Summary
Only representing 12 out of 14 weights. Only 6 of those 12 wrestlers are considered the "starters." For most teams, that would be a disastrous lineup to enter into a tough conference tournament, but thanks to the depth and skill level of our backup wrestlers, Lockport was still able to take 4th place at the SWSC conference tournament this weekend. Led by a championship from Trevell Timmons at 152, the Porters finished with 143 team points, 25 points behind third place Lincoln-Way East.
In reaching its fourth-place finish, the Porters placed 7 of the 12 wrestlers entered in the tournament. Trevell Timmons was the lone champion for Lockport, cruising to the title with three tech falls and then a controlled decision victory in the finals. Freshman heavyweight Ronald Tucker was also a finalist, but came up short against Lincoln-Way Central's 4th-ranked Bryan Ditchman in a 7-1 loss.
Lockport went 4 for 4 in third place matches on the day. Anthony Molton won by fall over Lincoln-Way West's Chris Kennedy in 2:57 to take 3rd at 106. That marked the second win for Molton over Kennedy, ranked 6th in 2A, in as many matches this season. At 126, Brandon Ramos bounced back from a semifinal loss to Lincoln-Way East's Jason Stokes, ranked 7th and the eventual champion, to take third with a win over Sandburg's Ben Kirby for 3rd place.
At 145, Zach Reese, who has spent roughly half the season on the varsity mat, stepped into the tournament on short notice. Reese, seeded third, wrestled to his seed, winning by fall in 5:11 over Bradley-Bourbonnais' Bryce Riberdy in the 3rd place match. George Wolfe, also wrestling varsity for roughly half the season, came in unseeded but finished in 3rd place, defeating Lincoln-Way North's Dylan Conway 5-4 in the place match. Wolfe had perhaps the toughest route to 3rd of any of our placers, losing his first match and winning 4 consecutive matches to take 3rd.
Nick Dado was the only other Porter to place, finishing in 6th place. Dado opened his tournament with a 5-1 loss to third seeded Cody Sockwell, before winning two straight consolation matches. Then, in the consolation semifinals, Dado ran into Sockwell again, and again lost by decision. In the 5th place match, Dado narrowly lost by 4-2 decision to 4th seed Josh Afriyie of Bolingbrook, who scored the winning takedown with 8 seconds left in the match.
Five other Porters completed but did not pace. Garrett Golob, at 120, had the toughest draw on the team, getting top seed and 3rd ranked Kevin Stearns from Sandburg in the first round, and then a tough Alec Campos of HF in the round of 12, where the winners place and losers are eliminated. Dalton Dwyer, at 132, had a tough tournament, losing by 6-0 decision to the 4th seed, then dropping his R12 match by decision as well. Freshman Matt Mahalik, wrestling varsity for only the second event this year, stepped in at 138 and won his first round match by fall, but lost the next two. Mike Scurlock, who has really stepped up in competing at 182 pounds while essentially being a 160 pound wrestler, and Dan Stojsavljevic, wrestling at 220, also both lost their opening matches and were eliminated from competition.
Several wrestlers remained out as a precaution, not wanting to risk the inability to compete at regionals in two weeks by aggravating an injury this weekend. Health issues caused two late scratches as well, which is why only 12 of 14 weight classes were represented for the Porters. Come regionals in two weeks, expect a full, healthy, very different lineup.
For full results, including brackets and individual match-by-match results, head to the TrackWrestling page for the tournament here.
Photos (Click to enlarge, use the arrows to scroll)
More photos can be seen at Coach Sealy's photography website.
