Larkin downs Elgin to keep Crossface Classic trophy
Jesus Facio, Hugo Barraza and the rest of their Larkin wrestling teammates made sure the Crossface Classic trophy would stay in the Royals' possession yet another year following their 46-25 Upstate Eight River victory over crosstown rival Elgin Thursday night under the spotlight inside Chesbrough Field House.
Facio led a pin-happy Larkin club which recorded five falls out of its seven wins on the night, while Barrazas' move up two weights to 145 ended with the Royals' captain earning a 15-5 major decision to help the visitors win their fourth straight in this annual dual.
"Yes, it was a pretty good win and effort by the guys tonight," began the Royals' first-year head coach Mike Hodge, who starred at DeKalb in the mid-1990s, earning a fourth-place state medal in 1996.
"Elgin is a little short-handed in a few spots in their lineup, so we moved a few guys around, pulled a couple up of others up to make sure we could have a competitive night of wrestling with (Elgin coach) Mark (Woollard) and his guys."
"Mike and his staff are real first-class guys. I have a lot of respect for all of them, especially after working with us beforehand to ensure most of the matches were as fair as they could be with us having some very young guys in our starting lineup tonight," said Woollard.
Things were just about even after the first four bouts, with each side trading wins to make it 12-9.
The night began at 106 pounds, with the Royals' Justin Valle (12-10) pinning his opponent in just 18 seconds, and after the visitors took another 6 points with a forfeit, Jaron Cano (120) pulled the home side closer with a pin of his own at 4:35.
Brian Rea started fast in his match with Zach Milan, opening up a 7-3 first period advantage, fueled by a 3-point near fall toward the end of the first period, before going on to register a 9-5 decision.
Victor Valencia (132), Barraza (145, 11-1) and varsity newcomer Emmanuel Rojas (170) went about adding extra points onto the scoreboard for the Royals - Valencia and Rojas doing so with falls sandwiched in between Barraza's aforementioned major.
"We bumped Hugo up from 132 to get him a real strong opponent, and he did it more for the team than himself but that's what Hugo is all about," said a proud Hodge.
"There were a lot of matches were we gave up bonus points, but several others were hard-fought by our guys, and that's what I am most pleased about," said Woollard.
Gonzalo Ramirez (138) and Marco Otero (160) were two of the Maroons who earned well-deserved victories. Ramirez doing so with a late escape in his 3-2 triumph over Oscar Burunge and Otero breaking a 4-4 deadlock late in his bout with Alex Calderon to capture a 5-4 win, much to the delight of a noisy home crowd.
The Maroons' best man, junior Angelo Poland (25-1), continues to impress after his 10-0 major at 152 pounds.
"I've been fighting an upper respiratory infection for a couple of weeks now, so it's really important for me to try to get as healthy as I can for next week's UEC tournament," said Poland, whose bum shoulder kept him out of regionals last season, and has helped put him on a mission this year in which he hopes will lead to bigger and better things when the postseason comes around.
"I did a lot of wrestling and lifting during the offseason, plus having a great workout partner like Max (Troyke) in the room, along with an assistant, Eric Moreno, who has been an unbelievable coach and workout partner all season long."
The Royals (7-8-0, 2-3-0) finish up UEC play with a dual against St. Charles North tonight, while the Maroons take on Geneva in their conference finale.