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CHAMPAIGN – Time stood still for a few precious moments for Sterling senior 140-pounder Tyler Balsley on Friday night at the Class 2A state wrestling tournament.
Ahead 9-8 in his quarterfinal match against Marmion’s Angelo Silvestro with 5 seconds remaining, Balsley was just outside the circle, Silvestro’s arms draped around his ankles.
A takedown would result in two points for Silvestro and almost certain defeat for Balsley. If the move were denied, it would be on to the semifinals for the Golden Warrior senior.
Two mat officials huddled for an instant before rendering their decision: Silvestro had stepped out of bounds before the takedown, making it null and void. Balsley avoided trouble for the final seconds, and victory was his.
“The refs said it wasn’t two [points], so it’s not two and I’m just going to leave it at that,” Balsley said.
Balsley is the Sauk Valley’s lone Class 2A wrestler still alive in the championship bracket. He will meet Cahokia’s Thomas Gantt in Saturday’s semifinals.
It didn’t start well for Balsley, as Silvestro scored a takedown and three-point near fall in the first period to gain a 5-0 lead. It was 6-0 when Silvestro escaped to start the second period, but then Balsley scored a five-point move of his own to get within 6-5. Two more back points gave Balsley a 7-6 advantage, then Silvestro escaped just before the end of the period to tie it at 7-7.
“Some of my matches I’ve been down 5-0,” Balsley said. “My coaches always tell me to not to give up, keep wrestling my hardest and see what happens. The score will take care of itself, and that’s what it did today.”
Balsley seized a 9-7 lead on a reversal with 1:33 left in the match, then Silvestro escaped with a minute to go to make it 9-8, setting the stage for a frantic finish.
“You’ve just got to stare at the ref and hopefully it goes your way,” Sterling coach Charlie Bishop said. “It did, and I believe he did step out of bounds. I was standing right there, but in that situation, it’s the ref’s call, and this one happened to go our way. I was very happy with it.”
Silvestro, when asked if his takedown should have counted, issued a terse, one-word response: “No.”
His coach and father, Joe Silvestro, took the high road when asked for his take.
“They both had five-point moves,” Coach Silvestro said, “and unfortunately it didn’t come out our way on that call. It was a close match, and you can’t leave it up to an official. Everybody wants to win out here. Give Balsley some credit. He went out and scored more points than we did.”
Other 2A locals fall
Dixon’s Zach Lehman also advanced to the quarterfinals, but lost by technical fall to Marmion’s Bryce Brill in 4 minutes, 29 seconds.
Lehman opened with a 4-3 win over Grayslake North’s Rich Downes to earn his spot in the quarters.
Three Sterling wrestlers fell in the first round: 112-pounder Branden Cater, 130-pounder Dylan Devers and 152-pounder Stevie DeWitt.
Cater ran into a wrecking machine in the form of Chicago Bowen’s Ronzel Darling, who won by pin in 1:34.
“He was strong and really fast,” Cater said. “It wasn’t what I expected. He had a counter to every move I had, so he’s a tough wrestler and he was hard to get around.”
Devers was locked in a scoreless duel with St. Joseph’s Bryant Roby until Roby scored an escape with 6 seconds left in the match.
“He came out and did a nice stand-up, and I couldn’t stop it,” Devers said. “I should have held on for the win, but I couldn’t do it.”
DeWitt allowed a takedown and two back points in the first 40 seconds of his match against Pontiac’s Jason Locker and never caught up in a 9-3 defeat.