Wauconda pins a defeat on Vernon Hills

One of the final dual meets before the North Suburban Conference wrestling schedule takes a break for the holidays was held Thursday night at Wauconda.

The host Bulldogs opened up a 27-6 advantage after seven matches, but they had to hold off a late surge by Vernon Hills to capture a 40-27 North Suburban Lake victory over the Cougars.

Starting the meet at 125 pounds, Vernon Hills 2009 state qualifier Gideon Yim (18-3) posted a 5-2 decision over Mike Brown to give the Cougars (9-13, 2-2) a brief 3-0 lead.

Wauconda (8-3, 1-1) took a 6-3 lead when 130-pounder Bruce Pearl pinned his opponent in 3:41. But Vernon Hills 2009 state qualifier Joe Brignon tied the score at 6-6 with his 8-5 decision over Tim Alverado at 135.

The Bulldogs took the lead for keeps with a pin by 140-pound senior Tom Tyrrell in 1:59 before junior teammate Pete Kootstra (13-4) added a forfeit win at 145.

Then a pin in 3:30 by Wauconda 152-pounder Colin Murphy made the score 24-6 before 160-pound teammate Taylor Malley posted a 14-11 decision over Vernon Hills' Bill Wolff for a 27-6 advantage.

"I thought we wrestled pretty well for the most part and we have two of our starters out," said Tyrrell. "I've come a long way on my feet and every match I lost this season I feel I've been in at at least one point."

The Bulldogs were without two wrestlers due to injury while another individual did not make weight for the dual meet.

"This year the team seems very motivated and focused on what we want to accomplish," said Kootstra. "We would have liked to do much better against Grant, but a lot of matches didn't go in our favor."

The match started to turn in Vernon Hills' favor Thursday when 171-pounder Tran Vihn recorded a 13-8 decision over Wauconda's Tyler Glover.

Then a pin by the Cougars' Elvis Campos (3:45) at 189, and a pin by Rory Klema (1:52) at 215 cut the Bulldogs' lead to 27-21 with four bouts remaining.

"A couple of matches could have gone either way," said Vernon Hills coach Jerry Miceli. "If somebody gets hurt like we have right now, we don't have the depth. But Patrick Conrad filled in real nice at 119 because our regular guy (Riley Adkissen) is out with a broken collar bone."

Wauconda 285-pounder Cody Smith won a narrow 6-4 decision over Jeremy Brazil to boost the lead to 30-21.

Then the teams' exchanged forfeits at 103 and 112 to make the score 36-27 and clinch the Wauconda win. Wauconda 119-pounder Mike Thomas added an 11-2 major decision to close out the meet.

"Even in some of our losses we saw some positives," said Wauconda coach Tom Nance. "But we're still making mistakes that need to be eliminated."