Freshmen power late surge for Sycamore wrestling at quad meet

SYCAMORE – Sycamore trailed Antioch by 17 points with four matches left in Saturday’s quad meet and three freshman wrestlers coming up before a forfeit victory for the Spartans.

With little room for error, heavyweight Collin Hughes, 106-pounder Carson West and 113-pounder Sawyer Davis all came away with pins as Sycamore beat the Sequoits 41-39. It was the last dual of a quad in which the Spartans went 2-1.

“I’m just thinking go out there and wrestle the best I can,” West said. “I just think about my team and how we have been really working hard to get that win.”

West is 12-0 this season after his three wins in the quad. Sycamore opened the day with a 52-26 win against West Chicago and a 42-28 loss to Hononegah.

West picked up a 6-3 decision against Hononegah and a tech fall against West Chicago. He’s a two-time runner-up at the Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation state meet.

Even though West is a freshman, Sycamore coach Randy Culton said he’s incredibly experienced.

“Carson West is a little fireplug,” Culton said. “He goes out there and he’s not afraid of anybody. He’s only a freshman, but he’s a seasoned wrestler. He’s a two-time IKWF state finalist. He didn’t win it, so he’s on a mission this year.”

West said he has high hopes for the season.

“My expectations were to work as hard as possible and do the best I can,” West said. “And after my 12-0 start to the season I feel very accomplished and that my hard work is paying off.”

The rally against Antioch started with a pin by Hughes at 285. He’s weighing in at 223, while Xavier Ingram was 281. It didn’t stop Hughes from getting the pin 11 seconds before the first-period buzzer sounded.

That’s why, Culton said, he’s earned the nickname Batman.

“He goes out there and it doesn’t matter how big the other kid was,” Culton said. “He’s on the real small side. Freshman, on the short side, low weight. We call him Batman. He always goes out there and gives his best effort.”

Hughes went 2-1 on the day.

It came down to 113 and Sawyer Davis for the Spartans since Michael Olson was going to pick up a forfeit win at 220. Davis needed at least a tech fall to make sure Sycamore got the win.

He started the second period up 6-0 and got a reversal, then got the pin 47 seconds into the period as the bench and Sycamore fans erupted.

“You got to help the team, carry us to the win,” said Davis (10-2). “[The pressure] helps me out a lot, knowing I need to get some extra points to get us the win.”

Culton said it was a big turnaround for Davis, who lost on a tech fall in the Spartans' first dual of the day to West Chicago.

But Davis closed the day with a pair of pins.

“He came out in the first match and he was flat as a pancake,” Culton said. “We talked and he came out and got two consecutive solid wins. He basically won the dual for us.”

Aside from the trio of freshman, the only other on-the-mat win for the Spartans was a tech fall for Jayden Dohogne, who went 2-1 on the day.

The Spartans move to 9-2 on the year and face Rochelle in an Interstate 8 Conference dual Thursday.