SYRACUSE – The Wawasee gymnastics team was on cloud nine after a solid victory over defending sectional champion Angola this past Tuesday night. Unfortunately for the Warriors, that high did not last as long as they were hoping.

Wawasee was brought back down to Earth on Thursday night following a 103.35-95.08 loss at the hands (and feet) of Fort Wayne Carroll.

Carroll was well-rounded, placing two gymnasts in the top four in each of the four events. While the Chargers made it difficult for Wawasee to compete in any event on Thursday night, the beam, is where the true separation came between the two teams.

Wawasee struggled to find balance or consistency on the beam from the start. Taylor Busse led the Warriors in the event with an 8.15 but the rest of the team was well behind that score. Wawasee scored a 22.43 as a team on the beam while Carroll scored a 26.35. The near four-point differential was the largest separation of points on an event between the two teams in the meet. The Chargers would claim the top five spots in the event with Sydney Ulrey’s 9.2 taking the top spot.

“Our varsity fell tonight,” said Wawasee head coach Nika Prather of her team’s performance on the beam. “Everyone had a few falls. If you figure every girl fell at least twice, that’s one point per person. That adds up real quick.”

The falls really came at a bad time for Wawasee as the Warriors found themselves trailing just 49.45-47.15 after the night’s first two events, vault and uneven bars.

Wawasee second best showing on the night was on the vault. Emily Allen took first place with an 8.6. No other Warrior placed in the top four but Molly Smith scored an 8.2 and Ashleigh Frecker had an 8.05 to help contribute to the 24.85 team score in the event.

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On bars it was Carroll’s Savannah Shearer that placed first with an 8.15, narrowly edging out Busse’s score of 8.10. Allen was right in the mix for the Warriors on the bars as well as the senior scored an even 8.0 on the event.

While floor is usually the strong-suit for the Warriors, it was not up to par with Carroll’s dominance. The Chargers had all five of their gymnasts score an 8.45 or higher and three with a score of 9.0 or better. Ulrey was the best of the best with her score of 9.5. Morgan Moehle placed second with a 9.05 and Delaney Garland took third with a 9.0.

Allen was tops for the Warriors, claiming fourth in the event with an 8.65. Juniors Busse and Smith both scored well with an 8.5 and 8.35, respectively. Carroll swept the all-around category with Ulrey, Shearer, Moehle and Garland taking the top four spots to cap off a brilliant night for the Chargers.

Prather was happy to see how her team measured up against a very solid Carroll team and hopes her team can make improvement before the two teams meet again.

“The good thing is, we will see Carroll again,” Prather stated. “We run into them at the Lakeland Invite so we will see how much we have improved by then. But for now we are going to focus on our mistakes from tonight and hope to be improved for our meet at West Noble next week.”

Wawasee (1-1) will compete against West Noble on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Ligonier.

In the junior varsity contest, Wawasee defeated Carroll 62.25-37.45. Deea Coy’s 7.75 and Jade Skelton’s 7.6 on the vault highlighted the Warrior JV victory.