Stay Connected with YourSeason
Wrestling: Sandburg rallies to take down Lockport
Updated: December 2, 2011 11:36PM
Sandburg’s wrestling team had to meet with the other top two teams in the SouthWest Suburban Conference on consecutive nights.
But the state’s top-ranked Class 3A team proved to be up to the challenge as it followed a win over Lincoln-Way Central with a victory Friday over Lockport.
The Porters, who are ranked third in Class 3A, grabbed a 6-0 lead but the Eagles won eight of the next 12 matches to claim a 31-21 win in Orland Park.
“We faced two quality programs the past two days,” Eagles coach Eric Siebert said. “We have a lot of respect for them and their coaching staffs. We know that any time we face them that we’re going to have to bring our ‘A’ game in order to win.”
Lockport (5-1) got close wins from Brian Rossi (106 pounds) and Austin Strzelczyk (113) to open the meet but Sandburg (6-0) answered with three consecutive victories to move in front for good.
Jake Vales (120) won his first varsity match, Sebastian Pique (126) won via decision and John Pellegrino (132) added a major decision to give the hosts a 10-6 lead.
After Tony Rossi (138) won a decision for the Porters, Mitch Cook (145) got a victory by technical fall and Colin Holler (152) won a major decision for the Eagles.
Shaun’Qae McMurtry (160) gained a major decision for Lockport but Chris Pajak (170) and Ricky Robertson (182) responded with close decisions for the hosts.
Lockport took two of the final three matches, with Brad Johnson (195) getting a technical fall and John Jaso (285) winning an overtime tiebreaker. Bill Gore (220) recorded a fall for Sandburg.
“They just wrestled a lot better than we did,” Porters coach Josh Oster said. “They controlled the center of the mat and the ties. We looked like we were stalling — and that’s not how we wrestle.”
© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Cell Phone Alerts
Comments Click here to view or make a comment