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Wrestling: Tsirtsis, CP continue road to perfection
Updated: December 17, 2011 10:20PM
CROWN POINT — Crown Point wrestling coach Scott Vlink enjoys quite a few luxuries.
Starting with standouts like Northwestern-bound senior and three-time defending state champ Jason Tsirtsis, and trickling all throughout the lineup, Vlink’s top-five state-ranked squad is plenty confident.
Tsirtsis and the Bulldogs maintained their clean slate after Saturday’s 321-257.5 win over Lyons Township, Ill., at the nine-team Carl W. Carnahan Memorial Invitational. Crown Point is 13-0 in duals and has won all four of its tournaments.
Hanover Central took third with 177.5.
The 145-pounder Tsirtsis — who won the MVP and most falls awards — and 220-pounder Tyler Kral remained undefeated (each with 20-0 records) in picking up two of Crown Point’s eight championship decisions. Some surprising points were scored elsewhere. Case in point, the win by the Bulldogs’ 285-pounder Josh Swope over LT’s Adam Rodgers.
“If you look at those two guys, you would’ve put money on the other guy, but Swope hangs around and hangs around and wins,” Vlink said.
Of course the value of Tsirtsis, who opened with a 15-second decision and quickly forced falls in each round, continues to shine.
“You’ve still got to come in with the same attitude, no matter who you’re wrestling,” said the athlete who hasn‘t been defeated since a pair of losses his freshman year. “I feel good, I’m really pushing for my goals.”
With championship titles from 106-pounder Stevan Micic, 120-pounder Paul Petrov and 152-pounder Charlie Mavros, the Wildcats also stood out. Given their successes, though, Hanover coach Nick Petrov still sees areas of improvement.
“We just know that we can wrestle better than what we wrestled,” Nick Petrov said.
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