Antioch battles, but falls to No. 2 Marian Central
Facing the No. 2-ranked Class 2A team in the state was going to be a tall order when Antioch met undefeated Marian Central (23-0) Tuesday night at the Wauconda dual-team wrestling sectional.
And while the No. 10-ranked Sequoits battled the Hurricanes tooth-and-nail in this dragged out meet for a berth to the state final tournament, Marian Central was able to stave off Antioch 28-23 in the end to earn back-to-back trips downstate.
The Hurricanes will face Chatham-Glenwood, a 37-30 winner over Richland County Saturday at 9 a.m. in the state quarterfinals at Grossinger Motors Arena in Bloomington beginning at 9 a.m. The Sequiots closed out another outstanding season with a 17-6 record.
In the other sectional meet at Wauconda, Notre Dame (15-12) built a 40-12 lead over St. Patrick before forfeiting the final two matches en route to a 40-24 victory. The Dons will face Coal City in the quarterfinals at 9 a.m.
Starting at 106 pounds, Marian Central got on the scoreboard with a pin by state runner-up Josh Glover (42-9) before 113-pound teammate Elon Rodriguez posted a 7-2 decision over Drew Lehn for an early 9-0 lead.
Antioch bounced back strong with an 18-6 major decision by state medalist Alex Barbarize (39-7) at 120, a 7-2 decision by junior Luke Menzies at 126, and a pin by state medalist Danny McPherson (41-7) at 132, giving the Sequoits a 13-9 lead.
Marian Central's Bryce Shelton posted an 8-5 win over Elijah Reyes at 138 as Reyes moved up a weight class before Antioch sophomore Gavin Calabrese came up with a big 7-4 decision at 145 to boost the Sequoits' lead to 16-12.
The Hurricanes' Kaden Randazzo narrowly pulled out a late 6-3 decision over Jackie Sistrunk in a wild bout at 152. Then Marian Central two-time state champ Dylan Connell (47-2 at 160) earned a major decision over Mikey Volkmar to give the Hurricanes the lead back at 19-16.
"I'm disappointed that things didn't happen the way I thought they could have, but their kids came through, and they did some things they needed to do to get the win," said Antioch coach Wilbur Borrero, whose team has reached state five times since 2010. "This class (of 2019) has done a nice job, they worked hard. And we have a lot of sophomores and juniors so hopefully we can get back here again."
Marian's Joey Fitzgerald won a hard-fought 4-2 decision over sophomore Chad Cowart at 170. But Antioch's Niall Schoenfelder captured a 4-0 decision at 182 to cut the Hurricanes' lead to 22-19 with three matches left. Then came a key 7-5 decision by Marian's Lou Gaddy over sophomore Lucas Bentley to boost the lead to 25-19.
Then in a real dogfight, the Hurricanes' Mason Schwalbach won a 2-1 decision over sophomore Max Ness with the benefit of a questionable 1-point stalling call against Ness clinching the team win for Marian Central.
A forfeit win by Antioch's Xavier Sanchez accounted for the final score along with a 2-point team penalty against the Sequoits after the 220-pound match.
"It was very tough, we've got guys banged up from (individual) state still, but the other guys stepped up," said Marian Central coach David Silva, whose team was without injured state medalist Daniel Valeria at 132. "Kaden (Randazzo's) win was huge, that was a 6-point swing, and it was a team effort all the way around."