Boys wrestling: Sycamore’s Gable Carrick breaks through to state tournament

SYCAMORE – As a sophomore, Gable Carrick’s season ended a win shy of qualifying for the state tournament.

As a junior, the same thing happened to the Sycamore wrestler.

In the consolation semifinals for a third straight year, Carrick finally came away with a win at the Class 2A Sycamore Sectional on Saturday and a trip to Champaign.

“I came close the past two years and to break through, all that hard work in the offseason and the season, it really paid off,” Carrick said.

Carrick and Jayden Dohogne each took fourth, earning trips downstate next week. Kaneland 120-pounder Kamron Scholl also qualified, taking second after suffering his first loss of the year.

Scholl will enter the state tournament 44-1 after falling to Galesburg’s Rocky Almendarez in overtime, 5-3. Scholl had a late first-period takedown, but gave up a reverse in the second. That was all the regulation scoring, and Almendarez added another overtime reversal to seal the win.

“Now that I got that loss I can work on things,” said Scholl, who’s making his first trip to state. “I can look at what I did wrong and work on it this week and try not to make those mistakes at state.”

Kaneland coach Kenny Paoli said it’s a good lesson for the senior. Sometimes the focus on the “6-minute war” can take away from the fact that sometimes the war goes on for even longer.

“That was a great match,” Paoli said. “He was in really good position, taking him to double overtime, a wrestler of that caliber, he wrestled really well. ... Hopefully he takes out of it that he needs to be able to wrestle at this point of the season not just the full six minutes but be ready for that extra 2:30 it could be.”

Carrick gutted out a 3-0 victory over Crystal Lake South’s Dominic Ariola in the blood round of the 215-pound bracket to finally breakthrough while falling to Prairie Ridge’s John Fallaw in the third-place match.

Carrick was elated after his win, rushing over to his father, Sycamore athletic director and hall-of-fame wrestling coach Chauncey Carrick. The force of his hug sent both tumbling to the ground.

“I gave my dad a big hug, I gave coach [Randy] Culton a big hug,” Gable Carrick said. “Those are two of the main guys that have gotten me to where I am. ... Very emotional moment for the family and the wrestling family too.”

Culton said Carrick had gone back and forth between 190 and 215 this year to make sure he was in his best shape heading into the state series.

“He came out and the experience he had the last two years, the last two blood rounds actually helped him,” Culton said. “He didn’t like that feeling. Today, as a senior, I told him to go out there and remember how you felt the last two years. You go out there, wrestle your match and keep pushing forward on this.”

Culton also said Dohogne has been on a roll for the last month and is peaking at the right time, becoming the first Sycamore freshman in 12 years to qualify for the state tournament. He took a medical forfeit in the third-place match after winning three straight matches along the elimination bracket, including a pin in the blood round.

“It feels good,” Dohogne said about not only qualifying for state but being the first Sycamore freshman in more than a decade to make it. “My last match to make it to state, I knew it was going to be a good match. I pulled it out and got the pin

At 120 pounds, Tyler Lockhart finished a win short of qualifying for Sycamore. Kaneland’s Alex Gochis also ended his season at 43-8, but lost a consolation semifinal match to finish a win shy of the state tournament.