Whitko’s Issac Walters turns over Norwell’s Jared Cross before scoring a pin at the Whitko Wrestling Invitational Wednesday morning. (Photos by Mike Deak)

SOUTH WHITLEY – It wasn’t a banner showcase for the Whitko Wildcats, but it was a day to be proud of for the ‘Cats on the mats. Just five Whitko wrestlers were active Saturday at the Whitko Wrestling Invitational, but four of them finished in the top five of Wednesday’s tournament.

Having a couple of the already thin Wildcats roster not make morning weight, Whitko had two lightweights and three middleweights attack the brackets in the 16-team bracket bonanza. Whitko would produce two fourth place and two fifth place finishes among its output.

Both Kaleb Busz at 113 and Dillon Alma at 170 went 3-2 on the day and placed fourth in their respective brackets while Logan Busz at 106 and Isaac Walters at 182 were both 4-2 and each took fifth place. Logan Patrick at 152 was 1-2 overall in his day.

Whitko’s Dillon Alma finished fourth in the 170-pound weight class.

Logan Busz would score two pins and a decision among his wins, the final fall at 3:24 over Ben Frecker of Fort Wayne Bishop Luers capped his day. Kaleb Busz would reach the semi-finals after scoring a forfeit then a fall over Marian’s Joel Barnes, but would get soundly defeated, 16-7, by NorthWood’s Luke Fillers. Kaleb would rally to beat Mason Smith of Heritage before settling for fourth in a tech defeat to Northridge’s Anthony Baker.

Alma ventured a similar road as Kaleb Busz, scoring a pair of decisions before losing a tough 2-0 match to Churubusco’s Caleb Partin in the semi-finals. Alma would come back to beat Brody Miller of Northridge 10-2 in the getback match before losing to Concordia’s Zach Davis to place fourth.

Walters had two pins and a forfeit to his credit before getting pinned by Nathan McCann of Lakeland. Walters was given a forfeit to land in fifth. Walters pinned NorthWood’s Jared Cross and Concord’s Dominick Deborka earlier in the day.

Patrick’s lone win came in his second match, taking down Luers’ Jacob Rauner at 0:56. Patrick’s two losses came via pin.

“We are kind of light in numbers, but the ones we have battling today are tough,” said Whitko head coach Matt Burlingame. “We had some matchups that we liked going in, and had some success. I like this format today, wrestling is a team sport but is built on individual success. This helps us build for the sectional and regional levels, which trains for the semi-state and hopefully state levels. We know there are a lot of teams here that we could see down the line, which gives us some good experience.

“Ultimately, we aren’t worried about other teams, we are working on wrestling our own matches,” continued Burlingame. “If we can keep improving, then hopefully our opponent is walking off the mat saying ‘Geez, I don’t want to wrestle another Whitko kid.’ That’s been the premise for us this year.”

Fort Wayne Concordia would edge Northridge for the team title, 211.5-209.5, paced by championships from Luke Aumick at 113 and Jack Adair at 152. Northridge had title winners in Chris Howe at 160 and Conner Graber at 182.

Whitko Wrestling Invitational
1. Fort Wayne Concordia 211.5
2. Northridge 209.5
3. Central Noble 195
4. Marion 174
5. Churubusco 144
6. Lakeland 132
7. Mishawaka Marian 119
8. Wabash 96
9. Concord 95
10. Fort Wayne Bishop Luers 84
11. Mississinewa 67
11. Fort Wayne Northrop 67
13. Whitko 65
14. Norwell 63
15. Heritage 62
16. Bluffton 58