By Greg Keim
Led by four individual champions, the Goshen Redskins finished first in team standings of the 42nd Goshen High School wresting invitational Saturday.
The Redskins had six competitors in championship matches to bring home the team trophy for the first time since 1999. It is the 17th overall title for Goshen.
Goshen amassed 220 points, followed by Fairfield 186, Whitko 176, Bronson 150 1/2, Columbia City 138 1/2, Eastern 118, Lakeland 117 and Fort Wayne North Side 94.
“Finally!” Goshen coach Jim Pickard said while clutching the trophy. “We wrestled good. We had guys come through in the finals.
“The kids also won a lot of third, fifth and seventh place matches. You win the odd place matches in an event like this and the points add up.”
Fairfield had four wrestlers finish as runners-up.
“This is the highest we have ever placed in this event,” Fairfield coach Nathan Steffen said. “We were up and down a lot. We would win in one round, lose in the next and come back to win in the following round. I’m proud of they way our kids performed.”
Goshen had a 153 to 130 1/2 lead over Fairfield after the second round and 185-167 entering the final round.
Winning championships for the Redskins were Ryan Ntende at 140 pounds, Francisco Garcia at 160, Brandon Dillenbeck at 189 and Jacob Clark at 285.
“All of the champions wrestled good,” Pickard said.
Garcia won the individual high-point award. He pinned Tyler Mitchell of Columbia City (:34) in the opening round, Chris Bitterman of Eastern (1:40) in the second and Adam Schrock of Lakeland (1:23) in the finale.
“Garcia had a great tournament,” Pickard said. “First-period pins are momentum builders. His pin in the championship match got us going.”
Clark pinned Chase Starkes of Eastern (5:14) in his finale. He was the only wrestler to repeat as champion in the same weight class.
Ntende won a year ago, but at 135.
“Clark was the only repeat champion,” Pickard said. “Usually wrestlers, except for heavyweights, move up in weight classes.”
Travis Pickard (135) and Andrew Stegelmann (145) finished second for the Redskins.
One of the more controversial matches of the day was the third-place contest at 152 between Troy Pickard of Goshen and Cody Feasby of Whitko.
Pickard won by disqualification when he was taken down off the mat with an injured shoulder.
“He will be evaluated later on,” Coach Pickard said. “You can’t slam a kid on the floor after the whistle.”
The younger Pickard’s status could be key as the Redskins host Elkhart Memorial on Wednesday night in a match to determine the Northern Lakes Conference regular season champion.
Reaching finals for Fairfield were Ricky Masters at 119, Dillon Hinen at 130, Alex Hostetler at 171 and Justin Comino at 215.
“We had four finalists and six competitors going for third. That is good for us,” Steffen said. “Advancement points are important. You can lose a match, but if you come back and wrestle for third, fifth or seventh you can score points.”
Dylan LeTourneau of Whitko won at 125 to become a fourth-time invitational champion.
