On paper, Friday night’s wrestling contest should have been quick and painless for Bellmont. Ranked No. 2 in the state, returning a bevy of state-caliber competitors, hosting a Wawasee side that had to make a 1.5-hour drive immediately after school to make weight checks, it should have been fairly cut and dry.

Wawasee had other plans, and a group of wrestlers, many of which have never competed in an environment Bellmont provides for home duals, didn’t seem phased in what amounted to a 40-35 Bellmont win Friday night in front of over 1,000 fans in the Wigwam.

“This was a very positive result for us with so many young kids,” said Wawasee head coach Jamie Salazar. “Coming into this environment with a lineup like they’ve got, you never know.”

Wawasee started off with a pair of wins, Cam Senter opening the night with a pin over a heavyhearted Luke Ruble at 1:15, the Ruble family honored before the match with a moment of silence for the loss of Paul Ruble. Isaac Ruff then won his debut with an impressive 11-0 major over Ethan Myers. After Bellmont responded with a pair of tech falls and a pin to reclaim the lead, Wawasee grabbed the lead back with back-to-back showings from Ethan Rodriguez, a first-period pin of Kade Cutler, and Carson Nine stacking up an 11-2 major over Austin Manley.

Alex Dibble showed a year of mat maturity in his 9-6 win over Landon Rich, not falling into the traps that got him so many times a year ago, recovering from a near four to reverse Rich into his own near pin quad in a sudden six-point swing.

“It’s confidence with Dibble,” Salazar said. “He’s still trying to get his wind a little being a football kid, but he stuck it out and got the win to start his year.”

Derek Morrison also had a nice debut, getting a takedown and near fall four before putting away Ryne Fawbush in just over a minute.

After Grady Baker pinned Liam Moseman in the 285 card, Bellmont claimed a five-point lead at 34-29. Having Jacob Binegar suited up at 106, Bellmont chose to take the forfeit six over Wawasee’s vacancy at the weight rather than move Binegar up to 113 to wrestle Garrett Tittle, who received a forfeit to split the six-point freebies. That kept the Braves up five as the night came to a close.

“We still had a lot of good shows from our kids,” added Salazar. “We still have a lot of improvements to make, especially off the bottom on restarts. But we showed some good things. gives us some things to work on back in the room. This is a good gut check for our kids.”

Bellmont 40, Wawasee 35

120 – Cam Senter (W) pin Luke Ruble 1:15  6-0
126 – Isaac Ruff (W) major dec Ethan Myers 11-0  10-0
132 – Gabe Myers (B) tech fall Dalton Yoder 21-4  10-5
138 – Henry Faroute (B) tech fall Gaige Boyd 21-6  10-10
144 – Will Franze (B) pin Cavan Tom :44  10-16
150 – Ethan Rodriguez (W) pin Kade Cutler :30  16-16
157 – Carson Nine (W) major dec Austin Manley 13-2  20-16
165 – Gavin Davis (B) pin Devin Sewell 1:24  20-22
175 – Alex Dibble (W) dec Landon Rich 9-6  23-22
190 – Xavier Palacios (B) pin Trayvon Senders 1:00  23-28
215 – Derek Morrison (W) pin Ryne Fawbush 1:04  29-28
285 – Grady Baker (B) pin Liam Moseman 1:32  29-34
106 – Jacob Binegar (B) forfeit  29-40
113 – Garrett Tittle (W) forfeit 35-40