Grant returns the favor with decisive win over Wauconda
Host Grant was fired up for senior night, and the Bulldogs were also looking for some payback against Wauconda in this Northern Lake County Conference wrestling dual meet.
Starting at 106 pounds, the "battle of the Bulldogs" was dominated by the host variety as Grant built a commanding 28-3 lead halfway through the meet before rolling to a 50-15 victory over Wauconda in Fox Lake.
Grant (19-5, 6-0) got one step closer to winning the NLCC championship outright but the will have to defeat Round Lake next week to put the finishing touches on a perfect conference season. The Panthers topped Lakes 36-32 on Thursday.
Last year in the first season of the NLCC, Wauconda defeated Grant for the conference crown before going on to a fantastic finish to its season and placing second in the state in Class 2A.
Thursday night belonged to Grant as a pin by 106-pounder Chris Lozos and a technical fall by 113-pound teammate Zach Hitzler staked it to a quick 10-0 advantage.
Wauconda 2017 state qualifier Evan Husko responded with a 3-2 decision over Alex Paz at 120, but Grant won the next six matches to take control.
Senior Tucker Rogan (24-8) got the momentum going with a 13-3 major decision over Johnny Lopez at 126 before 132-pound sophomore teammate Dylan Rinkenberger's pin in 1:23 boosted the lead to 21-3.
Senior Sam Maldonado (30-3) added a 6-1 decision over Danny Cervantes at 138 before 145-pound senior teammate Spencer Welter posted a 16-6 major to make the score 28-3.
Then came a 12-1 major decision by Grant sophomore Ethan Geist at 152 and pin by senior teammate Christian Palma at 160, and Wauconda was facing a massive 38-3 deficit.
"They've got some guys with a lot of varsity experience, and they were able to dictate the pace of the matches early on, but it's always a fun meet against these guys," said Wauconda coach Mike Buhr, whose team fell to 2-3 in the NLCC. "We're a young team and we're hoping to peak at the right time, but the guys never stopped fighting tonight."
Senior Mickey Landvick got Wauconda back in the win column with a 2-1 decision over pesky sophomore Kyle Rainey before a forfeit victory by Wauconda 2017 state qualifier Zac Finn cut the lead to 38-12 with three bouts remaining.
Grant senior Alex Larracas got a forfeit win at 195 before Wauconda 220-pounder Drake De La Torre captured a 5-2 decision over Colin Hurley. A pin by Grant 285-pounder Angel Martinez in 5:52 accounted for the final score.
"Last year they (Wauconda) had a very senior-heavy team and they knocked us off, and this meet has been on our guys' calendar for a long time," said Grant coach Lenny Grodoski, whose team will compete in the Lake County meet this weekend at Antioch. "It was a very good team effort, and right now a lot of our young guys are still learning on the fly."
The Grant seniors were impressive on senior night.
"Almost all of our seniors won, and they are leading by example this season," added Grodoski. "We'll see how we do (at the Lake County meet), it's two weeks out from the regional (at Warren), and our big goal is to win regionals."