At this point of the season, it seems like everyone is feeling it. Both Wawasee and NorthWood entered Thursday night’s Northern Lakes Conference dual fresh off weekend work at the Al Smith Invite, and the tired legs and lungs from the accumulation of busy work was evident. Mix in some sickness that’s going around the area, and the varsity 14 from both sides showed a little wobble in the 36-28 Panther win at the Hardwood Teepee.

Not solely a Wawasee or a NorthWood advantage or disadvantage, but throughout the night both sides looked like it was up against it just a little bit. Where the dual was won by the Panthers was making the most of its situations, whether at a skill advantage or bartering enough against Wawasee’s big guns to slice point swings in its favor.

Of the three state-ranked Wawasee wrestlers, the Warriors only amassed six points despite winning two of the three matchups. In what became the mos thrilling dual of the night, former Wawasee wrestler Luke Stuckman went up against old sparring partner Kaleb Salazar at 113, and midway through the third period was tied 7-7. Salazar would get a takedown and near fall to extend the scoring, but Stuckman held on to give up just three points. Two matches later, Cameron Senter couldn’t create any real danger on Will Hahn, Senter winning just 5-3 despite owning the clear skill advantage in the matchup.

A rematch of powerhouse Al Smith placers at 190 to start the night had Panther Keith Miller look the more fit competitor on the night, speeding past Donnie Blair 8-2.

“At this point, if everyone does their job individually, we’d be OK,” noted Wawasee head coach Jamie Salazar. “But when we don’t get that job done individually, and if we’re going to give up points on the mat like not getting a pin and settling for a decision, or getting pinned right before the period ends, that’ll turn into scores like tonight.”

Wawasee would get some standup wins from its unit, Derek Morrison wrestling 285 for the first time and stunning NorthWood big man Bryson Davis for a pin at 1:04. Carson Nine continued to match the moment, working over Payton Griffin for a pin at 5:22 to move Wawasee ahead on the scoreboard, 28-27. Jaxon Senter escaped a little trouble early on to rally for a 11-3 major over Brian Luevano-Cruz, and Ethan Rodriguez continued to work back to his normal self with a pin over Casin Truex at 2:42.

NorthWood would counter with pins from Brady King, Lynkyn Ratcliff and Austin King, the latter the clincher to put the Panthers out of reach on the scoreboard.

“First week, first month, second month…it’s hard to have that broken record keep playing for some of these kids,” said Salazar. “We’re seeing some kids turn the corner. But mat sense, knowing where you are at with two seconds left. We’ve got to understand as a young team of knowing where you are at, knowing how to score, knowing what you can’t give up. We’re kind of struggling with that.”

The dual starts off a busy Wawasee schedule that will soon usher in the tournament season. IHSWCA will conduct its Team State tournament this weekend, Wawasee part of the 2-A bracket at Jay County and facing off against Oak Hill in the opening round. The Warriors then come back to face NLC regular season champion Mishawaka next Wednesday, then jump into the NLC Championships back at Mishawaka in two weeks.

If the lungs were heavy now, here comes January.

“Oak Hill is a tough, tough program. We’ll have our work cut out against them,” Salazar said. “Then if we get through them, we have to take on Jay County at their place. It takes a whole squad, and this weekend will show what squads show up. You go from 4-A with Brownsburg and Crown Point and teams like that, all the way down to 1-A, these tournaments will show you where you are at in a hurry. But, man, it would be nice to get a couple wins and end up in the finals like we did in 2018 and 2019.”

Of note before the varsity match, the Wawasee youth wrestling program was recognized as were the eight girls wrestling semi-state qualifiers. The girls will compete Friday in the IHSGW Penn Semi-state, the last step of the ladder to the IHSGW State Finals, which are set for Jan. 12 at Kokomo High School.

Wawasee v. NorthWood

190 – Keith Miller (NW) dec Donnie Blair 8-2  3-0
215 – Brady King (NW) pin Trayvon Senders 3:16  9-0
285 – Derek Morrison (W) pin Bryson Davis 1:04  9-6
106 – Wes Hahn (NW) tech fall Garrett Tittle 15-0  14-6
113 – Kaleb Salazar (W) dec Luke Stuckman 12-7  14-9
120 – Jaxon Senter (W) maj dec Brian Luevano-Cruz  11-3  14-13
126 – Cameron Senter (W) dec Will Hahn 5-3  14-16
132 – Lynkyn Ratcliff (NW) pin Zeke Spore 1:11  20-16
138 – Jager Bute (NW) dec Gaige Boyd 7-5  23-16
144 – Ethan Rodriguez (W) pin Casin Truex 2:42  23-22
150 – Joey Mitschelen (NW) maj dec Thomas Sigsbee 10-0  27-22
157 – Carson Nine (W) pin Payton Griffin 5:22  27-28
165 – Ashton Hahn (NW) dec Alex Dibble 12-5  30-28
175 – Austin King (NW) pin Will Hoy 1:20  36-28