Nappanee Advance-News, Volume 129, Number 5, Nappanee, Elkhart County, 2 February 2006 — Page 6

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Advance News • Thursday, February 2, 2006

North Wood moves eight on to regionals

By Anthony Godson Editor Following disappointment with his team following its Northern Lakes Conference finish a week prior, North Wood wrestling coach Rod Lone was in better spirits following the sectional tournament. "We have eight through to the regional, which is three more than last year," the coach said. "We got a lot of third places, and we picked up a champion." In order to qualify for the regional competition this Saturday at Goshen High School, a wrestler must have finished in the top four of their weight class at sectionals. For North Wood, that means seniors Kyle W'itmer (145) and Tony Lopez (275); junior Trent Klotz (125); sophomores Chase Teska (112), Rvne Garner (152) and David Lopez (135); and freshmen Ben Etsinger (103) and George Lopez (140) will all continue their seasons. Highlighting the North Wood day was Witmer's first place finish in the 145-weight class, making him a sectional champion. "He's been wrestling to his best potential over the past couple of weeks," Lone said of Witmer. "He wrestled with a lot * of heart todav. I'm really proud of Kvle Witmer." Witmer came in as a third seed, and had to defeat the sec-ond-seeded Aaron Nesbitt of Goshen in the semi-final, before defeating the top-seeded Evan Miller of Northridge in the fined. . "I took it one match at a time, and Wrestled with a lot more heart," Witmer said of his performance. "I listened to my coaches a lot better," the champion added. "They told me to keep a better stance, and just wrestle a lot better. They told me to keep my head in it, and just don't get confused." Lone was impressed with the wav Witmer was able to bounce back from his performance at the NLC tournament. "He placed fifth last week, and almost got beat bv the backup of the kid he beat in the finals todav," Lone said. "His

Black Swish extends winning streak to eight games

By Anthony Godson Editor Prior to tip-off Warsaw coach John Snyder recognized North Wood Hall of Fame coach Steve Neff for his accomplishments. Following the tip-off, Neff showed why he's earned all of his accomplishments. The Black Swish hasn't dominated any opponent in 2006, but has still found a way to go 7-0 in 2006, with the winning streak going back eight games following a loss to Goshen on Dec. 20 during the North Wood Shootout. The streak continued on Saturday night with a 43-35 win over the Warsaw Tigers at Warsaw. “This is a good win for us," Neff said. "It's a conference win, but it's a quality team (too). Warsaw didn't get beat by anyone we beat. Their losses come to really big schools, like Huntington North and Kokomo, so 1 felt real good about this win, especially with it being here. We've brought a lot of good teams to Warsaw in the past (and lost). Even our state champion team got whipped here." North Wood was lead to victory by the scoring of juniors Amanda Bechtel and Mandy Yoder. Bechtel finished with a game-high 16 points, while also recording six steals: Yoder finished the night with 14 points, with all 14 coming in the second and third quarters. During that span, Yoder scored 14 of her team's 18 points. "I just assume that she shoot the ball every time," Neff said about Yoder, who at times, seems to forget she's her team's best offensive threat. It looked like Neff w'ould have liked any of his girls to shoot, and make, a bucket in the opening stanza. Following a basket by senior Laura Schiefer and a free throw by junior Casey Bough,

leadership's been a lot better. This week, I think he really picked up on that senior sense of urgency." That urgency picked up even more for Witmer when he was down 4-1 in the second period, before getting a near-pin on Miller. Instead of the pin, Witmer was able to rack up enough points to take the win. "I just got angry, and just stuck it to him," Witmer said of his championship bout. "I figured, if I'm not going to win, I might as well make him work for it." Lone was also pleased with his other senior's performance, as Tony Lopez placed third, in only his second tournament of the year. "Tony had been academically ineligible, but came back last week (at the NLC Tournament), and placed fourth in the conference," Lone said. "He's winning matches that he was not winning last year." It's not just Tony's performance on the mat that is making his coach proud of him. I'm really proud of Tony, because there's a lot of kids that would say, 'I got in trouble, academically, and I won't be able to wrestle until conference. It's not worth it to me.', Lone said. "Tony has been, to me, a success story. He stayed out the whole year, worked hard, got his grades up, made the team and in the last couple of weeks, it's paid off for him. He's going to regionals for the first time ever and he's got a winning record for the first time ever." Another wrestler who has been limited during the season, due to injury, is Teska. As a freshman last year, Teska qualified for the regional tournament, and did so again this year. "He's had some ankle problems," Lone said about the reason Teska hasn't been on the mat that much this season. "Last year, he got hurt in the week leading up to regionals, so he didn't get to participate. I think we're just going to stick him in a bucket of ice water this week, and thaw him out for the regional finals."

North Wood lead 3-2, but Warsaw then made a 7-0 run to go up 9-3. Bechtel made the North Wood fans a little more comfortable after she hit a 3pointer with 55 seconds remaining in the quarter, North Wood's first points in four minutes and 30 seconds. Even with the scoring drought, Bechtel's 3 drew her team to within 9-6 at the end of one. Warsaw ripped off the first five points of the second quarter to go up 14-6, before Yoder got the scoring itch. Yoder's first points came at the 4:20 mark in the second quarter, four minutes and 35 seconds after Bechtel's first quarter 3-pointer. Her first basket drew her team to within 148. Warsaw would score two points the rest of the half, while Yoder took control of the game scoring nine points in the quarter. Following a bucket by Schiefer with 43 seconds remaining, North Wood held a 17-16 lead at halftime. Bechtel marked North Wood's largest lead of the game following two free throws to open the third quarter, which put the Swish in front 19-16. From there, Warsaw used another 7-0 run to go in front 23-19 before Yoder took the game into her hands again. Following a time-out with three minutes left in the quarter, Yoder hit a 3-pointer with 2:45 remaining, and then recorded a steal, which resulted in a lay-up. During the lay-up, which she made, Yoder Was fouled, and after making the free throw, North Wood once again held the lead at 24-23 going into the fourth quarter. Warsaw regained the lead following a 3-pointer by Danielle DeGeeter with 7:40 remaining in the game, but Bechtel responded with a 3 of her own, putting North Wood back on top 27-25 with 6:59 remaining. From there, Bechtel scored eight more fourth quarter points, keeping

Other North Wood vvrestlers returning to the regional tournament are Klotz, Gamer and David Lopez. After winning the NLC tournament a week earlier, Klotz ran into a very determined Cody Fullerton of Elkhart Memorial, the wrestler Klotz defeated the week before. Fullerton seemed to remember that, and defeated Klotz, who went on to place third in the 125-weight class. "We knew that Fullerton was a tough nut," Lone said. "He was hurt last week, and we pushed him, and Trent wrestled to his best ability." Garner also placed third at sectionals, bouncing back from a first round loss to Elkhart Central freshman Mackenzie Robinson in the first round. David Lopez makes his second straight trip to regionals after placing fourth on Saturday. The sophomore has seven losses on the season, but five of them are attributed to Ross Powell of Northridge and Braden Barkes of Goshen. That trend continued at sectionals, as he lost to both Powell and Barkes. "Dave's got seven losses, and five of them are to two people in our conference," Lone said. "Dave is capable of winning this, or any tournament he's in. Next week, in getting away 'from Powell, and wrestling some other people, it may help." David's younger brother, George, seemed to wrestle with a little more fire at sectionals, placing third, with his lone loss coming to Rhys Canaday of Fairfield, one of the best in the state. Following the loss, George defeated Nathan Abbs of Goshen, before he defeated Troy Miller of Northridge 3-1 in the third-place bout. "George looked a lot better today than I have seen him in the past few weeks," Lone said. "He started out (the season) on fire, at like 18-2. But then he began to finish below where he was seeded. Today, he placed ahead of his seed." The last North Wood wrestler to qualify, was Etsinger, who entered the tournament as a sec-

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DAT PHOTO Junior Amanda Bechtel led the Black Swish with 16 points and six steals during North Wood’s win over Warsaw.

North Wood in front for the win. "We did what we had to do to win the game, whether it was defensively or hitting some free throws," Neff said. "We made some mistakes, so there's room for improvement." Although Bechtel and Yoder combined for 30 of their team's 43 points, Neff got production from every girl on the floor. "(Senior Heather) Stutsman had another nice game, handling the ball and playing tough defense," Neff said. "Laura had a good first half, and a so-so second half. Brittany Hall came in and hit a couple big shots for us, and that sure helps."

Sports

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ADVANCE NEWS PHOTO/A.W. GADSON North Wood wrestling coach Rod Lone congratulates North Wood senior Kyle Witmer for his sectional championship in the 145-pound weight class. Along with Witmer are (l-r) Cam Hall of Elkhart Memorial (sth place); Aaron Nesbitt of Goshen (3rd place); Witmer; Evan Miller of Northridge (2nd place); Ryan Billings of Elkhart Central (4th place) and Jose Gonzalez of Concord (6th place).

ond seed with a 22-8 record. Following a first round forfeit, Etsinger was defeated by Elkhart Central freshman Alex Filer, but Etsinger stayed focus, taking third. "Ben Etsinger wrestled well today," Lone said. "He was seeded second, and got third. He got beat 3-2 by the Elkhart Central kid, but Ben's just been a consistent kid all year. He's a freshman, with a very good record." With eight wrestlers still alive, the regional tournament will weed out the good, from the very good. After a sectional championship, there's at least one North Wood kid is ready to go to the next level "I feel a lot more confident," Witmer said about his mindset going into regionals. "I'll probably see (Evan Miller) again next week, but hopefully the same thing happens." • ELKHART MEMORIAL 247; GOSHEN 182; ELKHART CENTRAL 139; NORTHRIDGE 139; NORTHWOOD 138; JIMTOWN 125 2; CONCORD 119; FAIR-

One girl didn't appear at all in the scoring column was sophomore Mackenzie Lechlitner, but she did finish with five rebounds, four steals and an assist. "She got a lot of key rebounds tonight," Neff said of Lechlitner. "She helps to break the press, and she's as much of a leader as we have out there - vocally. She doesn't have to do it point-wise." • NORTHWOOD 43, WARSAW 35 At Warsaw Score by Quarters N-Wood 6 11 7 19-43 Warsaw 9 7 7 12-35

FIELD 84 At Elkhart Memorial Top 4 Individuals Advance to Regional 103: 1. Nick Datena (EM); 2. Alex Filer (EC); 3. Ben Etsinger (NW); 4. Ryan Dobbs (C); 5. Cord Schmucker (G); 6. Will Green (F). 112: 1. Adam Andrews (EM); 2. Sean Allison (C); 3. Chase Teska (NW); 4. Zac Bechtel (G); 5. Ben Williams (EC); 6. Brand Lewallen (Nr). 119: 1. Scott Kindig (J); 2. Brandon Harvey (EM): 3. Kyle Mays (Nr); 4. Jake Blosser (G); 5. Kyle Yoder (F): 6. Steve Ferrah (EC). 125: 1. Cody Fullerton (EM): 2. Robert Morris (J); 3. Trent Klotz (NW); 4. Ty Cooper (G); 5. Dustin Blea (Nr); 6. Kyle Walters (EC). 130: 1. Steve Stahl (EM); 2. Sean Allison (C); 3. Braden Barkes (G); 4. David Lopez (NW); 5. Jared Ward (J); 6. Ryan McCormick (EC). 135: 1. John Brown (J): 2. John Marchbanks (Nr); 3. Drew Walters (EC); 4. Justin Hernandez (G); 5. Andy Strawser (EM); 6. Jon Alvarez (F). ■ 140: 1. Kyle Momingstar (EM); 2. Rhys Canaday (F); 3. George Lopez

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DAT PHOTO Sophomore Mackenzie Lechlitner didn’t score a point against Warsaw, but filled up other statistical categories.

NW: Heather Stutsman 0 2-2 2: Amanda Bechtel 3 8-11 16: Mandy Yoder 4 5-7 14; Mackenzie Lechlitner 0 0-2 0; Casey Bough 0 1 - 2 1; Brittany Hall 3 0-0 6: Laura Schiefer 2 04) 4. TOTALS: 12 16-24 43. Warsaw: Kate Denlinger 1 1-2 3: Danielle DeGeeter 2 1-1 5; Amy Abbitt 3 2-2 10: Julie Seiss 3 0-2 8: Jennifer Scherer 2 1-2 5: Tasia Smith 2 0-1 4. TOTALS: 13 5-10 35.

(NW); 4. Troy Miller (Nr): 5. Nathan Abbs (G): 6. Evan Curry (EC). 145: I. Kyle Witmer (NW): 2. Evan Miller (Nr): 3. Aaron Nesbitt (G): 4. Ryan Billings (EC). 152: I. Ryan Konrath (J): 2. Wes Clanton (C); 3. Ryne Garner (NW): 4. Jackson Hooley (Nr): 5. Mackenzie Robinson (EC): 6. Neil Silveus(EM). 160: I. Allen Konrath (J): 2. Will Kado (C): 3. Mark Obcrlin (G); 4. Josh Elijah (EM): 5. Isaac Butterfield (F): 6. Don Halvorsen (EC). 171: I. Matt Nelson (EM): 2. Sean Sullivan (EC): 3. Brandon Uredniek (C): 4. Drew Graber (Nr); 5. Josh Jones (G); 6. Jeremy Faltorusso (NW). 189: I. Joe Gibson (Nr); 2. Matt Boyce (C): 3. Emanuel Merritt (EM): 4. Zach Whickcar (EC) : 5. Brett Riley (NW); 6. Jared Nesbitt (G). 215: I. Ben Sehrock (G) 2. JJ Miller (EM); 3. Ricky Hershberger (F): 4. Ricky McKee (C): 5. Justin Riehm (Nr): 6. Dewey Young (EC). 275: I. Jason Edlund (G): 2. Ross Sharp (EM); 3. Tony Lopez (NW); 4. Aaron Comino (F): 5. Marvin Calhoun (EC): 6. Morgan Smith (C).

3-point field goals: NW 3 (Bechtel 2. Yoder); Warsaw 4 (Abbitt 2. Seiss 2). Turnovers: NW 14. Warsaw 25. Team fouls: NW 15: Warsaw 19. N-Wood Stats Rebounds: Lechlitner 5. Yoder 4. Hall 4. Bough 3. Assists: Stutsman. Yoder. Lechlitner. Bough. Steals: Bechtel 6. Lechlitner 4. Stutsman 3. Yoder 3 Blocks: Yoder. Hall Records: NW 14-4 (4-2 NLC): Warsaw 12-7 t 4-. Nix/