Wrestling: Crystal Lake South’s Shane Moran wins individual state title

CHAMPAIGN – Shane Moran didn’t know if his moment would come.

The Crystal Lake South wrestler fell behind 3-0 in his IHSA Class 2A 182-pound state championship match Saturday, but he relied on something he’s done his entire wrestling career: He never gave up.

Moran fought back in his title bout just like he had as a wrestler who qualified for the state tournament twice but never won. He battled to get to this moment, and the senior capped off his career with a comeback he’ll never forget, one that won him a state championship.

“It means a lot,” Moran said. “All of that hard work, blood, sweat and actual tears from my eyeballs in the practice room, it’s all worth it.”

The senior fell behind in his match against Grayslake Central’s Matty Jens but started to become more aggressive toward the end of the second period and trailed, 3-2. He tied the match at 3 before he made a move that handed him the title with a 5-3 final.

Moran credited his conditioning as a major reason for winning. While it could’ve been easy for him to give up, he dug in from within to fight back and win.

“It’s conditioning,” Moran said. “I’ve been working on my motor, I always push myself, work hard in the room, it comes down to the guy who wants it more.”

[ Read more: Crystal Lake South’s Josh Glover, Harvard’s Ivan Rosas finish third at state tournament ]

The matchup was the sixth time the two had faced each other in their wrestling careers. Moran had beaten Jens in the Class 2A Deerfield Sectional semifinal the week before. So while they know each other’s moves, the match came down to who could think of something else to try against a familiar foe.

“It makes it tougher when you know each other’s moves and know what each other will do,” Moran said. “It comes down to who will be craftier.”

McHenry’s Chris Moore (160 pounds) won himself a sectional title in overtime and punched his ticket to the Class 3A title match with an overtime win Friday night, but the junior couldn’t get it done a third time, falling, 3-1, in overtime.

Moore and Mount Carmel’s Colin Kelly were scoreless after one period, and Moore fought back to tie the match at 1-all to force overtime, but Kelly got control of Moore to flip him and secure himself a state title.

Moore entered the match 48-0, but now he’s left with an offseason where he won’t need much motivation to try to become better.

“It shows there is still stuff to improve on,” Moore said, “so I’ll do that over the summer, and I’ll come back next year.”

Crystal Lake Central’s Dillon Carlson (160) has some familiarity wrestling against Deefield’s Benjamin Shvartsman, and in their third matchup for the Class 2A title, Shvartsman changed things up on Carlson.

Shvartsman took a 2-0 lead after the first period, and then went out to a 3-0 lead by the end of the second. By the time Carlson tried to make a push back toward the end of the match it was too late for the senior to come back, falling 3-1.

“He changed his game plan this time, spent more time on his knees,” Carlson said. “He used his length because he knows I’m a shorter wrestler. His game plan was a little better than mine going into this one.”

Richmond-Burton’s Emmett Nelson (113) has exceeded expectations all season with his run to the Class 1A title match as a freshman, but experience proved to be the difference in his fight for a state championship.

Auburn’s Anthony Ruzic entered their matchup with a 26-0 record as a sophomore and knew what to do to take a 2-0 lead against Nelson after the first period. Ruzic became aggressive, coming at Nelson to lead 4-1 after two periods and eventually took a 8-2 championship win.

Nelson was proud of what he accomplished as a freshman, but he knows that there will be a reminder for him as he comes back the next three seasons.

“It should be a great reminder,” Nelson said of his loss. “I know in our wrestling room everyone who makes it to state gets their name on the wall, and I’ll keep seeing that and reminding [myself] to keep working every day.”