Boys wrestling: Huntley caps unbeaten run through Fox Valley Conference
The Fox Valley Conference boys wrestling title will remain in Huntley.
Looking to finish their conference schedule undefeated, the Red Raiders dominated Thursday’s dual at Prairie Ridge from start to finish. Huntley recorded eight pins, including five in the opening period, to beat the Wolves 66-13 and clinch the outright FVC championship. It’s Huntley’s eighth conference title in 10 years.
“It’s great to come together as a team,” said Waylon Theobald, one of Huntley’s 11 match winners on Thursday. “It really shows that we’re not all for ourselves, but we’re a family. That’s kind of the motto. Every day at practice, we say, ‘one, two, three, family’. We really look after each other and we’re trying to win for each other.”
Huntley (22-4, 9-0 FVC), which has lost just three conference duals in the last decade according to head coach B.J. Bertelsman, rattled off eight straight victories to open Thursday’s competition. The Red Raiders crushed Prairie Ridge (9-6, 5-3 FVC) at the lower weights, taking three forfeits and adding multiple first-period pins.
“We worked hard in the offseason,” said Cam Abordo, who had two takedowns and a tilt before pinning Lorenzo Massart at 132. “All of us went to the same club together, so we’ve been putting the work in and we knew it would eventually pay off. We knew that if we kept training hard, we’d end up winning. We’ve done a lot of offensive drills and conditioning and we make sure we stay on our attacks.”
Thursday’s dual opened at 106, where Huntley’s Noah Gutierrez secured a pin against Tymen Robinson. After a trio of forfeits and Abordo’s pin at 132, Colin Huminsky took Leo Ruiz straight to his back early in the second period, pinning him to put the Red Raiders ahead 36-0.
“I was feeling him out in the beginning and seeing what he would give me,” Abordo said. “I knew I had to get to my offense and the match would be over quickly. I’ve been using a lot of snapdown go-behinds because it’s the most simple takedown and it just works.”
Huntley’s shutout continued into the middle weights, where Gavin Nischke (144) and Griffin Gunther (150) each posted pins that effectively clinched the dual victory. Nischke flexed both a cradle and an arm bar in his win over Eli Ruiz, while Gunther built a 6-1 lead before a third takedown led to a pin against Andrew Cioper.
“I was looking for a pin,” Nischke said. “I set everything up with my first shot. I went to a dump and then I got my arm bar, which is one of my favorite moves on top. Working on our shots, escapes and other stuff we’ve been struggling with has really helped us because we’ve gotten better at them.”
Prairie Ridge stopped the bleeding at 157, notching its first victory after Matt Moritz controlled the third period to earn a 16-3 major decision over Matt Keaty. The Wolves followed with wins at 165 and 175, as Jacob Meade locked down a 9-2 decision against Maciej Rybanski and Aiden Rodriguez swiftly pinned Ajdin Ahmedi.
“I wanted to come out fast and strong,” Moritz said. “Huntley is a big school and I wanted to get to my offense first. I was heavy on the hands and head a lot and I looked for my sweep single, which worked out for me. I believe that a lot of the work with my coaches and teammates has paid off and it’s been leading up to this.”
The Wolves nearly made it four straight wins, but a scramble in the third period enabled Theobald to overcome a 6-4 deficit during his bout with Frank Matviychuk at 190. Maneuvering for top position, Theobald capitalized on a missed shot and emerged with the pin.
“I was coming off of some good wins and I felt like that got in my head a little bit,” Theobald said. “It gave me a little bit of a reality check and I can’t make the same mistakes at regionals next week. We’ve faced a lot of the competition in our regional already and there are some tough kids there, but we’ve been through a lot.”
Theobald’s comeback sparked a run of three straight wins for the Red Raiders, who closed the dual with pins by Max Dziamidau and Ryan Trejo. Dziamidau defeated Logan Bodine at 215 before Trejo nailed a well-timed throw to pin Bernardo Tavares Vigilato at 285.
Cael Saldana (113), Logan Drews (120) and Colin Abordo (126) all received forfeits for the Red Raiders, who will return to action at Oak Park-River Forest on Saturday. Prairie Ridge will battle Cary-Grove on the road Friday to close out its conference schedule.