Palatine's Downey weighs in with big win

Justin Downey was glad to get back into the mix for Palatine.

The Pirates' heavyweight wrestler has been off the mats for the first few meets, unable to make weight.

But on Thursday at Hersey, he was back -- and up against Hersey's Steve Long.

"That was his debut -- his first time out," said Palatine coach Dan Collins. "First time he got down to weight. We did it the smart way this week and it showed. He's a very competitive and athletic kid."

For much of the first period, the two were pretty much equally matched. But a minute and half in, Downey was on the defensive.

Then, with a burst of energy, a reversal put Long on his back -- and with barely a second before the first-period buzzer, the official awarded Downey the pin.

"It was my first time this year," Downey said. "I've been having trouble making weight. "I was so excited. I was looking at his head and looking at his shoulders -- on the mat. I was like 'I want to pin this guy.' It was pretty good."

Downey's pin was one of three wins by fall his team recorded as the Pirates (3-0) won the Mid-Suburban League crossover 48-21.

"We did much, much better," Collins said. "We started off a little slow the day before Thanksgiving. I kind of rode them a little bit. We had a real nice tough week of practice. We had a real intense practice Tuesday morning and carried it over to here.

"It's back to fundamentals that we're working on in the practice room."

At 189 pounds, Brian O'Shea pulled out another Pirates pin over Rodrigo Gonzales in 4:41. In an energetic match at 103, Tom Laskowske got the fall over Josh Simmons in 1:15.

"Everybody competed as a team," Collins said. "Listening to the coaches is another thing we were working on. It's showing out there."

Dale Jarosz racked up the points to win a technical fall for Palatine at 130 in 3:52. A last-second takedown awarded Ross Grande another technical at 152.

"You have to give all the credit to Palatine," said Hersey coach Jim Wormsley, whose team is 2-2. "They came out and took it to us tonight. They deserved the win and earned it out there."

Hersey's Kyle Stortenbecker won a pin over Phil Howe in 2:50 at 215.

Another Huskies pin came from Nick Herling over Lashon Mejias in 1:15 at 125. At 145, Demetrius Mitchell won his match 10-5.

"We need to get a little more aggressive on our feet," Wormsley said. "We need to get after takedowns. We're going to keep working on it and get better."

Ryan Cortez (171) and Eddie Lopez (119) added major decisions for the Pirates, who face cross-town rival Fremd today.

"Hopefully we'll roll this into the Fremd meet," Collins said. "They're jacked (to wrestle the Vikings). Hopefully some momentum will carry us over."