The Mail-Journal, Volume 19, Number 48, Milford, Kosciusko County, 15 December 1982 — Page 8
THE MAIL-JOURNAL - Wed., December 15,1882
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Sports
w BgF - j * ■• 4 *Vl M'U i" Jl.’*o|\ fc «• Mil Huwn ><A wl\ w V. sa. V MbR w ]k y|\" SB*mS| ■ iWll WjpjEy-^^lJri 41 r . ’■fitjJpv*'’ *<V jßbL_J** HP —■ i - —AI Brß> wT Pw > / F SLAM-JAM — Senior center Ron Spunar had the crowd on its feet with this slam dunk during last Friday’* baaketball contest against Warsaw. The Tigers* John Snyder <S3> and Jeff Grose (43) took skyward as the 6-18 Spunar completes the ritual. “. Photo by Gary Lewis)
Syracuse still undefeated
Syracuse seventh grade boys' basketball team remains undefeated but the eighth grade team suffered its first loss Last Tuesday both teams defeated West Noble 52-19 and 5441 and on Thursday the seventh grade defeated South Whitley. 2523, while the eighth grade lost, 5545 West Noble The seventh grade soared over the 50-point mark for the first time this year. Coach Casimir Szynal's seventh grader came out shooting and ran up 16 points in the first quarter. Jack Bond hit five of six free throws which resulted from technical fouls on the West Noble coach Every Yellow Jacket seventh grader played in the game and all but one scored Dan O'Haver had a hot hand in the last quarter and hit the two field goals which pushed Syracuse over 50 points The eighth grade game was
Sports Calendar Week Os December 15 To December 22 WEDNESDAY Milford Junior High girls' basket ball 4:3op.m.,WPierceton at Milford Wawasee intra murals 7p.m., PE. Annex THURSDAY „ Milford Junior High sixth grade boys* basketball 4:30p.m., vs Nappanee at Milford Milford Junior High seventh and eighth grade boys' basketball 6 p m , at Pierceton North Webster boys* basketball 6p.m .atWarsaw Wawasee girls* freshmen basketball 6:30 p.m., at Tippe Valley Wawasee wrestling 7 p.m., at Concord FRIDAY Junior Varsity and varsity basketball 6:15 p.m, vs Columbia City at Wawasee SATURDAY Wawasee wrestling invitational 9a.m. Wawasee boys' swim 9a.m. and 1 p.m., at LaPorte Relays Wawasee girls' basketball 6; 15 pm., vs Northridge at Wawasee
much closer. Syracuse led all the way as Tim Mangas continued his floor leadership and set several players up for easy baskets. Mangas and Todd Roberts combined for 21 points in the game Mangas also contributed 12 rebounds and six assists. Coach Tom Jones played nine players in his efforts to find a combination that could hold the lead. Roberts picked up his third foul in the first quarter and had to sit on the bench. Rob McKibben played well coming off the bench to add steady play at the guard position He stole the ball on defense and added two baskets on the ends of fast bceaks Roberts returned to the game in the second quarter and did not foul again. His strength and fine position play contributed nine reboundsand 11 points
South Whitley The Yellow Jacket seventh graders started off well but built a 12-point margin by halftime. Five players scored for Syracuse in the first half while only one player could find the range for South Whitley. It looked like Syracuse could win the game easily and even increased the 2210 lead Conservative play in the second half allowed Syracuse to score only three points while South Whitley moved closer. At the end the Yellow Jackets won by two points after scoring only three points in the second half. Simpson All-American Mark Simpson, son of Mr. and Mrs Max Simpson. North Webster, has recently been nominated as an All American basketball player in the NAIA college conference. A 1979 graduate of Wawasee High School, he was a member of the Warrior basketball team. He now plays for Catawaba College, in Salabury. N.C.. where he is in his fourth year Presently Mark is averaging 20 points per game The Catawaba team is 4-0 this season
o __o_fLa - m* rin?i 3< 1 rirn, ;yr jb IK L-l Lui a JV CHAMPS—Wawasee s girts* basketball junior varsity team won its own tournament *nr the week en<l. Other participants in the tournament were Bremen. Concord and North Wood. The JV gfrb defeated Bremen 38-29 and North Wood 35-28 to win the championship. Conch Barb Brouwer's Lady Warriors are: front row. Greta Hitter. Anita Swope, Sandy Payne. Tammy Welborn. Corky Farmer, Lari Hepler and Amy Clouse. Second row. Coach-Brouwer, Karla Stichter. Michelle Harter, Christy Speicher. Sheila Kleinricbert, Lori GaUoway, Chris Richards, Manager Denise Justice and Assistant Coach Jim Hite.
Graoolers down wnrnrres <p wWvll Rochester Zebras if-** By SHARON STUCKMAN The Wawasee wrestling team traveled to Rochester Thursday, Dec. 9, and defeated the Zebra graplers 49-16. After wrestling Rochester, Wawasee's record was 2-1 and the Warriors had three undefeated wrestlers. Mike Hernandes, David Melendez and Tony Blackburn came away from Rochester with an undefeated record thus far in the season. At 98 pounds, Wawasee's Dewayne Turner pinned Kevin? Conley in 1:17. This was Turner’s! first varsity win. Chuck Cotton of Wawasee defeated Ben Honkomp, at 105.41. At 112, Rob DeSomer pinned Rochester’s Austin Mutchler in 5:16. In a close match, at 119, Brad Traviola defeated Andy Rude of Rochester 14-13, Traviola came from three points behind, with 30 seconds left in the match, to win by cme point. David Melendez, at 126 for Wawasee. defeated Bill Pikens by pin in 1:18. Another pin for the Warriors was at 132-pounds, when Mike Hernandez pinned Ed Richards in 1:28. In the 138-pound class Wawasee's Steve Yoder defeated Al Neighbor. Tony Blackburn defeated Zebra wrestler Jim Hendrick, at 145,12-5. Coach Welborn was proud of the efforts of Jim Cramsie, at 167. when he pinned Rochester’s Blake Kesler in 1:09. Todd Reiff of Wawasee suffered his first loss of the season to Cal Sudin. at 177. Sudin won by pin in 3:23. Warrior Tim Fraser defeated John Shen, at 185. by pin in 3:01. In his first loss of the season. Pat Inks of Wawasee lost by pin to Rob Gardner in the heavyweight division. Swimmers down central “Almost every kid on the team had lifetime bests,” a stillexcited coach Tim Caldwell said after last night's (Tuesday) 68-59 win over Elkhart Central. The Warriors broke two school records on their way to the win. Tony Boyer's 5:02.37 time in the 500 freestlye and Tim Crum's 57.95 time in the 100 backstroke made the record books. “We just swam super. Everyone was up for the the meet. We did what we had to do,” said Caldwell. Going into the LaPorte relays this week end. the swimmers now own a 6-1 record. Other winners for Wawasee were Boyer (1.51.7) in the 200 freestyle. Andy Wysong < :23.57> in the 50 freestyle, Greg Day (253.75) in diving, Wysong (50.56) in the 100 freestyle and Rob Green, Boyer. Bob Galloway and Wysong won the 400 freestyle relay witha 3:32.69time. Finishing second for the Warriors were Crum. Over meyer, Brett Hite and Green in the 200 medley relay. Crum in the 200 IM, Phil Zachery in diving and Hite in the 100 butterfly. Finishing third for Caldwell's crew were Benji Reed, Todd Smith. Rob Jewson and Jon Shoemaker in the 300 medley relay, Galloway in the 300 IM and 100 freestyle. Reed in the 100 backstroke. Overmeyer in the 100 breast stroke. Smith, Shoemaker, Hite and Rob Jewson in the 400 freestyle relay.
Another split for Wawasee; Columbia City next
By GARY LEWIS In comparing last week end’s score to the week before, it seems the Warriors might have lost the edge. After all, the team played a good Concord five solid and barely lost to the eighth best team in the state, Elkhart Memorial, the next evening. It was another split decision last week end. The Warriors lost 55-59 in an emotional affair Friday and then won big against helpless Triton despite some glaring miscues. But to those who really know the game, scores don’t tell the real story. Most of the time, it’s the style ot team your playing that dictates performance. Against Memorial, for example, the Chargers were content to run-and-gun, gamble on defense, and play some one-on-one on offense. The Warriors got off some good shots because of that style, and thanks to some outstanding individual efforts, almost came out on top. Last Friday night was a little bit different story. With a 6-5, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 line up going against a 6-10, 6-2, 6-1, 5-11 line up, things are going to go a little bit different. And things did go different against Warsaw. “We need to move the ball better offensively, be more crisp with our passing. We need to take our people deeper on our flashing inside, so when we do have movement inside, it’s a little deeper and not so shallow cuts,” coach John Wysong said. The ball movement inside against out-sized Triton was better, but overall Wysong was not pleased with the performance. “At Triton, we didn’t do anything that well. Ron made up for a lot of things. I thought a lot of people were letting their men drive around them. Ron would come over and help and shut them off.” “I can’t say that we played very well at Triton, but it was a hard situation for Triton,” he Triton’s problems weren’t only on the floor that night Their 6-9 center, Eric Methany, missed the game due to illness and another member of their squad quit. With only seven players on the roster, Triton’s work was cut out for them from the beginning. Defensively, Wysong says his club needs to contain better and pressure passes more often. So far, Wysong is sticking with his basic man-to-man and refuses to go with a trick zone defense. Against Warsaw, Jeff Grose (see related article below) made the difference in the fateful third quarter. The Tigers only won one of the four quarters, taking the third stanza by nine.
Warsaw 59 Wawasee 55
A jam-packed Wawasee gymnasium witnessed a rugged battle last Friday night when county-rival Warsaw handed coach John Wysong’s Warriors their third loss of the season. 59-55 Two Warsaw players provided for most of the Tigers scoring, and most of Wysong’s headaches, giving Warsaw its third win of the season. Sophomore guard Jeff Grose and senior John Snyder combined for 45 of the Tigers 59 points. It was a rugged game most of the way. with both teams
Wawasee
BOURBON — If coach John Wysong was wondering how his club would react after losing a rugged contest to Warsaw, his players surely gave him a positive message last night. Although looking flat at times, the Warriors made up for their muffed passes and other miscues to bury Triton 81-45. It was a game of striking contrast for Wawasee from the night before. Wawasee simply dominated the inside game, out-muscling the smaller Trojans. Ron Spunar had a big night as the Wawasee backcourters fed him the ball in the middle at
Wrestlers defeat Lions 37-26
By SHARON STUCKMAN Wawasee’s wrestling team traveled to Bremen Tuesday, Dec. 14, and came home with its third victory of the season. They defeated the Lion wrestlers 37-26. At 98 pounds Schweisberger pinned Wawasee's Dewayne Turner in 3:45. Chuck Cotton of Wawasee won the 105 pound class by pinning Aguayo in 1:52. Rob DeSomer pinned Bremen 's Reynolds in 3:01, in the 112-pound class. At 119 Brad Traviola
Athlete of the Week
This week’s Mail-Journal “Athlete of the Week” has the distinction of being the award’s
trading baskets through the first two quarters. Wawasee went into the locker room with a slim 28-25 lead. The second half turned into a Jeff Grose shooting clinic as the sophomore started to connect on six of eight field goal attempts for 18 of his 25 points. The Tigers played a flawless game for the most part, committing only 12 turnovers while forcing the Warriors into 17 miscues. The Tigers pressured Wawasee effectively throughout the contest, limiting Jon
81 Triton
will. Spunar scored 30, Brian Walls 11, and Jon Vitaniemi tallied eight as 11 Warriors got into the scoring column. Triton only led once in the contest, during the first 30 seconds, and from that point on started to run out of gas late in the first quarter. Trailing 15-11 with two minutes left in the first stanza, Wawasee scored six straight points to take a 10-point lead. The Trojans couldn’t get any closer than 10 from that point on as the Warriors slowly pulled away to lead 4525 at halftime. Triton cut that lead to 18 early on in the third quarter but the Warriors continued to
pinned Shawn of Bremen in 2:57. Still undefeated for Wawasee, Dave Melendez, at 126, pinned Burkins in 45 seconds. Wawasee’s other undefeated grappler is Mike Hernandes, who defeated Lawmaster 11-0 in the 132 pound class. Steve Yoder of Wawasee won by decision over Coblentz 8-7, in the 138-pound class. At 145 Wawasee’s Tony Blackburn received his first loss of the season, as he was defeated 27-6
■H wHI
ALL-STATER GRACE STICHTER
first two-time winner. Although her efforts for Wawasse girls* athletics have been recognized before, Grace Stichter reached a plateau few athlete* have ever reached at Wawasee. Going out for cross-coiyitry for the first time this fall, she was instrumental in leading the Lady Warriors to a seventh-place finish in the state meet. Her efforts were awarded last week when she was selected to the first-team all state cross-country squad. Right now she is leading the girls* basketball squad as one of the team leaders at point guard and small forward. She averages 11 a game and is the team’s assist leader. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Stichter of r 2 Milford and will compete on the girls* track team this spring.
Wysong put his best defensive man on Grose, Jon Vitaniemi, but besides that move he couldn’t change things much to stop Grose. If the Warriors would have gone to the zone, Grose would have been even more effective. Next time, Wysong said, the Warriors will have to play fundamentally better defense and help out. “That kid, we felt, was the best performance from a guard we’ve had this year and that includes some pretty good company. He’s about as good offensive guard as we have had to play against.” Columbia Qty comes to town this Friday night for a 7:30 p.m. encounter and the fans had better be prepared for another battle. The Eagles own a 2-3 slate so far with an eye-opening 5752 decision over highly-touted Whitko. Senior forward Scott Kreiger (6-3,170) is the leading scorer, averaging 16 a game. Look for Vitaniemi to be guarding him. Kevin Bragg is also among the team leading scorers and rebounders. At 5-11, 175, he averages about seven rebounds a game and 13 points. Brian Beattie (6-3,172), a sophomore, will also figure in on the Eagles plans. In the backcourt, junior guard Scott Reed (5-8) guides the offense. The only other Eagle win came against Bellmont and the three losses were to Adams, Angola and Huntington North. One scouting report, against Huntington last week, is the . only information Wysong has on Columbia City. But Wysong feels the Whitko win is information enough. “Any team that beats Whitko is a good team,” Kim Zurcher has finally recovered from his pre-season hamstring pull and looked good coming off the bench in a relief role. “That was the first time Kim’s played with that group (the varsity),” says Wysong. With the Tigers sagging inside, Zurcher provided the outside scoring punch to keep the Warriors in the game. Although Spunar played one good half against Warsaw, and had 30 against Triton, Wysong knows his big man will have to improve. “We have to have a full good game out of him” for the Warriors to beat a really good team, said Wysong Senior Pat Hare was praised by Wysong for his performance against Triton. Hare’s role coming off the bench is crucial, Wysong said. When one of the big four — Spunar, Vitaniemi, Brian Walls, Kevin Smith — get in trouble, the bench must pick up the slack. Here’s rebounds Saturday is a good indication that he the gap for either Vitaniemi or Spunar when the need arises.
Vitaniemi to 10. Senior center Ron Spunar was also held to 10 — eight of the points coming in the first half. Wawasee’s inability to get the ball inside put the Tigers into the driver’s seat in the third stanza. But the Warriors continued to battle back, and were back in it with two minutes left to go. Grose was at the charity stripe and missed —a rare occurance — the front end of a one-and-one. Warsaw’s Herb Bailey somehow got the rebound and put the Tigers back on top by six, 55-49.
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score, leading 60-35 late in the stanza. Wysong emptied his bench in the second half and the hungry reserves continued the route, putting the Warriors ahead by as much as 28 midway in the fourth. The Trojans compounded their problems by getting into foul trouble early in the second half. Coach Ned Wicker had only seven players on the varsity and when sophomore Tracy Klingerman fouled out in the third stanza, he was down to only one reserve. Meanwhile. Wysong entered 12 players into the contest. Coach Rob Staley’s JV crew
by Bob Meister. Bremen's Mike Andrews won the 155-pound class by defeating Jason Keim 7-4. Jim Cramsie won the 167-pound class when he defeated Bremen's Cortland Lynch 4-3. Wawasee’s Todd Reiff, who has lost only one match this season, defeated David Abbott 6-1, in the 177 pound class Bremen won the 185 and heavyweight divisions by pin.
F »,Jilin 0W Mil in ibhk IL') PL. READY FOR WAWASEE INVITATIONAL - David Melendez, who wrestles in the 126 pound class for Wawasee. is ready for the Wawasee Invitational, which will be held Saturday. Dec. 18. beginning at 8 a.m. Schools returning to the Wawasee tournament from last year are Etthart Central, Fort Wayne Elmhurst. Fort Wayne Northrup, Plymouth and South Bend Riley. New this year win be Chesterton and Fort Wgyne North Side. Along with being an excellent chance for area wrestlers to meet some good competition. the tournevjbrings many people to the Lakeland area. < Photo by Sharon
From there, the Tigers lengthened their lead to 10 until a late full-court press excited some diehard Warrior backers in the waning moments. Guard Brian Walls led the way for Wawasee with 15, followed by Kevin Smith’s 11. Snyder was the only other Warsaw player in double figures with 20. In the JV contest, coach Rob Staley’s crew suffered its third loss of the season, 40-37. Seth Swihart and John Hapner were the leading scorers with 11 and eight, respectively.
changed its philosophy a bit in the contest. The change worked, as the reserves upped their record to 4-3 as well, winning 37-31. Staley said the change involved viewing his team offensive attack as a five-man effort rather than the traditional one-two sophomore punch of Brooks Koble and Seth Swihart. To make the change, Staley switched his offense to a patterned attack rather than the usual motion offense. The change forced his squad to * look inside more and it showed as Kyle Swartz led all scorers with 10 and had five rebounds. John Hapner tallied eight with six rebounds.
Ken McKenzie pinned Tim Fraser in 20 seconds and James Bope pinned Pat Inks in 19 seconds. Wawasee has a 3-1 record and will face tough Concord team on Thursday, at Concord. Saturday, Dec. 18, Wawasee will host the Wawasee Invitational and over the Christmas break, on December 28-29, the Warriors will participate in the Mishawaka Invitational.
