Every Extra
Effort
Effort
Sycamore Wins NIB-12 Meet By 2
½ Points ...
½ Points ...
| Northern Illinois Sports Beat http://www.northernillinoissportsbeat.com |
“We had guys talking back and forth and thought we had lost by a point, and other people
said we probably won my two – I didn't honestly know until they announced it,” Sycamore
coach Alex Nelson said. “You realize when you wrestled all of those matches in one day,
how it ends up coming down to bonus points. We came though and had some good
matches and in the end we had the right things fall in place. It's definitely a good stepping
stone for us going into regionals and gives our kids a lot of confidence.”
Coming into the final round of first-, third-, and fifth-place matches, the Spartans led 201
to 199.5 over the Foxes. The three championship bouts pitting the two took place at 145,
152 and 170 pounds.
Steven Lalowski met up with Connor Bass at 145, in a rematch of their previous meeting
during the regular season (a 5-2 Lalowski win). Lalowski scored the initial takedown and
was soon up 4-0 after a reversal. Bass countered with a couple of a pair of counters of his
own, but the Spartan senior was able to hold off his adversary for a 6-5 decision win for
his third conference title.
“He's been working a lot, trying to get me back,” Lalowski said of his opponent. “I knew he
is a good wrestler on the mat, good on top and bottom. But I had him beat on out feet.
I just had to brawl out on the ground. It was tough, nothing I could help. I just focused on
wrestling.”
Twin brother would get revenge.
Yorkville would get back in the fight in the next bout, with Clayton Bass taking on Austin
Culton. Culton was up 2-1 before Bass was able to wrap him up using his strength from
top with the final seconds ticking in the second period.
With nine seconds left in the second period, Bass was able to secure the fall for his first
conference gold and give the Foxes needed bonus points in its effort to fight for the
overall title.
“It's all attitude,” Bass said. “I know how to put the time in, I knew I deserved it, so I went
out there and did what I had to do. I surely wasn't going to let a ranking get to my head or
anything else. I know I'm the best wrestler in the state, and that's what I want to do.
“I read a quote the other day from Muhammad Ali that says, 'suffer now and live the rest
of your life as a champion.' That's something that I'm going to hold with me through here
and hopefully to the state championship.”
After Yorkville's Tyler Wilkinson – who scored an 8-3 upset decision win over Geneseo's
Tyler Puls in the semifinal – was quickly pinned by LaSalle-Peru's Travis Mahoney in the
160-pound championship (0:37), Steven Pozeg gave his team its second win against a
Sycamore finalist with a 14-6 major over Ren Swick at 170 pounds.
“I was in shape, it was the first time I've been in shape for a long time,” Pozeg said. “After
Clayton won that big match adrenaline was going to me. I needed to get at least a major,
and I got it. The whole team got going (after Bass's pin).”
The last four championship bouts featured Spartan and Fox wrestlers, but that's when the
Spartans started to pull away and eventually get to the team championship.
At 182 pounds, Morris's Nik Countryman scored a pin over Yorkville's Bobby Schillinger in
3:04. Then Jake Davis scored a 13-4 major decision against Geneseo's Oliver Newton for
the 195-pound title.
The 220-pound match saw Sycamore's Matt Copple take on Kaneland's Ben Kovalick. In
what had been a shortened season for the Spartan senior, he was able to find his way
through and overpower Kovalick late to take a 7-3 decision win.
Copple came into the bout with a 10-4 record, while Kovalick went in at 30-2.
Furthermore, Copple had been enjoying some vacation time in Cancun before the meet.
The conference title was just as enjoyable.
“It was my first time wrestling Ben all year,” Copple said. “He's ranked high, and we always
go neck-to-neck. It was a very important match, and it was great. When I got him on his
back and got my points, and getting to shots was even better.
What finally gave Sycamore the win was a stunning upset at 285 pounds. Yorkville's Seth
Gonzealez (28-4) fell victim to a crucial headlock employed by Sterling's Curtis Lilly in the
first minute of the title bout.
Lilly (25-6) held Gonzeales down for a few seconds before finally securing the title with a
0:52 fall.
Lilly's win was defending champion Sterling's only conference winner on the night.
“I wrestled him before and he beat me (a 6-5 loss in November). He just walked right into
the move,” Lilly said. “I knew he beat me once and to beat him this time, and last year I
placed fourth and this year I placed first. I really just wrestled good.”
The 285-pound match took place on the mat next to Copple's bout with Kovalick at 220.
However, Copple didn't notice what took place in the next mat over.
“I was thinking of my team and could hear them cheering,” Copple said of his match.
“I didn't see it, but it would have helped to see it.”
Rochelle's Eduardo Macareno took home the 120-pound title in come-from-behind
fashion. Macareno scored the first taketown, but saw himself trailing Ottawa's Daniel
Close 4-2 at one point. Late in the third period with the score knotted up at six-all, Close
nearly had Macareno down on the edge for a pin count, but the Hub senior was able to
reverse the move for the crucial pair of points before the final horn.
“I was just trying hard to get points back, and just fight and fight,” Macareno said.
“Something just came to mind, and I did it and I got it. It was a very tough match. (Close) is
a really good kid. This was a hard fight. I'm proud of myself, for me and my coaches to
accomplish something that I wanted to do.”
Kyle Akins also took home individual conference gold for Sycamore, beating Morris's
Kenny Baldridge with a 4-1 decision for the 113-pound title.
Third-place Kaneland (164 points) had a pair of champions in Steven Gust at 106 and
Dan Goress at 138. Gust won a 4-0 decision over DeKalb's Jackson Montgomery, while
Goress won a 13-6 decision over Dixon's Zach Lehman.
Fourth-place DeKalb (162.50) also had a pair of champions in Doug Johnson at 126 and
Evan Jones at 132. Johnson won a 14-7 decision over Kaneland's Esai Ponce, while
Jones won a 14-10 decision over Morris's Justin Barkley.
LaSalle-Peru finished in fifth place with 117 points, followed by Morris (114), Geneseo
(87), Ottawa (67.50), Dixon (63), Sterling (57), Rochelle (55) and Streator (30) – whose
highest finishing wrestler was Edgar Huichapa's fourth-place at 152 pounds.
Lalowski and Colton Bass were named the Most Outstanding wrestlers on the evening.
“When you're in the finals, and going for third- and fourth- and fifth- and sixth-place
matches, you know the kids are pretty evenly matched in a lot of situations,” Nelson said.
“It's going to take one wrong move or one mistake and have someone capitalize on it –
like the 152-pound match – and whether it's a pin or getting a takedown, that mean's all
the difference in the match.”
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat. He can be reached at
Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com. --- Talk about what's written on our Message
Boards!
said we probably won my two – I didn't honestly know until they announced it,” Sycamore
coach Alex Nelson said. “You realize when you wrestled all of those matches in one day,
how it ends up coming down to bonus points. We came though and had some good
matches and in the end we had the right things fall in place. It's definitely a good stepping
stone for us going into regionals and gives our kids a lot of confidence.”
Coming into the final round of first-, third-, and fifth-place matches, the Spartans led 201
to 199.5 over the Foxes. The three championship bouts pitting the two took place at 145,
152 and 170 pounds.
Steven Lalowski met up with Connor Bass at 145, in a rematch of their previous meeting
during the regular season (a 5-2 Lalowski win). Lalowski scored the initial takedown and
was soon up 4-0 after a reversal. Bass countered with a couple of a pair of counters of his
own, but the Spartan senior was able to hold off his adversary for a 6-5 decision win for
his third conference title.
“He's been working a lot, trying to get me back,” Lalowski said of his opponent. “I knew he
is a good wrestler on the mat, good on top and bottom. But I had him beat on out feet.
I just had to brawl out on the ground. It was tough, nothing I could help. I just focused on
wrestling.”
Twin brother would get revenge.
Yorkville would get back in the fight in the next bout, with Clayton Bass taking on Austin
Culton. Culton was up 2-1 before Bass was able to wrap him up using his strength from
top with the final seconds ticking in the second period.
With nine seconds left in the second period, Bass was able to secure the fall for his first
conference gold and give the Foxes needed bonus points in its effort to fight for the
overall title.
“It's all attitude,” Bass said. “I know how to put the time in, I knew I deserved it, so I went
out there and did what I had to do. I surely wasn't going to let a ranking get to my head or
anything else. I know I'm the best wrestler in the state, and that's what I want to do.
“I read a quote the other day from Muhammad Ali that says, 'suffer now and live the rest
of your life as a champion.' That's something that I'm going to hold with me through here
and hopefully to the state championship.”
After Yorkville's Tyler Wilkinson – who scored an 8-3 upset decision win over Geneseo's
Tyler Puls in the semifinal – was quickly pinned by LaSalle-Peru's Travis Mahoney in the
160-pound championship (0:37), Steven Pozeg gave his team its second win against a
Sycamore finalist with a 14-6 major over Ren Swick at 170 pounds.
“I was in shape, it was the first time I've been in shape for a long time,” Pozeg said. “After
Clayton won that big match adrenaline was going to me. I needed to get at least a major,
and I got it. The whole team got going (after Bass's pin).”
The last four championship bouts featured Spartan and Fox wrestlers, but that's when the
Spartans started to pull away and eventually get to the team championship.
At 182 pounds, Morris's Nik Countryman scored a pin over Yorkville's Bobby Schillinger in
3:04. Then Jake Davis scored a 13-4 major decision against Geneseo's Oliver Newton for
the 195-pound title.
The 220-pound match saw Sycamore's Matt Copple take on Kaneland's Ben Kovalick. In
what had been a shortened season for the Spartan senior, he was able to find his way
through and overpower Kovalick late to take a 7-3 decision win.
Copple came into the bout with a 10-4 record, while Kovalick went in at 30-2.
Furthermore, Copple had been enjoying some vacation time in Cancun before the meet.
The conference title was just as enjoyable.
“It was my first time wrestling Ben all year,” Copple said. “He's ranked high, and we always
go neck-to-neck. It was a very important match, and it was great. When I got him on his
back and got my points, and getting to shots was even better.
What finally gave Sycamore the win was a stunning upset at 285 pounds. Yorkville's Seth
Gonzealez (28-4) fell victim to a crucial headlock employed by Sterling's Curtis Lilly in the
first minute of the title bout.
Lilly (25-6) held Gonzeales down for a few seconds before finally securing the title with a
0:52 fall.
Lilly's win was defending champion Sterling's only conference winner on the night.
“I wrestled him before and he beat me (a 6-5 loss in November). He just walked right into
the move,” Lilly said. “I knew he beat me once and to beat him this time, and last year I
placed fourth and this year I placed first. I really just wrestled good.”
The 285-pound match took place on the mat next to Copple's bout with Kovalick at 220.
However, Copple didn't notice what took place in the next mat over.
“I was thinking of my team and could hear them cheering,” Copple said of his match.
“I didn't see it, but it would have helped to see it.”
Rochelle's Eduardo Macareno took home the 120-pound title in come-from-behind
fashion. Macareno scored the first taketown, but saw himself trailing Ottawa's Daniel
Close 4-2 at one point. Late in the third period with the score knotted up at six-all, Close
nearly had Macareno down on the edge for a pin count, but the Hub senior was able to
reverse the move for the crucial pair of points before the final horn.
“I was just trying hard to get points back, and just fight and fight,” Macareno said.
“Something just came to mind, and I did it and I got it. It was a very tough match. (Close) is
a really good kid. This was a hard fight. I'm proud of myself, for me and my coaches to
accomplish something that I wanted to do.”
Kyle Akins also took home individual conference gold for Sycamore, beating Morris's
Kenny Baldridge with a 4-1 decision for the 113-pound title.
Third-place Kaneland (164 points) had a pair of champions in Steven Gust at 106 and
Dan Goress at 138. Gust won a 4-0 decision over DeKalb's Jackson Montgomery, while
Goress won a 13-6 decision over Dixon's Zach Lehman.
Fourth-place DeKalb (162.50) also had a pair of champions in Doug Johnson at 126 and
Evan Jones at 132. Johnson won a 14-7 decision over Kaneland's Esai Ponce, while
Jones won a 14-10 decision over Morris's Justin Barkley.
LaSalle-Peru finished in fifth place with 117 points, followed by Morris (114), Geneseo
(87), Ottawa (67.50), Dixon (63), Sterling (57), Rochelle (55) and Streator (30) – whose
highest finishing wrestler was Edgar Huichapa's fourth-place at 152 pounds.
Lalowski and Colton Bass were named the Most Outstanding wrestlers on the evening.
“When you're in the finals, and going for third- and fourth- and fifth- and sixth-place
matches, you know the kids are pretty evenly matched in a lot of situations,” Nelson said.
“It's going to take one wrong move or one mistake and have someone capitalize on it –
like the 152-pound match – and whether it's a pin or getting a takedown, that mean's all
the difference in the match.”
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat. He can be reached at
Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com. --- Talk about what's written on our Message
Boards!
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| Those Who Know Northern Illinois High School Sports Know about NISB! |
Photo by Cody Cutter
Sycamore's Wrestling team took first place in the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference Meet
on Saturday at Ottawa's Kingman Gym. The Spartans edged Yorkville 222.5 to 220 for the
title.
Sycamore's Wrestling team took first place in the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference Meet
on Saturday at Ottawa's Kingman Gym. The Spartans edged Yorkville 222.5 to 220 for the
title.
At Kingman Gym, Ottawa
Northern Illinois Big 12
Conference Meet
Team Standings:
1. Sycamore 222.50, 2.
Yorkville 220, 3. Kaneland
164, 4. DeKalb 162.50, 5.
LaSalle-Peru 117, 6.
Morris 114, 7. Geneseo
87, 8. Ottawa 67.50, 9.
Dixon 63, 10. Sterling 57,
11. Rochelle 55, 12.
Streator 30.
Championship Matches:
106 – Steven Gust (K) dec
Jackson Montgomery
(DeK) 4-0; 113 – Kyle
Akins (Syc) dec Kenny
Baldridge (M) 4-1; 120 –
Eduardo Macareno (R) dec
Daniel Close (O) 8-6; 126
– Doug Johnson (D) dec
Esai Ponce (K) 14-7; 132 –
Evan Jones (DeK) dec
Justin Barkley (M) 14-10;
138 – Dan Goress (K) dec
Zach Lehman (Dix) 13-6;
145 – Steven Lalowski
(Syc) dec Connor Bass (Y)
6-5; 152 – Clayton Bass
(Y) pin Austin Culton (Syc)
3:51; 160 – Travis
Mahoney (L-P) pin Tyler
Wilkinson (Y) 0:37; 170 –
Steven Pozeg (Y) major
dec Ren Swick (Syc) 14-6;
182 – Nik Countryman (M)
pin Bobby Schillinger (Y) 3:
04; 195 – Jake Davis (Syc)
major dec Oliver Newton
(G) 13-4; 220 – Matt
Copple (Syc) dec Ben
Kovalick (K) 7-3; 285 –
Curtis Lilly (Ster) pin Seth
Gonzealez (Y) 0:52.
Northern Illinois Big 12
Conference Meet
Team Standings:
1. Sycamore 222.50, 2.
Yorkville 220, 3. Kaneland
164, 4. DeKalb 162.50, 5.
LaSalle-Peru 117, 6.
Morris 114, 7. Geneseo
87, 8. Ottawa 67.50, 9.
Dixon 63, 10. Sterling 57,
11. Rochelle 55, 12.
Streator 30.
Championship Matches:
106 – Steven Gust (K) dec
Jackson Montgomery
(DeK) 4-0; 113 – Kyle
Akins (Syc) dec Kenny
Baldridge (M) 4-1; 120 –
Eduardo Macareno (R) dec
Daniel Close (O) 8-6; 126
– Doug Johnson (D) dec
Esai Ponce (K) 14-7; 132 –
Evan Jones (DeK) dec
Justin Barkley (M) 14-10;
138 – Dan Goress (K) dec
Zach Lehman (Dix) 13-6;
145 – Steven Lalowski
(Syc) dec Connor Bass (Y)
6-5; 152 – Clayton Bass
(Y) pin Austin Culton (Syc)
3:51; 160 – Travis
Mahoney (L-P) pin Tyler
Wilkinson (Y) 0:37; 170 –
Steven Pozeg (Y) major
dec Ren Swick (Syc) 14-6;
182 – Nik Countryman (M)
pin Bobby Schillinger (Y) 3:
04; 195 – Jake Davis (Syc)
major dec Oliver Newton
(G) 13-4; 220 – Matt
Copple (Syc) dec Ben
Kovalick (K) 7-3; 285 –
Curtis Lilly (Ster) pin Seth
Gonzealez (Y) 0:52.
By Cody Cutter
NISB Publisher
OTTAWA – Only two years have been
documented in the history of the
Northern Illinois Big 12 Wrestling
Tournament.
Last year's tournament saw Sterling
win by one-half point over Sycamore.
The Spartans didn't want to be denied
this time in what would turn out to be
another down-to-the-wire showdown.
Both Sycamore and Yorkville, a pair of
East Division teams, were in the top
two in team point standings throughout
Saturday's festivities at Ottawa's
Kingman Gym. Prior to the final
session, the Foxes – 4-0 so far in East
Division duals, including a win over the
Spartans – had a two-and-a-half point
edge over its rival.
Both teams had six wrestlers in the
championship, and three bouts pitted
Spartan against Fox for individual
supremacy.
When the cloud of dust settled at
tournament's end, one big Sycamore
win at 220 and a devastating Yorkville
loss at 285 proved to the the final
difference in handing the Spartans a
225.5-220 edge for the conference
tournament championship.
So the tournament's history has been
one to retell for future encounters.
Make sure every point counts.
NISB Publisher
OTTAWA – Only two years have been
documented in the history of the
Northern Illinois Big 12 Wrestling
Tournament.
Last year's tournament saw Sterling
win by one-half point over Sycamore.
The Spartans didn't want to be denied
this time in what would turn out to be
another down-to-the-wire showdown.
Both Sycamore and Yorkville, a pair of
East Division teams, were in the top
two in team point standings throughout
Saturday's festivities at Ottawa's
Kingman Gym. Prior to the final
session, the Foxes – 4-0 so far in East
Division duals, including a win over the
Spartans – had a two-and-a-half point
edge over its rival.
Both teams had six wrestlers in the
championship, and three bouts pitted
Spartan against Fox for individual
supremacy.
When the cloud of dust settled at
tournament's end, one big Sycamore
win at 220 and a devastating Yorkville
loss at 285 proved to the the final
difference in handing the Spartans a
225.5-220 edge for the conference
tournament championship.
So the tournament's history has been
one to retell for future encounters.
Make sure every point counts.
Photo by Cody Cutter
Sycamore's Steven Lalowski has control of Yorkville's
Connor Bass in the 145-pound championship bout.
Lalowski, who was named as one of the meet's most
outstanding wrestlers, won by decision over Bass.
Sycamore's Steven Lalowski has control of Yorkville's
Connor Bass in the 145-pound championship bout.
Lalowski, who was named as one of the meet's most
outstanding wrestlers, won by decision over Bass.
Photo by Cody Cutter
Sycamore's Matt Copple wraps up Kaneland's Ben
Kovalick in the 220-pound championship bout. Copple
won by decision as the meet that the Spartans won by
2.5 points soon drew to a close.
Sycamore's Matt Copple wraps up Kaneland's Ben
Kovalick in the 220-pound championship bout. Copple
won by decision as the meet that the Spartans won by
2.5 points soon drew to a close.