SYRACUSE - A Northern Lakes Conference wrestling match in Syracuse came down to the final individual bout Thursday
With his team leading 33-29 going into the 145-pound match, Wawasee senior Raul Rodriguez sealed the 39-29 win for the Warriors (11-8, 2-2 NLC) over rival Warsaw (5-8,1-2 NLC)with a first-round pin of Tiger junior Kyle Duzan."That was a total team victory," Wawasee coach Scott DeHart said. "We may not have had one of those around here in a long time."
The balanced team win was achieved after the Warriors (11-8, 2-2 NLC) received pins from sophomore Garrett Freel (125), junior Kyle Clevenger (140), Rodriguez (145), junior Ryan Lindsey (152) and senior Jake Jones (215), while junior Dimitri Kaplanis captured a 2-0 victory in the heavyweight division.
"It happened pretty much like I thought it would, but I thought Dimitri would get more points," DeHart said.
In the heavyweight bout, Kaplanis entered with a 16-2 record, but didn't handle Warsaw junior Joe Waikel as easily as expected.
"He went out there and wrestled well," Warsaw coach Justin Smith said about Waikel, who's been battling junior Trevor Burgess for time on the varsity.
Another match that may have been closer than expected was Warsaw senior Ross Hoover's 6-0 decision over Wawasee senior Lance Wright at 189 pounds.
"I think he wrestled his clone tonight," Smith said about Hoover, who now sits at 13-0 on the year.
Following Warsaw senior Zac Erba's 7-3 victory over sophomore Jake Jones, who entered the match with a 16-2 mark, and Hoover's win, Warsaw held an 11-6 advantage with the team match beginning at 152 pounds.
Trailing through four matches, DeHart had a simple message for his 215-pounder, senior Jake Jones.
"The last thing I told him before he took the mat was, 'You need to stop the bleeding now,'" DeHart said about his message to Jones, who now sits at 15-4 on the year. "He went out there and did exactly what a senior should do, and he stopped the bleeding. That put us on the right track."
Jones ended his match with a first-round pin of sophomore Lorenzo DeGaetano, getting his team straightened out.
"We're still moving on the right track," DeHart said. "There's still a lot of things we need to work on. We still do a lot of silly things. It's getting better."
Smith was also pleased with his team's performance, as it got pins from sophomore Luis Munoz (119) and senior Jordan Horney (135), while senior Everardo Ahtual earned a technical fall and freshman Luis Cervantes (112), sophomore Javier Hernandez (130), Erba (171) and Hoover (189) achieved wins by decision.
"I think we wrestled well," Smith said. "Our young guys are improving. We didn't get as many points from our juniors and seniors as we needed to."
Each team entered the match with its heavier weight classes garnering most of the points, while the lower weight classes featured younger wrestlers. At the end of the night, Wawasee had the slight advantage.
"We've always paired up well with Wawasee," Smith said. "It was their senior night, so they had a lot of emotion coming into the match. I think that's what carried them through. We made some mistakes here and there that cost us team points. That ends up costing you the match, but I'm not upset with the boys. I think, for the most part, we wrestled well."
Wawasee did win the regular season match, but Smith plans to see the Warriors again at the NLC meet, as well as the Plymouth Sectional in February.
"We're going to see Wawasee again," Smith said. "It's important what we do the second time we see them."
Both teams are back in action Saturday, when Wawasee hosts its own duals, while Warsaw will be at the Penn Invitational.
WAWASEE 39, WARSAW 29
103 - Dylan deSomer (Waw) won by ff; 112 - Luis Cervantes (War) dec. Greg Newman 19-13; 119 - Luis Munoz (War) pinned Doug Corl 1:54; 125 - Garrett Freel (Waw) pinned Julian Bowen 0:39; 130 - Javier Hernandez (War) dec. Josh Gohlke 13-8; 135 - Jordan Horney (War) pinned Michael Pena 2:49; 140 - Kyle Clevenger (Waw) pinned Steven Alvarado 1:02; 145 - Raul Rodriguez (Waw) pinned Kyle Duzan 1:55; 152 - Ryan Lindsey (Waw) pinned Adam Becker 5:11; 160 - Everardo Ahtual (War) tech. fall Brandon Morris 16-1; 171 - Zac Erba (War) dec. Brian Clark 7-3; 189 - Ross Hoover (War) dec. Lance Wright 6-0; 215 - Jake Jones (Waw) pinned Lorenzo DeGaetano 1:55; HWT - Dimitri Kaplanis (Waw) dec. Joe Waikel 2-0
