SYRACUSE – The Wawasee High School wrestling team got the wins it needed, it just didn't get the kind of wins it needed. Despite posting eight wins to Warsaw's six Thursday night in Syracuse, the Wawasee Warriors (1-3 NLC) got just two pins, while all six of Warsaw's (1-1 NLC) wins were pins, resulting in a 36-35 victory. “Our older wrestlers stepped up and wrestled well, especially (senior Luis) Munoz and (junior Luis) Cervantes,” Warsaw coach Justin Smith said. “They knew going into their matches, that, ‘Hey, if we both pin, we win by one,’ but it was a total team effort. Every point counted.” Following a pin by Wawasee freshman Tristin Ponsler at 113 pounds, the Warriors led 35-24 with only Munoz's and Cervantes' matches remaining. Needing two-consecutive pins to get the Northern Lakes Conference victory, Munoz and Cervantes each got first-round pins, with Munoz's coming in 1:44 and Cervantes coming with just five seconds remaining in the round. “If I had to pick two guys to put up for the last two matches, to bring it home, those would probably be my two kids,” Smith said. Also getting pins for the Warsaw Tigers were sophomore Ricardo Ahuatl (138), junior Marcos Rodriguez (170), junior Kyle Heckaman (182) and freshman Alec Haines (220). It was Haines' match that Smith pointed to as the match-changer, as the freshman was filling in for senior Miguel Delfin. “With Alec coming in as a reserve wrestler, you don't expect to get six (points) there,” he said. “You just hope to not give up six.” While Smith was getting unexpected wins, Wawasee coach Paul Meyer was seeing his experienced guys get decisions, but not pins. Celebrating senior night, all four of Wawasee's seniors – Doug Corl, Nick Rozow, Brian Clark and Chad Eppley – got wins, but outside of Rozow's 16-1 technical fall at 160 pounds, the other three were decisions and counted for just three points each. While Meyer wasn't up for speaking after the match, Smith was pleased with the way his inexperienced guys went into those matches against Wawasee's seniors. “I think they really understood what we've been telling them, which is when going up against a guy you may have trouble beating, it's about not giving up six, five (points),” Smith said. “Then, let our more experienced guys get their six, such as Ricardo, Munoz and Cervantes. What happens is, you win by one and it's really exciting.” Wawasee did get six points each from junior Jake Sumpter (152) and Ponsler, while freshman Josh Matthews got a forfeited win at 106. Wawasee's other victory was a decision by junior Michael Pena at 145. “It's tough to come into Wawasee and get a win, but they wrestled really well tonight,” Smith said. Wawasee hosts its own invitational Saturday, while Warsaw will be at the Penn Invitational. “This is really great going into Saturday,” Smith said. “I hope we ride this wave into some good wrestling, then we have Plymouth Wednesday, and obviously, the big one is the Mishawaka Invitational (Dec. 27 and 28). We want to build everyday toward Mishawaka. This is a great confidence builder.”
WARSAW 36, WAWASEE 35 106 – Josh Matthews (Waw) won by ff; 113 – Tristin Ponsler (Waw) pin. Daniel Hench, 0:52; 120 – Luis Munoz (War) pin. Javier Lopez, 1:44; 126 – Luis Cervantes (War) pin. Ronny Shortt, 1:55; 132 – Doug Corl (Waw) dec. Rene Adame, 6-4; 138 – Ricardo Ahuatl (War) pin. Logan Bowers, 3:13; 145 – Michael Pena (Waw) dec. Spencer Gareiss, 6-1; 152 – Jake Sumpter (Waw) pin. Alex Fisher, 3:09; 160 – Nick Rozow (Waw) tech. fall Huntley Davis, 16-1; 170 – Marcos Rodriguez (War) pin. Stephen Possell, 5:28; 182 – Kyle Heckaman (War) pin. Devenn Lilly, 3:01; 195 – Brian Clark (Waw) dec. Rory Nolin, 6-0; 220 – Alec Haines (War) pin. Andy Holdeman, 1:53; 285 – Chad Eppley (Waw) dec. Ben Plummer, 3-1 NLC Records: Warsaw 1-1, Wawasee 1-3
