Duffy, Neuqua reign; Elgin's Walker wins at 160

The three wrestlers that Neuqua Valley's Jimmy Duffy took on Saturday at the Upstate Eight Conference tournament had a combined record of 61-15.

Duffy (30-2) never let them be a part of the conversation, posting three technical fall wins at 152 pounds, and winning the Jeff Mirabella award as the meet's outstanding wrestler.

"I wanted to come out and dominate, and I came out and dominated, so I was happy with that," Duffy said.

It was Duffy's third UEC title, teammate Chris Spangler won his fourth, and the Wildcats won their fifth consecutive conference title, out-pointing second-place St. Charles East, 264.5 to 217.

Elgin's Terrell Walker pinned Neuqua's Mike Zozulia for his first career title at 160 pounds, in a match that was tied 2-2 after two periods before Walker took Zozulia down and turned him.

"My coach has been getting on me all year about not riding and turning people, so I have to prove it to him," Walker said.

"That's about as well as I've been tested. (Zozulia) stopped a lot of my upper-body stuff, so I had to change it up."

Neuqua Valley had nine wrestlers reach the title mat, and also got titles from Matt Cavallaris (119) and Brian Epp (140).

"You get in the top four in the conference, and there are some very tough kids here," said Wildcats coach Mick Ruettiger. "We had a few blips out there, but the kids wrestled well."

"I was pleased," said Saints coach Steve Smerz, whose wrestlers won four of six title matches. "There are no easy matches when you're wrestling for a title, and our guys wrestled well." The Saints got titles from Alex Maynard (103), Cody Crawford (125), Daniel Mercadante (130), and Adam Schaefer (189).

Lake Park placed third, Waubonsie Valley was fourth, and St. Charles North took fifth in Streamwood.

Maynard christened the title mat with a 9-0 decision at 103, over Lake Park's Joe Rovituso, to win his first UEC crown.

"I was on the freshmen team last year," Maynard said. "I did some off-season training, and I've been doing well, and I got the team some big points."

The Lancers' Mike DeSario won his second career title at 112 pounds, using a third-period takedown to beat the Wildcats' Andy Spangler via 3-1 decision. DeSario beat Spangler for the title at 103 at last year's conference meet.

"Last year I was more aggressive, but this year I'm more controlled out there," DeSario said. "Both (titles) feel awesome."

Cavallaris won an 8-2 title decision over Bartlett's Brian Wozniak for the title at 119, and Crawford followed with a 7-1 title decision over Waubonsie's Kevin Roth at 125.

Mercadante and Neuqua's Adam Stine engaged in a wild one at 130, with Stine being hit with a stalling call that tied the score with 10 seconds left in the match, and Mercadante winning with a takedown in overtime.

"Right when he tried to hit a slide-by, I just dropped down and hit a single," Mercadante said. "We know each other pretty well, and I just tried to stay strong on my feet."

Waubonsie's Kyle Rasmussen and Neuqua's Matt Walters followed suit, trading takedowns, reversals, and back points at 135, with Rasmussen winning his first conference title via 13-7 decision. Rasmussen has flown under the radar this year despite his 32-6 record.

"It works out good," Rasmussen said. "I'm not ranked going into most matches, so kids don't think much of me until I go in there and beat on them."

Epp's second career title came hard-earned, as he broke a 4-4 tie with a late double-leg takedown to edge St. Charles North's David Trizzino 6-5 for the title at 140. "It was either score now, or score in overtime," Epp said. "I didn't want to score in overtime."

The North Stars senior Eric Justice earned his second UEC title via 5-1 decision over Neuqua's Nick Proctor, getting takedowns in the first and third periods at 145.

"He's a tough kid. I barely beat him last year for the title at 135," Justice said. "We wrestle each other at Overtime, and we've pretty much got the same styles, so it was kind of a chess match."

Duffy beat the Lancers' Dan Kowalski for his title. "My game plan was to take him down, get on top of him, and turn him a couple times," Duffy said. "It worked out good."

Spangler remained the lone unbeaten wrestler in the tournament, winning a pair of tech falls before the Saints' Billy Diamond injury defaulted in the title match. Spangler now sits at 32-0 on the season.

Spangler has gotten his share of pins this year, but has worked to stay conditioned. "I've worked a lot on my conditioning, so I can go six minutes and longer, and I've put in a lot of work at Overtime."

"Duffy and Spangler just go out there, stay focused, and put it all out there on the mat," Ruettiger said. "They want to dominate, and I think that's the key to how their success has come."

Schaefer won his second UEC crown with an overtime takedown at 189 to put away Waubonsie's Jeremiah Myers, before the North Stars' Dan McSweeney won his first title at 215 by pinning the Saints' Steve Schenck.

"(Schenck) beat me in my first match of the year, so my number one goal has been to get back here and beat him," McSweeney said. "I'm in better shape, and I've been working on my technique a lot."

Waubonsie's Nick Capristo finished the night with a 3-2 decision over East Aurora's Abe Duran for the heavyweight title.