Andrew's Precin downs Burlington Central's Macias

It was arguably the marquee match of the Batavia Tournament Saturday afternoon.

But fate was not on the side of the defending Class 2A state wrestling champion.

Robbie Precin, third in Class 3A at 120 pounds last year, had the only offensive points in the showdown with Burlington Central senior Austin Macias, who won the 2A state title last year at 126 pounds.

Macias suffered his first loss against an in-state opponent this year as Precin had takedowns in the first and third periods for a 5-2 victory.

"(Macias) is a tough kid," said Precin, who moved to 30-1 on the season. "I prepared for this match. I just wrestled my style."

Macias, bound for Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, fell to 21-3 on the season.

"I tried something," Macias said of his attempts to reverse a 3-2 third-period deficit. "I have wrestled him like five times before. I tried a Greco move (throwing from the hips). He has really good position (defensively). I just haven't got to him yet."

The Precin championship for Andrew proved symbolically important for the Thunderbirds' program.

Andrew scored 183 points to edge Woodstock Marian Central (175.5) for the team title.

Host Batavia had four top-four place-winners to finish sixth with 113 points.

Addison Trail had a champion to finish seventh, 5 points better than eighth-place Downers Grove North.

Burlington Central was outside the top 10 in the 17-team field at No. 11, with West Chicago finishing in last place.

Nick Termini more than picked up the slack for his senior teammate for Central.

Also returning all-state for the Rockets, the top-seeded Termini lived up to his billing by claiming the title at 145 pounds with an 8-3 victory over Leyden sophomore Jimmy Lonigro.

Termini pinned Lonigro last week at the Eagles' Invitational en route to a runner-up finish.

"Obviously when you wrestle someone from last week it's still fresh in your mind," Termini said. "I caught him off-guard (last week). I knew it was going to be a much closer match. I thought I controlled the match. I had a lot of good riding time."

Termini had all three of his takedowns in the opening period.

Ethan Towers had the distinction of being the lone Batavia athlete to reach the championship match.

But Maine South junior Jimmy Bartell had a 4-point sequence in the last 25 seconds with a takedown and 2-point near-fall to capture the 195-pound title with a 6-2 triumph.

"(Towers) was very aggressive," Bartell said. "I had an under-hook (hold) and pushed him to his back."

"Their team was scouting me the whole time," Towers said. "They knew what I was going to do. He just caught me right there and then."

Batavia freshman Mikey Caliendo had one of two major-consolation titles for the Bulldogs with his third-place triumph against returning all-stater Nate Cummings of Downers North.

Cummings had his season-long winning streak of 25 matches ended by Andrew junior Luc Valdez in the semifinals.

"I thought we would meet in the finals," Caliendo said of his 8-6 win over Cummings. "My goal was to come here and wrestle him."

For the second straight week Addison Trail had Guillermo Juarez and Brian Reyes represent the program in the finals of a major invite.

Juarez had a first-period takedown and second-period reversal for all the points he would need in a 4-3 victory over Andrew sophomore Kyle Silzer at 106 pounds.

"I knew he was going to keep pushing," said Juarez, who improved to 23-2 on the season. "A bigger kid, I was giving up 10 pounds. I only weight 100. It's another day for my job. I'm just going out there to prepare for my regional."

But Reyes could not duplicate his win from Geneva a week ago, falling to yet another Maine South wrestler, Eugene Lee, 5-1 at 138 pounds.

"I thought it was a little better competition today than last week," Addison Trail coach Rob Serio said. "'Memo (Juarez),' that's what we call him. That's his nickname. He has been great."