Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
DUNLAP - In the Northern Lakes Conference wrestling tournament at Concord High School Saturday, Warsaw had twice as many individual champions an any other team, but Elkhart Memorial ran away with the team title as all 14 Crimson Chargers earned place points.
Memorial scored 237.5 points, followed by Goshen with 186.5 and Warsaw with 152.
Wawasee finished eighth in the tournament with 57 points, entering only seven wrestlers, four of whom were placers, including Chase Davis who was the champ at 119 pounds.
For the Tigers, four individual champions helped the team to earn the third-place finish in the event, resulting in a three-way tie for third (with Northridge and Concord) in final conference standings on the season.
Warsaw Individuals
Justin Brooks (103 pounds) continued his strong season, pinning all of his opponents to earn a championship. In round one Brooks pinned Cord Schmucker of Goshen in 1:45 and then in the semifinals he pinned Ben Etsinger of NorthWood in 1:39. In the championship bout he went up 11-1 against Memorial's Nick Datena before recording a fall 32 seconds into the final period.
Sophomore standout Matt Elvidge (135) also pinned all of his opponents, nailing NorthWood's Reyd Garner in 3:59 and then finishing off Brett Baldwin of Concord in 3:07. To win the championship, Elvidge pinned Northridge's John Marchbanks at 1:46 in period one.
For the second time this season, Andy Keener (145) defeated Aaron Nesbitt of Goshen, blanking him 7-0 in the championship. To reach the finals, Keener racked up a pair of first-period falls, nailing Plymouth's Derrick White in 51 seconds, and then finishing off Scotty Carte of Northridge in 1:45.
Tom Lowe (171) finished strong in his senior season, taking the championship after powering his way through the earlier rounds. He had a technical fall in 4:19 against Jason Beer of Wawasee, and then a fall in 2:41 against Concord's Brandon Urednick.
In the finals, Lowe had his hands full when he tussled with Matt Nelson of Memorial. Nelson scored the opening takedown, but Lowe escaped and retaliated with a takedown of his own. Through the second period, Lowe maintained control and then managed to escape in the final stanza to close with a 4-2 victory.
Another outstanding performance for Warsaw came from freshman Adam Keener (140), who took a second place and was named as one of three at-large members of the All-Conference team by a vote of all the coaches.
Keener pinned his way to the finals, squashing Jose Pena of Concord at 2:43, and then Alex Morris of Plymouth in 3:53. The championship was a rematch with Kyle Morningstar of Memorial.
In the regular season the win went to Keener, but at the conference tourney he was vastly out-pointed in a 10-1 major decision. Keener nearly pulled off the opening takedown, but a slip turned it to Morningstar, who also scored a takedown in period two. Morningstar then went on a 6-1 run in the final period.
Other Tiger wrestlers who placed included Matt Palladino (112), who took fifth by mercilessly driving a half-nelson to score a fall 36 seconds into the second period against Michael Roach of Plymouth.
Taylor Julian earned fifth place when he amassed 16 unanswered points for a tech fall against Goshen's Jared Nesbitt.
Jerry Belcher (125) and Hans Sale (275) were both awarded sixth place.
Warsaw coach Tony Boley noted that the team came on strong in the tourney, commenting, "We were down after the regular season at fifth in dual competition, but with our performance here we wound up in a three-way tie for third in final team standings. In this tournament, with our third-place finish, we came out ahead of several teams which had beaten us in the regular season."
Heading into the state tournament, Boley expressed confidence that, "We're headed in the right direction. Several of our wrestlers have not peaked yet."
Boley noted that the contenders are "starting to broaden their technique, improving and increasing in confidence with their technique."
Wawasee
With only seven wrestlers competing, Wawasee had four who placed.
Chase Davis (119) continued his winning ways, wrapping up first place with two pins in the opening rounds. He plastered Plymouth's James Letsinger in 3:34 and then conquered Concord's Justin Clements in 1:22. In the finals, Davis held off a throwing Brandon Harvey of Elkhart Memorial in a 6-3 win.
"Davis is doing the right stuff, and he is getting better as he continues to work on the right things in practice," said Wawasee coach Scott DeHart.
Runner-up honors went to Richard Lechlitner (275), who had a pin and a 4-0 decision to reach the finals against Jason Edlund of Goshen, who is ranked third in the state.
Edlund was the outstanding wrestler of the Tourney, scoring earlier falls in 1:09 and 3:12, before pinning Lechlitner at 1:53 in the championship match.
Josh Vallejo (140) was awarded sixth place after one win. Justin Wegener (152) reached fourth place after having suffered a semi-final loss to the eventual champion, David Read.
Both Warsaw and Wawasee travel west to the Plymouth Sectional Saturday.
NLC Tournament Team Scores (final NLC standings in parentheses) - Elkhart Memorial 237.5 (1st), Goshen 186.5 (2nd), Warsaw 152.0 (3rd), Concord 146.5 (3rd), Northridge 146.0 (3rd), Plymouth 145.5 (6th), NorthWood 122.0 (6th), Wawasee 57.0 (8th)
Championship Round (and area place winners)
103 - Justin Brooks (Warsaw) pinned Nick Datena (Elkhart Memorial), 4:32
112 - Sean Allison (Concord) def. Adam Andrews (EM), 6-5
Steven Palladino 5th (War) pinned Michael Roach (Plymouth), 1:36
119 - Chase Davis (Wawasee) def. Brandon Harvey (EM), 6-3
125 - Trent Klotz (NorthWood) def. Cody Fullerton (EM), 8-4
T.J. Ousnamer (Ply) def. Jerry Belcher 6th (War), 6-1
130 - Steve Stahl (EM) def. Ross Powell (Northridge), 9-2
135 - Matt Elvidge (War) pinned John Marchbanks (NR), 1:46
140 - Kyle Morningstar (EM) def. Adam Keener (War), 10-1 maj.
George Lopez (NW) def. Josh Vallejo 6th (Waw), 5-2
145 - Andy Keener (W) def. Aaron Nesbitt (Goshen), 7-0
152 - David Read (Ply) def. Wes Clanton (Con), 17-7 maj.
Ryne Garner (NW) def. Justin Wegner 4th (Waw), 3-1
160 - Jake Clough (Ply) def. Mark Oberlin (Gosh), 8-4
171 - Tom Lowe (War) def. Matt Nelson (EM), 4-2
189 - Joe Gibson (Northridge) def. Emanuel Redd (EM), 7-1
Taylor Julian 5th (War) def. Jared Nesbitt (Gosh), 16-0 tech fall
215 - Ben Schrock (Gosh) pinned JJ Miller (EM), 3:34
275 - Jason Edlund (Gosh) pinned Richard Lechlitner (Waw), 1:53
Morgan Smith (C) pinned Hans Sale 6th (W), :56
