The Mail-Journal, Volume 27, Number 33, Milford, Kosciusko County, 28 September 1988 — Page 12
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THE MAIL-JOURNAL—Wed., September 28,1988
Sports
Warriors win seesaw battle, 7-0
I By MARK HUFFMAN Staff Writer PLYMOUTH — In a seesaw defensive battle that saw both teams volley for field advantage, Wawasee eventually gained the upper hand when sophomore Brent Conley gained his second fumble recovery of the evening and helped the Warriors bump off Plymouth, 7-0. Conley jumped on the Rockie miscue at the three yard line after a Randy Cesco kick and illegal procedure penalty drove Plymouth back to its own 11 yard line. Senior running back Alan Robinson fumbled on the ensuing play, setting up a two yard scamper to paydirt for senior Garrett Ponciroli two plays later with 8:31 left in the game. “We knew it was going to be a very close bailgame. (Defensive) Coach (Troy) Akers and I challenged the defense to put in a shutout performance and they met the challenge,” Wawasee Coach Myron Dickerson stated, noting that several younger players filled the shoes of some
HOT PURSUIT — Wawasee senior Jay Koontz (64) strikes a familiar pose as he prepares to halt Plymouth running back Shane Klinedinst during second half action last Friday night. Koontz was a familiar face in the Rockies’ territory all night, as he accounted for four solo and 14 assisted tackles and wrecked havoc in the Plymouth backfield for several key defensive plays. (Photo by Mark Huffman)
Win streak ends for Wawasee swimmers
(By SCOTT DAVIDSON Staff Writer “We have to move forward from here and concentrate on not losing any other conference meets the rest of the season,” remarked Tim Caldwell, Wawasee girls’ swimming coach, after the Lady Warriors lost a tough 78-93 meet on the road at North Wood last night (Tuesday). “North Wood’s a good team and the team to beat in the NLC and they proved it tonight,” commented Caldwell after seeing Wawasee have its six meet winning streak snapped by the Panthers. The Lady Warriors, now 6-2 on the season (1-1 in the NLC), led Northwood 72-70 in last night’s meet before the last two events, but were unable to hang on. North Wood took first, second and third in a controversial 100 yd. breaststroke race in which Wawasee’s Krista Guimond was disqualified for a false start. “Of- > ficials make judgments and we have to live with them,” said a Caldwell, who added that he didn’t think that Guitnond should have been disqualified. \Caldwell conimeiited that Wawasee was unable to practice on Monday and had a short practice on Tuesday at Warsaw because of a problem with the pool at Wawasee. He added that the Lady Warriors also were without Danyi Heckaman for last night’s meet. Wawasee was led by the first place performances of Sherry Payne (50 yd. freestyle), Julie Gunn (one-meter diving) and the 200 yd. medley relay team of Jennifer Titus, Guimond, Tonya Perzanowski and Dawn Firestone. Turning in second place finishes were Guimond (200 yd. individual medley), Firestone (one-meter diving), Lori Boles (100 yd. butterfly and 400 yd. freestyle relay), Sirena Bartow (100 yd. freestyle and 400 yd. freestyle relay), Chris Ridings (500 yd. freestyle), Titus (100 yd. backstroke), and Moni Lange and Payne (both members of the 400 yd. freestyle relay team). Capturing third place spots for Wawasee against the Panthets were Boles freestyle), Titus (200yd. individual medley),
veterans lost to injuries and three starters who were sidelined due to disciplinary reasons earlier in the week. “We had to move Cesco (a right guard) to tight end just so we’d have someone to practice against,” Dickerson remarked. The coach lauded the hawkish defensive play of senior Jay Koontz, whose play in the backfield accounted for several third down conversions being halted. Koontz accounted for 18 tackles on the night, with four solo and 14 assisted take downs. Sophomores who have helped the Warriors to a 3-2 record include John Hickey, who is playing tight end, and Buster Clevenger, Dave McClelland) and Brian Schwab, who have all contributed to special team play, while Dan Smith did an admirable job of filling in for the injured Mike Page at linebacker against Plymouth. “' The Rockies moved the ball with some success in the second half, but eould never carry it that final yard into the endzone. After yielding the touchdown to the Warriors, Plymouth drove to its own 16 yard line on the strength
Bartow (50 yd. freestyle), Perzanowski (100 yd. butterfly), Payne (100 yd. freestyle) and Lange (500 yd. freestyle). Caldwell commented that the distance swimmers swam well last night for the Lady Warriors, as well as the divers (Firestone and Gunn) who had to swim events. He added that Bartow also had a good meet and that Payne swam a very good 50 yd. freestyle race. Wawasee extended its winning streak, before last night’s loss, by defeating Manchester last Thursday, Sept. 22, by a score of 126-99. Helping the Lady Warriors defeat Manchester with first place finishes were Bartow, Guimond, Firestone, Titus and the relay team of Bartow, Ridings, Lange and Perzanowski.
Columbia City drops Spikers to 4-16
Wawasee’s girls’ volleyball team dropped to 4-16 on the season after being beaten 5-15, 9-15 by Columbia City last night (Tuesday). Leading performers for the ■ Lady Warriors were Wendy Mills, with eight service points, Angela Kistler, 26 sets, and Diane Karst, six spikes and one kill. Wawasee’s Junior Varsity squad was also defeated last night, dropping a 8-15,10-15 decision. Leading players for the JV team were Kristy Slaughbaugh, with seven service points, Paige Price, with five service points and two aces, and Lauri Stiver, with nine spikes and three kills. On Monday, Sept. 26, Wawasee defeated Fairfield 16-14,15-12, as Kriss Eisenhower recorded 20 spikes and five kills. Jennifer Brumbaugh added seven service points, 11 spikes and three kills to the Wawasee effort, while Kistler recorded 53 sets. The JV squad also defeated Fairfield, 15-9, 4-15, 15-8, as Nicole Neff had 13 service points with one ace. Bobbi Haab contributed 13 spikes and three kills,
of a 41 yard pass from quarterback Pat Dragani to wide receiver Shawn Zimmer. However, the Wawasee defense tightened up, with four key defensive plays allowing the Warriors to take over with one minute to play. “I’m impressed with our guys because of the way they’re playing after the tough times we’ve been through,” Dickerson said, noting that “the little guys like Brad Gerstner (5-7 senior) and Mike Bailey (5-9 junior) have been coming through for us.” Senior Mike Foy also came through, finding the holes for 117 yards rushing on 14 carries. Ponciroli contributed 76 yards on 15 carries, while junior Chad Cotton accounted for some key catches, with 22 yards on three passes from classmate Chris Conkling. Gerstner also caught one for 11 yards. On the defensive side of the field, Ponciroli followed Koontz with four solo and six assisted tackles, while Smith contributed one and 11, respectively. Cesco had another good kicking game, with 121 yards on four punts.
The Lady Warriors next travel to Goshen this Saturday, Oct. 1, for the Goshen Relays. Caldwell remarked that this will be a good meet because the top four teams from the NLC (North Wood Warsaw, Concord and Wawasee) will be competing, along with conference member Goshen and NIC member Penn. The Warriors get back into NLC action next Tuesday, Oct. 4, when they host Warsaw. “This will be a good meet because Warsaw lost to North Wood by a smaller margin than we did,” Caldwell stated, concluding, “We have to win the rest of our NLC meets and then we could still finish the season as conference co-champions if we win the NLC meet at the end of the year.”
Becky Habb added six spikes and four kills. Stiver also contributed to the Wawasee win with 18 sets. The Lady Warriors dropped three matches last Saturday, Sept. 24, while participating in the Homestead Invitational in Fort Wayne. Wawasee lost to Goshen, 9-15, 4-15, Fort Wayne Southside, 4-15, 11-15, and Fort Wayne Carroll, 5-15, 2-15, during the day’s play. Last Thursday, Sept. 22, the Lady Warriors dropped a three set match to Concord by scores of 15-3,8-15,13-15. Leading the effort for Wawasee was Kistler with 12 serves and three aces and Karst with 12 spikes and three kills. Kistler also contributed 55 sets in the losing cause. Concord’s JV also defeated Wawasee, 15-5, 7-15, 16-14. Top performers for Wawasee were Kerri Speicher with 11 serves, Price with 10 spikes and Stiver with six spikes and one kill. The Lady Spikers will attempt to get back on the winning track tommorrow (Thursday) when they host Triton in a 6 p.m. battle.
Az > VITAL INFORMATION — Wawasee defensive coordinator Troy Akers gives sophomore Brent Conley (77) some information about an offensive formation he spotted in the Plymouth game last Friday while junior Mike Bailey (12) looks on. Conley and Bailey teamed with a formidable defense to hold the Rockies scoreless, while Conley also recovered the fumble that eventually gave the Warriors a 7-0 win. (Photo by Mark Huffman)
Second place battle
I By MARK HUFFMAN Staff Writer The battle for second place in the Northern Lakes Conference continually tightens up, while Goshen consistently heaps on the points against the rest of the field, with four Redskin players placing in the top five for scoring in the conference. Quarterback Rick Mirer paces the Goshen attack, accounting for 93 points, with 11 touchdowns and 24 extra point kicks. Jim Hoke follows with 45 points, while Mike Moon and Nick Rudolph total 36 and 24 points, respectively. Matt Coffel interrupts a Goshen sweep, placing third in the scoring race with 40 Wawasee’s Garrett Ponciroli is tied with two others for the sixth highest total in the NLC. The versatile senior has three touchdowns to account for 18 points. Ponciroli and the rest of the Warriors hope to add to that total on Friday, when they host the Warsaw Tigers as a part of the school’s homecoming celebration. In other NLC match-ups, Plymouth will attempt to get back on the winning track at Concord, while Bremen 5 entertains North Wood. In games involving the other two NLC members, Goshen will host East Noble while Northridge travels to East Chicago Central. Hoping For Homecoming Win When the Wawasee Warriors made their “Roam to the Dome” in 1985 k the Warsaw game provided a turning point in an otherwise ordinary season. Coach Myron Dickerson may be hoping for a similar occurrence in 1988. While Wawasee is enjoying a successful season considering the youthfulness of the squad, Dickerson still sees one area where improvement can be made. “I can think of nothing wrong with the offense, other than we’re not catching easy passes — we need to do that to sustain drives,” the coach said, noting that several passes were dropped by receivers over the past two weeks. “It’s a good thing (quarterback Chris) Conkling isn’t an arrogant person, if he was he’d have every right to be upset about some passes that have been dropped. The statistics show that Chris has a 34 percent JB A BLs Bb T ‘ \ ' w SYRACUSE NATIVE CHEERS VU — Chris Soltaa, a building materials technology major at Vincennes University, has been chosen for a position on VU’s 1988-89 Cheer Team. Chris is the son of Steve and Connie Solina of Syracuse.
completion rate, but it would be over 50 percent if our people caught the ball.” Meanwhile, Warsaw’s offense is “coming along,” according to Dickerson, who referred to the Tigers two-quarterback system. “Ted (Huber, head coach) is looking toward the future and is giving a lot of young kids some playing time,” he said. Assuring his players that Warsaw will be coming to Wawasee with “fire in their eyes”, Dickerson noted that the Tigers haven’t beaten the Warriors in three years —a factor that will provide Huber’s crew with added motivation. “We’re going to have to keep their defense honest, while our defense will have to perform like it did last week,” the coach confirmed. ' Wawasee will enter the contest two to three players stronger than last week, while senior linebacker Mike Page has also begun practicing with the team again and should return for next week’s trip to Fort Wayne Harding. Hoping to cap homecoming festivities off with a victory, Dickerson stated that the school has shown more enthusiasm earlier than he has witnessed in past years. “There has been more enthusiasm during the first part of this week than we’ve ever had. The halls are all decorated and (Wawasee teacher) Karl Keiper has done a great job of keeping it (enthusiasm) going/’ the coach concluded. NLC Standings School NIC All Goshen 5-0 5-0 Wawasee 3-2 3-2 'remen 3-2 3-2 Northridge 3-2 3-2 North Wood 2-2 3-2 Concord 1 -3 2-3 Plymouth 1 -3 2-3 Warsaw 0-4 0-5 Friday's Games Warsaw at Wawasee East Noble at Goshen Plymouth at Concord North Wood at Bremen Northridge at East Chicago Central
Wawasee principal joins panel
I By SCOTT DAVIDSON Staff Writer As stated in this column last week, the games chosen for last week’s predictions were easy ones and that fact was proven by the outstanding overall mark of 28-8 that The Mail-Journal’s staff of prediction experts and our guest fan registered. Mail-Journal staff members Mark Huffman, Mitch Stinson and myself, along with The Papers Inc. employee Homer Miller, all went 5-1 last week. Derk Kuhn and our guest fan, Wawasee High School Athletic Director Hal Traviolia, both correctly picked four games. The overall prediction standings lead for the season still rests in the crystal ball of Miller, who stands qt 23-7 after five weeks of “guessing.” Huffman and your’s truly have
REGIONAL BOUND — Wawasee Warrior golfer Barb Butler hits an approach shot on the 18th hole of sectional play Saturday, Sept. 24, as Amanda Goff of Culver Girls’ Academy watches. Butler shot a 94 and qualified for an individual berth at the regional iln LaPorte.
Regional bid falls short
I By MITCHELL STINSON Staff Writer The Wawasee High School girls’ golf team came up short at the sectional Saturday, Sept. 24, but Barb Butler will carry the Warriors’ name into regional/ play. Butler shot a 94 over 18 holes at the par-74 Wawasee GolfX Club course and nabbed an individual birth to the regional at LaPorte. In sectional play, girls who are not on an advancing team still have an opportunity to advance as individuals. Os the girls not on an advancing team, the ones with three lowest scores go on to sectionals. Butler’s score was the second best in that category and sixth best overall. Warrior Coach Mark Timpe said Butler could do well enough to advance out of the regional if she raises her game a notch this Saturday. “The possibility is there that she could get out if she has a good round,” he said. As a team the Warriors finished in sixth place, just 10 strokes away from a trip to LaPorte. The top three teams advanced to the regional and the Warsaw Tigers grabbed the final slot with a four-
Harriers place fourth at " -- Jl* 3 '' l Culver Academies Invite
I By MITCHELL STINSON Staff Writer The 20th-ranked Wawasee Warriors boys’ cross country team turned in a strong performance to take fourth place in a field of 11 teams at the Culver Academies Cross Country Invitational last Saturday, Sept. 24. Jeff Carey was the Warriors’ top finisher, taking sixth place with a time of 16 minutes and 20 seconds over the 3.1 mile course. Teammate Jason Douglas was just two seconds behind, securing seventh place with a time of 16:22. Number three-ranked Noblesville won the meet with a low score of 48, while number 17 New Prairie took second with a 70 and Crown Point edged Wawasee out for third, by two points, with a 91. Warrior Coach Jerry Minton had hoped his team could knock off New Prairie. “I really thought we could beat New Prairie and I think we can in some big-meet,” he said. Overall, however, Minton was pleased with the meet, as the Warriors turned in some of their best times of the season. In girls’ action the Warriors placed 11th out of 16 teams. Mel
registered 20-10 records, while Kuhn is at 18-12. Stinson (after four weeks of participating) has a record of 18-6 and our two guest fans have combined for an 8-4 mark, thus far. This week we are very pleased to welcome Wawasee High School Principal Ned Speicher to our ' prediction party.” Speicher, who is resting-at home after gall bladder surgery last week, is in his fourth year as principal at Wawasee. Previously, he served at Milford School for 10 years, including the last six as principal there. Speicher, who is married and has four children, described himself as an avid reader and an avid Cubs fan. Well let’s now turn our sights to the line-up that our panel and guest are facing this week. This week’s fisatured attraction is the Homecoming contest for the Wawasee War-
person total of 407. Culver’s Girls’ Academy turned in a fine performance to take first with a. score of 361 and the East Noble 1 Knights finished second witb a 385. North Wood’s Gina Yodtjr turned in the best performance of the day, carding a round of 80 to win s by six strokes. She was the sole entry from NorthWood,* which < doesn’t field a girls’ team. Yoder \advanced to the regional a is an individual. In one of the most excititng turn of events of the day, Goshen’s Cassidy Hawkins qualifie d for a trip to the regionals with a sudden death victory over teammate Chelsea Yoder and Jana Murphy of Tippecanoe Valley. In the battle for the third and final individual berth to the regional, the three lady li nksters finished in a tie, with eaich carding a 100. So it was off to hole number one again, as the girls began a sudden death playoff to determine who would advance. Hawkins ended the drama quickly by knocking down a short put for a bogey and the win. The Warriors’ Michelle Katsanis scored a 101 to come within a hair of making it a four-way playoff. Katsanis scored an 87 on the course last year, en route to
Hobbs recorded the best Wawasee time with a 17:20 over the 2.5 mile course. She finished 47th out of 109 entries. In action yesterday (T uesday) the boys’ team beat the Goshen Redskins in Goshen. Waiwasee’s Carey, Douglas and Steve Eastman finished side-by -side for a three-way tie for firs t place. Each runner recorded a time of 17:27. It was the last conference meet for the Warriors, as they improved their season record to 14-2. The girls dropped their contest to Goshen and dropped to 5+4 on the season. Minton said the l'»ys put in a good effort, although it could have been better. “When you have big meets on a Satur day, the meets you have on a weekday aren’t very effective,” he said. The boys their match against Columbia pty and Churubusco last Thursday, Sept. 22. Five of the top six sp<bts went to Warriors, as Carey took first place with a 16:37. The girls lost to Colum tja City 22-35, but salvaged a narr w 27-29 victory over Churubusi d). Mel Hobbs led the Warriors (with a fourth place finish and a time of 18:12.
riors, who entertain Wai saw in a conference mate •. -up. Other action this week is; last Noble at Goshen, Plynnmth traveling to Concord, and 14orthWood on the roa>< at Bremen. Our college (ime features the undefeated and fifth-ranked Fighting Iri: 31 of Notre Dame entertaining the Stanford. Cardinals Satu' day evening,in Notre Dame, I nd. This week’s pro contest I nds the Indianapolis Colts Uho finally got that first eh ive win of the season this last Sunday) venturing to ox-
qualifying for the regional, but six penalty strokes put her in a hole that she couldn’t quite crawl out of Saturday. “It was close,” Timpe said. “One putt here or there and she would have been in the playoff.” The award for most dramatic performance in a golf sectional goes to Warsaw’s Christy Mock. After carding a 58 on the front nine, Mock needed a 48 or better to propel her team past the Goshen Redskins for the third and final regional team berth. She was the team’s lowest seed and nobody seemed seriously worried about her turning the match around. Mock had the last laugh, however, when she carded a 47 over the back nine as the Tigers edged the Redskins by two strokes. In a head-to-head match against Culver Girls’ Academy on Thursday, Sept. 22, the Warriors closed out the regular season with a 191-222 loss. Butler and Teresa West led Wawasee with 525. The Warriors finished the season at 7-6, while the Academy record went to 12-1. “I think we had a decent season,” Timpe said. “We ran into some stiff competition, with some state-ranked teams.”
The next big event occurs Saturday, Oct. 1, when both Warrior teams will travel to Manchester for the Manchester Invitational. Minton said about 2,000 athletes from 52 high schools and 28 junior high schools will be on hand. Culver Academies Cross Country Invitational Ist-Noblesville, 48; 2nd-New Prairie, 70; 3rd-Crown Point, 91; 4th-WAWASEE, 93; sth-Warren Central, 120; 6th-Fort Wayne Northrop, 127; 7th-Laporte, 225; Bth-South Bend Adams, 235 ; 9thSouth Bend 237; lOth-Culver Military Academy, 248; llth-Michighq City Elston, 253. Girls Team Results Ist-Ft. Wayne Northlip, 34; 2ndSouth Bend Adams, 113; 3rdNoblesville, 116, 4th-Michigan City Elston, 117; sth-Manchester, 177; 6th-Northwood, 185; 7thWest Lafayette, 198; BthRochester, 208 ; 9th-South Bend Washington, 209; lOth-Fort Wayne Concordia, 233; 11thWAWASEE, 251; 12th-Culver Girls Academy, 301; 13th- Caston, 313; 14th-New Prairie, 334; 15thBremen, 365; 16th-North Miami, 448.
boro, Mass., for an AFC (American Football Conference) East showdown with the New England Patriots. Here are this week’s calls: NED SPEICHER — Wawasee, Goshen, Concord, Bremen, Notre Dame, Indianapolis. SCOTT DAVIDSON — Goshen, Concord, Bremen, Notre Dame, Indianapolis. « MARK HUFFMAN — Wawasee, Goshen, Concord, North Wood, Notre Dame, Indianapolis. DERK KUHN - Wawasee, Goshen, Concord, Bremen, Notre Dame, Indianapolis. HOMER MILLER — Wawasee, Goshen, Concord, Bremen, Notre Dame, New England. MITCH STINSON — Wawasee, Goshen, Concord, Bremen, Notre Dame, Indianapolis.