Antioch advances past Fenton
After teammate Jeremiah Reyes broke a tie with a major decision, Pat Schoenfelder knew what he had to do in the second-to-last wrestling match of the Class 2A Fenton team sectional.
The Antioch senior, coming off a runner-up individual finish at 152 pounds, went out at 160 and delivered a first-period pin, clinching a trip to the state tournament for the Sequoits in an eventual 43-30 victory over the host Bison. The program last advanced to the Elite Eight in 2012-13.
"I just did what I usually do," Schoenfelder said. "Kind of go out there and be explosive. I knew that if I wrestled like I usually do, we'd come out on top. As a team, we did pretty well. This will be my first time going to team state and it will be a fun experience."
That pin was one of five in the match for Antioch, four of which came in the opening period. Jake Gross (113 pounds), Nathan Dlugopolski (126), George Bessette (195) and Xavier Sanchez also recorded falls.
"We came out strong and did what we needed to do and now we are going to team state," Gross said. "My freshman year, I wasn't able to go with the team to state because I got a concussion. Now being able to go as a senior, it is icing on the cake."
Reyes notched a 20-10 decision at 152, Stephen Frandsen picked up a 7-6 victory at 170 and Sammy Schultz was awarded a forfeit win at 106.
Antioch will face Mt. Carmel at 9 a.m. Saturday at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington.
"It's an opportunity for our kids to see what this is about," Antioch coach Wilbur Borrero said. "The majority of these kids are coming back (next year) and this will be a great experience and hopefully it will push them to want to do even more.
"This was a great accomplishment for our team. We got four medalists, which is a record for Antioch. The most we had ever had was two. Now we are going downstate as a team, what better way is there to end the season."
Fenton wrapped up the 2015-16 campaign with a dual-meet mark of 20-6. The Bison won six matches, which included pins by Angel Nava (145 pounds), Dylan Butts (182) and Joe Garcia (220). Ryan Mencini had a technical fall at 132, Kasper Piskorz picked up a major decision at 135, and Sebastian Kaspar contributed a 14-7 decision at 120.
"It was an exciting match," Fenton coach Brian Hastings said. "We knew it would be very close and we knew they had a bunch of studs. Our guys all wrestled pretty tough. Overall, it was a good year. A lot of guys contributed and a bunch of guys had really successful seasons. When the season began, we would have gladly taken this season. And we have a lot of juniors and sophomores coming back."