Carmel Catholic impressive at St. Viator double-dual
After an up-and-down start to the 2018-19 season, the Carmel Catholic wrestling team could never dream that it would get the new year off to such a great start Thursday night at the St. Viator double-dual.
The Corsairs started off the competition with an impressive 60-21 nonconference victory over Elmwood Park in the opening round before the host Lions built an early 16-point lead against the Tigers in the second round only to lose by a final score of 48-28 in that meet.
Then Carmel (7-8) really went to the next level in the final round as it stormed ahead of St. Viator (8-6) 23-6 in the early going before rolling to an impressive 65-18 East Suburban Catholic Conference victory in Arlington Heights.
Starting the meet at 145 pounds against the Lions, the Corsairs completely dominated at the middle weights as a technical fall by junior Vince Swindell (20-5), and pins by teammates Andy Clatch (152), Auschwin Lee (160), and Yovaniel Garcia (170) really put St. Viator behind the eight ball, trailing 23-0 right away.
St. Viator coach Jason Churak praised Carmel coach Bob Kuykendall's program, but he thought his squad came out a little flat against one of its big ESCC rivals.
"Bobby has a really nice lineup, especially his 132 pounds up and they can really get after you," said Churak, whose team will compete at the rugged Round Lake triple-dual on Saturday. "This shows us what we have to work on and where we've got to be if we want to get out of regionals so it works out well for us."
A pin by Carmel 220-pounder David Garcia boosted the lead to 35-6 before St. Viator 285-pounder Brandon Flores answered with a pin of his own in just 57 seconds to keep the Lions' hopes alive, down 35-12 with six matches remaining.
But the Corsairs would put the victory away with four straight pins by Alex Perez (120), Gio Monte (126), Christian Valadez (17-1 at 132), and defending state champion Riley Palm (18-3 at 138) accounting for the final score. Undefeated senior Tommy Hoy (23-0 at 160) did not wrestle for the powerful Carmel squad due to illness.
"We're doing pretty good, we're missing a few guys from injuries, but we're getting back into it," said Swindell. "Tommy (Hoy) is a hard worker, he's always pushing us in practice, and Riley is a good role model to show us what to do to get on the podium (at state)."
Kuykendall was very happy with the team's performance, but he has his sights set on much bigger obstacles later in the season.
"I was happy with our aggressiveness and our work ethic, and Ben Miller (152) got a big win in our first match against Elmwood Park," said Kuykendall. "But everything right now is trying to develop our positioning, our technique, and our mat awareness."
Palm was joined downstate last year by Hoy and Valadez, who have a good chance to advance to the state meet against this February.
Starting at 138 pounds, the Lions built an early 22-6 lead against Elmwood Park on an 18-6 major decision by 160-pounder Stefano Lanzi, and a pin by 170-pounder Nick DeMunno.
The Tigers scored 18 unanswered points to go ahead 24-22 before Flores won by forfeit to take the lead back at 28-24. But Elmwood Park scored the final 24 points of the meet on four straight pins to win going away.