Got your holiday shopping lists under control? All of the logistics for travel worked out? Everyone know what they are bringing to eat at the holiday meal?

A little panic and anxiety is always a part of the season approaching Christmas break and into the holidays. Well, the Wawasee wrestling program has plenty of work, but hopefully not a lot of anxiety, on its collective plates as the calendar dives into the final days of 2022.

OUR LAST STAND

The varsity hasn’t performed since Dec. 8 at Goshen where the team moved to 2-0 in the NLC with a 58-15 win, but the JV and girls rosters both were active since then.

The JV came back at Goshen last Saturday at the 48th annual Goshen JV Invite, and saw some positive gains with Zeke Spore taking a class championship at 126 and a quartet of teammates – Luke Stuckman, Rielyn Brettell, Ben Brace and Alex Dibble – all were second in their respective classes.

The girls had four of its seven take first at the Lakeland Girls Invite, with Brooke Catron, Kenidi Nine, Alex Garcia and Olivia Hill all tops in their day of work.

WHAT’S TO COME

Wawasee hosts its annual December Duals on Saturday, the final big show on the home mats. It won’t be a completely full cup as Utica (Ohio) has bowed out for health reasons, leaving it a five-team field. On tap are duals against Angola, No. 6 Norwell in a rematch of an entertaining 2021 donnybrook, and two NLC matches against Northridge and Plymouth.

If the 2021 season had any team residue to discuss, it was the tight match that ended up being a loss to Norwell at the December Duals, and at the sectional against Plymouth, which ended up being a one-point loss to the Pilgrims to break a four-year run of trophy collecting at the sectional. The December dual against the Pilgrims ended up being a 21-point win for the Warriors, which is where head coach Frank Bumgardner has to start the conversation.

“Last year we beat them in the dual, and obviously the sectional tournament was what it was, but they didn’t lose a lot,” Bumgardner said. “They have some really good individuals. And they have had a lot of mixed results. You talk about the two Smith kids (Wesley and Cadyn), and (Anthony) Popi at heavyweight, there’s a lot of talent there. But top to bottom, we go out and wrestle, I still like our chances.”

The Norwell match is also interesting, not just for a redemption card for some of the varsity returners from last year, but for a couple weeks from now when Norwell will likely be in Wawasee’s way for a bigger prize.

“They’re ranked for a reason and they’ve had some good results already, so they have earned that respect,” Bumgardner said of Norwell, which has some statement wins over teams like Bellmont, East Noble and Yorktown. “The dual has a lot of implications for Team State. It’s not just us. Bellmont got beat by Norwell, so they have to be behind them for seedings. If we beat Norwell, then we put ourselves in discussions for a high seed. It might be one of (four for the day) in December, but this plays right into how it could affect us in January.”

Aside from the Plymouth trio, look for good matchups against Angola’s duo of Kameron Straw (113) and Isaiah McCue (126) and Norwell’s Cayden Smith (120).

Not to forget the girls, they are scheduled to compete Saturday at the Central Noble Girls Invite, another chance to see some of the talent from northeast Indiana. A list of 20 teams are scheduled to be present at Central, the biggest draw Wawasee has seen since opening weekend.

Right before Christmas, Wawasee and Concord will compete on Wednesday, Dec. 21, at the Hardwood Teepee at 6:45 p.m. in a makeup match originally scheduled for tonight (12/15). Concord has been struggling overall this season, but does have one of the top 220’s in the state in Armen Koltookian, who is ranked No. 2 in the Fort Wayne Semi-state.

“It’s actually good timing for us to have moved this,” noted Bumgardner. “It gives us a little work before the holiday heading into the Al Smith whereas we would have had that time where it was just practices around days off. Objective is still go out, do our jobs and get wins.”