Batavia's coming on strong

The Batavia wrestling team has chosen an ideal time to find its rhythm.

With its major invitational this weekend and defense of the Western Sun Conference tournament crown on the horizon, the Bulldogs continued their winning ways against league foe Kaneland in Maple Park on Tuesday night.

Evan Christensen and Steve Cherry had consecutive falls to jump-start the Batavia attack, and the Bulldogs' upper-weight kingpins - Andrew Rudd and Danny Watson - had equally short nights to propel the squad to a 41-27 victory.

The Bulldogs (12-6, 5-1) captured their fifth consecutive dual-meet win; the Knights (9-14, 1-4), however, ended their evening on a high note with a come-from-behind 33-30 win over longtime Little Seven rival Morris (4-8) in the nightcap.

"It was like an old-school wrestling match," Batavia coach Tom Arlis said of the meet opening at 103 pounds. "That's how we used to do it in the old days."

Batavia busted out of the gate as Christensen and Cherry had third- and second-period falls, respectively, to give the Bulldogs an early 12-0 cushion.

Arlis' son, 119-pound junior Logan, extended his season-opening unbeaten streak to 24 matches with a dominating 12-2 major decision at 119 pounds.

Deven Scholl stopped the bleeding for Kaneland by whitewashing his opponent at 125 pounds, but Batavia standout Charlie Patton needed a mere 23 seconds to vanquish his foe and extend the Bulldogs' meet-opening run to 22-3.

Augie Watson and Kyle Davidson then took turns thrilling their respective sides.

But when the second- and third-period crescendo of reversals and near falls reached its apex, Watson had turned back his fellow sophomore 12-8.

Arlis' concerns about the Bulldogs' lack of experience in the middle weighs resurfaced, though, and consecutive Kaneland victories, including a Jay Levita fall at 145 pounds, brought the home team to within a manageable 25-15 deficit.

But the Bulldogs had a resounding answer.

Rudd, the Bulldogs' master technician, registered a second-period pin, and Watson had an astonishing 15 takedowns in less than four minutes for a technical fall for a 36-15 Batavia spread.

"I'm trying to set (the school record for takedowns) this year," said Watson, who improved to 24-1 at 171 pounds. "I trained very hard in the off-season, and it is paying off. Knowing I'm one of the top guys (in the state) really helps."

The task for Rudd, who is 22-2 with 15 falls, was rudimentary.

"I wanted to give us a solid lead with a pin and make sure we came away with the victory," Rudd said.

Luis Campos' forfeit at 189 pounds gave Batavia an insurmountable lead, though back-to-back pins by the Knights' A. J. Wagner and Jimmy Boyle augured well for Kaneland.

Wagner had a first-period pin to halt Morris' 21-point unanswered run, and Boyle had a late takedown, 3-point near fall to complete the Knights' comeback.

"I wanted to do whatever I had to do to help the team," the Kaneland heavyweight said.