Frazier’s title highlights Batavia’s 7th-place finish

Noah Frazier was on the defensive the entire day.

But the Batavia 195-pound wrestler is having a junior year to remember.

A defensive stalwart on its championship football team, Frazier did not allow any offensive points against him in storming to the title of the Bulldogs’ 18-team invitational on Saturday afternoon in Batavia.

Frazier had a first-round pin, followed by razor-thin victories in the quarterfinals and semifinals.

The 195-pounder then dominated his championship match against McHenry junior Ryan Grannermann with a 10-0 whitewash to earn the first major tournament title victory of his varsity career.

“It felt great in front of the home crowd,” Frazier said of his trio of takedowns and a near-fall in the final. “The third (match, the 2-1 win over East Aurora junior Raul James) was a doozy.”

Frazier was declared the winner when his potential Upstate Eight Conference opponent was cited for an illegal hold in double overtime.

“It was locked hands,” Frazier said.

McHenry had a lone champion but placed nine other athletes in the top six to defend its team title over Alton.

Addison Trail matched the three individual titlists of the downstate power but fell by a half-point for runner-up status.

Wheaton North and Downers Grove North both had a pair of champions in finishing in the fourth and fifth slots.

Batavia was seventh as a team as Frazier and Connor McKeehan made back-to-back title appearances for the Bulldogs at 195 and 220 pounds.

Jake Birkhaug and Nick Offutt were the only other Batavia competitors to place.

“We’ve got to get his offense going,” Batavia coach Scott Bayer said of Frazier. “Once he gets that going, he’s going to be really tough to beat.”

McKeehan was looking to end the season-long unbeaten streak McHenry senior Luis Hernandez has fashioned.

McKeehan fell behind early but rebounded with a first-period reversal and second-period takedown to climb within a point entering the final two minutes.

The clash between seniors headed to overtime when McKeehan escaped the undefeated Hernandez at the buzzer.

But McKeehan made a tactical error, getting caught in a move trying to throw Hernandez, who clinched the 10-5 triumph with a takedown and near-fall.

“I went for something that I probably shouldn’t have,” McKeehan admitted. “I didn’t set it up the right way.”

It was the second straight year Hernandez, who improved to 28-0, has defeated McKeehan in the finals at Batavia.

The Bulldogs’ senior leader barely broke a sweat with first-period pins in the quarters and semis.

“Those are the correct times,” McKeehan said of his twin falls in a cumulative 80 seconds.

Birkhaug and Offutt dropped one-sided third-place matches for Batavia at 160 and 170 pounds, respectively.

“We were hoping to finish in the top third,” Bayer said. “(The kids) will say that they were disappointed in themselves.”

Gilberto De La Paz had one of the more entertaining championship matches.

The Addison Trail 138-pounder outlasted Alton senior T.J. Gallion 16-9 to win his first career invitational title.

“There were a lot of reversals,” the Trojans’ senior said of the back-and-forth match.

Bobby Carson closed out the tournament for Addison Trail by claiming the heavyweight championship with a 6-3 verdict over Alton junior Darian Pierson.

But it was Addison Trail returning state qualifier Niko Rocha who claimed the MVP of the tournament with his skillful blend of power and finesse.

Rocha survived an epic struggle with East Aurora junior Tim Young, a reigning regional champion, at 182 pounds.

“He’s really good,” Rocha said of Young. “I wasn’t going to lose that match. I made the scrambles work for me, so that’s pretty much the difference.”

It was the third major tournament title for Rocha this season, whose 5-2 decision was proceeded by twin technical falls in the quarters and semis.

“One more win anywhere, and we would have had second,” Addison Trail coach Rob Serio said.

Wheaton North wrestlers Jacob Bretz and Dylan Thurston had back-to-back championships for the Falcons at 120 and 126 pounds.

Bretz denied Addison Trail senior Eric DeLaCruz 7-5; it was a first career title for the Falcons’ senior.

“I was staying focused and being aggressive,” Bretz said. “I was confident because I had beaten him already (this season). I knew he was going to come after me right away.”

Thurston also claimed his first major title of the season with his hard-fought 5-3 win over Oswego junior Jack Pradel.

“We have doing a lot of conditioning with the new coach (Travis Cherry),” said Thurston, who advanced with shortened matches in the two preliminaries. “My conditioning really helps me.”

“I think we could have finished a little better,” Cherry said of the Falcons’ team showing. “We left a couple of matches out there.”