The Mail-Journal, Volume 19, Number 49, Milford, Kosciusko County, 22 December 1982 — Page 10

THE MAIL-JOURNAL — Wed., December 22,1982

10

Sports

■■■ wh V |p &£ ■ * ■ ’* Vffil? Ila .ssswis ira4«ps fß4itfPßa Wl' 411 ' t ■Ms '•□ EAGLES' TIP — Wawasee's Kevin Smith loses the rebound to Columbia City's Kevin Bragg as he tips the ball away on the rebound. (Photo by John Brito)

iflk isOi i<w | flest -Wishes j t The best the season < ! brings is wished for • you and yours. 1 Dust And Son | 1 Decorators | a 457-2^13

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Bv GARY LEWIS 1k Senior Todd Reiff, juniors Dave Melendez, Mike Hernandez and Tony Blackburn captured their respective weight classes; championship Saturday at the Wawasee Invitational wrestling tournament The eight-team tourney featured some of the best grapplers in the state and the Warrior matmen managed to place six individuals in the finals, coming away with fcur winners Freshman Brad Traviolia and junior Chuck Cotton advanced to the final rounds of their weight classes In team scoring, Fort Wayne Northrop won the meet with 180.5 ; points — despite not placing anyone in the finals. The Warriors finished fourth with 153 „ Finishing second was Plymouth (166), followed by Chesterton (163.5), Wawasee, Fort Wayne Elmhurst (123), Elkhart Central <116), Fort Wayne North Side (81) and South Bend Riley (81). “Us having six in the finals speaks well for itself," said grappler coach Rich Welborn. “Having four champions is a highlight for us." Considering the competition, last week end s meet has to be a positive step for the Warriors heading into several important conference meets after Christ

Warriors defense City for fifth win

By GARY LEWIS Columbia City found out the hard way what a 6-10 center can do for a ball club. Defense was the name of the game last week as the Warriors relied on some stingy defense in running their record to 5-3 on the season with a 47-37 over the visiting Eagles. Ron Spunar proved to be the difference in the contest. He swatted away at least six Columbia City shots and generally jammed things up inside on the Eagles. After he batted down a shot attempt by Columbia City’s Steve Kreiger early in the game, he held the Eagles leading scorer to four points in the first half. Jt was an awesome first quarter for the Warriors on defense. Columbia City could only muster seven shots for six points in the first eight minutes. t Using their swarming man-to-man defense, Wawasee controlled the tempo from the outset and with a hot-shooting Brian Walls, who hit 4-of-5 shots, the Warriors buried the Eagles 16-6. Coach John Wysong was understandably impressed with his squad’s defense "Defensively, we played really well,’’ but on offense it was another story "We just didn’t hit our shots," Wysong said, “but we just couldn't hit our free throws at all. Some of our best free throw shooters weren’t hitting.” Wawasee shot a dismal 5-of-14 from the charity strip Friday. Some fans might have felt the Eagles were playing a bit of a slow-down offense in an attempt to establish control. But what some called slow-down. Wysong described as patience. "I didn't think City was slowing down that much. They were being patient, wanting to make sure when they got down inside that they would score," he said. The Warriors needed their 10-point lead they built in the first stanza, because the Eagles made a small comeback in the second quarter, cutting the Warriors lead down to six, 24-16. Play got rather sloppy before halftime with both teams making a number of miscues. But the Eagles couldn't handle the ball inside with the ever present Spunar prohibiting shots in the middle. But the Eagles avoided a rout thanks to some tough luck for the Warriors. Wawasee came out in the third quarter and

Wawasee grapplers 4th in Invitational

mas break. Traviolia had to take on a future all-stater at 119, Elkhart Central s Barry Hart. A move-in for the Blue Blazers, Hart has already been recognized as honorable mention all-state and should move up the recognition ladder quickly. At 105, Cotton got pinned in the final match in 1:46 by Chesterton’s John Popp — another state contender Popp pinned every opponent on his way to taking the class crown. Traviolia s road to the finals included a 5:03 pin of North Side’s Bryce Wetzel, followed by a 17-8 decision against Bryon Maluvac of Chesterton Cotton won his first match by forfeit and then gained a 5-7 decision against Matt Loraine of North Side. On the season, the. Warriors own a 4-1 overall, and 3-1 NLC, record. Welborn stresses both individual achievement and team goals. “I feel there are two seasons, a wrestling season and a tourney season It’s important tn win team championships because of the team concept, but I think it is equally important for my wrestlers to be individual champions," Welborn said. If he likes individual champions, then Reiffs “rags-to-riches" story must make him even more proud Although Reiff is a senior, he is actually only a sophomore in the wrestling world. Going out for the sport for the first time last season, he started out slowly but ended up strong. He placed third in the

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regional last season and has picked up where he left off. The 177-pounder is 6-1 on the season so far and he is heaped with praise from his coach. “In my 25 years of coaching, he's got the best attitude of any kid that I’ve coached,” Welborn says. On his way to winning his division, Reiff defeated Central’s Brian McKenna 6-3 and Elmhurst ’s Jeff Davis before downing Plymouth's Rod Eveland 11-4. At 132, it was the Mike Hernandez show as he blanked North Side’s Jim Buroff 7-0 and Elmhurst’s Craig Sherbondy 7-0 before dominating Chesterton's Todd Walsworth 11-2 in the championship round. For Welborn. Hernandez is the best 132-pounder he's had in awhile. “I have real high hopes for Mike. He has a super future.” Melendez won the 126 crown with a 16-0 win against Chesterton foe Miles Nilson followed by a 5-2 score against Todd Sumney and a 4-2 decision against Central’s Mark Sherbondy in the championship match Hernandez is undefeated on the season and should contend for the conference crown against North Wood's Fred Johnson, also undefeated, says Welborn. "If I had to put my money on anyone, I would put my money on David. ” Blackburn’s championship match caught the partisan crowd’s attention early and kept it through overtime. It turned into a stamina test between Blackburn and North Side’s Derrick Meyers but Blackburn

converted some Eagle turnovers into baskets while it continued to fast break. Some good shots weren’t falling for senior guard Kevih Smith and Walls who’s hot first quarter hand cooled down in the second half. The Warriors remained patient for the most part, though, and opened up a 36-24 lead with 1:39 left in the third stanza. "I think we got to get the ball inside more,” Wysong said, “we had sane good shots, (the Warriors had eight shots within 10 feet of the basket but only made two during the third quarter) but they just weren’t going in for us/’ / Spunar’s defensive heroics- couldn’t be repeated in the scoring column because the backcourters couldn’t get the ball inside to the big man. Kevin Smith connected on only 4-of-ll shots from the field and Wysong jjelieves if Smith was hitting, the inside would have been more open. But Wysong believes both the outside and inside players are to blame for the problem “It works bah ways. Our inside people need to make more targets, and our outside people need to look inside more," he explained. The Warriors failure to hit the medium-range jumper came back to haunt them in the final quarter as the Eagles slowly ga back into the contest. The Eagles began to press, and began to foul, sending the Warriors to foul line 11 times in the final period. But the Warriors began to brick their fad shots repeatedly, as the Eagles started to get back in the contest. Columbia City had the lead down to 40-35 with 4:31, but failed to get any closer. Walls led all scorers with 17, followed by Jon Vitaniemi with 12 and seven rebounds. Kreiger led the Eagles with 17 followed by Kevin Bragg with 10. Wysong plans on working on the team’s zone and press offense during break in addition to the usual drills with the inside game. The W arriors return to action January 7 when they travel to Plymouth to battle the defending state champion Pilgrims. WAWASEE (47) — Smith 4-11 0-5 1, Walls 7-10 3-5 3, Vitaniemi 7-10 3-5 3. Atwood 0-1.04) 1, Spunar 4-7 0-3 2. Zurcher 0-02-20. COLUMBIA CITY (37) — Bragg 4-6 2-3 4, Reed 2-5 04) 5, Kreiger 5-9 4-5 3. Beattie 0-2 04) 1, Simmons 1-3 04) 0. Hinen 2-3 04) 4.

outlasted his opponent for the 4-2 win. “He had to pull himself up by the boot straps and he did it... he had a lot of heart," said Welborn. Welborn said he enjoys hosting the tournament, even though he had to arrive at the gym at 5:30 am., because of the effort parents and supporters gave. “It was ail the help we had that made it a success. ” Wawasee’s finish in the conference could be decided at the Warriors next meet January 6. The matmen will battle loop leader Plymouth at home in a 6:30 p. m. encounter.

ttmi w —i, a wwMMKWMBCMCBr. wi in inn mi ? I The Mail-Journal 1982-83 | | BASKETBALL CONTEST I CONTEST RULES 1) Pick the winners of the gomes listed ■ I V R* RBI and write them in the spaces provided. v W W* <3./ Pick the winners of the tie breakers end ■ " fill in the difference in score in the box DDI7E ** provided. F IX All mailed entries must be received B ■ ( no later than 4 p.m. on Friday of the week E9 All Weekly Winners Will Be Eligible For / 1 .4 of the contest to: "Basketball Contest”. I A Grand Prize Contest I J The Mail-Journal. P.O. Box 188. Milford. S M _ BBaaaßßMaaoß^ _ IN 46542 or submit your entry in person M Annus a * Mail-Journal office at 103 East S I? DR MII ' TB* Mom Syracuse or 206 South Main. Milford x Mil fell Im | ■■■■ , » M Be sure your entry reaches us bgfore 4 ■ ■■■■ •/ Pm Friday. You may use the dr do slot M DDITt at each office on Wednesday and TMirs- 9 I 1114 bln i day nights Entries received oftey the M . E? , deadline will not be considered M To Be Awarded To The Winner Os A V 3) Weekly winners will receive $5 and J Grand Prize Contest During The State Tournament JK* zr .will be eligible to compete for the grand ■ \ kZT prize of SIOO. In the event that a weekly " \ ' winner wins more than once, he or she ■ / V/ \ \ will be allowed to submit one entry in the 9 /// i " J / \ grand prize contest for each weekly con- # S " \ test won. The winner of the previous ■ ~ week's contest will appear on this page 2 (J/ ; / /) \ 4) Each contestant may submit no more w X \ I /' 7"Z than two entries. Submission of more " I 11 1 'iii A than two entries will result in automatic jt I BAT lAirriffO laflllßim \ disqualification of all entries by that per- 9 LAST WEEK S WIRRER tRW son for that week. j \ \ 5) The entrant s name address and ■ & \ \ phone number must be clearly printed on 5 * a a ■> BA I \ A the entry blank. v ■ Calvin E DECK J 6) Anyone ten years of age or-older Z •• •••gible for the contest except employ- " R. 1, Syracuse ees °* Papers Incorporated and • M ° their immediate families. j 7) Decisions of the judges will be final. M f‘ GAMES MCKS MMES , PICKS |j I* g Ova io Aa hotidoy vocation week's slate metvdes two NBA jamas and die rest college Boys end girls high school games will return the January 5 issue | CMcqp « WzshMgtM <hsai Ftoriii Ui.. NidMgM |HewY»tfu.WiaMiNßAi Hosston 11. o.Peppenfoe ■ CrMgMM M BoM nttstarz«SjraaßO — !! I Detroit o, Toledo Lojeta I. «NortkerolHmis tl TlvOmolcvrs Wlnnw NAMF I r, ~ ... ADDRESS || I fiends ABB at Michigan CITY STATE ZIP || Ij McMm At DePaul | | PHONE 11 | ie -—. ——al | ■QMMMMMMHHBKaHMaMIOMHimSHMMMaaKMKaMeTMCTMKSaKWOBaMMMMMHBKaMnaMaManaOHNMMDMKdI

Here’s how the rest of the Warriors did in the tourney: 98 — DeWayne Turner pinned (5:22) byJohnGogos(FWNS). 112 — Rob DeSomer defeated David Fortin (P) 9-5 and then lost to Todd Horton (C). 138 — Steve Yoder pinned (:23) Riley’s Tim Wirt and then lost to Burt Kennedy (EC) 5-0. 155 — Jason Keim pinned (3:22) by Mike Scobey (P). 167 — Ned Hunspurger pinned (:14) by Gabe Lopez (P). 185 — Tim Fraser lost to Willy Waldman (C) 17-0. Hwt. — Pat Inks lost to Gene Cobb (FWNS) 21-1.

; BASMeT BALi CONTEST W W‘lW , < SECOND WINNER — Calvin Beck, r 1 Syracuse, was last week's Mail-Journal Basketball Contest winner. Beck, a former Syracuse High School basketball coach, ga the most right out of the eight-game slate. (Phao by Deb Fox)

Wawasee Adult Basketball League December 13,1982 Team Score High Point Player Syracuse Rubber ts 64 V. Rhodes-A. Brenneman Fairmont Homes 58 Topeka Implement vs 110 Stoner Rouch Construction 52 Vanlaningham-Messmore Merchants vs 54 Meade Pilcher's • 59 B. Smith Hotshots vs 39 Kurtz Stichter 106 B. Eldridge

lUmiiilliiiiJ IT We hope the warm friendship and merriment of the holiday season are yours for Christinas and always. pMetcalf 4 Payne, Inc.— i K Ji Phil, Lori, Ua V Doug B. Douq M.. Steve, Rick ft L 534 w Jri Camelot Square — Downtown North Webstar Jg