Wrestling: Lions starting to heat up on mats
By Gary Larsen Contributor January 23, 2012 8:32PM
Hinsdale Central's TJ Sally and Lyons Township's Eric Rende grapple, during the 170-pound match. | Scott Hardesty~for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: February 27, 2012 8:11AM
Lyons Township put forth a total team effort in placing second at Saturday’s 10-team tournament at Oak Park-River Forest.
“We took second without having a single individual champion,” LT coach Griff Powell said.
“You don’t see that happen very often and I’m proud of the way our guys wrestled today. These last two days, they’ve really showed how much progress they’ve made.”
The Lions got a pair of second-place individual finishes from Jack Bates (145) and Adam Rodgers (285), and thirds from Carter Beebe (120), AJ Villareal (132), Jaime Jones (182), and Justin Fuller (195).
“We were in fourth going into the final round and most of us stepped it up,” Rodgers said. “We found a way to come together as a team. We’re getting after it in the gym and it’s showing out on the mat.”
Rodgers opened with a 7-0 decision over OPRF’s Marq Brumant, one week after posting a 4-2 win over Brumant in their conference dual meet meeting.
Rodgers won 11-2 over Austin Gatdel of Arrowhead, Wis., before losing 6-2 on the title mat to Oswego’s Luis Flores.
Flores provided a good lesson for the senior Rodgers, who now has a 19-6 record on the year.
“I’m not used to kids pulling underhooks on me or going with two double-collar ties, and that threw me off a little bit,” Rodgers said of his match against Flores. “I panicked a little and didn’t wrestle the way I know how to wrestle.”
Powell agreed.
“Adam wrestled a great tournament up until that match,” he said. “But he opened up against (Brumant) and dominated the kid from Arrowhead. And Jack Bates had a great tournament for us.”
Bates opened Saturday with a pin and reached the title mat with an 8-5 semifinal decision win over Oswego’s Luke Gruska.
Minooka’s Corbett Oughton was dominant in their title match, but Bates’ second-place finish was yet another key to the Lions’ second-place finish.
That finish came one day after the Lions took conference rival Hinsdale Central to the limit, losing 30-29 in a West Suburban Silver home meet in La Grange.
“Last night and again today, the kids competed well,” Powell said.
“We’ve talked about winning close matches, getting bonus points and not giving them up, and we did that last night and today. We’re getting better.”
LT placed 12 of its 14 wrestlers on Saturday, getting fourths from Brian Krueger (113), Jack Pearson (160), and Juan Montes (220), fifths from Chris Letsinger (106) and Eric Rende (170), and a sixth from Noah Avery (152).
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