Warsaw junior Andrew Gauger claimed the No. 3 singles championship at the NLC Tournament on Saturday (File photo by Mike Deak)

NAPPANEE – Warsaw boys tennis coach Rick Orban said recently how pleased he has been this season with the play of Andrew Gauger.

Gauger continued to make his coach feel good about his performance on Saturday.

The WCHS junior collected a championship in No. 3 singles action at the Northern Lakes Conference Tournament contested at NorthWood High School.

Gauger showed his mettle in a big way in the title match to pick up his title. He rallied to defeat Goshen junior Hugh Birky 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 for the championship. Birky entered the tournament as the top seed in the No. 3 singles bracket.

Gauger, who earns All-NLC honors thanks to his title, beat Concord freshman Nate Slabach 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals on Saturday.

Plymouth earned the team title on Saturday, edging past Goshen 48-45 in the final points tally. Concord was a close third in the final team standings with 43 points while Orban’s Tigers were fourth with 31. Northridge was fifth with 18 points, followed by NorthWood (16), Elkhart Memorial (11) and Wawasee (9).

Sophomore Colton Lind placed third at No. 2 singles for Warsaw. Lind rallied to top Goshen’s Evan Beck 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the third-place match.

The Tigers also had a pair of fifth-place finishes. Junior Justin Stout was fifth at No. 1 singles, He defeated Wawasee junior Nate Haines 6-2, 6-3 in the fifth-place match. The Warsaw No. 1 doubles team of senior Chris Herendeen and junior David Homme also took fifth. They were 2-0 on Saturday, including outlasting NorthWood 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 in the fifth-place match.

The No. 2 doubles team of Spencer Britton and Reuben Williams, which was inserted into the Warsaw lineup Saturday, finished in seventh place. They beat Evan Krueger and Dylan Staley of Wawasee 6-3, 7-5 in the seventh-place match.

Senior Cal Heinisch of Wawasee was sixth at No. 2 singles. He was 1-1 on Saturday. Junior Nathan Perek of the Warriors was also 1-1 on Saturday and finished in seventh place at No. 3 singles. The No. 1 doubles team of Cameron Brill and Tim Conley placed eighth for Wawasee.

Plymouth senior John Hunter claimed the No. 1 singles crown in the tourney. Concord senior Riley Huffer won the No. 2 singles title. The Goshen team of junior Logan Troyer and senior Luke Rush captured the No. 1 doubles title. The Plymouth pair of juniors Nick Felke and Grant Clady earned the No. 2 doubles championship.

All of the champions earned automatic All-NLC honors. Selected by the coaches as at-large All-NLC picks were Will Boyer of Concord, Hudson Kay of Goshen and John Gerard of Plymouth.

Warsaw’s Stout was tabbed as an All-NLC honorable mention pick by the coaches.

Michael Delp, coach of the champion Pilgrims, was the NLC Coach of the Year.

Plymouth captured the overall NLC title with Goshen finishing as runner-up. Concord was third with Warsaw fourth and Northridge fifth. Memorial was sixth, followed by NorthWood and Wawasee in the final standings. Plymouth went 7-0 during the NLC regular season, followed by Goshen (6-1), Concord (5-2), Warsaw (4-3), Northridge (3-4), Memorial (2-5), Wawasee (1-6) and NorthWood (0-7).

Warsaw and Wawasee will both compete in the Warsaw Sectional this coming week.