Dundee-Crown able to hold off Jacobs
As Mike Rust was about to take the mat for his bout against Jacobs' Frank Garcia, Dundee-Crown coach Al Zinke gave him one simple instruction - silence 'em.
Zinke's instructions came as Jacobs had just scored back-to-back pinfalls to take a 12-6 lead at Tuesday's Fox Valley Conference wrestling match.
Rust (160 pounds) did exactly as his coach said. The 160-pounder pinned Garcia in 1 minute, 3 seconds tying the Chargers and Golden Eagles. Dundee-Crown went on to take a 43-27 victory at Jacobs.
"I went out there and tried to do my stuff and look for a pin," said Rust, who improved his record to 27-4 on the year with 15 pins. "We've been working a lot harder and have been better prepared."
Rust credited hitting the weight room during the day and an increased level of intensity at Chargers' practices during the afternoon as a reason for D-C's recent success. The Chargers (15-8, 2-2) also went 3-1 at their own invite over the weekend.
Further evidence of that success came after Dillon Muscat trailed Jacobs' Collin Zaio after the first period of their match at 130 pounds. Muscat battled back from as much as a 5-0 deficit to take an 8-6 decision over Zaio in the second-to-last match of the night.
"Dillon is a tough kid," Zinke said. "No one is going to out-tough him. They might outwrestle him, but they're not going to out-tough him."
After Stephen Travth (215) and Derek Bush (HWT) took forfeit victories in their respective weight classes, Jacobs led 24-21 going into the final 6 matches. Brad Jenisch (145) and Mike Stein (152) each scored pinfall victories as the Golden Eagles (8-10, 2-4) split the first 8 matches with D-C.
"We decided to stay in the dogfight a little longer this time," Jacobs' coach Chris Taylor said. "We got a little lift from Jenisch and Stein both pinning their kids to start."
Dundee-Crown then followed with pins from Connor Lewis (103) and Vince Amato (112) and wins from Miko Villanueva (119) and Travell Rounds (125). Lewis pinned Kenny Thompson in 1:44 and Amato took Kenny Nevarez down in just 48 seconds. Frank Abitua (140) also scored a pin over Vince Arcia in 1:23 to open the match.
Villanueva scored a 3-1 decision over Aaron Ryan and Rounds beat Nick Lorussa 10-2.
Jacobs also closed the day on a high note as Joe Ladick (135) scored a 7-5 decision over the Chargers' Edwin Mendoza.
"Joe has been one of our go-to guys," Taylor said. "When we drew starting weights, we were happy if it came down to Ladick."