Streator splits with Manteno, Reed-Custer at ICE quad at the Pops

STREATOR – The Streator Bulldogs varsity wrestling lineup is a mix of upperclassmen and underclassmen, boys and girls, lifelong wrestlers and relative newcomers to the sport.

Thursday night in an Illinois Central Eight Conference quad at Pops Dale Gymnasium, the Bulldogs needed a little bit from all those groups to come away with a hard-fought ICE Conference split on senior night.

Led by wins from seniors Aydan Radke and Devin Thompson, the co-op of Streator and Woodland rallied from a large early deficit to defeat Manteno 39-34.

“We have a lot of excitement going on here, and we worked really hard for this [senior night victory],” said Thompson, who enjoyed a 2-0 day individually, though the Bulldogs fell 66-14 to a strong Reed-Custer roster that earlier defeated Herscher. “Our team morale was just great, so it helps everybody wrestle harder.

“We’re a little short-handed, but we’ve got good heart.”

All five of Streator’s seniors honored were able to compete. In addition to Thompson’s 2-0 night and Radke’s 1-1 showing, Adam Westerhold, Taylor Barbee and Tyler Barbee all went 0-1 in regulation matches.

“We’re going to miss that experience, that leadership they have for us,” Streator coach Kyle Lowman said of his seniors.

Thompson, wrestling at 190 pounds, earned a pair of pinfall victories – in 3:07 over Manteno’s Franklin Jordan and in 0:56 against Reed-Custer’s William Garcia. It was Thompson’s win over Jordan that sparked Streator to its team win over the Panthers, starting a 33-10 run to close out a dual the Bulldogs trailed 24-6 when Thompson first took the mat.

“We were down, we knew we needed some guys to step up, and that’s exactly what we had going on,” Thompson said. “After some guys start winning, everybody gets in the mood to start winning.”

Andrew Warwick at 150 – who also put in a 2-0 night for the hosts with a pin of Manteno’s Nathan Kissala and later a 14-5 major decision over Reed-Custer’s Brock Billingsley – provided Streator’s first six points. After Thompson’s pin of Jordan, Radke followed with his pinfall win in 1:36.

Manteno won the next couple bouts to extend its advantage up to 34-18, but the Bulldogs won out in the night’s final four matches to capture the team victory.

Those clutch, had-to-have-‘em wins were recorded by Gwaltney at 113 (a come-from-behind 14-9 decisioning of Carter Webber sparked by a sudden, violent third-period takedown), Vaughn at 120 (via forfeit), Flores at 126 (another forfeit) and finally Garritt Benstine at 132 (a late first-period pin of Ethan Punzalan to complete the comeback).

“The dual came down to one match,” Lowman said. “If we would’ve lost one, it would’ve went the other way. Everybody was doing their part and were scoring at the end of matches when they needed to. That’s something we’ve been working on.”

Despite another early win from Warwick at 150 and Thompson’s aforementioned pin of Garcia, the Bulldogs were overwhelmed by Reed-Custer. Benstine’s dual-closing 17-4 major decisioning of Tanner Gullquist was Streator’s only other win against the Comets.

Contested victories for Reed-Custer against its hosts – all coming via pinfall – were recorded by Reed Newbrough at 157, Aiden Schultz at 165, Dominic Alaimo at 215, Christian Mounts at 285, Cole Harris at 113 and Kaaden Wood at 120.