Wrestling: Crystal Lake Central takes regional crown, South’s Josh Glover improves to 23-0

CRYSTAL LAKE — Crystal Lake Central showed off its top talent and depth to win its regional on Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers had five wrestlers win individual regional championships and took advantage of strong performances in the semifinals to take first place in its Class 2A regional.

“We pulled it together at the end,” Crystal Lake Central coach Justen Lehr said. “We knew Wauconda was going to give us a run. Fortunately, we had a good semifinal round with pins where I think it put us up enough where we took it over there and I thought we wrestled well in the finals. I thought it was good.”

[ Photos: Class 2A Crystal Lake Central Wrestling Regional ]

Crystal Lake Central finished first with 205 points while Wauconda finished second with 161.5. Crystal Lake South (125) finished third, Woodstock (116) took fourth and Prairie Ridge (114), Cary-Grove (91.5) and Woodstock North (40) finished fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.

The Tigers will compete in the Class 2A Woodstock North Team Sectional later this month while the top-three finishers at each weight on Saturday advanced to the Class 2A Deerfield Individual Sectional on Saturday, Feb. 12.

Greco Rendon handed the Tigers their first regional of the day at 132 pounds when the No. 2-seeded wrestler took down top-seeded Ryan Koelblinger, of Prairie Ridge, with a pin. No. 3-seeded Cayden Parks earned an upset in the semifinals at 145 with a 6-3 decision over Woodstock’s Alex Iversen and then went on to beat Wauconda’s top-seeded Colin Husko with a medical forfeit.

Central’s Connor Lezama won with a fall at 152, Dillon Carlson won at 160, 13-3, while Ben Butler earned a 6-0 decision to win the 170 crown.

The Tigers were proud of what they and other wrestlers at the regional accomplished, but many had the same mindset as Carslon did after his regional title win.

“It was expected coming into this, especially to win the regional and the sectional, going into the state tournament,” Carlson said. “I’m just looking to battle out there.”

Lucas Galdine led the championships off with a win at 106 for Wauconda. The sophomore used pins to win both his semifinal and championship matchups.

Cole Porten won the 138 title by winning with a pin in his semifinal matchup and then a 6-0 decision in the final. Gavin Rockney (113) and Cooper Daun (126) both finished in second place for Wauconda.

Porten returned to the mat after battling a back injury this season. Moments like Saturday were a reminder that he’s getting closer to the level he wants to compete at and is grateful to be in a position to win a regional title.

“It felt pretty good,” Polten said. “I came back from a back injury, now I’m getting back into the swing of things again. I’m feeling good this year.”

Crystal Lake South’s Josh Glover improved his season record to 23-0 with his 113-pound regional championship. Shane Moran gave the Gators their second individual regional title of the afternoon when he won the 182 title with a 9-3 decision against Woodstock North’s Henry Goetz.

Andy Burburijia gave Crystal Lake South its third title at 285 with a medical forfeit.

The Illinois Wrestling Coaches and Officials Association ranked Glover No. 1 in Class 2A at 113 while Moran is ranked No. 2 at 182. Both wrestlers were proud of what they accomplished but knew the regional was just the first part of a bigger goal.

“It’s just another tournament,” Glover said. I’m just preparing for state. That’s the only tournament that I care about.”

Gavin Loiselle earned Woodstock its only regional title on Saturday with his win at 220. The senior won by pin in his semifinal and championship matches and is now 17-0 on the season.

Caleb Sciame finished second for Woodstock at 120.

Loiselle thought he did enough to win a regional championship, which he was proud of, but still knew there’s more left for him to accomplish.

“I feel like I definitely would have wrestled a lot better, but in the end, a win’s a win and I ended up at the top of the podium,” Loiselle said. “There’s so many higher levels I can reach and a lot of that is going to be done with my coaches and teammates.”

Prairie Ridge won two regional titles and had a second-place finish. Mikey Meadows used a 5-2 decision to win his semifinal matchup at 126 before he defeated Wauconda’s Daun with a 3-0 decision in the title match. Eddie Ferree earned a second-place finish at 160.

Tyler Evans continued his strong season when he took the 120 title with two falls. The junior improved to 31-3 on the season as he fulfilled a lifelong dream of his Saturday.

“I grew up with the Junior Wolves coming out to support the high school, got to see all the guys I looked up to win regionals and it was nice to be one of those and win it too,” Evans said. “It feels good.”

Wade Abrams gave Cary-Grove its lone regional win on Saturday when he won at 195. The senior improved to 19-1 on the season when he won both of his semifinal and title matches by fall.

Abrams didn’t compete in the state championship last season because it wasn’t sanctioned by the IHSA. With one last chance to win a state title, Abrams came back for senior year and came one step closer to accomplishing his goal for the season.

“I think that was my goal, small goals, one at a time, my end goal is to make it to state,” Abrams said. “Winning regional was just the first step.”

Woodstock North earned two second-place finishes Saturday. Kaden Combs advanced to the 170 championship by winning on falls in his first two matches before he lost a 6-0 decision to Crystal Lake Central’s Butler.

Henry Goetz finished second at 182 when he lost a 9-3 decision to Crystal Lake South’s Moran. The battle was between two good friends and Goetz only had one thing on his mind after.

“It is what it is,”Goetz said. “I’ll see him next week.”

Class 2A Crystal Lake Central Regional Placers (Top-3 advance to sectional tournament)

106

First: Lucas Galdine, Wauconda

Second: Payton Ramsey, Crystal Lake Central

Third: Jake Lowitzki, Prairie Ridge

113

First: Josh Glover, Crystal Lake South

Second: Gavin Rockey, Wauconda

Third: Daniel Bychowski, Woodstock

120

First: Tyler Evans, Prairie Ridge

Second: Caleb Sciame, Woodstock

Third: Glenn Donahue, Crystal Lake South

126

First: Mikey Meade, Prairie Ridge

Second: Cooper Daun, Wauconda

Third: Rannin Gruen, Cary-Grove

132

First: Greco Rendon, Crystal Lake Central

Second: Alex Flores, Crystal Lake South

Third: Andrew Mohr, Cary-Grove

138

First: Cole Porten, Wauconda

Second: Tommy Hammond, Crystal Lake Central

Third: Austin Laurie, Crystal Lake South

145

First: Cayden Parks, Crystal Lake Central

Second: Colin Huskin, Wauconda

Third: Alex Iversen, Woodstock

152

First: Connor Lezama, Crystal Lake Central

Second: Nick Cheshier, Wauconda

Third: Xander York, Prairie-Ridge

160

First: Dillon Carlson, Crystal Lake Central

Second: Eddie Ferree, Prairie Ridge

Third: Zac Johnson, Wauconda

170

First: Ben Butler, Crystal Lake Central

Second: Kaden Combs, Woodstock North

Third: Nick Bennett, Wauconda

182

First: Shane Moran, Crystal Lake South

Second: Henry Goetz, Woodstock North

Third: Robert Groos, Cry-Grove

195

First: Wade Abrams, Cary-Grove

Second: Jon Barrick, Crystal Lake Central

Third: Sean Ryan, Woodstock

220

First: Gavin Loiselle, Woodstock

Second: Matthew Merevick, Wauconda

Third: Logan Sowell, Cary-Grove

285

First: Andy Burburijia, Crystal Lake South

Second: Leo Diaz, Crystal Lake Central

Third: Yarik Clark, Prairie Ridge