Warsaw’s Rory Nolin finished a stellar senior season at the Merrillville Semistate on Saturday (Photos provided by Scott Gareiss)

MERRILLVILLE – It was heartbreak time for a quality quartet of area wrestlers Saturday.

The foursome of Tristin Ponsler of Wawasee, Rory Nolin of Warsaw and the Tippecanoe Valley duo of Devin Childers and Garrett Bell each came up just short in their bids to qualify for the State Finals.

The quartet all won their first-round matches in the Merrillville Semistate before losing in the second round. The top four finishers in each weight class, which means all wrestlers who won in the second round on Saturday, move on to the State Finals starting Friday night in Indianapolis.

Ponsler opened action Saturday with a 17-5 win over LaPorte senior Zach Wells in the 126-pound class. The Wawasee junior then lost by fall in 1:42 to Lake Central senior Branden Truver in his second-round match.

Ponsler, making his first semi state appearance, finishes his season at 41-3.

Nolin came so close to joining teammate Kyle Hatch for a trip to the Circle City. The Warsaw senior beat Twin Lakes junior Trevor Brown 9-0 to open action Saturday. He then lost a tough 5-3 final to Portage senior Matt Hedrick in the second round at 195.

“Rory wrestled well today,” said Warsaw coach Justin Smith in a phone interview late Saturday night from Merrillville. “It’s not where you want a senior to have his season end, but he gave it everything he had. I feel for him, but he has a bright future going on to Manchester College.”

Nolin finishes his final prep campaign with a mark of 35-6.

The Valley duo of senior Childers and junior Bell, each competing in the semi state for the second straight year, also each lost in the second round on Saturday. Childers lost 6-1 to Crown Point senior Zach Donaldson at 132 and Bell dropped a 12-3 final to Chesterton sophomore Andrew Davison.

Childers opened action Saturday by defeating Munster senior Ryan Glason in a fall in 1:37. Bell beat South Newton junior Damari Embery 7-5 in his first-round match.

Childers finishes his senior season at 40-3 and Bell ends up at 38-4.

Warsaw junior Andrew Brock was sidelined in the first round. Hammond Bishop Noll senior Jesus Lee topped Brock 7-3. Brock finishes the season at 33-10.

“Andrew had a tough first round match, but gave it all he had,” Smith said. “It was a new experience for him being at semi state for the first time. The good thing is that he is an underclassmen.”

The day came to a quick end unfortunately for all four Triton wrestlers. The quartet were all competing at the semi state level for the first time.

Triton’s Nate Spangle and Justin Hefner saw stellar senior seasons and prep careers come to a close. Spangle lost a 6-3 decision to LaVille senior Ben Norton at 170. Hefner lost to Valparaiso senior Ian Sutter by injury default at 0:12 at heavyweight.

Junior Gage Waddle of the Trojans lost 4-1 to Hobart senior Scottie Sopko. Sophomore Malachi Greene lost 11-0 to Lafayette Jeff sophomore Jon Anderson at 106.

Spangle finishes at 35-5 on the season, while Hefner was 26-14, Waddle 27-9 and Greene 32-10.

Penn dominated Saturday to win the semi state team championship. The Kingsmen piled up 124.5 points. Crown Point was second with 74 points. Mishawaka placed fifth with 46.5 and South Bend Riley was ninth with 31. Warsaw finished in 16th place in the final team standings with 11 points.

Wawasee junior Tristin Ponsler advanced to the second round Saturday at the semi state.