SYRACUSE – For the Warrior wrestling team, the 2013-14 season has not offered many reasons to celebrate. With a roster full of young, inexperienced wrestlers, wins have been few and far between so far. But on Thursday night the team was able to take a moment and celebrate its lone senior, Michael Pena.

Pena claimed one of three pins by the Warriors in their senior night match against Northern Lakes Conference foe NorthWood. The three pins would be the only points scored on the night for the shorthanded Warriors as the Panthers would claim a 62-18 victory.

“It was a great way for him to cap his senior season,” said Warrior head coach Paul Meyer of his lone senior’s performance. “He worked really hard tonight. He gets worked up and very emotional out there, as you can see, he really wanted that win and he got it. He got beat up a little tonight but he worked hard and got the win.”

Outside of Pena’s exciting and emotional win in the 145-pound class, the victories on the mat were not very plentiful for Wawasee in Thursday’s meet. Stephen Possell managed to get a win over NorthWood’s Nick Newcomer in a battle of two 170-pound wrestlers. Possell seemed over matched by Newcomer in the beginning but outlasted and pinned the Panther freshman in the second period. Meyer knew Possell’s win was a big one, but thought it could have came a little earlier.

“Possell did well tonight and got a nice win,” started Meyer. “But that was a kid that Stephen should’ve beat in the first period. This weather messed up our regular routine and our guys really haven’t been on the mat in close to four weeks. Possell struggled a little bit but I think he was just shaking off some rust.”

The only other points Wawasee earned against NorthWood came from Tristin Ponsler. The sophomore standout dominated NorthWood’s Brock Lechlitner in the first period, taking a 9-1 lead into the second. Lechlitner, already in a hole, did not know what hit him in the second period as Ponsler pinned the Panther freshman in under a minute.

In the other 11 weight classes, Wawasee did not look too good. NorthWood collected forfeits in the 106, 113, 152, 220 and 285-pound weight classes. The Panthers also picked up major points with pins over Wawasee in the 132, 160, 182 and 195-pound classes. NorthWood’s Josh Chupp grabbed a 17-2 tech fall in the 138-pound class and Mathew Pippenger edged out Wawasee’s Marcos Mejia with a 6-2 decision.

Looking ahead, the road does not get much easier for Wawasee (2-17, 0-5 NLC) as the Warriors host a traditionally strong Elkhart Memorial team on Thursday night. Meyer hopes the team will be in better shape by then.

“We are really looking forward to getting more time on the mat,” Meyer said. “We will get a few kids back like Zach Ford and we should have a guy ready for 220. We are also getting a transfer in that had to sit out the first half of the year. We should look better next week, but right now we just need more time on the mat.”

Memorial and Wawasee are set to start at 6:45 p.m. in Syracuse. NorthWood is now 8-7 on the year and 2-3 in the NLC.