Wins in close matches propel Hersey over Meadows
Hersey took a giant step toward a Mid-Suburban League East Division wrestling crown Friday night after defeating visiting Rolling Meadows 35-21 before a boisterous crowd in Arlington Heights.
The Huskies (21-3, 3-0), who will meet their closest rival Wheeling later this month, won thanks in part to their ability to win nearly every close bout.
The Huskies banked a pair of timely falls from Stephon Scales and Jeff Koepke to add much-needed bonus points that kept the Mustangs at arm's length all night.
"I knew (tonight) was going to be a hard-fought match, but we did the things we needed to, especially winning so many of those close matches, which could have gone either way," said Huskies coach Jim Wormsley.
"Looking back on it, I figured that maybe 11 of the 14 matches we had a good chance to win, but (Hersey) proved to be the better team tonight by winning those when it counted," said Mustangs coach Dave Froehlich.
The Mustangs (11-6, 2-1) started brightly with a thrilling come from behind 8-7 victory by Joe Caprio (152) over Sean Bonner. Caprio sustained a long ride by Bonner, who appeared ready to record the win, until the official called a stalemate with 13.3 seconds to go in regulation.
With a breath of fresh air, Caprio scored an escape to draw even at 6-6 at 5.5 seconds, before delivering a takedown in the waning moments to go up 8-6.
However, it wasn't until teammate Jordan Farnum's first period takedown over heavyweight opponent Connor Rollin that the Mustangs were able to grab the lead in a match after a quartet of Huskies - Koepke, Jason Olson, Fred Scales and Joey Castellanos - dominated the run from 160 pounds thru 215 to help the Huskies extend their lead to 16-3.
"This team has grown up together over the past 2-3 years, and it's experience which has helped us become the team that we are," said Koepke, a state qualifier last season as a sophomore.
Castellanos won in overtime over Erick Louis-Charles with a takedown 30 seconds into the extra period. Two matches later, Conrad Bugay won another tight decision at 119 by a 3-2 score with an escape over Frank Adame as regulation neared.
Josh Simmons (130) prevailed 4-3 when he got in deep against Nick Calandra, before earning credit for a late takedown and eventual winner to push the Huskies' lead to 28-15.
A fall at 1:35 from the Mustangs' Shawn Meyer got Meadows within 28-21 with two bouts remaining.
But Zach Whitehead scored the last 3 points in his match with Dennis Caravello to break a 4-4 dead-lock en route to a 7-4 triumph to seal the victory.
That made one of the best in the state at 145 pounds, Demetrios Mitchell, and his meeting against Marc Herff not as important as it might have been.
Mitchell ran his record to 32-0 after a 13-5 major decision.
"I was real pleased with the way we competed tonight, and we believe we will only get better in the coming weeks after getting over a recent bout of a few nagging injuries," Wormsley said.