W: #1 Mishawaka thumps #14 Penn, Michigan champs on consecutive nights

By E. Shawn Aylsworth

Managing Editor

Top-ranked Mishawaka took a break from the increasingly common weekend tournament format for a couple of late-week, high-profile dual meets, and the Cavemen made it count with impressive victories over No. 14 host Penn and defending Michigan state champion Lowell.

Riding the strength of nine ranked wrestlers, Mishawaka displayed its standout 14-man balance in the back-to-backers. The Cavemen dominated the upper weight classes in a 36-21 Northern Indiana Conference win in front of a huge crowd at Penn Dec. 17, then controlled the lower weights the next night at home in a 41-17 pasting of Lowell.

Mishawaka coach Darrick Snyder said the Mishawaka-Penn wrestling meet is always very exciting.

“We look forward to the huge crowd and electric atmosphere every year, and it was a fun meet again this year,” Snyder said. ‘We didn’t wrestle our best, but Penn is a very good defensive team. We are very attack-oriented, and it was difficult to force action against them.”

The marquee matchup came at 135, where 11th-ranked 130-pounder Matt Guerra of Mishawaka upset Penn’s No. 8 Ben Sokol, 6-5. That one-point squeaker, along with five other decisions and three pins, countered Penn’s three victories and two falls.

“They are very good,” Snyder said of the Kingsmen. “In my opinion, they are currently under-ranked.”

That coming from the man who would know, after all. Snyder runs the rankings determined by the state’s coaches.

Mishawaka then turned around the next night to host Michigan’s Lowell. Showing superior physicality and technique, the Cavemen won six of the seven lightest weights – including three by pin – in a 24-point win that improves them to 13-0 on the season.

Always looking to find the best competition around, Mishawaka added Lowell to its schedule last year, according to Snyder.

“We wrestled outstanding against Michigan’s returning state champions, and we worked our best to represent Indiana well,” Snyder said. “Lowell has some absolute freaks. The trio of Morse brothers is the real deal.”

All three Morses were undefeated coming into the meet, including Illinois signee Jackson Morse. The 160-pound senior has won multiple state championships to the north, and he posted a 19-4 technical fall win over Indiana’s No. 7 Richard Morin.

“He is one bad dude,” Snyder said, “He crushed a great wrestler.”

The other two Morse brothers – 135-pound Gabe and 152 Andrew – are twins and only in the 10th grade, prompting a “WOW!” from Snyder.

“We beat them at 152 with (a 5-0 win by No. 2 senior Ryan Stahl, a transfer from Elkhart Memorial), but the other one beat Matt Guerra in a great match (7-5 at 135),” Snyder said.

All told, Mishawaka made off with 10 victories in 14 bouts against the out-of-staters, including three by fall.

Next up for Mishawaka is the 32nd Annual Al Smith Classic hosted by the Cavemen Dec. 29-30. A half dozen ranked teams – No. 1 Mishawaka, No. 4 Merrillville, No. 13 Lawrence North, No. 14 Penn, No. 21 Bellmont, and No. 24 Center Grove – will be among the 32 teams competing.

The individual results:

#1 Mishawaka 36, #14 Penn 21

103: Mike Witous (P) dec. Grant Martsoff, 8-6

112: #2 Paul Beck (M) dec. Ben Varner, 10-3

119: Tyler Chapple (P) pin #15 Layten Binion, 5:52

125: #4 (at 119) Alex Gregory (P) dec. Taylor Wisler, 5-3

130: #5 (at 135) Nick Schrader (M) dec. Trevor Manspeaker, 9-3

135: #11 (at 130) Matt Guerra (M) dec. #8 Ben Sokol, 6-5

140: Anthony Eddy (M) pin Grant Anglemyer, 3:09

145: #16 (at 152) Pat Davenport (P) pin Darius Marshall, 1:14

152: #2 Ryan Stahl (M) pin Justin Holland, 3:51

160: #9 Alex White (M) dec. Mike Hummer, 10-4