Cary-Grove downs Crystal Lake South on the big stage
Wrestling took center stage Thursday night at Crystal Lake South - literally.
The Gators and their Fox Valley Conference rival Cary-Grove wrestled their season finale dual under the spotlight of the school's theater stage, dubbing this one-of-a-kind contest "Anguish in the Auditorium" and if the response of the big crowd was any indication, the two sides may have a potential Broadway hit on their hands.
"What an amazing night," said a proud South head coach Ross Ryan, who despite watching his men drop a 41-27 match to the Trojans still wore a broad smile on his face after the curtain went down.
"Mike Buhr (former Cary-Grove head coach) and I had talked about doing this, and when his school said no to the idea, we jumped all over it," continued Ryan. "Mike moved over to Wauconda to take the head coaching job there, and wasn't around to enjoy this night, but Will (Petersen) was, so I'm glad he was a part of this historic night."
Petersen had been a longtime assistant under Ryan before taking control of the Cary-Grove program, and he was thrilled to share the night with his former boss.
"When I found out Ross was going to wrestle on the theater stage, I at first was kind of bummed out until I realized my guys would be the team facing South. It was a win-win for everyone."
And win the Trojans did - and with flair.
Cary-Grove would record six of its seven victories by virtue of a bonus: three pins, two tech-falls, and a major decision, to dash the hopes of the Gators' home fans of a successful opening night on stage.
"It was a great night," began the Trojans lone senior Hayden Hill (152), whose pin at 57 seconds gave his club its biggest lead of the night at 35-9.
"It was so much fun wrestling up here, and it was even better to see our team come out and work hard to get a big win."
Hill (17-10) would follow teammate Sam Myers' pin at 50 seconds, then watch the home side draw a little closer with consecutive pins from Shahyan Malik (160, 29-6) and Collen Pedersen (170) to bring the Gators' faithful out of their seats with a giant roar.
Connor McCratic (182) stopped the Gators' run with a pin of his own (0:52) to put the visitors back in control.
The highlight of the evening was also the final act of the night: Dennis Woodring (6-4) against hometown star Vinny Fontanetta (33-3) at 220 pounds.
"When I found out Caden (Koeppel) was injured and wouldn't wrestle, I immediately thought 'oh no, I'm not going to be able to wrestle my final home match of my career' " said Fontanetta. "But when I was able to bump up to 220 to wrestle Dennis, my dream came true."
With his peers, and most of the Gators' football team on its feet and cheering every move, takedown and point awarded, Fontanetta would record a pin at 1:55.
Koeppel would have his chance to shine despite not wrestling when he sang the national anthem prior to the 285-pound contest to open the festivities.
"I am not sure if things could not have been better than this," Ryan would say long after both teams stood together on stage for one big photo shoot.
"It was a fantastic night, and we're hoping we can do the same thing next year at Cary-Grove."