Burlington Central's Schuck a sectional champion
STERLING - Taylor Schuck's toughest opponent at Saturday's Class 2A Sterling wrestling sectional was an opponent all too familiar.
Even tougher than Marian Central's Jared Koch, who was ranked No. 2 in the state according to illinoismatmen.com, who Schuck destroyed 7-1 to advance to the championship match at 171 pounds.
His opening bout was even more exhausting than the 12-3 whooping he put on Rochelle's C.J. Navarro, who at 28-3 entered the sectional ranked No. 1 in the state.
Schuck opened Saturday by simulating his match with Koch with his brother, former Central wrestler Matt Schuck - the only Central wrestler to lay claim to a sectional title.
That was until, with his brother Matt in his corner, Schuck (29-2) defeated Navarro after leading just 4-3 to earn the second Central wrestling title in school history.
"I had a real tough warmup, I simulated my first match with my brother and Tim Maroder," said Schuck, who entered Saturday ranked No. 3. "(Against Koch) it was do or die. I didn't want to go into wrestlebacks. In the final, I was more relaxed, more confident."
Schuck was the lone Central wrestler to advance to next weekend's IHSA state meet, with Maroder (189) and Shane Burke (130) both falling by walk over in the third place match of their respective weight classes.
But with Saturday's victories over the top 2 ranked wrestlers in the state, Schuck and Rockets' coach Tony Rigitano are optimistic about Schuck's chances at state.
"Taylor wrestled tremendous," said Rigitano. "If he continues to do what he's done, he's going to be on top of the podium next Saturday night."
Schuck will be joined downstate by Kaneland's Kyle Davidson (145) and Jimmy Boyle (285). Davidson (36-10) took third with a 5-2 victory over Richmond-Burton's Connor Graves (36-8). Boyle took a much more dramatic approach to earning his 40th victory of the season.
In the final match of the meet, Boyle (40-4) and LaSalle-Peru's Jason Hubble went into sudden-death overtime after a 1-1 draw. Boyle added to the dramatics as he took Hubble down with just 6 seconds left to earn a 3-1 victory and his first trip to the state meet.
"I worked with (assistant coach) Jeremy (Kenny) all week on being better on my feet," said Boyle, who was hoisted up in the air by Kenny after the victory.
Despite finishing the tournament with 4 pins, it was a 4-2 loss to Washington's Colton Gladwell that came back to haunt Burke (34-7). Likewise for Maroder, who dropped a 3-2 decision to Dixon's George Canales in his first match. The IHSA does not allow wrestlers to face the same opponent twice, meaning that the earlier victory counted when the wrestlers faced off in the third-place match.
"It's a big bummer," Burke said. I wrestled my best. I lost and then I did my best and kept winning. I pinned all of the other kids."