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Winning night for Huntley's seniors

It was a night of mixed emotions for Huntley senior 152-pounder Brandon Meyer.

Yes, the four-year varsity performer celebrated Senior Night with a pin of Crystal Lake South's Justin Kattner in 2:36 but Meyer was saddened that it was his last meet before the Huntley wrestling faithful.

Meyer's effort propelled the Red Raiders to a 45-22 win over the visiting Gators in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division action in Huntley Thursday.

"It was a memorable night for me and the seniors," said Meyer. "It is hard to realize this would be the last time I would be walking off these mats. I have had a lot of good memories over four years. I feel I wrestled well and I am ready for conference and the state tournament."

Fellow senior Chris Gamboa (138) joined Meyer in the winners circle with an 8-6 win over the Gators' Joe Fetherling. Other winners for the Red Raiders were Zach Spencer (106), Josh Stenger (120), Trey Coleman (195) and Dominic Swanson (285) by pin and Juan Quiroz (126) and Petros Mihalopoulos (182) claimed wins by decisions.

Huntley (12-10, 3-2), which won 9 of the 14 matches wrestled, also got a forfeit win from Joseph Armijo (113).

"We needed this win," said Huntley coach B.J. Bertelsman. "It has been a tough couple weeks. We wrestled well against a good South team. It was a good night for the seniors. We wrestled a tougher schedule this year with the likes of Marmion and Deerfield and it is paying dividends."

Crystal Lake South coach Ross Ryan praised Huntley's effort.

'They were definitely the better and tougher team tonight," said Ryan. "They wrestled much better than us. We have been building a team all year. We have taken steps in the right direction but tonight we took a few steps back. We will be all right. We need to isolate problems in practice and get ready for conference."

There were some bright spots for CL South (9-12, 3-3). Seniors Eric Barone (145) and Roland Gastfield registered pins for the Gators. Barone needed 1:56 to dispose of Brad Zbilski and Gastfield pinned Dylan Macari in 3:10.

"Both Eric and Roland wrestled well," said Ryan. "They are ready to go and are ready for good runs in the postseason."

Garrett Dziedzic (132), Eric Weinandy (160) and Vince Fontanetta (170) claimed wins by decision for Crystal Lake South.

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