It’s one thing to get a win in the Northern Lakes Conference. But to have not one, but two athletes carted off on stretchers sombered what would otherwise have been a reason to shout.

Wawasee would win the NLC match, 48-27, to move to 3-0 in the conference standings, but the evening would have two lengthy injury delays. The first was at 157, where Wawasee’s Carson Nine worked Greyson Snapp-Williams into a fireman’s carry, and the impact of the drive had Snapp-Williams’ arm land underneath him and immediately have him writhing in pain. The match was halted and EMT personnel took the Concord wrestler to a local medical facility.

EMTs were called back to the Hardwood Teepee 20 minutes later as the 285 match was stopped in the second period as Minuteman Dawson Baumer caught Lyam Moseman off his toes and the impact of Baumer landing on Moseman left the Warrior freshman dazed, complaining of numbness in his limbs. Moseman was eventually able to get to his feet, but was also carted off to a medical facility for further testing.

“It’s hard, man, when you are going along like we were, then you have the one injury, and then another one a short time later,” said Wawasee head coach Jamie Salazar, who noted Moseman had regained feeling in his fingers and toes before leaving the gym. “Prayers go out to both of these guys tonight. You never want to see anyone taken off on a stretcher.”

As for the wrestling, Wawasee started the night off red hot before the Moseman injury, running up a 33-6 scoreline after seven classes. Cavan Tom and Ethan Rodriguez both stacked up tech falls, Tom’s into the third period and Rodriguez’s a short step into the second period. Following the Snapp-Williams injury default, Moses Howard got his most impressive win of his freshman campaign, a 35-second pin off his only takedown, and Derek Morrison later added a third tech fall to the count, completely dominating his 215 matchup.

Cam Senter later added a fourth tech fall, outlasting a continuously flowing nose to get his five before his blood time evaporated. Garrett Tittle added a 10-2 major and both Alex Dibble and Kailyb Ferrer were forfeit winners.

While Salazar spent a fair amount of time working through the 48 positive points, he also noted giving away 16 points after the Moseman injury, six by default and then a major and pin late in the contest.

“There’s a lot of things we need to improve, especially some of our youngsters,” Salazar said. “We’ve got a young team that make some junior high type of mistakes. A kid like Isaac Ruff, he upsets a top seeded kid at Bellmont and has struggled a little bit since. He just needs a confidence boost, but he found himself in trouble in a couple scenarios that he wasn’t doing early on. Dalton Yoder is still trying to find his way. He’s getting there, just finding himself in the wrong spot at times.”

On the other side of the coin, Salazar noted, “If we can stay out of giving up bonus, that makes life a lot easier. Stay off your back. We’re constantly pushing, be strategic when you are wrestling and not just going out there without a game plan. If you are in a situation, what are your options?”

Wawasee will look to keep its NLC momentum going in the right direction with a pair of opportunities, hosting both Northridge and Plymouth in Saturday’s December Duals. Also on hand in the six-team fiesta are Bishop Luers, Norwell and Angola.

At Wawasee
Wawasee 48, Concord 27

144 – Cavan Tom (W) tech fall Dabrian Emerson (16-0)  5-0
150 – Ethan Rodriguez (W) tech fall Drew Trigg (19-3)  10-0
157 – Carson Nine (W) injury def Greyson Snapp-Williams  16-0
165 – Moses Howard (W) pin Tyler Palmer (:35)  22-0
175 – Alex Dibble (W) forfeit  28-0
190 – Jacob Bemiller (C) pin Trayvon Senders (1:40)  28-6
215 – Derek Morrison (W) tech fall Logan Whitman (18-2)  33-6
285 – Dawson Baumer (C) injury def Lyam Moseman  33-12
106 – Anakin Borkholder (C) forfeit  33-17 (misconduct -1)
113 – Garrett Tittle (W) major dec Elijah Flores (10-2)  37-17
120 – Cam Senter (W) tech fall Kaiden Braden (18-3)  42-17
126 – Joseph Borkholder (C) major dec Isaac Ruff (15-6)  42-21
132 – Donovan Cunningham pin Dalton Yoder (3:07)  42-27
138 – Kailyb Ferrer (W) forfeit  48-27