Glenbard North dispatches Conant to go back to state
Kyler Kradle was just a touch nervous.
The Glenbard North wrestler was facing off with Conant's Jeremy Conroy at 132 pounds in the IHSA Class 3A sectional at Oak Park-River Forest and trailed the entire match entering its final seconds.
"I mean there's always a little bit of panic," he said.
Throw in the fact that Glenbard North had a 2-point lead at the time, and Kradle's worries were justifiable.
But Kradle kept his focus, grabbing a 2-point takedown with 27 seconds left in the match to grab a 7-6 victory and spark Glenbard North to a 45-12 victory over Conant. The Panthers booked their first state berth since 2015, when they finished in third place.
"For me it was really big," Kradle said. "I didn't want to let my team down and I had to do what I had to do to get a big win."
The Panthers (25-4) picked up six straight victories to close the dual and Anthony Pennington (170 pounds) and Abe Assad (180) won the final two matches on forfeits.
"I thought they performed very well," Glenbard North coach Mark Hahn said. "They came in here and we talked about wrestling hard for six minutes and wrestling for each other and I think that's what they did."
Kradle's victory helped give Juan Rivera a little more energy at 138.
"It boosts the momentum for the whole team, as well as for me," Rivera said.
Facing off with Nicky Amato, whom he had lost to in the individual sectional 2-1, Rivera benefitted from the extra oomph. Rivera grabbed two 2-point reversals in the second period and a 2-point takedown in the third to grab a 6-2 victory.
"I knew going in it was going to be a tough match, a match of endurance," Rivera said. "I just used that (energy). You grow off the teammates."
Glenbard North got off to a strong start in the first two matches. Mershad Bashang grabbed a 7-2 decision at 195 and Quintin Terry picked up a pin at 4:53 to give the Panthers a 9-0 lead.
But Conant (17-4) answered back. Ed Gosche pinned Ben Voight at 285, Dominic Laskero picked up a 9-2 decision at 113 and Alex Guiliano had a 10-1 major decision at 120 that gave Conant a 13-12 lead.
"We knew it was going to be a buzz saw," Conant coach Chad Hay said.
Glenbard North responded and did so in a strong fashion. Bryan Esquival had a 10-4 decision over Patrick Kane that started Glenbard North's run of eight victories.
"I got to give it up to Glenbard North, they came to wrestle," Hay said. "I got to give credit, they come at you every moment and you can't pause for a second."
Conant was left ruing its missed opportunities.
"A couple matches of those matches (early) we needed to have to keep in the hunt," Hay said, "and we didn't have them.
"At 106 (Tommy Santangelo) had beaten (Ronan Schuelke) earlier, we lost that one. I thought we should've won at 195. That's how the day goes. Some days it happens, some days it just doesn't happen. Today it didn't happen."