Goodin seals Batavia's win over Kaneland

Matt Goodin rendered the final match moot. The Batavia junior, reversing an all-evening trend where Kaneland had dramatic last-second wins with match-altering ramifications, had the most important comeback of them all.

Goodin reversed first- and second-period deficits in the penultimate match of the Western Sun Conference dual match between host Batavia and the Knights. The junior had a 3-point near-fall to take the lead against the Knights' Mark Southern midway through the third period, and the 140-pounder gave Batavia an insurmountable 8-point lead with his 12-8 victory.

Kyle Davidson had a pin in the last match for Kaneland, but it only narrowed the final score to 32-30 in favor of Batavia on Wednesday night.

Batavia improved to 8-9 overall, 3-2 league; Kaneland fell to 17-8, 3-2.

"I was wrestling kind of sloppy in the first (period)," said Goodin.

Southern had a reversal to close his deficit to 9-8, and he cut Goodin free with 16 seconds remaining to attempt a potential overtime-forcing takedown. But it was Goodin who had the final takedown to secure the Bulldogs' victory.

"I tried not to let him score," said Goodin. "I'm working my record back up."

Dan Goress was the personification of the Knights' resilience at the back-and-forth match. The 112-pound freshman appeared to be headed for certain defeat when the Bulldogs' Max Christianson went up 9-3 early in the third period.

But Goress was not to be denied; the freshman stormed back with 9 unanswered points on an escape, takedown and two 3-point near-falls.

"I knew he was going to try and throw me," Goress said. "I had to turn him (after Christianson momentarily escaped the first near-fall) from there. My coaches just kept me calm."

Tyler Esposito maintained the Knights' momentum at 119 pounds with a second-period fall, giving Kaneland its first lead at 21-18.

But the Bulldogs' indomitable Logan Arlis extended his season-opening winning streak to 22 matches and reversed the Batavia deficit with a second-period fall at 125 pounds.

Once again, however, Kaneland refused to wilt. Dennis Brettman knotted the team score at 24-24 when he took down the Bulldogs' Rich Smith one second before the final buzzer for a 4-3 victory.

"(The come-from-behind victories) kept us in the match," said Kaneland coach Monty Jahns. "Up and down the lineup we wrestled very well."

With the match tied for the second time, Tyler Patton made a triumphant, not to mention timely, return to the Bulldogs' lineup. The 135-pounder dominated his match from the start to secure a third-period technical fall, and all-important bonus points.

Batavia also received pins from Mickey Watson (152 pounds) and Luis Campos (189), and Joey Shump persevered 2-1 at 103 pounds.

Kaneland heavyweight Jimmy Boyle had a fall, and back-to-back decisions by Cory Taber (160 pounds) and Nick Michaels (171) forged a deadlock after three matches.

"You normally can't make that many mistakes and win a dual," Batavia coach Tom Arlis said. "We kind of stole it from them."