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Wrestling: Crown Point wins 11 of 14 matches to beat Merrillville
Updated: January 4, 2012 11:42PM
MERRILLVILLE — Scott Vlink didn’t sound like a coach whose team had just won a huge league match against arch-rival Merrillville.
“I don’t think we wrestled particularly well tonight,’’ said Crown Point’s coach after his Bulldogs won 11 of 14 matches and beat the Pirates 38-12 in a Duneland Athletic Conference showdown Wednesday night.
“It might be the result of a long layoff we’ve had (since Dec. 17) from competition. We trained them really hard. We worked them really hard. You just can’t simulate the kind of matches you’d wrestle in a dual meet in practice.’’
While the score wasn’t particularly close, the match with the No. 4 Pirates (14-1, 5-0 DAC) actually was.
The No. 2 Bulldogs (14-0, 4-0) didn’t record a single pin and wrestled six minutes in every match with the exception of 106 pounds, where Merrillville’s Mike Garza pinned the Bulldogs’ Brett Ervin in 1:09.
“All of the matches were tough matches and I’m glad they were,’’ Vlink said. “We’re glad our kids had to fight hard for six minutes. Anytime you can beat Merrillville, you’re doing a heck of a job. They’re tough kids. They’re hard-nosed kids and they’re very well-coached.’’
Three-time defending state-champion Jason Tsirtsis upped his record to 20-0 this season and to an amazing 151-2 in his career with a 16-6 major decision over Merrillville freshman Bobby Stevenson at 160 pounds.
Tsirtsis, wrestling two weight classes above his usual 145-pound division, despite weighing in at 147 before the match — said moving up a couple of classes wasn’t a new challenge.
“If I win 15-0 or 2-0, I really don’t care,’’ Tsirtsis said. “I just want to know that I’m going out there and doing everything I can on the mat. It’s not a new challenge. It’s a difficult opponent and a difficult match with a different mindset.
“I felt like our team looked a little sluggish tonight. I don’t know if we lacked a little fire, or a little drive, but we’re going to have to find it, because I really believe we work the hardest in the state. To reach our goals, we’re going to have to find something within ourselves, if we want to achieve what we want to achieve and reach our goals in February.’’
Merrillville coach Dave Maldonado said he saw some good things his team can build on from the loss.
“Overall, it wasn’t bad,’’ he said. “It was a tough day. A loss is always tough, but right now, I’m not so much worried about winning dual meets and winning matches as much as I’m concerned about how they perform and how they fight.’’
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