GOSHEN - The Warsaw Tiger wrestlers competed for the third consecutive night Thursday, and were overpowered 55-21 at Goshen.
The Goshen Redskins are a balanced group, comprised of seven juniors, one senior, three sophomores and three freshmen.
The Tigers recorded just two wins on the mat after strategic roster moves by Goshen left the two Brooks brothers, Jarred (103) and Justin (119), out of the picture as far as actual wrestling. They went out to the mat only to collect forfeits.
"We are disappointed that they would not face our best guys," Warsaw coach Justin Smith said. "They bumped up to stay away from our stronger wrestlers.
"I understand the tactical move, but our wrestlers made the trip up to compete and they really wanted to wrestle," he explained.
Goshen opted out of taking on Jarred Brooks, giving up a forfeit to the Tigers in that match and moving their Austin Maynard up a class to take on Kyle Duzan at 112. Maynard came away with a fall in 3:27.
Then the same move was made at 119 pounds against Justin Brooks.
Goshen gave up a forfeit again, moving Zack Worcel up to face Jordan Horney. In this case however, Horney turned the tables and got the win for the Tigers with a 7-5 decision.
The only other victory for Warsaw came at the hands of Adam Keener (152), who went to the mat on a mission. Keener racked up a 10-2 lead before bundling up Andrew Steagelman in 5:30.
Warsaw's Paul Manbu (135) had an intriguing loss.
Holding his own against Ryan Ntende, and ahead 5-3 at the end of the second period, he gave up an escape with just a second left. In the third period, Manbu was penalized one point for having his shoelaces loose. That seemed to be a turning point, and in a final-period flurry his opponent accumulated nine points to take a 13-8 win.
With the exception of Zac Erba (145), who fought valiantly in a 4-0 loss to Nick Lewallen, the remainder of the Tiger team was man-handled by the Redskins, and found themselves victims of falls in either the first or early second period.
"We've had a tough schedule, with three-consecutive tough matches for this young team," Smith commented. "We are looking forward now to the Northern Lakes Conference tournament and we expect to have a good performance there."
The Tigers' dual season concludes leaving them at 13-9 (1-6 NLC). Goshen boasts a formidable 20-3 record overall (5-2 NLC).
Saturday will see both teams participating in the conference tournament hosted by Northridge High School. This is an individual-bracketed event, which is to be held in the old high school with its larger gymnasium at Middlebury at 9 a.m.
Competition for the state championship begins Jan. 31, with Warsaw and Wawasee heading to the Plymouth Sectional, while the rest of the NLC teams will be at Elkhart Memorial.
