Jacobs, Larkin, Hampshire see progress
Third-year Jacobs wrestling coach Chris Taylor likes the progress of his program so far.
Taylor’s Golden Eagles took a step in the right direction Saturday at the Jacobs Mega Duals in Algonquin.
Taking fifth place in the talent-laden meet with a 54-22 win over Riverside-Brookfield, Jacobs was 3-2 overall for the day.
“Our young kids really wrestled well and are improving all the time,” said Taylor. “This meet is great because we get five tough matches against very good teams. We have been able to get this program going in the right direction. We have good numbers at the high school level and in our kids program.”
In pool play Jacobs split its 4 matches, defeating Richards 66-16 and edging District 300 rival Hampshire 37-35 and dropping decisions to Dixon 40-30 and Oswego East 48-24.
Matt Mamola (220) and Jared Mrzlak (182) had 3 pins while Austin Ryan (106) registered 2 pins for the day for the Golden Eagles.
Hampshire, which defeated Larkin 43-26 for seventh-place honors, posted a 2-3 record for the day.
In pool play, the Whip-Purs defeated Richards 39-26 while dropping a close decision to Jacobs and losing to Dixon 37-27 and Oswego East 55-18.
Hampshire 113-pounder Alex Feltz enjoyed a stellar tournament with a perfect 5-0 day. Feltz collected 2 pins and won 2 matches by decision.
First-year Hampshire coach Terry Wilkinson, who was an assistant for 7 years under Hall of Famer Al Zinke at Dundee-Crown, believes his team improved as the day went on.
“This is a great meet because we get to wrestle 5 matches against very good teams,” said Wilkinson. “This tournament is a good early gauge at where we are as a team. I am very pleased with the progress of this team.”
Larkin, which lost to Hampshire in the seventh place match was 1-3 on pool play.
The Royals, who had to forfeit 6 of the 14 weight classes, defeated North Chicago 38-24 while losing to McHenry 60-22, York 59-12 and Riverside Brookfield 43-27.
Despite having an incomplete lineup, Larkin got outstanding efforts from David Perez at 170 and Juan Davis (220). Perez won all 5 of his matches by pin while Davis claimed 4 wins by pins with a victory by forfeit.
“David Perez and Juan Davis really wrestled well,” said Larkin coach Andre Allen. “They had their pins against a very good competition. We had a good corps wrestle today and they did a great job today. We had some kids on vacation this weekend but once we get our lineup we should be strong.”