Wrestling: Oswego routs crosstown rival Oswego East in SPC dual

OSWEGO – Joey Griffin was decked out in a Hawaiian shirt after Oswego took care of crosstown rival Oswego East, 55-21, during Thursday’s Southwest Prairie Conference match at the Oswego High School Performing Arts Center.

The night’s theme was tropical with the Oswego coaching staff wearing matching shirts for the occasion and numerous players donning festive attire as well. (Coincidentally, Friday will be an e-learning day due to the incoming winter snowstorm.)

“I wish more people would’ve done it,” Griffin said, “I’ve got my Hawaiian shirt on so that’s all that matters. You got to have fun, you got to enjoy it, especially because it’s my senior year.”

The action began at 215 pounds where the Wolves used it to their advantage as Josh Edwards won by fall against Jack Farrell. But the Wolves proceeded to forfeit their next three matches as Oswego’s Brodie Slou (285), Nolan O’Grady (106) and Jonny Theodor (113) didn’t get a chance to physically wrestle against their local foe.

“A lot of emotions go through the mind when this happens so you just have to stay in your mind and be strong,” Theodor said. “I had fun watching my teammates. They went and did good. I guess whenever you’re expecting a match and then you go out (and not have it), it’s a bummer. It lets you down, but you’ve got to work through it and stay strong in the mind.”

Oswego followed the three forfeit wins with five straight victories for a 43-6 advantage.

“It’s been an up and down year but we’ve wrestled some of the top teams in the state,” Panthers coach Andrew Cook said. “Every week we’re looking at a top 10 team here and a top 10 team there and finally we went out and got back to our style of attacking and going. We finally stepped up to the plate and did that for sure.”

Vincent Manfre (126), Lazar Krstic (132) and Dylan Griffin (144) each won by fall while Aiden Ortiz (120) won by a 9-0 major decision and Brayden Swanson defeated Oswego East’s Braeden Grisham, 8-2.

“I think we went out and competed and pushed ourselves,” Cook said. “The past couple weeks we hadn’t pushed the pace and wrestled our style. Tonight I think we finally flipped the script and went and attacked.”

Griffin pinned Diego Manzo midway through the second period to win at 165.

“I was trying to work on a couple of things,” Griffin said. “And then he was pretty big so I was like I’ll get it over with.”

He’s now just two wins shy of 100.

“It’s a great varsity milestone to hit,” Cook said. “He’s been a four-year varsity guy. He came in (freshman year) and was playing baseball after school and in the mornings he was wrestling and juggling that. 100 is always a great number that we shoot for, that 100-win club. We’re excited for him.”

As a freshman, 100 wasn’t something Griffin thought was possible, but by the time he was a junior he realized he might be able to get it.

“I was sitting at 73 wins junior year so I thought this was definitely doable after finishing with 30-plus wins every year other than my freshman year,” he said. “They’ll put me up on the wall in the wrestling room for the rest of the history of Oswego High School.”

Oswego East senior Noah DeMarco snapped a string of eight consecutive wins by Oswego wrestlers when he pinned Ethan Essick midway through the second period.

“I’ve known him for a bit,” DeMarco said. “We wrestled near each other during preseason and stuff and then we’d switch around during sparring and all that and I’d say, ‘Hey, you want to wrestle?’ and he’d always be like, ‘No,’ so I kind of gaslit that in my mind to think he’s scared of me, like created my own narrative.”

That strategy, along with a consistent routine, are paying off handsomely for the senior.

“The season has gone great really,” he said. “Coach always says you got to flip a switch, you’ve got to have an alter ego. Like, I’ve got my routine. Two matches before, I’m up and I’m doing some jump squats. One match before, I’m doing pistol squats and then as I’m going up I slam my head gear on and it switches on for me and it’s go time, it’s time to win.”

A pair of Oswego East freshmen had strong efforts and picked up victories to finish the match.

Garrett Patnoudes won by fall against Cooper Wynn with 21 seconds left in the second period at 175 for the team’s second pin of the night. Christian Paige then beat Uzuyr Mohammed by a 10-3 decision at 190 in the final bout.