Saxons sharp in big win over Hersey
Schaumburg started fast and never looked back.
The Saxons (4-0) rolled to a 42-16 dual-meet victory over Hersey on their home mats in the Mid-Suburban League opener for both clubs Thursday night.
The Saxons opened the evening with a 19-0 run, then poured it on after the visitors closed to within 27-12 on Kevin Snodgrass' 4-2 decision at 125 pounds.
"There was a lot of emotional expectation just in the first match of the night at (160) between our guy Danny Malik and Hersey's Jeff Koepke, but it seemed after Danny was able to get the pin, the air kind of went out of the balloon and the rest of the night just slowed down," said Saxons coach Matt Gruszka.
"Not a lot to cheer about tonight," said Huskies coach Jim Wormsley, whose team had begun the season with its best start (11-4) in recent memory - including a 7-3 record at the Maine East tournament last weekend.
Malik, coming off a superb effort last weekend at the prestigious C.O. Feutz Classic at Conant, attacked early and often against Koepke (13-1) before recording his fall at 2:51.
Jon Mejia followed with a pin at 3:07 and the rout was on.
"Jon just picked up right after me and showed what a team captain and leader is supposed to do," said Malik, who was runner-up to state-ranked Sammy Brooks of Oak Park-River Forest after a well-fought 5-3 defeat in the final at Conant.
"This (team) is working so hard in the room this season, and we all have to credit our head coach and the rest of the staff for (it) all."
Josh Marchok followed with a 10-2 major decision, and teammate Craig Cruz edged Joey Castellanos 2-1 to help build the Saxons' lead to 19-0.
Huskies heavyweight Mike Dragovich got the visitors on the board with a 6-3 win after breaking a 2-2 tie in the second-period with a takedown.
Hamza Akram, another early season success story at the Feutz, scored at will en route to a technical fall triumph in 3:14 at 119 pounds over Josh Simmons that pushed the lead to 27-9.
Snodgrass slowed the Saxons with a 2-point win over James Donovan, but 2008 state qualifier Evan Hafner got his team back on track when he needed just 1:27 to pin Richard Kim.
"Danny and I are always pushing each other when we go out on our 4 a.m., and everyone is pushing each other to get better," said Akram, who finished third at Conant.
Demetrius Mitchell, a 2008 sectional qualifier, registered the most impressive win of the night for Hersey when he defeated Pat Felde by major decision 13-1.
Teammate Stephan Scales was the only other Hersey wrestler to win, and it was the quickest of the evening - a fall at 25 seconds at 103 pounds.
"It's nice to have (Shane Halter) back in the lineup at 112 after missing most of last season with a broken collarbone, and now we just have to continue to work to improve with each week," Gruszka said.