Wrestling: Dundee-Crown drops tight FVC match to CL Central
Crystal Lake Central freshman Cayden Parks provided a boost for the Tigers against Dundee-Crown senior Matt Impastato at 145 pounds.
In one of only two matches of the Fox Valley Conference not decided by pin or forfeit, Parks battled Impastato into the third period with a one-point lead.
Parks scored in the third, turned it into a five-point move and held on for a 9-4 victory that helped the Tigers beat D-C, 45-33, in their dual meet Thursday night.
At that point, Central led, 21-18. The Tigers (7-4, 3-1 FVC) pushed the lead to 39-18 with pins from Dillon Carlson (152), Connor Lezama (160) and Ben Butler (170) before the Chargers (5-7, 3-2) came back to tighten things up.
D-C's Dominick Poremba won by decision at 182, Porter Leith (195) and Juan Jasso (220) won by pins, cutting the margin to 39-33 with the 285 match remaining.
Central's Leo Diaz had to avoid a pin for the Tigers to win and wound up pinning Alexi Castellanos in 1:23 for the team victory.
"I was just staying calm and making sure that I won, knowing that it came down to me if we won or lost the meet," Diaz said. "I like it when (my match) determines it. I had to stay calm and wrestle my match."
The match went according to recent history between the two teams.
"We have these duals every year," Tigers coach Justen Lehr said. "They have tough kids, they battled. We expected it to be pretty close. They have some good kids in the upper weights.
"I expected it to close down a little bit from the lead we picked up on them. It's a good dual for right now."
Central got pins from Payton Ramsey (106) Greco Gonzalez (126), Tommy Hammond (132). The Chargers picked up pins from Jose Baeza (120) and Thomas Taylor (138).
"We're about half a (junior varsity) lineup right now (with injuries and COVID-19)," Chargers coach Tim Hayes said. "Our big guys usually do well. Porter came through there at the end and Juan at 220, he has to be close to 15 pins."
Leith controlled his match against Thomas Metz and finally got the pin at 5:50.
"That was extremely important," Leith said. "I like to think of myself as a captain. We're down a few points and it's really important for us heavier weights to come together at the end and try to get some points on the board. It's important to motivate the team. Just because we're down doesn't mean we can't come back."
Leith and Jasso's wins gave D-C a mathematical shot.
"Porter's my practice partner and he's always pushing me," Jasso said. "He keeps me going. Having him as a partner helps me get better. Also, getting out there and seeing how my team's performing and knowing I have to push the pace for them. It helps me get more into the matches."