BLOOMINGTON – The Sycamore wrestling team made it to the final match of Saturday's state team dual opener with Crystal Lake Central.
That's all it could have asked for.
In that match, at 140 pounds, Crystal Lake Central's Christian Malouf pinned Sycamore's Shane Lay in 1:44 to clinch the match with a 39-32 win at U.S. Cellular Coliseum in Bloomington.
But the Spartans (19-3) knew just getting to that point was a feat in itself in the team's first trip to the dual team state finals.
"Our kids wrestled great all the way through," Sycamore coach Chauncey Carrick said. "We're not happy about the final result, but we went out and gave it our best effort against a great team."
The Tigers featured three state individual champs along with a second place and fourth place finisher from last week's state meet. That, combined with their four-point win over Sycamore earlier in the season, left Crystal Lake Central as the favorites heading into the match.
Sycamore was also missing starters Kyle Culton and Jeff Flanigan, while the Tigers had state champion Trevor Jauch back after he missed the first meeting.
So the Spartans had to change their earlier results. And two of them did in a big way.
Heavyweight Zach Fraedrich, who was pinned in his earlier match with the Tigers' Cameron Cekay, pinned him on Saturday in 2:17.
And 103-pounder Brenden McGehee, who also was pinned last time around, came away with a 14-0 major decision over the Tigers' Ryan Lundelius.
"Today, [McGehee] just came out ready to go," Carrick said. "That was a big win for him and a big win for us. We knew we could turn them around, but we didn't know we could turn them around like we did."
Fraedrich's first meeting with the Tigers came as part of an 0-3 day. This time, he felt more prepared and knew this, the senior's final high school match, had to be his finest.
"I knew I had to leave it all out there," Fraedrich said.
He also said the guys who stepped into the starting lineup on Saturday, Thomas Ernster and Colton Burns, impressed him with their attitudes despite losing to two of the state's best.
"Those kids that stepped in, they're just as good as the guy in front of them and they needed to believe that for us, especially with wrestling," Fraedrich said. "The majority of it is in our heads."
Lay, Fraedrich, Joe Dougherty (189) and Luke Pritchard (171) were the Spartans' lone four seniors competing with Fraedrich and Pritchard coming away with important pins.
The rest of the Sycamore lineup will return next season, including freshman winners Austin Culton (135), McGehee and Mitchell Jordan (160).
"This experience for these guys was critical," Carrick said. "We've always believed we're one of the best teams in the state, now we know it.
"These guys now know what it's about, as young as we are, now we can start shooting for that."
Sophomore Austin Zimmer (112) and junior Chris Kerwin (119) were the Spartans' other winners.
IHSA Class 2A Dual Team Wrestling Tournament
Crystal Lake Central 39, Sycamore 32
Results:
145 – Taylor Servent (CLC) d. Seven Lalowski (Syc), 7-6
152 – Joey Kielbasa (CLC) d. Zack Spiewak (Syc), Fall 1:36
160 – Mitchell Jordaon (Syc) d. Brandon Klemm (CLC), 8-2
171 – Luke Pritchard (Syc) d. Chad Roray (CLC), Fall 2:26
189 – Austin Marsden (CLC) d. Joe Dougherty (Syc), Fall :35
215 – Gage Harrah (CLC) d. Matt Copple (Syc), Fall :27
285 – Zach Fraedrich (Syc) d. Cameron Cekay (CLC), Fall 2:17
103 – Brenden McGehee (Syc) d. Ryan Lundelius (CLC), 14-0
112 – Austin Zimmer (Syc) d. Chris Maier (CLC), 5-2
119 – Chris Kerwin (Syc) d. Ryan Prindergast (CLC), Fall :38
125 – Trevor Jauch (CLC) d. Colton Burns (Syc), Fall 3:06
130 – Jason Fugiel (CLC) d. Thomas Ernster (Syc), Fall 1:22
135 – Austin Culton (Syc) d. Brandon Solarte (CLC), 23-10
140 – Christian Malouf (CLC) d. Shane Lay (Scy), Fall 1:44
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/5AU6R6YAG3YBXZKDWTHDREEU6E.jpg)