CHAMPAIGN – With no one having scored a point heading into the second tiebreaker period, there was little reason to expect the 106-pound Class 2A third-place match between Prairie Ridge’s Travis Piotrowski and Marmion’s Anthony Bosco would end in a pin.
Even Piotrowski (42-3) was surprised when he caught Bosco in a cradle and stuck the pin at 7:49 to take third place. Piotrowski was thinking the match would head into an ultimate tiebreaker.
“I just tried riding him that whole time,” Piotrowski said.
When he got Bosco on his back, Piotrowski’s natural instincts kicked in.
“I locked it up real tight and squeezed as hard as I could,” Piotrowski said.
Piotrowski, a freshman, said the intensity and being in a place match had an impact on him.
“I was so nervous,” Piotrowski said. “Once I got him on his back in overtime, it was a relief.”
Crystal Lake Central’s Andrew Marsden said he had mixed feelings about his third-place finish at 170 in 2A. He was happy with his ability to bounce back after losing in the semifinals, but he was not yet over the overtime loss to East Moliine United's Markus Murphy.
“It’s a win-loss,” Marsden said. “I won because I came in third and wrestled back from a bad overtime loss.
In his third-place match, Marsden defeated Peoria’s Martez Cox, 6-2. It was a rematch of his first-round match, in which Marsden pinned Cox in the third period.
Marian Central sophomore Nick Remke defeated Tinley Park’s Eric Schultz, 3-2, in his 138-pound 2A fifth-place match. After Schultz tied the score with a reverse in the third period, Remke made an escape to earn the win.
‘My goal was to win and get the medal,” Remke said. “I’m very happy. It feels really good.”
Hurricane’s coach Buck Riedinger said Remke has the right temperament to be successful in close matches.
“[Remke’s] the most even-keeled kid I’ve ever seen,” Riedinger said. “Nothing bothers him. He doesn’t panic.”
Crystal Lake South’s Nick Gil lost his 3A 126-pound third-place match, 7-1, to Oak Park-River Forest’s Isaiah White.
“I’m ecstatic for how [Gil’s] season finished up,” Gators coach Ross Ryan said. “Other than being at the top, I can’t see a better way of going out.”
After missing the first half of the season to a shoulder injury and a fourth-place finish at the Barrington Sectional, the expectations for Dundee-Crown’s Ray Griggel weren’t that high heading into the state tournament.
Griggel came back from a first-round loss to wrestle back to the 3A 220-pound third-place match. With the match tied, 3-3, heading into overtime, Glenbrook South’s Jacob Suter stuck Griggel for a pin in 6:55.
Stilll stinging from getting caught for a pin, Griggel said he would have a tough time appreciating his accomplishments and would probably remember the third-place loss more than anything else.
“It’s not exactly how I wanted it to end,” Griggel said.
Also in 2A place matches, Richmond-Burton’s Grant Sutton won his fifth-place match at 120 with a 1-0 decision against Lincoln-Way West’s Noah Keele, and Crystal Lake Central’s Mike Zelasco defeated Mount Vernon’s Alex Vosburgh by technical fall at 160.
In 3A, Cary-Grove’s Michael Cullen lost his fifth-place match at 113 to Providence Catholic’s Ronald Triche, 1-0. Triche also sent Cullen to the back draw with a win in the quarterfinals.
