Crystal Lake South pins one on Jacobs
In advance of their highly anticipated quad with their district wrestling neighbors, the Crystal Lake South Gators went pin happy Thursday night.
The host Gators roared past Jacobs 59-10 in a Fox Valley Valley Division dual.
Ross Ryan's Gators, who will travel to crosstown rival Crystal Lake Central tonight to take on the 2A power Tigers along with Prairie Ridge and Cary-Grove in what has been dubbed the D155 quad, fell behind 6-0 when Jacobs heavyweight Derek Bush needed just 0:34 seconds to record a fall.
But the Gators never looked back, using a frenzy of falls to put away the visitors.
"It's a good start to a big weekend of wrestling for us, beginning tonight, it what all of us are really looking forward to," Ryan said. "We found out first-hand what it's like to get a powerful team like (South) all fired up."
"After winning (Derek) opened things up with a pin, and after that they just came after us," said first-year Jacobs coach Chris Taylor, who took over the program just before the start of the season after a successful run in the Southern California at West Covina High School.
"I know we're young, and against a strong team your going to have a night like this, but some of our guys need to decide if they (are) going to compete, or just show up and wear a singlet," Taylor said.
Fans got just a snapshot of Gators stars Nick Fontanetta (18-0) and Kean Loupee (19-2) who, together, were on the mat for just a tick over two minutes after their super-quick pins. The No. 1 rated Fontanetta (103) drew the Gators even at 6-6.
Loupee recorded South's fourth consecutive pin at 160 pounds to extend the lead to 42-10.
"Things are beginning to come together for (me), especially after a particularly bad loss, in which the coaches have been on me (about) - and have been working me harder ever since," said Loupee, No. 7 in the most recent state polls.
Senior Aaron Ryan (18-8) gave the Golden Eagles their last lead of the night at 10-6 with a solid effort to defeat T.J. Fabella by a 13-5 major decision at 119 pounds.
"Aaron has had a bit of a tough go of it lately, but he's coming out of just fine, and looks to be ready for the most important time of the season that is coming up," Taylor said of the 2009 FVC runner-up at 112 pounds.
It was all South after the Ryan triumph, with D.J. Nee (125) and Tom Gerzewski (135) earning the lone non-fall or tech-fall victories.
Gerzewski shut out Joe Ladick 5-0. Gerzewski used an escape and penalty point for stalling and a reversal at the buzzer to build a 4-0 cushion, before riding out Ladick for nearly the entire final period.
Mark Mohler, Jacob Peters, Jason Luizzi, and Loupee followed with their respective pins, giving way to Tyler Simmons and his tech-fall at 4:24 over Kyle Cook. Their bout featured a pair of near-falls in the second period at 171 pounds.
Reese Dziedzic (189) recorded the seventh pin for the Gators (7-2, 4-0), this one coming 3:38 - before Kyle Enos grabbed a forfeit at 215 pounds.
"With a new coaching staff this season, it has taken awhile for all of us to get comfortable, but the (staff) is really making a difference, and it's great to see the team beginning to put it all together right now," the senior Mohler said.