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February 8, 2004

Lessons learned give Zick a title

Triton wrestler set for semistate

HIGH SCHOOL: WRESTLING/INDIVIDUAL REGIONALS

By TIM CREASON
Tribune Correspondent

MISHAWAKA -- Tim Zick leapt into the air, ran a circle around the mat and did a quick little dance in celebration.

The Triton High School senior had just defeated Rochester's Cory Fornal, 9-2, for the 125-pound weight class championship at Saturday's individual wrestling regional at Mishawaka.

"It's the first regional championship at Triton since 1993," said Zick, assessing his spot in school history. "Now, I just need to control my nerves until next week."

Next week -- actually next Saturday -- will be one of the biggest days in Zick's wrestling career, as he competes at the Merrillville individual semistate.

The top three finishers at a regional advance to semistate, where 12 wrestlers in each weight class will vie for a spot at the individual state finals on Feb. 20.

One win at Merrillville, and Zick is on his way.

"I'm going to work hard in practice and go to bed early all week," said Zick, who stands 37-3 this season. "I'm going to be ready."

He will also be mindful of lessons learned at last week's Plymouth Sectional, where he was pinned by Wawasee's Deme Vallejo in the championship match.

"I didn't have my head on straight at the sectional. I was too overconfident," said Zick. "I didn't let that happen today. I didn't overlook anybody."

That attitude -- respect for every opponent -- was the key for several Tribune-area wrestlers who either avenged earlier losses or confirmed recent improvements.

Adams had the most to celebrate, qualifying six wrestlers for semistate, including two individual champs.

Roshawn Hill (36-3) won the 152-pound championship, while aggressive senior Patrick Harmon (26-3) topped the field at 189, pinning Wawasee's Rob McKibben in the finale.

"I've sat back in some matches this year and waited for the other guy to make a move, and that cost me," said Harmon. "That's not going to happen any more. I'm going to be the aggressor every time."

Penn and Mishawaka each advanced five to semistate, while Clay is sending four.

As usual, a few highly-regarded wrestlers failed to advance. Washington 160-pounder Andrew Comeau (30-6) was beaten in the first round by Plymouth's Nathan Bieszka.

Riley's James Rizzo (112), Mishawaka's Jason Francis (125) and Culver's Eddie Molebash (135) each finished fourth.

But for the most part, the finals anticipated by mat fans took place, though some results took them by surprise.

Mishawaka's Benji Dolly was trailing LaVille's Brandon Bettcher 3-0 in the third period of the 119 final when he came up with a takedown and three-point nearfall to pull out a 5-4 victory.

Dolly had fallen to Bettcher by the exact same score at last week's sectional.

"I'm pretty excited to win, but there are still a lot of things I need to work on," said Dolly.

Penn's Tom Bemenderfer (37-2) avenged his two losses this season by tripping Warsaw's Chris Boots, 1-0, in the heavyweight championship. Bemenderfer and Boots have split four matches and will likely meet again at Merrillville.

Clay's Adam O'Neil (38-0) kept his unbeaten season going by pinning Plymouth's Bieszka in the 160 final. "I don't care who I draw next week; I just love to wrestle," said O'Neil.

Mishawaka's Dylan Eberhart fought off the late rally of Wawasee's Trevor Brown to win a dandy 171-pound final, 9-8. The 140-pound final was equally close, as Washington's Cole Landuyt took a tough 3-2 decision from Adams senior Derek Mersich.

Other champs included Clay's Steve Salinas at 103, Rochester's Garrett James at 112, Mishawaka's Curt Kauffman at 130, Penn's Tom Ginter at 135, Bremen's Clark Traub at 145 and Culver Academy's Kevin Jones at 215.

"The last three years, I didn't have a winning attitude," said Jones. "This is my senior year and I finally realized you can't win unless you believe in yourself. I'm a believer now."

Semistate qualifiers: Adams 6, Mishawaka 5, Penn 5, Clay 4, Bremen 3, LaVille 3, Washington 3, Wawasee 3, Culver Academy 2, Riley 2, Rochester 2, Triton 2, Plymouth 1, Warsaw 1.

CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND

103: Steve Salinas (Clay) dec. Maurice DeArmond (Adams), 6-4; 112: Garrett James (Rochester) dec. Rhys Canaday (Wawasee), 8-2; 119: Benji Dolly (Mishawaka) dec. Brandon Bettcher (LaVille), 5-4; 125: Tim Zick (Triton) dec. Cory Fornal (Rochester), 9-2; 130: Curt Kauffman (Mishawaka) dec. Ronnie McCollough (LaVille), 8-6 in OT; 135: Tom Ginter (Penn) dec. Mike Robertson (Riley), 7-3; 140: Cole Landuyt (Washington) dec. Derek Mersich (Adams), 3-2; 145: Clark Traub (Bremen) pinned Shane Kohler (Washington), 4:46; 152: Roshawn Hill (Adams) dec. Joe Urednick (LaVille), 5-3; 160: Adam O'Neil (Clay) pinned Nathan Bieszka (Plymouth), 2:43; 171: Dylan Eberhart (Mishawaka) dec. Trevor Brown (Wawasee), 9-8; 189: Patrick Harmon (Adams) pinned Rob McKibben (Wawasee), 3:10; 215: Kevin Jones (Culver Academy) dec. Nathan Ulmer (Triton), 1-0; 275: Tom Bemenderfer (Penn) dec. Jacob Boots (Warsaw), 1-0.

CONSOLATION ROUND

(For third place)

103: Matt Brothers (Mishawaka) dec. Mike Genovese (Penn), 10-4. 112: Andy Desimone (Penn) dec. James Rizzo (Riley), 6-2. 119: Tony Forte (Bremen) dec. Tom Petko (Penn), 5-4. 125: Deme Vallejo (Wawasee) dec. Jason Francis (Mishawaka), 9-3. 130: Ian Mersich (Adams) pinned Elliott Steward (Culver Academy), 0:56. 135: Jimmy Summerfield (Clay) dec. Eddie Molebash (Culver Community), 9-2. 140: Chris Prendergast (Bremen) pinned David Read, 2:44. 145: Lucas Bolin (Penn) maj. dec. Eric Boal (St. Joseph's), 11-3. 152: Peter Hutchison (Culver Academy) pinned Jamie Lukaszewski (Mishawaka), 4:46. 160: Ian Hinton (Mishawaka) dec. Jeremiah Maggart (Penn), 7-1. 171: Dave Shepard (Adams) pinned Josh Williams (Clay), 2:44. 189: Tyler Frame (Riley) dec. Josh Black (Mishawaka), 5-4. 215: Chris Maggart (Penn) maj. dec. Matt Turpin (Bremen), 9-1. 275: Alex Delonis (Clay) pinned John Cheney (Marian), 4:59.

NOTE: Top three finishers in each weight class advance to Merrillville individual semistate on Saturday, Feb. 14.