Rockets have work to do
Burlington Central's wrestling team wanted to see what it was made of Saturday morning.
The Rockets found out that they have some work to do. Central picked up its first two losses of the season, falling to Sycamore (41-25) and Lake Zurich (37-36) at Saturday's South Elgin quad. The Rockets rebounded to beat the host Storm, 41-24, in the final dual of the day. South Elgin also fell to undefeated Sycamore (58-19) and Lake Zurich (40-21). Sycamore and Lake Zurich did not face each other.
"This is the same scenario as last year," Rockets' coach Tony Rigitano said. "We can't give up back points. (Sycamore) got the pins. Lake Zurich is a tough team and we wanted to improve our schedule."
Central (10-2) is hoping for last year's scenario to play out in full effect. Sycamore (6-0) defeated the Rockets at the South Elgin quad last season, but BC then rebounded to win the regional championship at Sycamore.
"We have to work on not getting pinned," said Central 119-pounder Kevin Marshall. "We have a young team and have to work on getting off our backs."
Marshall never found himself in that predicament as he pinned South Elgin's Nick Citta (1:45), scored a 15-0 major decision over Lake Zurich's Alex Nigra and a 16-1 decision over Sycamore's Zach Spievak. Marshall improved to 10-0 on the season.
Shane Burke (125) and Taylor Schuck (160) also both went 3-0 on the day.
South Elgin got an undefeated performance from Kevin Gianaris (112). The junior improved his mark to 14-3 with a pin over Sycamore's Thomas Ernster (3:32) and a 6-3 decision over Lake Zurich's Alex Bend. In one of the closest matches of the day, Gianaris edged out Central's Johnny Major 6-4 with a third-period comeback. Major had notched decisions over both Ernster (13-3) and Bend (15-4) earlier in the day.
"I knew if I worked hard, I would be able to come out with some wins," Gianaris said. "The hard work is paying off."
Storm coach Mark Cameron credited Gianaris' tough offseason workout program for his success so far this season.
"He worked nonstop all offseason," Cameron said. "When it came time to do stuff over the summer, he did everything."
Lake Zurich had a lot of success on Saturday. With a rotating lineup in its two dual meets, the Bears got 2-0 days from Cameron Shaffer (130) and Andy Lynch (145). Heavyweight Mike Zborovsky also earned a hard-fought 1-1 mark. Andy McCullough saw some varsity action with a 3:48 fall over Central's Al Willett.
"We got a chance for a couple of kids to trade around," Bears' coach Dan Strickler said. "(McCullough) got an opportunity to get some varsity experience. (Zborovsky) was winning against South Elgin, but ended up losing and wound up getting a pin against Burlington Central."