Warsaw won the most battles to take victory in the war Tuesday.
The Warsaw wrestling team won 37-36 on a tiebreaker over Northern Lakes Conference opponent Elkhart Memorial in the Tiger Den.
“Memorial’s a program that historically has a lot of good tradition,” said Warsaw coach Kris Hueber.
“Definitely a good program that I respect. It’s a win that we’re really, really proud to have.”
The match ended in a 36-36 tie. The first three tiebreaking criteria were related to unsportsmanlike conduct, of which neither team committed an infraction.
Criteria D was that the match was decided by which team won the most individual matches.
Warsaw won seven to Memorial’s six to get the tiebreaker. A few of those wins were won on scrappy decisions, though Hueber was hoping for pins.
“The frustrating part is we had opportunities to put kids away in at least two of those matches that ended up as just decisions,” Hueber said. “We had kids on their back or we had turns that we didn’t finish.”
The match was tied at 30 heading into the 145-pound match.
Warsaw’s Jacob Bass took a 2-0 lead after the first period and extended his lead to 3-0 in the second before Graham?Elli pulled off four straight points for the lead.
Bass quickly evened the score at 4, but it looked as though he was about to be pinned.
He flipped the script, getting out of a tough situation and managing a takedown for the 6-4 lead.
That was followed by a pin that gave Bass the victory 3:46 into the match.
“He’s an incredible worker,” Hueber said of Bass. “He’s an incredible athlete and he surprises a lot of people because he kind of came out of nowhere.”
Warsaw’s Jose Grimmett faced a tough opponent in Memorial’s Kamden Goering in the final match of the night at 152 pounds.
Grimmett jumped out to a 4-1 lead, but Goering evened the score before winning by fall in 3:15.
“(Goering’s) just so tough when he’s on top, so our game plan was to try to stay out of trouble,” Hueber said. “We knew we could work from our feet. We just had to make sure that we were staying in position with him and ended up getting caught.”
Brandon Estepp started the match in the 160-pound match by pinning his opponent in 4:51 to give the Tigers a 6-0 lead.
The Crimson Chargers responded with a win by fall of their own in the 170-pound match to even the score before Warsaw’s Brock Hueber pulled out a hard-fought, 7-6 decision at 182 pounds.
The next two matches were won by forfeit – one each by Warsaw and Memorial – and the Tigers held a 15-12 lead.
Another pin, this one at 285 pounds, gave the Chargers an 18-15 lead.
There was a double forfeit at 106 pounds, and Warsaw won by forfeit at 113 pounds for the 21-18 advantage.
Warsaw’s Andrew Ross gritted out a 4-1 decision for the 24-18 lead, but Memorial evened the score with yet another pin.
The Tigers won by forfeit at 132 pounds.
Memorial earned one more win by fall at 138 pounds to tie the score at 30.
Hueber was surprised Memorial, which usually boasts depth, lost three matches by forfeit.
“It’s kind of showing something that you’re seeing across the sport,” Hueber said. “I’m proud as heck that you’re seeing our numbers growing for the first time in a couple of years here that I’ve been coaching.”
Elkhart Memorial dropped to 4-2.
With the win,Warsaw jumped to 6-5. The Tigers already have more wins than they had all of last season.
WARSAW 37,
ELKHART MEMORIAL 36
106 – Double forfeit; 113 – Jose Martinez (W) won by forfeit; 120 – Andrew Ross (W) def. Kayden Shepard, 4-1; 126 – Joey Cole (EM) pinned Isaiah Owens (W), 4;27; 132 – Brock Hogenson (W) won by forfeit; 138 – Brice Johnson (EM) pinned Austin Brown (W), :47; 145 – Jacob Bass (W) pinned Graham Elli (EM), 3:46; 152 – Kamden Goering (EM) pinned Jose Grimmett (W), 3:15; 160 – Brandon Estepp (W) pinned Nathan Schwalm (EM), 4:51; 170 – Clayton Lundy (EM) pinned Josh Pelfrey, :19; 182 – Brock Hueber (W) def. Nathan Sabas (EM), 7-6; 195 – Kyle Miller (W) won by forfeit; 220 – James Goldsborough (EM) won by forfeit; 285 – Cameron Lightner (EM) pinned Griffin Reed (W).
