Cary-Grove's hard work pays off vs. Jacobs
Cary-Grove took a big step forward in its drive for a second-place finish this season in the FVC after its 45-22 win over visiting Jacobs Thursday night.
After Jacobs (7-7, 7-2) drew close at 21-19, Thomas Burton and Brad Peters slowed their guests down with a pair of hard fought decisions to increase the Trojans' advantage to 27-19, and they would never look back.
"(Thomas) is a freshman filling in for us at 152, and to win (10) for us in his first year says a lot about him," said Cary-Grove coach Will Peterson.
"Burton's win for us was big. (He) came through for us when we really needed to turn things around in our favor," added his teammate, senior Isaac Rands (18-5), who bumped up to 195 and recorded the quickest pin on the night at just 21 seconds.
Rands, No. 4 at 182 in the 2A state polls, said his work now consists of scoring as many points as he can, go after pins, and attack (and) with legs.
"It's all about continuing to work hard, and having fun while doing so, and a night like this makes it all that much better."
Ryan Beeksman got the home crowd up on its feet with a thrilling 6-5 victory over Antonio Carlos that came in the closing moments of the opening contest of the night.
The Trojans heavyweight recorded a takedown with seven seconds remaining.
James Wright and Dominic Ducato gave Jacobs a 9-3 advantage at 106 and 113, before the home side went ahead with three consecutive pins.
Jay Immer (120), Andrew Mohr (126) and No. 6 Charlie Gruen (132, 26-7) lowered the boom on their guests to make it 21-9.
Jake Harrier (138, 25-1) continued his brilliant form with a pin at 24 seconds, which was followed by a 10-2 major decision from Alex Epstein at 145.
That would be as close as Jacobs would get. They also won the final bout of the night when newly anointed No. 1 Ryan Golnick (22-3) registered a 10-5 decision over Joey Swanson at 220.
"Cary-Grove came out ready to go - we didn't - and it was not a very good night for us," said Jacobs coach Gary Conrad.
"We gave them (14) points with forfeits, but it didn't matter, they were the better team tonight," added Conrad, whose club goes to Downers Grove North this Saturday for their quad.
Cary-Grove will wrestle its league finale next Thursday against Prairie Ridge, then end its regular season one week from Saturday at the Crystal Lake Central quad.