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Cary-Grove upends Dundee-Crown

Cary-Grove staged an exciting late comeback against longtime Fox Valley Conference rival Dundee-Crown (8-7, 2-2) Thursday to leapfrog the visiting Chargers 34-28, giving the Trojans a perfect start to the new year.

Sophomore Trent Atkins (125 pounds) shocked Travell Rounds in the late stages of the first OT period to defeat the Chargers' star senior 6-4 in the final bout of the night to seal the long-awaited victory for the home side.

“It could be 8 or 9 years since we've beaten (Dundee-Crown) and I can tell you it's very satisfying because of the great group of kids we have this season,” said a proud Trojans head coach Dan Cysewski, who watched his team build an early 12-3 lead with a fall from Corey Meyer (10-3) to start the evening, then actually fall behind 25-16 when the visitors used some upper weight punch from Carson Tanner (189) and Cody Churkey at 215 to grab the lead.

“We've got a pretty good group this season, but we've got to do the little things to be better in order to stay away from losing a tough one like we did tonight,” offered the Chargers' Churkey (18-2), who was D-C's lone medal winner (5th) at the prestigious Dvorak tournament during the holiday break.

Churkey's teammates Gustavo Jacobo, Alonzo Fuller, Steven Vincent and Chris Lamprecht swept their counterparts at 140 through 160, with Lamprecht's 10-9 victory over Patrick O'Malley easily one of the most exciting of all matches on the night.

Lamprecht would take a 7-2 lead into the final period, but quickly saw his comfort level challenged when O'Malley erased his 5-point deficit to draw even to bring the home crowd up off its seats to cheer their hero, whose takedown at 5 minutes made it 9-9. Lamprecht would follow with an escape to take the lead for good, and would defend a late shot to hold on to give the Chargers the lead at 15-12.

“This team just doesn't give up, and with the help of a great group of assistant coaches, they have all of the guys believing in themselves, and buying into the program, and tonight you saw that with their effort and with the way they never gave up,” offered Cysewski.

The longtime head coach pointed to his rookie 103-pounder Logan Hanselman, who would win a key match against Jequan Flynn to help turn the tide for the Trojans after Richard Kersten edged fellow heavyweight Raymond Griggel 8-7, when his escape at the edge proved to the difference, while pulling the home team closer at 25-19, before a major decision from Colin Hansen (15-3) at 171.

“Logan was big for us tonight, and to think he had never wrestled before until this season, and watching him have success, while soaking up so much in such a short period of time being with us,” Cysewski said.

Hansleman dominated from the opening whistle, attacking at will to build a 10-0 lead after two periods, before his pin at 3:48 brought the Trojans back even at 25 to help set up the dramatic finish.

After Matt Hutchings took a forfeit and 6 points for Cary-Grove, the Chargers made a tactical switch in their lineup to send Connor Lewis out for Rounds at 119 to wrestle Zach Spielman, with the hope that a win would help set up Rounds to clinch a victory over the sophomore Atkins.

Lewis did his part in a hard-fought 10-6 decision however, Rounds was unable to do so with Atkins spoiling the plans of the D-C coaching staff.

“I wrestled (Rounds) last year, and I knew that all of my hard work and conditioning would be the difference if it came down to that,” said Atkins, who admitted an extra breath of fresh air garnered during a brief stoppage while officials tossed an assistant head coach just before OT worked to his advantage in the closing moments of the match before his winning takedown.

The Trojans (3-4, 2-1) finish their week with a conference dual at home tonight with Jacobs before traveling to Class 2A power Sycamore for its annual tournament on Saturday.

  With the taste of victory, Cary-Grove’s Corey Meyer checks the clock in this 130-pound match against Dundee-Crown’s Dillion Muscat Thursday in Cary. Meyer pinned Muskat moments later. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.comDundee-Crown’s Travell Rounds and Cary-Grove’s Zach Spielmann, right, are reflected in the gymnasium floor during their 119-pound match Thursday in Cary. Rounds won.
  Dundee-Crown 215-pound wrestler Cody Churkey gets last second advice before his match against Cary-Grove’s David Henry Thursday in Cary. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
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