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SYRACUSE - If the first two junior varsity matches were any indication of how things would go in Thursday's varsity wrestling match between Wawasee and Bremen, Bremen would be in for a long night.
Wawasee's junior varsity team pinned its first two opponents in 1:23.
Competition-wise Bremen was in for a long night. Time-wise, Wawasee's 65-9 non-conference win was over as soon as the Warriors won two of the first three varsity matches to take a 12-6 lead they never relinquished.
The only event that prolonged the evening was Wawasee High School Athletic Director Mary Hurley presenting Cheryl Merchant with the prestigious "W" plaque before the first varsity match. Merchant was recognized for her efforts in coordinating the parents' group as well as numerous AAU tournaments over the last 10 years.
Even the presentation speech was short and sweet.
In the first match of varsity competition, Wawasee freshman Matt Coy took six points without even breaking a sweat as Bremen had to forfeit the first of three matches.
The Lions scored six of their nine points in the 112-pound contest, when Jon Smorin pinned Mark Speakman in 2:33 to knot the score at six. The Warriors then won eight consecutive matches to take a 50-6 advantage.
"I told the kids upstairs they would battle us," said Wawasee coach Kevin Taylor. "I wrestled with their coach (Ryan Rust) in college. I told the kids we'd have to meet their intensity."
It looked as if Bremen would have to match Wawasee's intensity. The Warriors were coming off two consecutive losses to conference foes Warsaw and Goshen and weren't to be outdone in their renovated and repainted gym.
"The kids were a little down after dropping two in the conference," said Taylor. "But they have to come out and battle everyday. We're looking forward to some tournaments and the state championship."
It was a rather quiet crowd at Wawasee High School last night, a far cry from the noise level heard at the Warsaw-Wawasee confrontation a week ago. The loudest cheers came in the 125-pound contest, when Wawasee senior Chet Wortinger pinned Matt Nyari in 2:26 to up his individual record to 8-0 on the season. The victory was also the 100th of Wortinger's prep career.
"It's a great win for him," said Taylor. "He's a hard worker and he deserves it. We had a forfeit at 119, and we bumped everyone up so he get it in front of the home crowd."
The other loud cheers came for last year's 145-pound state runner-up, Kevin A. Carr, who now wrestles in the 160-pound class. Carr won a 19-4 technical fall over Chris Cox.
The rest of the evening the crowd was rather tame as the Lions just seemed to be frustrated with their inability to handle the now 6-2 Warriors.
"We tried to preach going hard for six whole minutes," said Taylor. "We're in better shape than most of our opponents, and that gets them frustrated. Tonight was a perfect example of that."
Wawasee (6-2, 1-2) will travel to Dunlap on Dec. 17 to grapple with the Concord Minutemen.
"We go to Concord on the 17th (Dec. 17)," said Taylor. "We also have the Wawasee Invitational coming up, and there's some tough teams in there. Fort Wayne Northrop, who we wrestled last year in the regionals, and Jay County and Chesterton. It'll be a good measuring stick for us."
Thursday at Syracuse
Wawasee 65, Bremen 9
103 Matt Coy (Wawasee) won by forfeit
112 Jon Smorin (Bremen) pinned Mark Speakman, 2:33
119 Mike Hanlin (Wawasee) won by forfeit
125 Chet Wortinger (Wawasee) pinned Matt Nyari, 1:26
130 Kevin M. Carr (Wawasee) pinned Ryan Johnson, 1:08
135 Ken McIntosh (Wawasee) pinned Dean Young, :15
140 Josh Roa (Wawasee) pinned John Bellman, 2:00
145 Nathan Goldenberg (Wawasee) def. Brian Baker 13-3, major decision
152 J.J. Davis (Wawasee) def. Mark Main 27-12, tech. fall
160 Kevin A. Carr (Wawasee) def. Chris Cox 19-4, tech. fall
171 Ryan Faulstich (Bremen) def. Jacen Hendricks 4-2, dec.
189 Craig Jensen (Wawasee) def. Adam Smith 6-2, dec.
215 Tom Bryan (Wawasee) pinned Dustin Sahloff, 1:16
275 Jamie Salazar (Wawasee) won by forfeit
JV: Wawasee 24, Bremen 3
