Batavia blows by Geneva

It was all Batavia in its DuKane Conference dual wrestling match at Geneva Friday night.

Winning nine of the 12 competitive matches by falls, the Bulldogs beat the Vikings 73-3.

"Every time we face a conference rival, we have got to be ready for their best that they got and we had a really tough week of practice," said Batavia coach Scott Bayer. "We stressed the importance of going out aggressively and getting all the points we possibly can and our guys did that."

Tanner Oakes earned Batavia's first fall at 113. The freshman won his first varsity match with a pin at 1:03.

Teammate Alex Cruz needed all three periods to beat Preston Leake at 132, with a fall at 5:54. The senior trailed 5-2 after the first frame. He took the lead in the second period, 10-5 with an escape and two near falls.

"When you get a guy who you know you can break down and gets tired, you just got to go to your power position and for me that's on top," Cruz said. "That's where I love to go, especially in the third period. So I knew if threw my legs, I was going to get the turn."

Ian Huck's 5-3 overtime win at 126 was the lone bright spot for Geneva.

Huck led his match against Reid Coyle 3-1 after the first two periods. Coyle tied it up in the third stanza, earning points for an escape and a Huck stall penalty. Huck only need 12 seconds in overtime to break the deadlock with a near pin.

"Ian is a very good wrestler and continues to get a lot better," Geneva coach Tom Chernich said. "He didn't look like he was wrestling his best match tonight. He never really got in trouble for being scored on, outside of giving up the stalling point and when he needed the takedown he was able to go right back and get it."

Bulldogs Mike Caliendo (138), Angel Cruz (152), Justin Major (160), Dart McGee (170), Adan Mendoza (195) and Brandon Alsip (285) all won by pins.

Batavia's Andy Posledni, who qualified for last year's state tournament, won the 145 match with a technical fall.

"My biggest concern right now is we are a little bit young and we put our head on the mat when we are down," Chernich said. "We aren't working hard to get that one point escape."