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Falls, match go Addison Trail's way

It would not have been incorrect to call Friday night's 52-25 victory by Addison Trail over host Willowbrook, "Fallapalooza."

Ten of the 14 bouts were decided by fall in the West Suburban Gold opener for both teams.

"You focus on getting the win. I was working my shots. If (the opponent) is on his back, you hold on and hope for the best and hold your position," said Addison Trail's Jake Matthews, who won by fall in 2:30 at 138.

The Blazers earned seven victories by fall and the Warriors three.

The meet started at 120 pounds, and Willowbrook started the evening with three straight falls courtesy of Zach Seymore (120 pounds), Richie Scheelk (126) and David Kapica (132). Seymore's came at 5:59.

Addison Trail then reeled off three straight wins by fall to tie the competition at 18. Matthews came through and was followed by teammates Brian Reyes (145) and Eric Reed (152).

Giulian Foster won by major decision at 160 then two more triumphs by fall came from Addison Trail's Xavier Sierra (170) and Nick Skamra (182).

Willowbrook won the next two matches with John Peterson (195) winning by decision and Alex Bernardino (220) taking down his opponent by major decision.

The final three bouts all went to the Blazers, with Jesus Benitez earning a fall at 285, Guillermo Juarez winning by forfeit at 106 and Adam Skrzpek stopping his opponent with a third-period fall.

It's been a strong start to the season for Juarez, a senior, who is third at 106 in the illinoismatmen.com rankings.

"I've put in a lot of work at practice with my teammates and coaches who stressed to me I can't be satisfied," Juarez said.

The Blazers are getting right back on the mat Saturday morning at the Glenbrook North Quadrangular. Coach Rob Serio said there's room for improvement with his team.

"We're nowhere near where we need to be. I'm disappointed with the way we wrestled," Serio said. "Our kids are good wrestlers. We got pins where I thought we would and we got pinned where I didn't think we would get pinned. And they were close matches."

Willowbrook is also right back in action Saturday morning at the Plainfield Mega Duals at Plainfield North. Coach Tim Ortiz was happy with how Friday night went.

"We came out and performed well," he said. "Addison Trail is a tough team, a very good program. We got points where I thought we would and we picked some up that could have gone either way."

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