A wrestling season that has been defined by program milestones continued for Deerfield on Tuesday.
In front of a packed gymnasium at Deerfield High School, the Warriors decisively defeated Jacobs 48-12 in a Class 3A dual team sectional final. It was the Warriors’ first team sectional title. The victory came 17 days after Deerfield won its first regional championship in 31 years.
Deerfield advances to face Lockport in the quarterfinals Saturday in Bloomington.
“We took nothing for granted. We thought it would be a lot closer,” Warriors coach Marc Pechter said. “I’m glad the way the boys stepped up and handled the pressure.”
By way of random drawing, the meet started at 170 pounds. That favored the Warriors. Senior Brady Glantz, a state qualifier who won one match in Champaign, wrestled first. He pinned Jacobs senior Michael Ricks 1:33 into the first period.
The domination of Deerfield’s first opponent set the tone for the rest of the meet.
“It gets the ball rolling right away with six points and we kind of built off of that,” junior Andy Mehrholz said.
T.J. Thompson mirrored Glantz’s superiority at 182 pounds. He pinned Ryan Dykes at the 1:42 mark of the first period. After two matches, Deerfield led 12-0. Jacobs picked up three points at 195 when Jack Golnick won a 9-2 decision over Warriors senior Alleman Bulut.
But Deerfield immediately seized back control when 220-pound senior Christo Moran defeated Jacobs’ Carson Shoemaker in a 2-0 decision. Then at 285, junior Sergio Rangel pinned the Golden Eagles’ David Schillmoeller 1:34 into the first period. Another Deerfield pin, this time at 106 by sophomore Dylan Utterback, gave the Warriors an insurmountable 27-3 lead. Deerfield junior Sage Heller scored the sixth and final pin for the Warriors at 160 when he dropped Loren Strickland at the 3:08 mark.
“At this point in time, just win. Let’s wrestle how we have all year, not freak out under the lights,” Pechter said.
With the sectional title in hand, Pechter can look at setting his lineup for the quarterfinal round. One weight class in question is 138. Mehrholz, who won his match Tuesday night in a first period pin, wrestled up one class (145) from his normal 138 against Jacobs. Lockport has recently crowned state champion Shayne Oster at 138.
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Pechter wasn’t revealing his plan Tuesday night. Mehrholz again wrestling up one division is a possibility against Lockport. He relishes the challenge of possibly facing Oster.
“That would be pretty cool if I got to wrestle him. I’m not afraid of anyone,” Mehrholz said.
Glantz said: “If we keep wrestling the way we do, there’s no reason we can’t win our next meet.”
Jon Kerr is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.