[weaver_youtube f2U6hmp83Rg rel=0]

SYRACUSE — Things just got interesting for the Wawasee gymnastics team.

“On the confidence scale, this is huge. Huge,” said Wawasee coach Nika Prather.

Yes, it was huge. Surprising to many. But, surprising or not, it still happened and it’s still, you know, huge.

Thursday night Wawasee welcomed in Elkhart Central, the state’s No. 7 squad. It was the third meeting between the two programs this season with the Blazers already placing ahead of Wawasee in two invites. Central is the assumed favorite to win the Wawasee Sectional on Feb. 27, but the Warriors had something to say about that. A season-high score of 104.65 bested Central’s 103.65 in a highly entertaining meet.

“This shows that these girls are not intimidated,” Prather continued. “That speaks volumes. So much of this is mental and this is huge mentally.”

The Warriors surprised with a third-place finish at Central’s invite in early January. While nobody assumed the young team would peak to start its season, Wawasee has improved drastically even since that point. Thursday’s score will count for nothing when the sectional comes around in two weeks, but having your best performance of the year against your toughest opponent certainly cannot be overlooked.

The home squad made its statement, more than anywhere else, on the floor as three performances earned a score north of 9.0. Wawasee had a 28.35 in the event as a team. Reagan Atwood led that event with a stellar score of 9.6. Atwood was impressive, as always, finishing no lower than second in any event.

The sophomore finished second on vault (8.75) but was first in every other event. Atwood earned an 8.55 on bars, 8.98 on beam and won the all-around with 35.88.

As impressive as Atwood was, it was another Wawasee gymnast that took much of the attention at Thursday’s meet.

Ashleigh Frecker was the focus from start to finish as she put together a solid performance on the team’s senior night. Frecker is Wawasee’s only senior.

[weaver_youtube VlEEvo2oIHQ rell=0]

She recorded an 8.85 with her floor routine, placed third on vault with an 8.55 and had a no-fall routine on beam, earning an 8.05. Atwood and Jada Parzygnot also had no-falls on beam.

“I so wanted her to have a great meet,” Prather remarked about Frecker. “You always want that for your seniors. I think Ashleigh did it tonight, or pretty darn close.”

Seeing Frecker’s success was just the cherry on top of an already sweet night for the coach.

“I’ve had her since first grade,” Prather said, now attempting to hold back tears. “I’m just so proud of her.”

Parzygnot took third in the all-around with a 34.65. The freshman was third on floor (9.4) and beam (8.75), fourth on vault (8.45) and sixth on bars (8.05). Alyssa Minnix was fifth in the all-around and highlighted her night with fourth place scores on vault (8.45) and floor (9.35).

Central, a team with as much youth as Wawasee, was lead by freshman Abi Downs.

Downs was second in the all-around with a 35.55. She as first on vault (9.00), second on bars (8.50) and floor (9.55) and fifth on beam (8.50). Kiara Stabler, a junior, was fourth in the all-around for the Blazers and highlighted her performance with an 8.83 on beam, placing her second.

Wawasee travels to Huntington North next Thursday as one of its final two meets to fix the kinks before seeing Central, and the rest of the sectional field, in two weeks.

“There’s still things to fix,” Prather stated. “We need to tweak a few things to eek out those extra few points so it’s not so close. We’ve got two meets to do that and add a few things. But now we know what we can do. We’re actual contenders.”

Wawasee won the JV meet 85.175-61.800. Kalynn Workman won the all-around with a 26.63 for Wawasee.

New Prairie’s Allie Palmer also competed Thursday evening. No scores were provided for the gymnast.