CRYSTAL LAKE – Cary-Grove notched two wins at the Crystal Lake Central Triangular on Wednesday, but the Trojans’ ultimate wrestling goals are still a long way off.
The Trojans defeated short-handed Kaneland, 66-12 and beat the host Tigers, 43-22, in a Fox Valley Conference crossover match. Crystal Lake Central defeated the Knights, 46-18.
C-G’s Mike Underwood defeated Central’s Jake Parlberg by technical fall at 138 pounds and defeated the Knights’ Sonny Horn, 3-0. Horn is an honorable mention in the Illinoismatmen.com rankings in Class 2A, and Underwood is also an honorable mention in 3A.
Underwood said the team goals are to win conference and regional titles.
“We set our goals high because we’ve got a lot of talent,” he said. “It allows us to wrestle to the best of our ability.”
The Trojans’ approach to duals is workmanlike, and Underwood said they wrestle the same whether it’s the best team in the state or lesser competition.
“We go into every dual with the same mentality,” Underwood said. “The results will take care of themselves.”
Against the Tigers, C-G got off to a 21-0 lead on a pin by Mike Cullen at 120, a decision by Logan Hanselmann at 126 and two forfeits.
Pins by Kyle Fugiel at 152 and Max Enxing (160) got the Tigers closer but they could not erase the early deficit.
Central’s Romeo McKnight defeated Greer Bozeman at 195 by a 12-1 major decision to get the Tigers as close as they would get, 34-22. C-G’s Nick Huff erased any hope of a comeback with a 4-2 decision against Connor Hines at 220, and Jeremy Dermont sealed the win with a pin at 285 for the Trojans.
In the biggest upset of the night, the Trojans’ Emerson Kersten defeated Andrew Marsden, 5-3, at 170. Marsden is ranked No. 3 at 2A while Kersten is not ranked in 3A.
With the match scoreless heading into the third period, Kersten knew that his endurance would be pushed. He is still working on his conditioning after a late start to his wrestling season because of the Trojans’ football success.
“I was real tired,” Kersten said. “Coming from football, it takes time to get into wrestling shape. I had to dig deep.”
Starting in the down position, Marsden got an escape, but Kersten got a takedown and back points to take a 4-1 lead. Marsden got a reverse and then let Kersten up, hoping for a takedown to tie the score, but Kersten held on for the win.
Kersten said the win gives him a lot of confidence and taught him not to let the reputation or ranking of a wrestler psych him out.
“It shows that in any given match, anyone can beat anybody,” Kersten said.
Also for the Trojans, Garrett Glueck had a pin and a technical fall.
