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Sports

Lyons Township Wrestling Team Headed Downstate

Lions' 47-21 win over Mount Carmel sends them to a Class 3A state quarterfinal in Bloomington.

Lyons Township’s wrestling team hit the ground running on Tuesday, and didn’t stop until it got the Lions to Bloomington.

The Lions’ 47-21 win over Mount Carmel in a Class 3A dual team sectional sent LT back to the team dual state finals for the first time since 1996.

“It feels fantastic,” LT senior Luke Polka said. “I’ve wrestled with some of these kids for ten or eleven years. We’ve grown up together. I think we’ll come out strong next weekend and I think we’ll do well.”

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The key to Tuesday’s sectional dual, hosted by York in Elmhurst, was the four pins the Lions posted in the night’s first five matches wrestled.

Pins from AJ Villarreal (103), Carter Beebe (119), TJ McCabe (125), and Jack Windmoeller (135) gave LT a 24-6 lead and a cushion of comfort for the rest of the night.

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“Three pins is a great way to start a dual,” LT coach Griff Powell said. “We’ve got some pinners on our team and they picked the right time to get some falls. They were aggressive, trying to build their lead, constantly looking for bonus points and at this point in the season that’s what wins the big duals.”

Mount Carmel (18-7) got a tech fall win at 140 pounds but the Lions (19-2) won six of the next eight matches to bury the Caravan. And they did it without the services of state runner-up Drew Bates, who was absent on Tuesday due to illness.

The Lions got a pin from third-place state medalist Matt Nora at 152, a pair of major decision wins from Jaime Jones (189) and state runner-up Joe Gonzalez (215), and decision wins from Mike Rende (171) and heavyweight Blaise Davis, wrestling in place of state qualifier Brian Pieroth.

The senior Davis won a 2-1 decision in overtime, in his first varsity match this year. “Blaise broke his foot and he’s been our backup heavyweight all year. He was cleared about a week and a half ago and I was really happy to see him get his hand raised,” Powell said.

Polka shined as bright as anyone on Tuesday, winning a 10-4 decision against the Caravan’s Kevin Skryzpiec, whom Polka had beaten 4-2 10 days ago in a sectional match.

“I came out a little stronger, I was looking for my shot, and I countered better than I did last week against him,” Polka said.

The Lions will take on Glenbard North in a state quarterfinal match on Saturday in Bloomington.

“They’re one of the best teams in the state. if not the country, but I like the way we’re wrestling right now,” Powell said. “And that’s the beauty of the state meet – anything can happen.”

Nora sees a veteran group of wrestlers ready to give it their best shot and let the chips fall where they may on Saturday.

 “We’re all focused on going out and competing hard,” Nora said. “Be tough, go hard for six minutes, and don’t worry about anything else. Just wrestle the style the coaches want us to wrestle and don’t worry about the outcome. Good things will happen when you do that, and that’s our plan.

“We have a core of us – me, Windy (Jack Windmoeller), (Drew) Bates, and Polka – we started wrestling in third grade together,” Nora said. “We’ve been best friends ever since then and this is awesome. What a perfect way to finish up.”

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