Bumps in road no longer stopping Falcons

In an up-and-down season, Wheaton North's wrestling team is aiming to end on an up note.

Five days after placing fifth behind team champion Batavia at this year's Batavia tournament, Wheaton North won 33-27 over the Bulldogs in a dual meet in Wheaton.

"We've had a lot of bumps in the road this year, but we've just pushed through it," said the Falcons' Dominick Schmit. "We're much better as a team now."

Down 27-21 with three matches left to wrestle, the Falcons got wins from Mike Fredricks (145 pounds), Will Gemmell (152) and Schmit (160) to secure the win.

Seniors Gemmell and Jake Dore (125) returned for their first matches after long absences due to injury this year, and they both posted wins on senior night in Wheaton.

Dore posted a decision after sitting out for six weeks.

"Final match under the lights, and my first match this season," Dore said. "It couldn't have turned out any better."

"We're starting to get a little healthy now," said Falcons coach Steve Holland. "I didn't expect (Dore) to have as much in the tank as he did, and Gemmell did a nice job."

It was Gemmell's pin that put the Falcons up for good at 30-27, before Schmit used a takedown in overtime to win a 6-4 decision over one of the state's best in Batavia's Andrew Rudd.

Rudd pinned Schmit in a Batavia tournament semifinal.

"We push each other real hard in the room, so I had the conditioning to go six minutes-plus," Schmit said. "I watched tape of our match on Saturday, coach and I came up with a game plan, and I executed it."

Danny Watson (171) and Luis Campos (189) opened the day's scoring for Batavia with a pair of decisions, but the Falcons' J.J. Gibbs (215) and Dragan Suzjnevic (285) posted pins to give the hosts a 12-6 lead.

Wheaton North has been forfeiting at 103 pounds, so recouping those lost points has been important.

"We need to get bonus points wherever we can," Suzjnevic said. "A couple of us were sitting on the bench counting up criteria before the last match."

With the score tied 12-12, a pin by Wheaton North's Adrian Laskero (112) ensued, before Batavia's Logan Arlis wrestled up a weight and won an 8-5 decision over Joe Gorman.

The Bulldogs' Charlie Ryan (130) won by fall, Tyler Patton (135) won by decision over Adam Baurle, and Augie Watson (140) won a 3-2 decision in four overtimes over the Falcons' Geoff Pevitts.