Geneva nips St. Charles E. in key UEC match
Geneva and St. Charles East had a critical Upstate Eight River wrestling match on Friday night — and a basketball game broke out.
In a match of unanswered runs, it was the Vikings’ sweep of four weight classes between 140 and 160 pounds that proved the difference in their 36-32 victory Friday night in St. Charles.
Geneva (18-5, 5-0) can claim an unblemished River run with a victory over archrival Batavia next week; St. Charles East fell to 11-5, 4-1.
“The big thing was the bonus points,” said Geneva coach Tom Chernich. “Our kids absolutely fought their tails off. St. Charles East is a very good team. It was a hard-fought match.”
Geneva trailed 26-15 when the Saints’ Peter Bellino completed a fourth consecutive dominant win for St. Charles East at 135 pounds.
The Vikings’ Brian Favis was unsure of his chances at 140 pounds.
“I actually thought I was going to lose,” the Vikings’ junior said. “I had been sick for a week and didn’t think I was ready to wrestle yet.”
Favis’ doubts proved unfounded when he recorded an unexpected second-period fall.
The abbreviated verdict reduced the Vikings’ deficit to five, and Tony Castelvecchi provided Geneva the lead for good when he also recorded a fall one minute into the second period.
Nick Bradberry extended the Vikings’ unanswered blitz to 15 points with a well-orchestrated 8-2 win over Tyler Clark.
It was Derek Larsen, however, who delivered the knockout blow for Geneva.
The 160-pound senior was engaged in a low-scoring match with East senior Jerry Fialka; its entire complexion changed, though, when Larsen — off a restart — made a quick, darting move to compromise Fialka.
The resulting pin made it a 21-0 run for the Vikings.
“I just saw an opportunity and took advantage of it,” Larsen said. “I knew what I was going to do. He was gassed and had his head down.”
The Saints’ Mike Caddy (171 pounds) and Tyler Sullivan (189) recorded simple decisions to account for the final score.
The Saints’ run commenced at 119 pounds after a pair of earlier forfeits put them in a 15-6 hole.
Joe Dede needed only 38 seconds to begin the run; Isaiah Vela and Nick Ruffino had back-to-back technical falls, scoring points as if playing a video game at 125 and 130.
“Me and Isaiah both had our guys pinned,” Ruffino said. “I was looking at the ref, thinking to myself, “Is he going to call the pin?”
“(The Geneva wrestlers) did a great job of staying off their backs and not getting pinned,” said East coach Steve Smerz. “That was the difference in the match.”