High school wrestling: Marengo fights past Woodstock North

MARENGO – Marengo heavyweight Dylan Turner wasn't feeling his best Thursday, gassed in the first round of his bout against Woodstock North's Kenny Villa.

With his team down five point, however, Turner knew he needed to come through with a win, preferably by fall.

"I just thought the team needed me, so that got in my head. I got a quick takedown and then I was kind of gassed in the first period, I just knew I got to pick it up," Turner said. "Then the second period came around and I just needed to win, I needed a pin for the team, got to get that done."

Turner got his pin with 10 seconds remaining in the second period, giving the Indians a lead they wouldn't give back over the final three bouts.

Marengo won out to beat Woodstock North, 40-27, Thursday night in a nonconference dual at Marengo. The Indians (17-4) took nine weight classes.

"It felt nice to get the momentum to change and it just helped the whole team get a good morale going, so that felt nice, but it was a whole team effort, it wasn't just like me," Turner said.

Woodstock North (12-7) had led for most of the dual after consecutive pins by Nicco Mazzanti (138), Ed Flores (145) and Jake Fiorito (152) put them ahead, 18-9, through five bouts.

The Thunder also got wins Randy Kline (decision at 170) and Derek Freeman (forfeit at 220) which put them up 27-22 heading into the heavyweight match, the 11th of the night.

"We had the momentum going, we had it for a while and then I think the momentum shifted on us when our heavyweight lost," Thunder coach Tim Creighton said. "We had it going right up until about the heavyweight."

After Turner's win and a forfeit to Landon Pfeiffer (106), Cameron Miller sealed the Indians' victory at 113. Tied at 2 with Cole Walkington, Miller started the third period on bottom and got a reversal to take a 4-2 decision, putting Marengo up 10 with one bout left.

"I just kept wrestling," Miller said. "I knew I had to get at least one, so I just took a risk and kind of hipped over, and I could have went to my back, but I just kept going and finished on top."

O'Neil Swanson's 2-0 overtime decision put the finishing touch on Marengo's 40-27 victory.

Marengo also got wins from Kenny Reed (decision at 126), Bailey Miller (pin at 132), Michael Vega-Perez (forfeit at 160), James Mier (decision at 182) and Kyle Gara (major decision at 195).

"They're a good team, so I didn't expect it to be easy," Turner said. "When we were down, we kept our heads up and knew we could get through it. Our upper weights did good and our lower weights sealed the deal. It just feels good to be 17-4."

UNSUNG HERO

Cameron Miller

Marengo, fr., 113 pounds

Miller's 4-2 decision over Cole Walkington put the Indians up by 10 with one bout to go, sealing the victory.

THE NUMBER

17: Dual wins this season for Marengo, heading into their regular season finale Saturday against Harvard.

AND ANOTHER THINK ...

Marengo's Dylan Turner on the team's blend of seniors and freshmen: "We don't see it as upperclassmen, lowerclassmen, we're all a team. You've just got to keep the lowerclassmen's morale up and stuff like that. So everyone just fits in, and age doesn't really matter on this team."