It wasn’t the celebratory night Wawasee had planned.

Mixed in with the celebrations of Senior Night on Thursday was a Northern Lakes Conference match against longtime rival Goshen. Where Wawasee felt it had an advantage with some of its stars, Goshen stole some key points in a 43-33 RedHawks win at the Hardwood Teepee.

Tough assignment off the jump for Wawasee, where Alex Dibble was paired up with state finalist Laish Detwiler, and Detwiler held course with a first-round pin. The Warriors struck back with its own state finalist, Donnie Blair, who needed just 56 seconds to land the six.

Goshen rattled off 13 straight points in the next three contests, Luis Oseguera more the aggressor in a 12-4 major over Derek Morrison, then a forfeit at 285 and Mana Rescalvo outlasting Isabell Schwartz in a 9-4 battle at 106.

Where many in the crowd had anticipated a potential semi-state showdown at 113, Goshen coach Jim Pickard decided otherwise. A pair of ranked wrestlers in Kaleb Salazar and Cole Hinkel were due to meet, but Pickard elected to change his lineup at the last minute and move Hinkel to 120. It was more strategic to will a six-point split, and it happened. A disappointed Salazar squashed Jose Hernandez in 1:01 while Hinkel polished off Jaxon Senter in 1:27.

“It’s a game of chess,” ushered Wawasee head coach Jamie Salazar post-match. “Pickard, he made a little bit of some moves at the end that we weren’t expecting. He dodged a bullet there with bumping Hinkel up. At 113, he didn’t want to go against a state-ranked kid (Salazar). It was about scoring points for him.”

Wawasee would respond with pins in three of the next four bouts, Cam Senter at 3:30 over Manny Collazo, Jay Miller-Harris at 3:04 over Dylan Alvarez, and Ethan Rodriguez at 57 seconds over Jacob Walton-Clark. Sandwiched was a 2:44 pin of Gaige Boyd by Goshen’s Alex Diaz, leaving the Rodriguez pin at 31-30 with Goshen clinging to the lead.

Goshen would responded almost exactly how it needed to in closing out the win. Giani Rios-Santos started the second period with a quick near-fall that rolled Brody Young into a pin at 2:30. Kyvell Eicher took every opportunity to catch his breath, and rather than give up the six, did enough in the eyes of the officials to lose just 9-6 to Carson Nine, the Wawasee junior twice having Eicher to the floor without the benefit of the mat slap.

Jonathon Flores then just had to make sure he didn’t get pinned by Wawasee’s Benji Brace, and instead closed out Brace at 5:52 with a resounding pin to dagger a disappointing night for the Warriors.

“There were a lot of things that really looked promising,” stated Salazar. “I think Carson Nine, he really dug deep to wrestle really tough at the end. Obviously, the seniors performing. Jaxon had a tough match. Wrestled Hinkel and did what he did, but he went out there and gave it his all. That’s the most we can ask for.”

The loss sends Wawasee to 9-4 overall and 1-1 in the NLC. It sets up a must-win of sorts for the Warriors at next week’s December Duals, where NLC duals with Northridge and Plymouth are mixed in with the remainder. Mishawaka currently sits atop the conference at 4-0, with Goshen’s win moving them to 2-2 in the table.

The JV matches had Wawasee score four pins and a decision among the undercards. Sixes were obtained by Zeke Spore, Kyron Cantu, Thomas Sigsbee and Blake Rolston, and a 4-3 decision from Devin Sewell.

Wawasee v. Goshen

Varsity Matches

175 – Laish Detwiler (G) pin Alex Dibble 1:20 6-0
190 – Donnie Blair (W) pin Aaron Anglemyer :56 6-6
215 – Luis Oseguera (G) maj dec Derek Morrison 12-4 10-6
285 – Eddie Hernandez (G) forfeit 16-6
106 – Mana Rescalvo (G) dec Isabell Schwartz 9-4 19-6
113 – Kaleb Salazar (W) pin Jose Hernandez 1:01 19-12
120 – Cole Hinkel (G) pin Jaxon Senter 1:27 25-12
126 – Cam Senter (W) pin Manny Collazo 3:30 25-18
132 – Jay Miller-Harris (W) pin Dylan Alvarez 3:04 25-24
138 – Alex Diaz (G) pin Gaige Boyd 2:44 31-24
144 – Ethan Rodriguez (W) pin Jacob Walton-Clark :57 31-30
150 – Giani Rios-Santos (G) pin Brody Young 2:30 37-30
157 – Carson Nine (W) dec Kyvell Eicher 9-6 37-33
165 – Jonathon Flores (G) pin Benji Brace 5:52 43-33

JV Matches

120 – Morgan Hershberger (G) pin Garrett Tittle 1:44
126 – Jacob Duncan (G) pin Adam Jackson 2:55
132 – Zeke Spore (W) pin Teigan Moles :52
138 – Alan Garcia (G) pin Anthony Hughes 1:29
144 – Kyron Cantu (W) pin Alex Scales 1:17
150 – Thomas Sigsbee (W) pin Jeremiah Hughes 2:53
157 – Devin Sewell (W) dec Miguel Martinez 4-3
157 – Ivan Rescalvo (G) pin Dewey Lindsay 3:02
165 – Jamerion Cochrane (G) pin Dom Brown 2:35
175 – Hampton Rivera (G) pin Will Hoy 1:13
175 – Blake Rolsten (W) pin Aiden Gill 3:41
190 – Angel Ruiz (G) pin Treyvonn Senders 5:52