St. Charles East takes command of River
Bonus points do not tell fibs at a wrestling dual meet.
St. Charles East, the defending champion in the Upstate Eight Conference River Division, had but a 9-5 edge over Geneva Friday night in matches won.
But the Saints outscored the Vikings 19-1 in bonus points as St. Charles East had few issues during its 46-16 victory.
The Saints (6-1, 3-0) had six pins and major decision among their nine wins in St. Charles.
Anthony Rubino and D.J. McDermott recorded falls in the final two respective matches at 113 and 120 pounds to accentuate the Saints’ latest triumph in the River.
St. Charles East has not lost to any Upstate Eight teams since alumnus Jason Potter, a two-time state champion, took over the program last year.
Keone Derain is one of two returning state qualifiers for the Saints.
The 160-pounder gave St. Charles East a 19-6 cushion with his second-period fall.
“(Being a returning state qualifier is) a good thing for my conscious,” Derain said. “You still can’t use it to look over anyone. Coach Potter just told me, ‘We gotta get six.’”
Two matches later, first-year varsity member Blake Fialka also beat the buzzer to extend the Saints’ unanswered run to 24 points with a fall at 182 pounds.
“I knew time was running out pretty fast (in the second period),” Fialka said. “I was going to run my defense; that’s what I was relying on the whole match.”
Heavyweight Will Leite had the Saints‘ fourth pin.
Isiah Vela, the Saints’ four-year varsity stalwart, remained undefeated on the season at 138 pounds with a second-period fall.
The Saints’ lone major decision came via Austin Hrubec in the match-opening weight of 126 pounds.
St. Charles East also received wins from Jake Mende (145 pounds) and Ramon Lopez (170).
Geneva’s unquestioned highlight was Colin Parsons’ triumph at 132 pounds; the senior overcame an almost instant 4-0 deficit over the Saints’ Ryan Valesh to win 8-7 with a dramatic takedown with 14 seconds left.
“That kid wrestled a heck of a match,” Potter said of Parsons.
“Colin missed most of last year,” said Geneva coach Tom Chernich, whose team is now 11-2, 2-1.
Unfortunately for the Vikings, they would not reach double digits until the 10th match.
Brock Perry and Jason Weber had the most entertaining match of the night as the former, a Geneva 152-pounder, emerged with a 14-10 triumph.
Nate Montgomery and Jake Anderson had back-to-back decisions for Geneva, and Tyler Landler captured the Vikings’ lone bonus point with a 14-4 win at 106.
“On the scoreboard (the final score) looks like a whipping, but the matches were competitive,” Chernich said.