NL_012617

36 | January 26, 2017 | The New Lenox Patriot SPORTS
newlenoxpatriot.com
Wrestling
West places third in conference despite missing top wrestlers
Meagher, Upchurch
and Stokes place in
Top 3 but Central
struggles overall
Jason Maholy
Freelance Reporter
Seven Lockport wrestlers
were crowned South-
West Suburban Conference
champions, and four more
finished in the Top 3 at their
respective weights as the
Porters finished first among
15 teams in the annual conference
tournament held
Saturday, Jan. 21, at Stagg
High School in Palos Hills.
Jason Stokes was Lincoln-Way
Central’s highest
finisher, placing second
at 132 after a 10-3
loss to Abdullah Assaf, of
Lockport. Liam Meagher
avenged a quarterfinalround
loss to Lockport’s
Brendan Ramsey and won
a 3-1 overtime decision to
place third at 126, and Noah
Upchurch (182) also took
home a third-place medal.
Ryan Gillooley (160) finished
fourth, and Kevin
Gillooley (145) and Lucas
Korte (285) finished sixth
for the Knights.
Lockport tallied 290
points to finish well ahead
of runner-up Sandburg
(217.5). Lincoln-Way West
(192) placed third, Lincoln-
Way East (115) was sixth,
Andrew (113) took seventh,
and Lincoln-Way Central
finished ninth (110).
Lockport earned titles
from Matt Ramos (106),
Abdullah Assaf (132),
Brandon Ramos (138), Baylor
Fernandes (145), Trevell
Timmons (160), Nick
Dado (170) and Payton
Fernandes (182). Anthony
Molton (113) placed second;
and James Pierandozzi
(120), Yousif Salah (195)
and Ronald Tucker (285)
all finished third. Brendan
Ramsey (126) placed
fourth. The only weight at
which a Lockport wrestler
did not finish in the Top 6
was 220 pounds.
Assaf, a two-time state
qualifier, defined his conference
performance as merely
“OK,” but he was satisfied
he kept his mistakes to a
minimum and was able to
execute offensively. He defeated
Stokes 10-3 in the
title match.
“I’d have liked to opened
it up [offensively] a little
more on some of these guys
... but I got my offense going
most matches,” he said.
“That’s what I was really
focused on coming in – just
learning, opening up, getting
ready for the postseason.
A conference title is
great, but at the end of the
day, it’s my senior year. I’ve
been down to state a couple
times already, and the one
thing I want more than anything
is that state title.”
Lincoln-Way West coach
Brian Glynn was proud of
the way his Warriors competed
and pleased with the
team’s third-place finish, especially
considering several
regulars sat out the tournament
for various health
reasons. West was without
arguably its five tope wrestlers
in Gehrig Simon (132),
Jake DiBenedetto (138),
Jake Price (142), Trevor
Schmidt (182) and Jake
Dudeck (220).
DiBennedetto is out for
the season with a torn meniscus.
“I was extremely happy,”
Glynn said. “We had five JV
guys in the lineup and still
came in third in this conference.”
The Warriors failed to
crown any champions,
but Tom Buell (126), Joey
Schloegel (145), A.J. Patterson
(152) and Josh Bohne
(160) all placed second.
Garret Geigner (106), Payton
Geigner (113), Chris
Kennedy (120) and Robert
Noga (195) took fourth; and
Kyle Quinn (170), Jimmie
Olds (220) and Nick Skentzos
(285) all finished fifth.
Olds, subbing for Dudeck,
had wrestled only six varsity
matches all season.
“I thought it was huge,”
Glynn said of Olds stepping
up in Dudeck’s absence.
“And the other guys did really
well – all of them, from
tip to bottom. They wrestled
really well against some really
tough wrestlers.”
Lincoln-Way East coach
Tyrone Byrd said the Griffins
“had some moments.”
He is hoping to see some
better results at regionals,
but he was pleased with the
efforts of 285-pound champion
Sam Diehl; Nick Mihajlovich,
who placed second
at 182; and Dylan Conway,
who returned from monthlong
absence to place sixth
at 170.
“Definitely up and down
the lineup there’s some guys
that need to step up, that
have had some letdowns,”
Byrd said. “I expect great
attitudes and great effort every
time we step on the mat,
and when we come up short
on that, that’s where the disappointment
comes. We had
some guys that are starting
to hear that message, and
it’s starting to sink in a little
bit.”
Anthony Eatinger (145)
placed fourth and Chris
Wilder (195) took fifth for
the Griffins.
Diehl qualified for state
last season, but his pin of
Sandburg’s Malik Scates in
Lincoln-Way Central’s Jason Stokes (right) takes on
Lockport’s Abdullah Assaf in the 132-pound championship
match. Jason Maholy/22nd Century Media
1:45 in the championship
match marked his first conference
title.
Diehl came into the season
with the goal of being
“at the top of podium”
in Champaign – that is, a
state championship. He has
worked on every facet of his
game to put himself in position
to do that.”
Developing a better offensive
repertoire has enabled
him to be aggressive
in the first period, score
some early points and take
control of matches, he said.
His double-leg takedown
of Scates in the title match
didn’t go unnoticed by his
coach.
“Sammy Diehl goes out
and does what Sammy does.
He just owns the mat whenever
he wants to,” Byrd said.
“It took a little bit of time
for him to break through
and say, ‘Enough’s enough;
I’m going to do what I’m
capable of doing,’ and then
he did and it turned into a
fall. It was nice win for him
and a great way to finish his
[regular] season. ... And to
get a big boy up in the air
like that, get a double and
finish at that way and get the
pin, that’s pretty cool.”
Lincoln Way Central AP Room
February 18th
Alumni 8 - 11am
New Families 11am - 12:30pm
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