St. Charles East turns the tables on Batavia
Winning a conference wrestling dual is always great, add on a revenge factor and it's all a bonus.
And it was bonus points that made the difference for St. Charles East in Thursday's de facto Upstate Eight Conference River Division title showdown between unbeatens.
Last year Batavia ending a string of three straight River Division crowns for the Saints but East not only erased that memory but an initial 7-point deficit en route to a 37-16 triumph.
"There's no doubt we had this one marked on our calendar," East coach Jason Potter said. "To be honest, the 7-0 deficit wasn't as big a concern to me as worrying about how a couple newcomers in the lineup would fare."
Those concerns disappeared as East claimed a 12-10 lead after matches despite winning only two of those, the latter a stunning comeback victory at heavyweight that was the first of five straight wins putting the Saints ahead 28-10. While both schools have two more league duals, East is now in the driver's seat with a 5-0 River Division mark (11-3 overall) while Batavia dips to 4-1 (10-12 overall).
The meet began with the 170-pound weight class where the Bulldogs' Nick Benson used a first-period takedown plus three near fall points to give the visitors a 16-4 decision and 4-0 lead on the scoreboard. Unfortunately for Batavia, that would be the only bonus point the Bulldogs would get.
"If your individual match is early you hope to start momentum in your team's favor, if you're wrestling later, then you hope to build momentum or change it, either way you have to be ready to wrestle," Benson explained.
Batavia's Derek Nutley followed with an 11-5 win over Nathan Rich at 185 before East's Drew Conn made it a 1-point deficit with a 2:27 pinfall victory at 185. Dustin Uzumecki got a 5-2 decision at 220. D'Andre Meadows owned a 6-0 lead heading into the third period of the heavyweight bout with East's Mac Schumann.
But then came the Saints' rally. Schumann escaped and got the leverage needed to take Meadows to his back for a 4:57 pin that vaulted East into a 12-10 lead.
"Wrestling wins are determined by who steps up and not necessarily for wins, but to avoid giving the opponent points," Potter noted. "Rich was set to wrestle JV but we asked him to eat, drink, eat before the match to fill in at 182 and they only get three team points. Drew Conn is normally a backup, Max told me he could take his guy, going into that third period I wasn't so sure. At 113 and 120, we had new guys, and of course the guys we count on came through."
Joe Ruffino added a 12-2 major decision at 106 while Justin Benjamin followed with a 21-6 tech fall to make it 21-10. Ben Anderson's 6-2 win at 120 plus Anthony Runbino's 18-4 major made it a huge 28-10 lead.
"The more I scored and heard my teammates and the crowd, the more confident I got," Benjamin said.
"The pins really pumped us up and was like a spark for a fire," Anderson added. "I'm probably an underdog in most matches, so I don't even think about it, I just focus on going out and getting a win or doing the best I can."
Batavia 132-pounder Mike Doranski halted the Saints march with a 7-0 win, but East then picked up three straight decisions from Mike Derain, Jack Martino, and D.J. McDermott. The match ended with the Bulldogs' Joe Posleoni pulling out a 6-5 victory at 160 to account for the final score.
"We missed a lot of opportunities tonight," Batavia coach Scott Bayer said. "Hats off to them, they beat us whenever they could, got bonus points and won the close matches. The guys we needed to get us bonus points fell short."