Bracher sparks Lancers to win
Waubonsie Valley was rolling in an Upstate Eight Conference dual meet on Thursday, up 16-0 through four matches against Lake Park with 6 more forfeit points on the horizon in Roselle.
The Lancers' senior night needed a spark, and senior Nate Bracher provided it.
Bracher wrestled up a weight at 140 pounds and won an 8-3 decision in three overtimes to start a run of six straight wins for Lake Park that put the Lancers up by 11 points.
"After Bracher won in overtime, it ignited all of us," the Lancers' Dan Kowalski said after Lake Park's 33-28 win. "When I was doing the predictions, I had us losing a couple matches that we won tonight."
Mike Graziano followed Bracher with a pin at 145, and Kowalski won by pin at 152 before Kevin Vitols and Coder Pinney posted consecutive come-from-behind wins.
Vitols trailed the Warriors' Ryan Durso 6-2, scored a reversal in the second period, then had a takedown and two turns for a 13-6 win at 160. Pinney trailed Dan Moeggenborg 13-2 in the third period but took Moeggenborg to the mat with a headlock and won by pin at 171.
The Lancers' Peter Demars completed the six-win run by earning a takedown in overtime to win a 7-5 decision at 189.
"The kids didn't win with skill tonight, they won with heart," said Lancers coach Todd Raymond.
Warriors coach Brad Caldwell bumped Jeremiah Myers up a weight to 215 to take on the Lancers' Mike Dziedzic, and Myers came through in a back-and-forth match, winning an 11-8 decision.
Lake Park forfeited to Waubonsie heavyweight Nick Capristo, and the Warriors took a 28-27 lead with one match left to wrestle, when Doug Moravec won by 6-4 decision at 103 over Joe Rovituso.
Unfortunately for Waubonsie Valley, one of the wrestlers in the night's final match was Lake Park's Mike DeSario, who won the Upstate Eight title at 112 pounds Saturday.
DeSario's win by pin not only gave his squad the victory but also completed the winningest season in program history by giving Lake Park its 24th win against 6 losses.
"If you could plan every senior night out like that, that would be fantastic," Raymond said. "It was great for the fans, great for the kids and great for the program."
Waubonsie Valley got a pin from David Scarano at 119 pounds to start the night, a 4-2 decision at 125 from Kevin Roth, an 11-4 decision by Frank Trubiano at 130, and an 11-4 decision from Kyle Rasmussen at 135 pounds.
The night ended with a 7-7 split in matches won, but the Lancers won the battle of bonus points by earning a 4-1 edge in pins.
"I thought we had ourselves in position in a lot of matches, we lost the battle of hips on occasion on the scrambles, and that cost us," Caldwell said. "That's really where we lost the match."