Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 128, Number 13, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 31 March 2005 — Page 7

7th Grade Big 11 Champions

»■ f||® 4 M jml J; ■ , , fl wf Ihi yft ;t via || HB

ADVANCE NEWS PHOTO/ANTHONY GADSON Front: (l-r) Kelsey Diener, Delaine Bussard, Chelsea Stutzman, Amanda McFerren, Taylor Armington and manager Kirk Eby. Back: (l-r) Manager Mergan Dahlgren, Kelcie Lehman, Courtney Frantz, Jacki Hershberger, Lindsey Steffen, Melissa Ramer and coach Brad Eby. The 7th Grade girls basketball team finished its 2005 season with a 25-14 win over Schmucker in the Big 11 Championship game on March 24 at North Wood Middle School. The girls finished the season with a record of 16-1. Leading the girls to victory were Lindsey Steffen with 11 points and five rebounds, Courtney Frantz’s six points and six rebounds, Kelcie Lehman’s five points and five rebounds, Jacki Hershberger’s three points and two rebounds, Melissa Ramer’s two rebounds and Delaine Bussard also had a rebound.

' ill *% jHHHfr. w 1 Jyi#l|sfl fwBBIP ife Jflt ’ JH 3jp jpj k V y • ■ 1

PHOTO PROVIDED Tanner DeMein (rear) gets his opponent into a hold.

North Wood Wrestling Club open to all ages

By Anthony Godson Editor Over the past few years the North Wood Wrestling Club has struggled to bring in many kids, but through the effort of a few dedicated wrestling coaches, that has changed. "The numbers were down, but now they have picked up," coach Jason DeMein said. "We're trying to get kids excited about the program again." The club held a sign-up two weeks ago with 100 kids signing up, and 42 showing up for the first practice. "Those are great numbers," DeMein said. The club is for any age group, with DeMein's kindergarten son, Tanner, even participating. "It's., basically for kids in kindergarten to twelfth grade," DeMein said.

— £ »- "***' k n Bj *■ J ■

ADVANCE NEWS PHOTO/ANTHONY GADSON Cody Hartman, 10, and Alex Bennett, 12, practice some new moves.

The club practices twice a week, and therfgoes to tournaments all over the area on Saturdays. "We'll go to a tournament in Columbia City, Merrillville, Jimtown, Wawasee and Warsaw," DeMein said. The cost of travel is one obstacle for some children, but the coaches work to make' sure that is never an issue. "We have great sponsors in the community," DeMein said. "They have been a huge help to us getting this started." One item the kids must have to participate in the club is a singlet, which is what the sponsors help to get for the club. Children also pay SSO to get into the club, which covers their S3O Indiana State Wrestling Association card and the $lO per tournament entry. "We didn't want money so stand in the way of

Sports

Bth Grade caps off undefeated season

K **f ■ / m " all \| II II K* ’sk ~W* • &ji JBmmk-' JBR " IRIk% » M 'Mi- ; m wjPtlßi % % jHLW ft , ffijHp fc V® ifr ja f> |!

ADVANCE NEWS PHOTO/ANTHONY GADSON Left to right: Courtney Simpson, Kaitlin Kirkdoffer, Amber Slone, Alii Heeter, Taylor Lincoln, Kelcy Heckaman, Lindsay Kaufman, Jenae Rupp, Carly Anglin and Olivia Menzie. The Bth Grade girls basketball team polished off a perfect 19-0 season with a 40-20 win over John Young in the Big 11 Championship game at North Wood Middle School on March 24. Helping to push the team to victory was Courtney Simpson’s 14 points, Jenae Rupp's nine, Alii Heeter and Amber Slone each scored four points, Kelcy Heckaman had three points and Lindsay Kaufman, Kaitlin Kirkdoffer and Olivia Menzie all finished with two points.

• ’*lW* - . . Z+-. « pt ,'T^HiMibbt - j wm r m^ » M^jiMPjy l^lrl^^ll j3BS^ 1 r w>i """I fjp*; >r- TV v , tjflm gppr . V f

ADVANCE NEWS PHOTO/ANTHONY GADSON Coach Dennis Whitacre gives a lesson to eighth grader George Lopez and other wrestlers.

a kid doing something," DeMein said. With younger kids getting introduced to the sport, DeMein feels that the club will help in their development through the years. The club helps the kids learn more about how not to get scored on, since in freestyle wrestling, points are easier to come by. "It’s a real plus for them to get mat time," DeMein said. With younger kids also getting to wrestle more, that can only lead to more success on the high school level. "We've had clubs in the past, so (the club) has always been in existence," North Wood High School wrestling coach Dennis Lewis said. "We've just had really low numbers, and its just about to get back into full swing. It's bound to pay off for the program."

Sports Briefs BASEBALL • North Wood 17, Westview 4 At Westview (3/28) N-Wpod 237 05 —l7 Westview 001 03 Kyle Lehman (W 1-0), Adam Mast (3), Travis Eckelbarger (5) and Chase Estepp; Kaufman (L). Offensive Leaders: Kyle Lehman 3-3, three runs; Kiser Chamberlin 2-3, 3 RBIs and Chase Estepp 3-4, 2 RBIs. Record: 1-0. SOFTBALL • North Wood 8, Tippecanoe Valley 0 At Tippy Valley (3/28) N-Wood 201.100 4 8 11 0 T- Valley 000 000 0 Brooke Casteel (W 1-0); Amber Groves (L). Offensive Leaders: Lana Hartman two singles, two runs; Rachael Ramer two singles, a double, two RBIs and two runs; Shae Hotter a single, a double, two RBIs and a run; Heather' Cripe a double and a run. Record: 1-0.

Advance News • Thursday, March 31. 2005 •

This year's number of members is a far cry from the membership of previous years. - "It's good to have the numbers back in the program," Lewis said. "We used to have about a dozen kids sign up, but those were the kids that made an impact in high school." One reason for the increased membership has been the proactive approach of coaches. "It takes quite a few volunteers to run it," Lewis said. Those volunteers this year include DeMein, Rod Lone, Rob Nickerson, Dennis Whitacre and Bruce Cannaday. "All of us care about wrestling and decided that if we can help kids at the n'ext level, we'd have to get the club going," DeMein said.

Highlights: Brooke Casteel pitched seven innings, striking out 11. BTH BASKETBALL • North Wood 20, Discovery 8 At North Wood (3/22) Alii Heeter three points, Taylor Lincoln five points, Jenae Rupp a point, Courtney Simpson eight points, Amber Slone three points. Record: 18-0.

« *2*^

MS WRESTLING • Goshen 50, North Wood 44 At North Wood (3/21) Winners: (00) Chase Anglemeyer; (100) Ben Etsinger; (105) Blair Beehier; (111)) Zach Rhymer; (115) Jordan Neverman; (125) Ryan Slabaugh; (130) Reyd Garner; (140) George Lopez; (152) Justin Rhoades; (171) Chris Avery; (189) Nick Hunsberger; (215) Kvle Mishler. J.V. Winners: (75) Jamie Sterling; (115) - Bobby Delafuente; (120) Mike Bess and Rod Love; (125) Maliq Taylor; (130) Cesar Salinas. Record: 8-7

Page 7