Sycamore’s boys wrestling team got off to a hot start Thursday night against Interstate 8 Conference rival Morris, winning the first three bouts of the match.

The Spartans finished it off with a 43-27 victory, giving them the I-8 regular season championship.

After Sycamore’s Chase Cook (106 pounds, forfeit), Liam Schroeder (113, 7-3 win over Owen Sater) and Michael Olson (120, 15-0 technical fall over Jay Hughes) won their matches for a 14-0 lead, Morris got a 5-2 win by Paxton Valentine over Tyler Lockhart at 126 and a 5-4 win by Parker Barry over Charlie Olson at 132 to pull to within 14-6.

Sophomore Sawyer Davis took the mat at 138 for the Spartans against Morris’ Chase Valentine. Davis got a takedown in the first period for a 3-0 lead, then got another takedown as well as four near-fall points early in the second for a 10-0 advantage. Valentine, though, got a reversal and two near-fall points to make the score 10-4. Davis controlled the third period and came away with a pin with just 6 seconds remaining in the match to put his team ahead 20-6.

“It feels great to win the conference title,” Davis said. “I’ve had a few back-and-forth matches this year like I had tonight against Morris, so it wasn’t a big surprise.

“We have a strong team up and down the lineup, and that makes us better. We have good guys to go against every day in practice and we all push each other.”

After Davis’ win, it was Morris’ turn to get hot. Brock Claypool beat Sycamore’s Jayden Dohogne 5-0 at 144 before Jordan Martinez pinned Gryffin Calabrese in 59 seconds in the 150-pound bout. Carter Skoff delivered a pin of Doug Gemberling in 1:43 at 157 to give Morris a 21-20 lead.

That lead turned out to be short-lived, however, as Sycamore’s Cooper Bode pinned Jeffrey Martinez in 57 seconds at 165 and Jack Nordstrom picked up a 22-4 technical fall over Aiden Wenner to put the Spartans up 31-21. Morris’ Malachi Congo got a pin over Peter Gehrig at 190 to pull his team to within 31-27, but Morris got no closer.

Sycamore’s Adam Garrick pinned Troy Bayer in 33 seconds at 215 and Collin Hughes won at 285 by forfeit.

The Spartans also wrestled Seneca and came away with a 65-9 win over the Irish.

“We wrestled very well tonight,” Sycamore coach Randy Culton said. “We had some kids under the weather, but there were guys that took their places and did a good job.

“We haven’t won conference in quite a while, so that’s a big accomplishment for these guys. Everyone played their part.”

Morris capped the night with a 57-17 win over Seneca. Winning for Morris were Paxton Valentine (126, pin), Barry (132, forfeit), Chase Valentine (138, pin), Claypool (144, technical fall), Jordan Martinez (150, pin), Skoff (157, pin), Jeffrey Martinez (165, technical fall), Wennen (175, forfeit), Congo (190, pin) and Sater (113, technical fall). Seneca’s wins came from Raiden Terry (120, technical fall), Colton Angeloff (215, pin) and Landyn Ramsey (285, forfeit).

“We were nowhere near our full lineup,” Seneca coach Todd Yegge said. “We had a lot of JV kids wrestle tonight and they fought hard. Sycamore and Morris are two good programs in a class higher than us. It was good for our guys to see teams like that as we get ready for the postseason.

“Raiden Terry had a good night, getting two wins against good 2A wrestlers. We’ll get a few guys back Saturday, and we’re hoping to be fully healthy when the postseason starts.”

Morris coach Lenny Tryner was also pleased with the way his team wrestled.

“We had a good night,” Tryner said. “Sycamore is a tough team. We gave them 12 points on forfeits and their 138 pinned ours in the last seconds and that got them some extra points.

“Malachi Congo did a good job with his two quick pins and Carter Skoff looked really good. He is fast, strong and smart. He can be aggressive and take shots because if he ends up in a bad position, he’s experienced enough to get out of it. Both Jordan and Jeffrey Martinez wrestled well and it was good to see those seniors do well.”