Bartlett bests South Elgin on senior night
Bartlett continues to state its case as a serious contender for the Upstate Eight crown later this month at the conference tournament.
The Hawks moved their league record to 5-1 following a 46-30 victory over South Elgin Friday night before an appreciative Senior Night crowd.
The home side was able to keep visiting South Elgin at arm's length during a pin frenzy stretch that saw the Hawks (11-9) hold a 34-30 advantage with two bouts remaining.
But consecutive pins under two minutes from Tyler Rivelli (170) then Brian Caputo (182) at 182 closed out the Storm for good - much to the delight of coach John Glorioso.
"Just a terrific effort from the guys tonight - especially from our heavyweight (Joey Latrofa) and some of our younger guys (like) Alex Brown at 113."
"I can't tell you how good it feels to get a win on our Senior Night, when the four of us honored, wrestling for the last time at home, leave the gym with a great team win," said a thrilled Rivelli, who needed just 1:34 to clinch victory with a 10-point advantage with just Caputo's match remaining.
"This is a great sport and program to be a part of. It's taught me a lot about life, hard work and competition, and right now, I feel like our team is coming together at the right time (which) should give us a great chance to win conference in a couple of weeks," added Rivelli.
The two clubs traded pins at 195 and 220 to start things out before the home side scored the next 16 points after a pin from Latrofa and a major decision by Brown was sandwiched between victories by Antonio Morell (106) and Jack Kanshiro at 120.
However, South Elgin would not go away despite chasing a 22-6 deficit.
Andre Rios (126) recorded a fall for the Storm, as did Joey Clinite (138) and teammate Logan Swangren to keep the visitors within 34-24.
"I really liked the way we fought to stay in this match. Tonight (we) battled, and worked hard to stay close but it just wasn't enough," said junior Michael Roath (220), who was a UEC champ, sectional qualifier, and frosh-soph state champion a year ago, finishing with 24 victories overall.
South Elgin's top man, Elijah Lopez, registered a pin at 160, as did Joey Clinite (138) while the Hawks trio of Drew Bruskin (132) and seniors Gavin Moretti (152) and Jacob Cwenar at 195 did the same.
Bartlett is at the Glenbard West Invite Saturday, while South Elgin goes to the Downers Grove quad.