Batavia falls to state powerhouse Yorkville
The beauty of athletic competition is often its simplicity.
In a dual-meet wrestling match, winning close matches and garnering bonus points makes all the difference.
The Batavia wrestling team found out the hard way Wednesday night in Yorkville as the Bulldogs squared off with the defending Class 2A state runner-up Foxes.
Not until the final match, senior Adam Schulz at 171 pounds, did Batavia prevail down the stretch to record a late victory.
Yorkville, meanwhile, persevered in all the close matches early on and then used a dominant series by its bevy of state-ranked standouts in the middle weights to secure a 42-23 Western Sun Conference victory.
Yorkville improved to 9-3 overall, 2-1; Batavia fell to 6-6, 2-1.
"We lost a lot of close ones," said Batavia 145-pounder Augie Watson, who stopped his high-scoring match against Mike Balderas with a fall in the last half-minute. "I was able to score a lot of points against him and wear him down. Some of the other guys needed not to give up any bonus points."
Yorkville scored the first 9 points of the match with an overtime victory at 189 pounds and a Brendan Mahaney first-period fall.
But Batavia senior Pat Martin continued his progression at heavyweight, also ending his match in the first-period to draw the Bulldogs to within three.
It was, however, the closest Batavia would come the rest of the way. Yorkville posted three consecutive simple decisions - all of which were in the balance - for another 9-point unanswered run.
Logan Arlis, the Bulldogs' reigning Class 3A state runner-up, was brilliant, showcasing quickness and an inexorable desire, to triumph at 125.
"He doesn't stop," Yorkville coach Shane Darnell said of Arlis, who extended his season-opening winning streak to 15 matches. "He stays after you the whole six minutes."
Senior Rich Smith returned to the Batavia lineup and followed Arlis' gem with a whitewashing of his own to reduce the Foxes' lead to 18-14.
Yorkville then displayed its twin trump cards, though; Sean Anderson and Illinois-bound Jed Lightfoot had back-to-back falls at 135 and 140 to increase the Foxes' lead to 30-14.
A.J. Messenger then nullified the Watson fall at 145 pound with one of his own at 152; Yorkville then claimed its largest lead of the night when Brant Corwin registered the Foxes' fifth pin of the match.
"They have more talent and experience," said Batavia coach Tom Arlis. "We needed everything to go our way (to win)."
The Bulldogs have no time to rest; the squad welcomes Sycamore, which turned back Yorkville earlier this season, tonight.