Wrestling: Locals find success at 1A Riverdale Regional

PORT BYRON – All the hard work done over the last three months has all built up to this for the wrestlers around the state of Illinois.

On Saturday at the 1A Riverdale Regional, 14 locals kept their seasons going by earning berths at next weekend’s sectional tournament. Many more saw their seasons end, including nine who came up one match short of continuing.

The top three individuals in each bracket punched their ticket to the 1A Oregon Sectional next weekend, meaning the third-place bouts were win-or-go-home matches. Rock Falls’ Josiah Tarbill, Morrison’s Camden Pruis and Brady Anderson, and Erie-Prophetstown’s Luke Otten made sure they were in the former category.

[ Photos from the Class 1A Riverdale Regional wrestling tournament ]

Tarbill took care of business quickly at 106 pounds, getting a lightning-fast takedown against Sherrard’s Luke Werner and then finishing off the pin in 10 seconds.

“I wrestled the match I wanted: Be aggressive, and take control,” Tarbill said. “If I would’ve lost right here, I would’ve went on to fresh-soph regionals – but I didn’t want to do that. I want to earn my way, and keep wrestling varsity. I just wanted to earn it, and I went out fast and got it.”

Otten was almost as fast at 182 pounds. He and Rockridge’s Zayd Evans were locked up early on, then Evans got off-balance and Otten took advantage. His takedown hadn’t even been recorded on the scoreboard before he notched the pin.

“He started pushing into me, so I just went ahead and threw it,” Otten said. “I wasn’t looking for it, but it was there, so I took it. Winning quick, moving on to sectionals, it feels nice, for sure.”

The Morrison duo also won third-place bouts by pin. Pruis took control from the start with a takedown, then stuck West Carroll’s Jonner Smith in 1:20 at 132 pounds. It was his fourth straight pin after being pinned in the quarterfinals to start his day.

“I just wanted it. That’s all it was,” Pruis said. “I’ve been sick for a week, and I just got back Friday. It was just a terrible first match, but it was nice to be able to bounce back and wrestle well the rest of the day.”

Anderson led 3-1 going into the third period against Rock Falls’ Ryan McCord at 152 pounds, but McCord got a reversal just 15 seconds into the third to tie the score. Anderson bided his time as McCord tried to roll him onto his back, and ended up turning the tables on McCord with a reversal.

It took Anderson a few seconds to finish the move, but he was awarded the two points with 23 seconds left, then finished off a pin in 5:45.

“I just looked at the time, saw there wasn’t much left, and I knew I had to go for something. I hit a switch and it was just there, got the cradle locked up,” Anderson said about the winning move. “There was a lot of time left when he tied it up, so I just stayed calm, and I was just watching the clock out of the corner of my eye. I knew that I had it and could hit a switch anytime, so I just waited for the time to tick down and then figured it was time to go.”

Four other locals won titles in their weight classes, two from Erie-Prophetstown and two from Fulton.

E-P’s Wyatt Goossens took the 120-pound title, jumping out to a big lead early, then answering a surge by Rock Falls’ Aaron Meenen to finish off a 20-6 major decision.

“I was just focusing on my stuff, knowing I could win the match if I wrestled the way I wanted, and seeing how it was going to go,” Goossens said. “It relaxes me a little bit to get that early lead. Now going into sectionals, since I won, I’ll have either a second- or third-place guy from another regional. Then after that, I’ll just wrestle and see how it goes.

The Panthers’ Jase Grunder defeated Riverdale’s Eli Hinde for the title at 152, taking control midway through for a 5-2 victory.

“I just wrestled smart on my feet. I attacked him offensively, and then on the bottom, I’d get out and just attack him again,” Grunder said. “I’ve been sick this week, so I’ve been out of practice a little bit. Yesterday I was feeling good at practice, and then I came back and wrestled hard today. It feels good going into sectionals next week.”

Fulton senior Zane Pannell grappled with Riverdale’s Alex Watson for most of the first period in the 170-pound final, then took advantage of a move and pinned Watson in 1:32 for his first regional title.

“I definitely wasn’t expecting that last match to last that short an amount of time. I hit a gator roll on him, and it was a pretty bad gator roll, but I ended up getting it and ended up winning,” Pannell said. “If I hadn’t gotten that, I’m sure the match would’ve been super close, it would’ve been a nice match. I was just trying to get the No. 1 seed for next week.”

His Steamers teammate Braiden Damhoff turned the tables on Rock Falls’ Jacob Hosler in the heavyweight final, turning a 5-0 first-period deficit into a second-period pin after rallying with a couple of takedowns. Damhoff finished off the bout in 3:15 when he took Hosler to the mat on his back after the two had locked up chest to chest, with each trying to gain the advantage.

“I just kept fighting. I knew that if I kept the match going, I could eventually find my move,” said Damhoff, who also notched his first regional title in his final chance. “It was a bear hug, and I got him on his back and didn’t let up.”

Hosler credited a tough week of practice, where he was forced to grapple with one of his coaches after his other heavyweight teammates were unable to go, with his success on Saturday.

“I was just being aggressive, and staying off my hips, because that’s the biggest thing I struggle with,” Hosler said. “A hard week of practice was the key, really. I really amped it up by doing two-a-days, going in the morning and after school. Both the other heavyweights are hurt, so I had to work with a coach. It sucked, but looking back on it now, it was a lot of help. That was probably the biggest thing that helped me today.”

In addition to Rock Falls’ Meenen and Hosler, four other locals finished second to advance to sectionals, including a pair of Newman Comets.

Brady Grennan, who was hurt for much of the season with a broken right collarbone, was runner-up at 126 pounds, as he won by pin and technical fall before being pinned by Rockridge’s Jude Finch in the title match.

“It was just a lot of extra work at home, not just going to practice and going through the motions. Just putting in some extra time,” Grennan said about recovering in good enough shape to wrestle for a regional title after just three weeks back. “I was just out there working my moves and doing what I do best. Sometimes it doesn’t always work out. Now I’m looking to come back next week stronger.”

Newman teammate Carter Rude was pinned by Riverdale’s Brock Smith at 138 pounds, as Smith notched his second straight regional title against a Comet; he defeated Daniel Kelly for the 132-pound title last year at the Sherrard Regional.

Fulton’s Ben Fosdick took second at 145, losing a 9-4 decision to Rockridge’s Reese Finch in the final. To get there, Fosdick won a 6-0 decision over Riverdale’s Blake Smith in the semifinals, avenging a loss earlier this season.

“I lost to Smith earlier this year, so I just kept watching film and studying just to see what he did. He was the match I wanted to get so I could wrestle Reese in the finals, because I knew it’d be a tough day today,” Fosdick said. “Looking at the bracket, we were all highly state-ranked. It was going to be a tough day, so lots of practice and studying film really helped.”

West Carroll’s lone sectional qualifier was freshman Connor Knop at 106 pounds. He won a major decision in the semifinals, then lost by pin in the title bout to Riverdale’s Dean Wainwright.

The Rams won the team title in their own gym, scoring 219 points to easily top runner-up Orion (166). Riverdale held a 50-point lead heading into the final round, and ended up winning five individual titles and adding four runner-up finishes.

Of the nine locals who came up just short in their bid to wrestle next weekend in Oregon, three of them were from Newman. Briar Ivey (120 pounds), Daniel Kelly (145) and Jacob Newberry all lost their third-place bouts, with Ivey and Kelly rallying from early deficits to tie their matches in the third period before their opponents scored late points to win.

Rock Falls’ Ryan McCord (152) and Emmanuel Jamison (170) also lost third-place matches, as did Erie-Prophetstown’s Aidan Jepson (138), Morrison’s Logan Baker (160), and West Carroll’s Noah Rannow (126) and Jonner Smith (132).