Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
ROCHESTER - Whitko High School's wrestlers, under coach Matt Koontz, won their fourth straight Three Rivers Conference title after sending 10 wrestlers to the finals, four of whom came away championships Saturday at Rochester.
Whitko nabbed first place with 265.5 points, while area schools Manchester finished sixth with 80 points and Tippecanoe Valley in seventh place with 75 points.
For Whitko, Brett King (103 pounds) defeated Oak Hill's Chandler Straggs in a 20-5 tech fall to win the championship.
Brian Lardino (152) pinned Kyle Musselman of Oak Hill at the buzzer of the first period to win his championship.
Ryan Poage (215) also won a chanmpionship by a fall at the close of the first period, nailing David Diener of Northfield.
Bryan Frush (275) wrestled through three periods to out-point Northfield's Deric Musselman to come away with a championship.
Whitko will compete in the Carroll Sectional Saturday, while Manchester will compete in the Peru Sectional. Both sectionals feed into the Fort Wayne Semistate.
Meanwhile, Tippecanoe Valley joins Warsaw at the Plymouth Sectional, which feeds into the Merrillville Semistate.
Team standings - Whitko 265.5, Oak Hill 230.5, Northfield 208, Rochester 148, North Miami 145.5, Manchester 80, Tippecanoe Valley 74, Southwood 68
TRC Finals (and area placers)
103 - Brett King (Whitko) def. Chandler Staggs (Oak Hill), 20-5 tech fall
Taylor Judy (Tippecanoe Valley), ff
112 - T.J. Burroughs (OH) def. Cody Brubaker (Manchester), 2:40
Nick Cox 3rd (W) def. Dakota Bigham (Northfield), 13-5 maj.
119 - Chris Nolan (OH) pinned Tyler Jaynes (NF), 2:23
Derek Nelson (Rochester) pinned Brian Smith 4th (W), :54
Dimitry Novikov (Southwood) pinned Robert Bauters 6th (TV), 2:32
125 - Eric Kirtland (NF) def. Clay Omelian (W), 8-6
Graham McAllister (SW) pinned T.J. Bauters 6th (TV), :40
130 - Sean Schwarzee (OH) pinned Frank Bumgardner (W), 2:50
135 - Dustin Sisk (North Miami) def. Stuart Jones (NF), 9-0 maj.
Daniel Scannell (OH) pinned Jordan Waller 4th (W), 1:39
Kyle Horn 5th (TV) pinned Chance Shockey (M), 2:00
140 - Cory Fornal(R) def. Evan Haupert (NF), 24-7 tech fall
Andy Allender 5th (W) pinned Elijoe Yoder 6th (TV), 3:33
145 - Andrew McCarty (NF) def. Derrick Holst (W), 5-4
Kevin Harshman (NM) pinned Caleb Craun (M), 4:47
152 - Brian Lardino (W) pinned Kyle Musselman (NM), 1:59
Joel Rogers 5th (M) def. Adam Shafer (NF), 8-2
160 - Aaron Fornal (R) def. Josh Feasby (W), 8-5
Will Day (NM) pinned Tyler Stevens 6th (M), :21
171 - Jon Rogers (M) def. Bryan Boggs (W), 6-3
189 - Austin Rausch (R) def. James Smith (W), injury default
Andy Holloway 3rd (TV) def. Brandon Culver (N), 9-2
215 - Ryan Poage (W) pinned David Diener (NF), 2:00
Ryan Secrist (R) pinned Jason Yoder 4th (TV), 2:44
275 - Bryan Frush (W) def. Deric Musselman (NF), 4-1
