Wrestling: Lincoln-Way East dominates in win over Joliet West

JOLIET – The Lincoln-Way East wrestling team made a habit Thursday night of getting an early lead and building on that lead for a victory.

The Griffins won 11 of the 14 matches against nonconference rival Joliet West en route to a 52-15 win. In eight of their 11 wins, Lincoln-Way East wrestlers were able to record a takedown in the first period and force Joliet West to try and recover.

“That’s kind of how this team has been all year,” Lincoln-Way East coach Kevin Rockett said. “We have a mostly aggressive mentality, and the kids competed well all the way to the end in all of the matches.”

Lincoln-Way East’s Kevin Byrne got it started at 132 pounds when he took down the Tigers’ Colin Flynn. Flynn escaped from the down position to start the second period to cut the lead to 2-1, but Byrne escaped to start the third period and recorded a takedown later in the period for a 5-1 win. The Griffins’ Alex Lizak followed with a pin of Marcus Godfrey in the 138-pound match for a 9-0 Lincoln-Way East lead.

At 145, Joliet West’s Austin Perella got the first takedown and held a 2-1 lead over Dominic Abeja after one period. In the second period, however, Perella injured his shoulder. He was able to return to the mat, but Abeja came away with a 6-3 victory. At 152, East’s Jack Marion scored an 11-1 major decision over Nijee Harris to put the Griffins ahead, 16-0. Lincoln-Way East then got a pin from Dominic Adamo in 1:11 over Justin Pullen at 160 and another from Ari Zaeski in 1:33 over Josh Koser at 170 to move to a 28-0 lead. Gavin Jones then posted a 14-3 major decision over Jovon Johnson at 182 to put Lincoln-Way East ahead, 32-0. A pin by Connor Lindaur over Jacob Schmitt in 5:07 at 195 gave the Griffins a 38-0 lead.

“Connor Lindaur had a nice match tonight,” Rockett said. “The Schmitt kid that he beat is a tough wrestler. Also, Ari Zaeski had a real good match. He is starting to peak at the right time for us.”

Joliet West, which was hosting its senior night, saw senior Bryan McCoy get them on the board with a pin of Iskqair Shukair in :45 at 220 before teammate Wyatt Schmitt beat Alex Knaperek, 5-3, at 285, to pull the Tigers to within 38-9. At 106, West’s Carson Weber pinned Noah Ciolkosz in :46 to make it 38-15. East’s Brayden Mortell scored a 19-0 technical fall over Peter Dallas at 113 before Tyson Zvonar beat West senior Jaylen Millraney, 12-6, for a 46-15 lead. In the final match of the night at 126, East’s Connor Koehler pinned Marquell Godfrey in :52.

“Lincoln-Way East dominated when they were on top,” Joliet West coach Charles Rumpf said. “They got a lot of takedowns, and we weren’t able to get back up a lot of the time.

“We had some good matches, though. Bryan McCoy was outstanding, and so were Carson Weber and Wyatt Schmitt. Even though he lost, as a coach, you love to see a kid like Jaylen Millraney wrestle like he did tonight. He was a starter as a freshman, but had to be behind younger guys the last two years. A lot of kids would quit, but he stayed with it and wrestled a real good match tonight against a tough opponent. A kid like that is great for the program.

“Lincoln-Way East is a good team, and that’s why we scheduled them. The practice room can get to be a grind and to come out and wrestle against a good team will only help us learn and get better and be ready for the regionals.”