St. Charles East stays in control of St. Charles North
The Wednesday night before Thanksgiving offers the St. Charles wrestling programs to inaugurate the new season under special circumstances.
The final score, 51-25 in favor of St. Charles East, was not nearly indicative of how competitive the teams' Upstate Eight Conference dual match unfolded.
The North Stars (0-1, 0-1) have battled the numbers game throughout their existence, and four forfeits - albeit two of which were surrendered against two of the Saints' top athletes - separated what was otherwise a series of one-sided matches. Of the 10 contested showdowns, the teams split them equally with a combined seven falls as the Saints' plurality was a mere two points without the forfeits factored in.
"Everyone came out wrestling hard," said St. Charles East coach Steve Smerz.
St. Charles East junior Mike Caddy energized the overflow crowd at Wredling Middle School with a first-period pin at 160 pounds. But North senior Mike McSweeney, who escaped a serious brush with defeat in the opening period, stopped his foe at 171 pounds midway through the second to tie the team score at 6-all.
Two classes later, the North Stars' Trevor Lilovich nullified the Saints' forfeit at 189 to square the tally once again at 12-12 with a second-period fall at 215. The North Stars, though outmanned, were not about to collapse.
"I knew (my opponent) was going to be tough," said Lilovich. "I caught him out of position, and that's what I wanted to do."
"I just wanted it more than he did," McSweeney said of his truncated match.
Rafael Flores' continuation of the abbreviation trend was unabated at heavyweight; the senior beat the first-period by two second to record yet another pin.
"Conditioning was the difference," said Flores, in all probability the best heavyweight in the area. "It was a single-leg takedown (to initiate the fall) - that was pretty much it."
Ryan Rubino had three near falls to secure his 103-pound match with an 8-1 victory, which also extended the Saints' unanswered run to 9 points.
St. Charles East (1-0, 1-0) then extended blitz to 15 with another forfeit, only to see the North Stars' Mike Sherry stop the run with an emphatic first-period fall. But East senior Nick Ruffino trumped the North Stars' fall with one of his one at 125 pounds.
St. Charles North 130-pounder Timmy Noverini knew the importance of his match; there were no turning back as East was guaranteed 12 points on the last forfeits in the subsequent two matches. The sophomore fell a point shy of a technical fall with a 14-0 whitewashing at 130.
Sam Gustafson had the North Stars' lone decision, but East returning state qualifier Nick Scimeca closed out the night with a fall at 160.
"I was a little sloppy," Scimeca said.