A night after celebrating a resounding win over rival Warsaw, the Lady Warriors of Wawasee were suited up again Thursday, back at home in the Teepee hosting East Noble.

A depleted Lady Knights outfit would give up a bunch of forfeits, making a 56-16 win look very impressive from afar, but East Noble made Wawasee work in the head-to-head cards.

Wawasee were on the plus side of six forfeits as East Noble signed off on the losses with some program injury bugs flying around. So, doing the math, Wawasee won just 20-16 in the contested matches, more closely representing the talent in Kendallville, which has become one of the budding girls wrestling powerhouses in northeast Indiana.

Twelve of the 16 points Wawasee gave up came on pins in the final 10 seconds of the third period, a note that Wawasee head coach Miguel Rodriguez touched on post match with his crew. A 4-4 match in the third between Wawasee’s Sylvia Dixon and Marisa Schneider had both carry moments of momentum, but both doing a lot of dancing and posturing. Schneider would get Dixon rolled up with the clock ticking down in the third, getting the pin fall seven seconds before time. One match later, Evalyn Tinkey had built quite a case against Kennedy Ball, leading 7-3 after a takedown in the third period. But as Tinkey started running out of options on a somewhat dormant Ball, the East Noble sophomore miraculously sprung to life at the 5:50 mark with a reversal, and a stunned Tinkey gave up the six with just five ticks left in the match.

“It gets us to see what they’re like, and also let’s them see what we’re like, but also let’s us see what we can improve on and work on,” Rodriguez said. “Just minor things like hip positions and head positions, hand fighting.”

Wawasee had two pins of its own, with Kenidi Nine looking sharp after a dicey Wednesday tilt at Warsaw, getting a pin over Addison Boehme at the one-minute mark, and Kenadi Pierce got her first varsity dual pin with a 44-second squash of Nakiya Huff. Naviya Leon navigated a tough 8-5 decision over Elaine Leins, and Lydia LaBarbera teched Aubrey Diehm 17-0. East Noble’s Ezzie Lewis had the other match result, beating Hadley Faroute 17-7 in a back-and-forth shootout that even had the Wawasee gymnastics program moving and shaking in the crowd trying to will Faroute on.

“This is bringing a lot of eyes to the program,” said Rodriguez of the atmosphere for the dual on what was otherwise a nasty weather night in northern Kosciusko County. “In the community, out of the community, a lot of good things. Stands were packed. We had some younger middle schoolers here watching, they were excited. Can’t wait until they get to the high school to compete under the spotlight in front of home crowds like this, just for the girls.”

Wawasee and East Noble squared off in several exhibition matches to conclude the night, those results are listed below.

Wawasee will once again meet East Noble on Saturday as part of bracket play at the East Noble Invite.

At Wawasee
Wawasee 56, East Noble 16

235 – Isabelle Brown (Waw) forfeit  6-0
100 – Karlee Clevenger (Waw) forfeit  12-0
105 – Double forfeit
110 – Ezzie Lewis (EN) major dec Hadley Faroute (17-7)  12-4
115 – Lydia LaBarbera (Waw) tech fall Aubrey Diehm (17-0)  17-4
120 – Marisa Schneider (EN) pin Sylvia Dixon (5:53)  17-10
125 – Katie Sigsbee (Waw) forfeit  23-10
130 – Kennedy Ball (EN) pin Evalyn Tinkey (5:55)  23-16
135 – Kenidi Nine (Waw) pin Addison Boehme (1:00)  29-16
140 – Cyanna Leon (Waw) forfeit  35-16
145 – Naviya Leon (Waw) dec Elaine Leins (8-5)  38-16
155 – Alex Garcia (Waw) forfeit  44-16
170 – Kenadi Pierce (Waw) pin Nakiya Huff (:44)  50-16
190 – Tiana Senders (Waw) forfeit  56-16

Exhibition Matches

110 – Hadley Faroute (Waw) pin Jazmine Rodriguez (1:04)
115 – Marisa Schneider (EN) pin Lydia LaBarbera (3:41)
115 – Aaliyah James (Waw) pin Ezzie Lewis (1:26)
130 – Kennedy Ball (EN) pin Evalyn Blanco (3:46)
135 – Addison Boehme (EN) pin Peyton Hohman (:33)
155 – Elaine Leins (EN) pin Alex Garcia (5:02)
170 – Mia Bradley (Waw) pin Nakiya Huff (:37)