LOCKPORT – Plainfield Central’s Jake Meskauskas had an extra reason for wanting to get his match done quickly Thursday night against district and Southwest Prairie Conference rival Plainfield East.

Meskauskas, wrestling at 152 pounds, pinned Ryan Klein in just 16 seconds, helping the Wildcats secure a 42-28 victory.

“I had a tight band around my elbow because of a UCL,” Meskauskas said. “It was starting to feel too tight, so I wanted to get the match done as fast as I could. Once I got him down, I wanted to keep him down.

“I wouldn’t say it was my best match of the year, but it was the quickest. I went for a low single-leg takedown and got it, then I was able to get the pin.”

The match started at 285, and Plainfield Central’s Antonio Montoya rallied from a 7-2 deficit against Jake Howerton to get a reversal and then a pin at 3:22 to give the Wildcats a 6-0 lead. After a pair of double forfeits, East’s Anthony Caruthers won by forfeit at 120 to tie the match at 6. At 126, Central’s Lucas Mena pinned Tori Garcia in :38 for a 12-6 Central lead.

In the 132-pound bout, East’s Hunter McCluskey won by fall in 1:53 over Gavin Enders to tie the match at 12. East then got a 10-2 win at 138 from Niko Duggan over Oscar Luevano to put the Bengals ahead, 16-12. At 145, East’s Jerry Nino won by fall in 1:56 over Kevin Hartnett, moving East ahead, 22-12.

Meskauskas’ pin at 152 pulled Central to within 22-18, and the Wildcats took the lead for good when Jay Correl won by forfeit at 160 for a 24-22 Central lead. Central’s Tyler Buonamici won by forfeit at 170 before teammate Anthony Minnito pinned Carlos Uribe in :56 at 182. Max Bowen won by fall in 1:25 over Nathan Lopez at 195 to put Central ahead, 42-22, before East’s Sean Cometa won by pin in 4:45 over Danny Davalos in the match’s final bout at 220.

“It was a pretty good night for us,” Central coach Terry Kubski said. “We got good matches from Jake and Max. It was good to see the veterans getting out there the showing their leadership.

“It’s still early and, we have some young wrestlers. It’s a learning experience, and we will get better as the year goes on. It does feel good to get a win over another Plainfield team. East beat us last year, so you could see that our kids really bought in during the off-season and worked hard.”

East also has a young team and still is finding its footing.

“We had a few decent matches,” East coach Charles Trabaris said. “We have a lot of young wrestlers that are still learning, but we saw some improvement and we’ll get back after it.

“It’s good to get out on the mat against other teams. You can’t replicate match speed in practice. The kids get used to each other and learn each other’s tendencies, but when you are in a match, you are facing someone new. That’s all part of the learning process, and the big thing for us is to keep improving for the conference meet and the regionals.”