Batavia continues its run

There is never a dearth of excitement when Batavia and West Aurora clash at the Bulldogs' annual wrestling quadrangular.

The area powers had few problems with either Romeoville or Marist to set the stage for their most recent showdown, which Batavia captured 49-30 on Saturday morning.

Exploiting four West Aurora forfeits and pins from its lethal triumvirate of Logan Arlis, Andrew Rudd and Danny Watson, the Bulldogs' sweep at home followed a trend begun with a convincing win over another local power, Marmion.

"The key for us, not only today but ever since we won 10 of 14 matches against Marmion, is that we have been wrestling extremely well," Batavia coach Tom Arlis said. "We're really starting to get on a roll."

Batavia improved to 11-7 on the season.

Sam Pealstrom provided the Blackhawks with an ideal start with a pin at 140 pounds to start the dual meet, but Rudd and Watson, the Bulldogs' 160- and 171-pounders, had their third wins of the day to follow back-to-back West Aurora forfeits.

Suddenly, the Bulldogs were in the midst of a 24-point unanswered run.

Mario Gonzalez, the Blackhawks' Illinois-bound 189-pounder, needed less than a minute to secure his third fall of the day to bring West Aurora within 24-12.

But consecutive West Aurora forfeits and Arlis' extension of his perfect season to 22 with a third-period pin gave Batavia a commanding 42-18 lead.

West Aurora would record three pins of its own at the lower weights behind Nicholas Drendal, Miguel Venecia and Josh Zinzer, but the Bulldogs' plurality was sustained.

The teams' 79 combined points were only five shy of the maximum total possible in a dual meet.

"A lot of that has to do with matchups," Batavia coach Arlis said. "A (West Aurora) stud would go up against one of our weaker kids."

Batavia and Romeoville also had a score of 6-point matches in the Bulldogs' 54-25 victory.

Six Batavia wrestlers had falls against Romeoville, and Arlis' hard-fought 6-5 victory over second-ranked 112-pounder Sean Raddantz sparked the Bulldogs' 45-27 win over Marist.

"It was a great match," the elder Arlis said.