High school wrestling: Crystal Lake South holds on for FVC win over McHenry

CRYSTAL LAKE – The biggest difference between freshman year and sophomore year for Crystal Lake South 106-pound wrestler Amador Castro is his mentality.

“I’m always focused when I go in, not really angry or anything,” Castro said. “I just focus on what I want to do.”

Even after McHenry won four out of five matches to cut Crystal Lake South’s lead to three points, Castro wasn’t fazed. He battled McHenry’s Lucas Van Diepen through a grueling first two periods before finally capitalizing with a third-period pin.

Castro’s win assured the Gators (8-9, 5-3) a Fox Valley Conference victory over McHenry (10-16, 2-6). Austin Laurie capped it with a pin moments later for a 38-24 Gators win.

“I just know I’m really good at riding and eventually something will open up, and it did,” Castro said.

Castro has been wrestling well for the Gators. He opened the new year with a first-place finish at Kaneland’s Margaret Flott Invitational on Jan. 4.

“As we’ve gone, you can see his confidence picking up more and more, his trust in his attacks and his movement,” South coach Ross Ryan said. “As long as he’s moving, he’s in a good spot.”

South honored 2019 state champion Christian Olsen before the match, raising a banner to commemorate his Class 2A title at 113 pounds. Olsen, in anticlimactic fashion, won the night’s first match by forfeit.

“I didn’t get to wrestle tonight, but the atmosphere and having my name up in the South gym forever, it was just surreal,” Olsen said.

South had other wins from Aidan Kitchen (132), Zander Kitchen (138) and KT Sivertsen (182) by decision. Peyton Timmons (145) won by technical fall. Connor Moore (160) had a pin.

Moore was trailing in his match, 4-3, in the third period when he pinned McHenry’s Logan Lucas. Ryan also commended Ian Burke (195) and Abhi Arulanandan (220) for keeping it close in tight losses.

For McHenry, Zach Seymour (126), Brody Hallin (152), Luke Zunkel (195) and Gavin Wegner (220) won by decision. Sean Fischler (170) won via pin. Tucker Avery (285) won by forfeit.

Hallin, a Class 3A state qualifier last year, won a hard-fought match against South’s Shane Moran. The two were longtime practice partners with the Crystal Lake Wizards.

“We know each other’s stuff,” Hallin said. “It’s just kind of like a stalemate a little bit, just knowing what we both do. They know your tendencies when you’re going into that match, your favorite move or whatever, they’ll know that. You’ve got to switch things up.”

McHenry was without a couple starters due to illness.

“We battled,” Warriors coach Jake Guardalabene said. “I told the guys we matched up well and we had a chance to beat a really good team. The cards just didn’t fall.”

STAR OF THE MEET

Amador Castro, Crystal Lake South, so., 106

After McHenry cut South’s lead to 27-24 with two matches remaining, Castro recorded a third-period pin to seal a Fox Valley Conference dual victory.

THE NUMBER

4: Christian Olsen earned just the fourth individual state championship banner hanging in South's gym, and the second in wrestling. The banner was unveiled prior to Thursday's meet.

AND ANOTHER THING …

The Gators also honored Peyton Timmons, the lone senior on the roster, prior to his final home meet. Timmons is a two-time state qualifier and won his last home match by technical fall.

Crystal Lake South 38, McHenry 24

106: Castro (CLS) p. Van Diepen (McH), 4:33.

113: Laurie (CLS) tech. fall Carlson (McH), 20-3.

120: Olsen (CLS) by fft.

126: Seymour (McH) def. Sadler (CLS), 11-4.

132: A. Kitchen (CLS) def. Tapia (McH), 5-4.

138: Z. Kitchen (CLS) def. Melgarejo (McH), 5-2.

145: Timmons (CLS) tech fall. Jake Adamson (McH), 16-1.

152: Hallin (McH) def. Moran (CLS), 3-0.

160: Moore (CLS) p. Lucas (McH), 5:31.

170: Fischler (McH) p. Zavorski (CLS), :39.

182: Sivertsen (CLS) def. Garantziotis (McH), 16-2.

195: Zunkel (McH) def. Burke (CLS), 3-0.

220: Wegner (McH) def. Arulanandan (CLS), 4-2.

285: Avery (McH) by fft.