St. Charles East continues to dominate
It was a propitious omen for the St. Charles East wrestling team when Batavia failed to produce an athlete at 113 pounds to start the schools' Upstate Eight River dual match Thursday night.
The Bulldogs never stood a chance against the undefeated Saints in St. Charles.
"We were missing some starters (five), but don't get me wrong: they beat us to a man," Batavia coach Scott Bayer said after St. Charles East captured 12 of the 14 matches in a convincing 59-10 victory. "They have a very well-balanced team. We don't match up with them very well, either."
Following the Saints' Mark Guerrero being awarded a forfeit at 113 pounds, St. Charles East veterans Ben Anderson, Peyton Schroeder and Justin Benjamin came next between 120 and 132.
"We know going in (to a dual meet) that our bonus points are going to come between 120 and 145," said Benjamin, who mirrored the team dual success by extending his season-long winning streak to 15 matches with an 11-3 major decision at 120. "It's a mindset that (coach Jason) Potter instills in us: to be aggressive, get bonus points."
Schroeder and Benjamin failed to garner any bonus points, but the Saints, who are 13-0, 2-0 on the season, had back-to-back decisions from the 126- and 132-pounders to give St. Charles East a 16-0 cushion.
Justin Major stopped the Bulldogs' bleeding with an 11-0 whitewash at 138, but Batavia would not taste victory again until Isaiah Fields' dramatic fall at 195 pounds.
In fact, it would be the only other win for Batavia (6-10, 3-1).
Niko Derain, Tommy Schroeder, Steven Dziadosz - up three classes - Carter Maggio and Addison Jennings all earned victories in succession for St. Charles East as the Saints scored 41 of the first 45 points of the match.
Tommy Schroeder, Maggio and Jennings all had maximum 6-point matches for the team with a pair of pins and a forfeit.
Fields was truly a reason for optimism for Batavia.
Like many members of the Bulldogs' boys basketball team, the state-champion football players from Batavia entered the winter sport season truly behind the eight-ball.
Fields is one of the Batavia wrestlers trying to get acclimated.
The 195-pounder was on the verge of defeat, but Fields had a reversal and fall at the buzzer against Brock Donati.
"I looked up at the clock and saw there was seven seconds left," Fields said. "Usually I don't reach back. I knew I had I to do something. It came out in my favor."
St. Charles East heavyweight Justin Hull and 106-pound lightweight Jake Penzato capped the Saints' dominance with first-period falls.
"I knew I was the better wrestler going into it," Hull said. "I wanted to take control of the match."