Geneva's rally subdues Raiders

The Geneva wrestling team grabbed the momentum at the right time.

The host Vikings trailed Western Sun Conference foe Glenbard South by double digits after the first four matches.

Then came the next four, however.

The Vikings' subsequent trio of falls, complemented by a forfeit, meant they earned the maximum 24 points during the quartet of matches.

The Raiders' 12-point lead was reversed in a sport where rapid changes are commonplace, and the Vikings held on for the 34-27 dual-meet victory Thursday night in Geneva.

Frank Boenzi, the Vikings' heavyweight, was making his season debut, and his team was staring at a 15-3 disadvantage.

The sophomore dominated the opening period, and used a quick reversal seconds into the middle period as the foundation of a fall 20 seconds into the second.

"I worked on my new moves," said Boenzi.

"(Boenzi) looks like he is going to be a force to be reckoned with," said Geneva coach Tom Chernich.

The second-period fall was motivation for Sean Canfield at 103 pounds; the junior duplicated the result in the second period to knot the match at 15-15.

"I knew I had to stick (pin) my opponent to get the tie," said Canfield, whose fall came with 14 seconds remaining in the second. "I kept my composure and was confident."

The Vikings (1-1, 1-0) extended the unanswered run to 18 points when Glenbard South forfeited the match at 112 pounds, and the Geneva tide was complete moments later Keith Reilly secured another second-period fall at 119.

Colin Callahan made it five in a row for Geneva with the only major decision of the meet, an 11-0 whitewashing at 125 pounds.

At 130 pounds, the Raiders' Mike Peters survived a 9-7 overtime win against Nick Bradberry after each wrestler was perilously close to losing by a fall at one point.

The Raiders (0-1, 0-1) had an opportunity to put additional pressure on Geneva with a late surge, and the prospect was enhanced when Phil Torralba chalked up a hard-fought 13-8 victory at 135.

Glenbard South trailed 31-21 after that verdict with two matches remaining.

The Raiders had senior ace Mark Griffin lying in wait in the final match at 145, meaning the squad needed a major decision, technical fall or pin at 140 to have a chance.

Geneva freshmen Mike Semmens made it a moot point. He had a match-clinching reversal late in the third period to put the Raiders mathematically out of contention with a 9-3 win.

The subsequent Griffin fall to conclude the evening simply made the final score closer.

"I didn't want to take it into three periods," said Griffin.

"I'm not going to single anybody out, but we should have had a few more (team) points," said Glenbard South coach Derrick Crenshaw.