Warsaw No. 3 singles player Andrew Gauger is 6-0 in the position heading into the NLC tournament this week. (Photos by Mike Deak)

WARSAW – With the sectional tournaments just around the corner, teams still have plenty of work to do with conference championships on the line. Among those are the Northern Lakes Conference and newly-formed Hoosier North Athletic Conference.

The Northern Lakes Conference should be tasty as Goshen and Plymouth both have had tremendous team seasons, the Pilgrims locking up the regular season title with a 4-1 win against Northridge Tuesday to finish 7-0 in the round robin. Goshen has a 16-2 overall record, but one of those losses was to Plymouth.

Cal Heinisch has been very consistent this year for Wawasee. (Photo by Nick Goralczyk)

Plymouth’s John Hunter and John Gerard are the top seeds at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, respectively, and Hugh Birky of Goshen is the No. 3 singles top seed.

Goshen’s Logan Troyer and Luke Rush are the No. 1 doubles top seed and Nick Felke and Grant Clady of Plymouth are the top seed at No. 2 doubles.

Concord, Warsaw and Northridge have all been pesky this season, and should have much to say with how the conference pans out. Concord has wins against Warsaw and Northridge, but its two conference losses are to Goshen and Plymouth. Warsaw beat Northridge, but only 3-2, and lost to Concord Monday, 3-2, in Tiger Town.

It’s been keeping up with the Jones’ that has been troubling for the Tigers this season. Warsaw looked the part despite losses to area powers Penn and Culver Academy, but didn’t against lopsided losses to Plymouth and Goshen. Just the same, all were losses, and longtime Warsaw head coach Rick Orban knows this is the time of year where the term ‘loss’ doesn’t translate into ‘moral victory’.

“We have gotten much better, but we know there is a lot of work to go,” Orban said following the team’s loss at Plymouth earlier in the month. “Our mindset when it comes to beating good teams doesn’t change, whether its someone in conference or not. We have to play confident. We have to play smart. And we can’t let mistakes turn into runs for the opponent.”

Orban has shuffled his lineup as far as who is playing on what court, but the names have largely been the same. Justin Stout, No. 4 Colton Lind and No. 2 Andrew Gauger have been consistently in the singles positions. Gauger is an impressive 6-1 in singles play, and 6-0 at No. 3 singles including wins against Concord and Plymouth foes.

Dalton Bailey, shown, and No. 1 doubles playing partner Chase Butler could be a wild card for the Triton Trojan chances at the HNAC tournament. (Photo by Nick Goralczyk)

Warsaw’s doubles teams have shifted faces throughout the season, but lately have settled in with Chris Herendeen and David Homme at No. 1 doubles and Hayden Steger and Hudson Snyder at No. 2 doubles.

Wawasee has continued to struggle in the conference, settling at 1-6 overall with just a win against NorthWood Monday as its lone team win. Coincidentally, the team broke a 27-match losing streak in the NLC against the Panthers. A shining star among the Warriors has been Cal Heinisch, who has played three different positions but lately in the No. 2 singles spot.

Nate Haines has been at No. 1 and Nathan Perek has also played singles. At doubles, look for Tim Conley and Dylan Staley in one pairing and Chase Jones and Cameron Brill in another.

The NLC tournament will begin Wednesday afternoon at Warsaw with first round matches, then continue Saturday at NorthWood with semi-finals and final round play.

Triton is in a unique situation as part of the HNAC Tennis Championships. Only four teams of the nine member schools are involved in the tourney, with Knox, LaVille and North Judson the other three. The tournament, to be held at Knox, will run Wednesday, Thursday and possibly Saturday.

Home and home matches this year has Triton 4-2 against the three teams, but 0-2 against Knox in matching 4-1 losses.

The brothers Eads, Gavin and Mace, have been solid for the Trojans at No. 1 and No. 2 singles. Aaron Stichter at No. 3 singles has improved, as has the pair at No. 1 doubles in Dalton Bailey and Chase Butler. An injury to Brenden Damron in the No. 2 doubles pairing with Keygan Moiser could be a monkey wrench in the Trojan chances.

“In the Northern State Conference, four to five teams on any given year could win the conference,” started Triton skipper Al Peckham. “With just four teams in the HNAC, it was a two-team race. Knox winning the season round robin (6-0) and us in second place.

“Going into the tourney, my one singles Gavin Eads and two singles Mace Eads have a great chance of winning.”