Curt Farrell (W) 18:02
Other Wawasee results - 13. Eric Gingerich 18:19, 14. Brian Stutzman 18:22, 16. Matt Dunithan 18:35, 22. Pete Melendez 19:08, 26. Chris Smeltzer 19:37, 28. Andy Poppenfoose 19:43, 29. Brian Brandon 19:47, 31. Ryan Earnhart 19:55, 32. Dustin Coquillard 19:58, 35. Eric Vallejo 20:22, 40. Jerad Bauman 21:30
Other NorthWood results - 15. Andy Yoder 18:27, 21. Jothy Sarver 19:05, 24. Blain McDowell 19:17, 27. James Geleske 19:39, 30. Jon Lechlitner 19:49, 37. Brent Paulus 20;45, 39. Matt Cleveland 21:23, 41. Aaron Emerick 22:43
GIRLS
NorthWood 20, Wawasee 42
Northridge 18, NorthWood 41
Northridge 19, Wawasee 44
Top 10 - 1. Natalie Ewing (NR) 15:34, 2. Brittany Winchester (W) 16:27, 3. Tiffany Brenneman (NR) 16:42, 4. Dattin Gorman (NR) 16:42, 5. Brittany Fearnow (NR) 16:44, 6. Kara Huff (NW) 16:47, 7. Cort Sandy (NW) 16:49, 8. Nina Bearss (NW) 16:54, 9. Missy Lanter (NR) 16:57, 10. Kyla Flemming (NR) 17:02
Other Wawasee results - 18. Kayla Auer 17:53, 21. Jessica Lundgren 18:11, 22. Meghan Lantz 18:17, 23. Shannon Mumma 18:27, 27. Crystal Fawley 19:16, 30. Mandie Sawyer 20:17
Other NorthWood results - 11. Heidi Schneider 17:25, 15. Teri Schuler 17:45, 16. Leslie Hawkins 17:46, 19. Kim Yoder 18:05, 20. C. Huff 18:06, 24. Amy Stump 18:31, 25. Holly Hershberger 18:52, 29. Katie Carl 20:17, 31. LeeAnn Davidhizar 23:08
