Late pins spark Jacobs
Jacobs thrilled a raucous Senior Night audience with three pins in the late stages of its match with Crystal Lake South to claim a 39-27 victory Thursday in the FVC season finale for both clubs.
"It was kind of a slow night, but it sure was a fast and furious ending," said Jacobs coach Gary Conrad.
Conrad's men built an early 12-0 advantage after a pair of decisions from Jake and Joel Ridle at 126 and 132, followed by a Jake Harrier (32-1) pin at 138, which for the four-year star was his 150th victory of his brilliant career.
"We're about to head into the final four weeks of my high school career, and I cannot believe how those years have flown by," said Harrier, currently No. 3 in the state.
"This night could not have ended better for me. We won our last home match, and we went against South (who) along with Peyton Timmons, and my teammates Alex Epstein and Ryan Golnick, are guys I hang out with every weekend."
Timmons, himself a four-year star at South, echoed the comments of his friend Harrier.
"We obviously would have liked to come in here and got the win, but it was great wrestling against Epstein, Harrier and Golnick on their Senior Night, and the last match of the season," said Timmons, No. 4 at 145 in 2A, and headed to Augustana next fall.
Timmons (26-4) would get the best of Epstein (25-4) with a 7-2 decision to give the Gators their first points of the evening which was followed by a Shane Moran (16-3) pin at 152 to draw the visitors even closer at 12-9.
Vince Ducato increased the Jacobs' lead to 15-9 after his 7-4 victory at 160. But a KT Sivertsen (170) pin at 1:05 leveled the contest at 15-15.
A forfeit at 170 gave the Gators (8-9-0, 5-4-0) their first and only lead of the night, 21-15.
Kyle Koziel fueled an impressive finish by the home side with a 4-2 decision at 195, setting up a Ryan Golnick pin near the edge just 26 seconds into his 220 pound bout.
The top-rated Golnick, now 29-3, gave the Golden Eagles the lead for good at 24-21, but it was a pin from heavyweight Antonio Carlos that all but sealed the victory.
"Carlos has been fighting the flu all week, but he hung in there and got a big six points for us to turn things around for good," said Conrad.
Carlos was trailing Gators big man Zach Lowe 4-0 in the third period before giving the big crowd reason to celebrate after recording his fall at 4:57.
James Wright's 4-2 victory at 106 increased the Jacobs' advantage to 33-21. However, reigning state champion Christian Olson (18-3, 113) gave the visitors hope with a pin to draw the Gators within 33-27.
Gabe Zizzo and Austin Laurie (CLS) had an all-action bout at 120 that left fans gasping for more. This seesaw contest saw each come close to pinning the other on a handful of occasions.
With Zizzo leading 13-9 after his second period reversal, he finished off his opponent at 3:28 to send the Jacobs crowd out the door with smiles on their faces.