Hafner, Saxons prevail
You've got to like it when a wrestling match comes down to the final bout.
Evan Hafner certainly does.
The Schaumburg senior ended a fiercely contested dual meet against rival Hoffman Estates in superb fashion, and in doing so, Hafner not only sealed a victory for the home side, he also helped the Saxons (12-3, 4-0) clinch a piece of the MSL West Division title.
Knowing only that a fall would give the Saxons a victory, Hafner (12-3) unleashed all he had to pin Nick Zielinski at 1:22. That lifted the Saxons up and over the Hawks 33-31 Friday night before a big senior night crowd.
"Sure it's a little nerve-racking knowing that a pin is the only way we're going to win, but I have to admit that I liked having all of that pressure on me," smiled Hafner.
The 2008 state qualifier made quick work of his opponent to end a long, roller-coaster of a night which saw the Saxons take the lead from the onset after John Lombardo (22-6) recorded a fall at 135 - then have to give chase the rest of the way as the Hawks (0-4) built a pair of leads.
"It's tough to lose at the end the way we did," said Hawks junior Patrick Scully. "But when (Schaumburg) had a state qualifying wrestler up last, you knew it would be a real battle to hold him down."
Consecutive wins by Brian Kempf, Rocco Silvestri, Tommy Wadas and Andrew Petit gave the Hawks a 13-6 lead, but the work of those wrestlers who fell to this quartet weighed heavily on the final outcome.
"With six sophomores and two freshmen in our lineup, we were able to stay in the match because we stayed away from tech falls and pins," said Saxons coach Matt Gruszka. "This match was almost identical to tonight, except we lost a lot of close matches or gave away 6 points to falls. The guys tonight did a good job of staying away from those type of matches, especially in the middle of our lineup."
Despite Gruszka's positive spin, things looked bleak for the Saxons after the Hawks' big men, Jose Flores and Mike Eisele, got pin-happy and left little doubt with back-to-back falls to up the Hoffman lead to 25-17.
But key victories by Jon Megia (171, technical fall), 103-pounder Jim Ferguson and Shane Hafner helped revive the Saxons.
Ferguson outlasted Bradley Willis with a 16-11 decision that looked more like a game of pinball with all the scoring - until both contestants ran out of quarters.
During the second period, Ferguson used 4 takedowns and subsequent escapes by Willis to go ahead 10-8, and he never let his opponent get closer than 4 after that.
Scully (25-5) won by fall at 3:27 over Hamza Akram to bump the Hawks' final lead of the night to 31-23 before an important 8-0 major decision by Mike Pinones (125) helped set the stage for Saxons captain Hafner.
"We've had a lot of close matches this season, including a big win over Barrington in which LaManna defeated their state ranked (kid) Luke Miller in OT," Gruszka said.