Buffalo Grove muscles past Rolling Meadows
The hopes of Buffalo Grove in the Mid-Suburban East lie squarely on the big shoulders of its wrestlers at the upper weights and Friday night two of its key figures in that group did plenty of damage against visiting Rolling Meadows.
Andy Polk (160 pounds) and Michael Goubine (182) were at the tail end of an eight-match run, providing 10 points toward the eventual 46 the Bison would total to defeat the Mustangs 46-21.
The win moves the Bison to .500 overall (6-6-0), 2-0-0 in the division, while dropping their opponents to 4-6-0 and 0-2-0.
"What I like about this team is how hard we work, and how competitive it is in the room each day, and it's showing in our results," said the junior Goubine (8-1), who was one win away from advancing into sectionals a year ago along with Polk, who won 23 last season.
"When I came into the program, we were really struggling, but as a four-year guy, it's important for me to lead by example while our young guys learn what it's like to compete at this level," said Polk, who after his 11-0 major decision victory is now 9-2 on the year.
Both Bison stars agree confidence is a big reason for their early success thus far, as it appears for the rest of their teammates.
"I was something like 5-25 as a sophomore, so to come back from a year like that last year was real tough, a real grind, but with my offseason work and my confidence so much better, the year went really well for me."
It was mostly an even match for the first five bouts on the night, with the visitors taking a 21-6 lead, thanks in part to a pair of pins from Maurice Chihuahua (106) and Eric Guerra (10-1) at 126, before the roof fell in on first-year head coach Dillon Randolph's club.
"We started strong, and finished the same way, but everything in between wasn't very good for us tonight," admitted Randolph, who at one time starred at Evanston and was an assistant in the Mustangs' program before taking over for John Bassler.
"We obviously are a work in progress right now. We have several first-time varsity wrestlers, and a couple of guys out with injuries, but I know we're better than we looked tonight."
Antonio Lopez would get the Bison back on their front foot with a pin at 138 pounds, before BG's best man, Alejandro Mejia, improved to 9-0 at 145.
The junior was in a commanding lead early into the third period when he claimed a win via a DQ at 4:43.
Michael Mejia followed with a 5-1 decision, paving the way for Polk, a forfeit at 170, and ending with two quick pins by Goubine and Teddy Patlak (195), both before one minute appeared on the clock.
"I was kind of timid as a sophomore wrestling on the varsity last year, but this season it's my confidence that's making the difference," said Goubine.
DJ West (220) would earn a hard-fought 4-1 decision to push the Bison lead to 46-18, before Mustangs heavyweight Omar Lopez recorded a 12-8 victory to end the contest.
"We'll continue to lean on our upper weight guys, while we wait for our younger guys at the lower weights to come along," began BG head coach Kurt Kutska.
"From 106-126 it's all freshmen and sophomores, so it's our big men who have carried us through in all of our dual wins so far, but those young guys will get better from the experience they're earning right now."
The Bison will host the Rex Lewis Invite on Saturday, while Rolling Meadows travels to the 12-team super-duals at Downers Grove South.