Warsaw’s Jonny Hollar, far left, shakes hands with Wawasee’s Jeffrey Moore following their round Tuesday night. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

SYRACUSE – On paper it may not have been the best night, but to coach Ben Barkey his  Warsaw team performed just the way it needed to on Tuesday night.

“This was a great win for us,” stated the Tiger head coach.

Warsaw defeated perhaps its biggest rival in Wawasee Tuesday night at South Shore golf course, outshooting the Warriors 154-160.

“We beat a really good team on their home course tonight,” Barkey later continued. “It’s never easy when you come out to South Shore. Steve (Coverstone) gets his guys ready to play. It’s a great night because we came and beat an up and coming team that played really well.”

The Tigers were given all they could handle by its county rivals on Tuesday night but did just enough to claim the road victory thanks, in part, to Jonny Hollar.

Hollar shot a 35, good enough to be named co-medalist with Wawasee’s Luke Jackson. The Tiger sophomore avoided tallying a bogey the entire match and claimed a birdie on number four to lead his team.

Wawasee’s Tristen Atwood fires out of the bunker.

Jackson followed suit with his competitor for the first three holes but had an uncharacteristic bogey on the fourth hole. The standout senior for Wawasee rebounded two holes later by getting an eagle on number six for the second time this year.

The difference in the end for the Warriors was all too simple to figure out. Jackson was the lone Warrior to shoot under 40 for the day.

“We shot too high. There is not much else to add to that, we needed to shoot better today,” Coverstone said of his team’s performance.

The Warrior head coach would continue,”We had some bad lies out there but I still think we shot well for the night, we just needed to shoot lower. We stayed with them right up until the last few holes and we just did not have a good finish. Warsaw is just, well, they’re real good.”

Evan Cultice was had the second lowest score on the day for the Tigers as he brought in a 38 which was highlighted by a birdie on the sixth hole. Will Petro golfed in the five spot for the orange and black Tuesday night but tallied the third lowest score with a 39.

The second lowest score for the Warriors was a 40, brought in by Mason Germonprez. The sophomore also birdied on number six. Dylan Cousins teed off at the one spot for Wawasee and beat fellow number one Jon Schram, but only shot a 41 for the day. Schram finished with a surprising 42 on the day.

Warsaw’s Jon Schram looks for higher ground.

Tim Ahlersmeyer rounded out the starting five for the Tigers with a 43. Jeffrey Moore and Tristen Atwood both finished with a score of 44 for the Warriors. Moore highlighted his day with a birdie on number one.

A conference win is always a plus and that is just how the Tigers are looking at Tuesday’s win. The Warriors, however, are left thinking about what could have been.

Wawasee shot a season low 149 at South Shore on April 25. The Warriors knew they were capable of that again but fell flat on the home stretch to miss out on an upset win over their rivals, ranked No. 5 in the state.

While the win was a little too close to call for the Tigers and the loss a little too bitter to taste for the Warriors, the rivals will have another chance to get bragging rights this weekend. Both the Warriors and Tigers will compete in the Culver Military Invitational Saturday morning.

Before the rematch in Culver, though, both teams will have conference matches to focus on.

The Warriors will travel to Elkhart’s Christiana Creek GC to face Goshen and Elkhart Memorial on Thursday night. The Tigers will be in Elkhart County as well Thursday night to take on Concord and Northridge at Bent Oak GC in Elkhart. Both matches are set to begin at 5 p.m.

In the junior varsity match the Tigers also claimed victory by defeating Wawasee 165-183.

Brandon Eckert led the Tigers with a 40 and Ryan Cultice and Josh Ahlersmeyer both chipped in 41s. Cal Heinisch paced Wawasee with a 40 and Cameron Adams had a 41.