More good news for Round Lake
A dual meet with state-ranked Grant is still lurking in early January, but host Round Lake remained undefeated in North Suburban Conference wrestling action Saturday morning.
The Panthers built an 18-0 lead over Lakes and never looked back as they posted a 51-18 NSC Prairie Division victory over the Eagles' injury-plagued squad.
Round Lake (8-1, 3-0) closed out the day with an impressive 57-21 nonconference victory over Grayslake Central (1-9) in the double-dual meet before the Rams earned their first victory of the season with a 39-28 win over Lakes (3-7, 1-2) to close out the day.
Trailing 18-0, Lakes' Matt Holmes (14-2) got the Eagles on the scoreboard by pulling out an exciting 3-2 sudden-death victory over SIU-bound Dillon Pousson (15-4) in four overtimes in the 130-pound match.
But the Panthers gradually pulled away behind a total of 5 forfeit victories against Lakes along with pins by Frank Contraras (103), Jose Jimenez (112), and Vince Nicoline (215).
"It was a close match (Pousson vs. Holmes), it was back and forth the whole time, and those are the kind of matches you've got to have," said Round Lake coach John Jobst. "We wrestled well today, especially after having two close matches against Prairie Ridge and Richmond-Burton last night, so getting 2 wins was nice to see."
Holmes moved up to 135 pounds to face Grayslake Central 2007 state qualifier Ryan Lund in Lakes' second meet, and Lund (21-2) was able to hold off Holmes for a 4-3 decision.
"Holmes wrestled smart (against Pousson) and he didn't make the mistakes he made against Grant," said Lakes coach Curt Onstad. "Head-to-head we did really well, but we have injuries and we don't have the depth that some teams do."
Pousson added a pin for the Panthers in their victory over the Rams as did Contraras, Jose Jimenez, Corey Weber (171), and Nicoline. Danny Jimenez (119), and Ray Bryant had 2 forfeit victories each for Round Lake while Mark Miejewski (140), Joe Medina (285), and Weber also had 2 wins on the day.
"I think the season is going pretty well and I'm trying to practice different things to get ready for kids with different styles," said Lund. "I'm hoping to win a match downstate because Grayslake has not won a match downstate in about seven years."
The Rams' lack of depth this season has put them in the same boat as Lake County teams like Lakes, Lake Zurich, and Wauconda, who have each been forfeiting numerous bouts in the early stages of theseason.
"The split of the two schools (Grayslake Central and North) has been kind of hard on us this season and we're moving kids around," said Grayslake Central coach Brent Pitt. "Lund is having a good year after two losses early in the season at Barrington and if he keeps his conditioning up he'll do well."