Tigers knock off D-C again

For the second time in as many years Crystal Lake Central's wrestling squad took down Fox Valley Conference rival Dundee-Crown. In a dual meet that featured many close matches, it was the Tigers who came out on top, 40-22, to stay unbeaten and hand D-C its first loss of the season.

"We have a lot of firepower this year," Tigers' coach Marc Tadelman said. "In the years past we've had good kids, just not enough of them. It's always tough when you face Dundee, but anytime you can beat a team that is 8-0, 40-22, you are doing something right."

CLC's Ryan Jauch (125), Mike Buhr (135), and Joey Kielbasa (140) all opened up with wins to help the Tigers go up 12-3. The momentum shifted when Chris Rust (145), Patrick Hanley (152), and Ryan Horcher (160) came storming back with victories for D-C as the Chargers took a 16-12 lead.

Hanley had an impressive win against Eduardo Garcia. After escaping in the waning seconds of the third period, Hanley was able to stave off a late charge by Garcia to improve his personal record to 2-5.

"I just went out there and worked hard like we try to do as a program," Hanley said. "Unfortunately as a team we could not get it done tonight, but we will get it back next time. We just need to go out and work hard and if we do that good things will come our way."

With the Chargers up 22-21, the momentum shifted heavily in the Tigers' favor when Trey Bickle pinned Billy Cook in the heavyweight bout. Crystal Lake Central (7-0) would not lose another bout again to earn the victory.

Although there were some wrestlers for D-C (8-1) that had won, overall coach Al Zinke was not pleased with the way his team performed.

"We just didn't wrestle well," Zinke said. "That is why you wrestle early in the season but come tournament time it's a completely different animal. I wasn't really pleased overall. We have a lot of work to do but we will get better."