Rory Nolin was one of eight Tiger victories on Thursday night. (Photos by Megan Goralczyk)

WARSAW – It was not a typical night on the mat in the Tiger Den. But this season has been anything but typical for the Wawasee and Warsaw wrestling teams.

Both teams are low on numbers and that problem was front and center when the two rivals collided on Thursday night as seven of the 14 weight classes were decided by forfeit between the two squads. Warsaw won both the head-to-head battle and the forfeit battle to claim a 46-25 victory in a Northern Lakes Conference contest.

The night could not have started out with any less drama as the first five matches were all forfeits. Warsaw’s Anthony Hendrickson (220), Andrew Brock (heavyweight), Kyle Hatch (106) and Riley Hogenson (113) took the first four forfeits. Wawasee finally got on the scoreboard when sophomore Tristin Ponsler received a forfeit at 120.

Fans finally saw some competition in the 126-pound class. Warsaw’s Jeremy Lee claimed a 9-1 major decision over Wawasee’s Marcos Mejia. Jorge Meyo continued the winning ways for the Tigers in the 132-pound match. The senior held off Wawasee’s Logan Bowers in a hard fought match that ended as 9-6 minor decision for the Tigers.

Michael Pena, a senior, brings down Spencer Gareiss of Warsaw.

Zac McKee gave Wawasee its first competitive points in the night as the sophomore claimed a victory for the Warriors by a score of 5-1 against Bradley Stout. Wawasee head coach Paul Meyer found McKee’s victory as a testament to the sophomore’s dedication and has been impressed with his progression since his freshman campaign.

“I saw some development in some of our guys tonight,” started Meyer. “Zac was one of those guys. His development of wrestling knowledge and mat sense is tenfold compared to last season. From controlling the wrist to seeing breakdowns and pinning combinations and managing himself on his feet, it has all been an improvement. He was one of the guys that impressed me the most tonight.”

Wawasee picked up wins in the two matches following McKee’s as Michael Pena took an 8-0 major decision over Warsaw’s Spencer Gariess at 145 followed by Stephen Possell taking a forfeit at 152.

The Tigers Lester Payne took his time but finally managed to pin Wawasee’s James Hobbick late in the second period. Warsaw ended the night the same way it started, with a victory as Wawasee’s Andy Holdeman fell to Tiger junior Rory Nolin in a 7-2 minor decision.

Warsaw head coach Justin Smith was happy with the win but knows his young team is still developing and getting better.

“Obviously there were a lot of forfeits tonight,” started Smith. “But even without the forfeits we had some good wins. Jeremy (Lee) started us out nice tonight. He’s just a sophomore so that was good to see him get a win. We’re really young this year. We have 12 freshman on the team and half of them are wrestling varsity.

Zac McKee gets taken down by Warsaw’s Brady Stout. McKee would win the match with a decision.

“So right now its really about developing the young wrestlers that we have and getting them to run what we run in practice. Tonight they were doing that. They were running moves that had names and winning matches. That’s what our concern is this season. We know we may not finish high in the NLC with such a young team but our concern is getting these young guys ready for future competition.”

Having basically the same situation with his roster, Meyer talked about his team trying focus on the fundamentals  and building a foundation.

“We saw some good things from our guys tonight,” said Meyer. “I told them that if we wrestled the way we did tonight against Concord, then that Concord meet would have probably gone differently.

“It’s just one of those years. We have a lot of young guys and a lot of injury prone kids this season. This is going to be a down year but I really have a gut feeling and gut instinct that all these guys will come back and next year we will have a strong core.”

Warsaw (4-7, 1-2) will take part in the Penn Super Dual this weekend in Mishawaka starting at 9 a.m. Wawasee (2-12, 0-4) hosts its own Super Dual this weekend, also 9 a.m. in Syracuse.