One year ago, Dylan Ervin boarded a bus in Palatine and headed back to Metea Valley with a second-place medal in his bag. This year, he’s a whole lot happier.
The Mustang senior won an 195-pound title at Palatine’s 33-team Berman Classic on Wednesday with a 7-4 decision in the finals over top-seeded Cole Bateman of Sandburg.
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The second-seeded Ervin improved to 21-1. Ervin and Bateman are both ranked among the best in the state in Class 3A by IllinoisMatmen.com.
“That’s the first time I’ve wrestled (Bateman). He’s tough,” Ervin said. “He’s short and stocky and I’m not the strongest person in the world, but I have enough. He looked to tie up a lot so I had to keep my motion up side-to-side. And when he shot, I had to use my re-shot.”
“I’m ranked so I know people are coming at me, and I really have to push myself so I’m always ready. I’m really blessed to have the support I have around me,” Ervin said.
Sandburg dominated the field, scoring 313 points, with Lyons (194) a distant second. Metea Valley (106.5) tied for seventh with Kaneland. Oswego (99.5) was 10th and Oswego East (45) placed 25th.
Metea got a fourth-place finish from Bobby Papiernik (heavyweight), a fifth from Uri Ariza (120), a sixth from David Rojas (220), and sevenths from Jake Toepfer (138) and David Veitch (145).
Despite going 4-2 during the two-day tournament and reaching the third-place match, Papiernik was anything but content.
“I need more offense and I have to finish my shots,” Papiernik said. “I really wrestled bad this week. Whether it be a snatch single or getting behind someone, I need to finish it. It’s just a mindset that I have to keep.”
Kaneland’s Riley Vanik went into this year’s Berman tournament without a loss, and the junior from a Class 2A program was ready to battle some of the state’s top 3A wrestlers at 170 pounds.
Vanik (17-1) proved his mettle, reaching the finals before losing 3-2 on a late takedown to Sandburg’s Brian Krasowski.
“I want to get a little better every single day and I learned here that I can wrestle with anyone,” Vanik said. “These are some of the top 3A guys and I felt like an underdog because I’m in 2A, but it doesn’t matter who you are. I’m coming after you the same way.”
Kaneland got thirds from Austin Kedzie (106) and Colin Gussman (182), a fourth from George Strang (152) and a fifth from Zac Parker (195).
“Last year, we didn’t place nearly as high, but everyone was here to wrestle hard this year,” Vanik said. “(Parker) is in his senior year and he hadn’t placed here. He never made it past the first day. But (he took) fifth place and that really helped the team.”
Oswego sophomore Gannon Hughes earned a 10-3 decision over Lyons’ Elias Garcia in a third-place match by keeping his sights strictly on what he can control.
“I’ve been trying to just focus on wrestling my match during this tournament,” Hughes said. “I’m happy with my shots, and my re-shots. I still need to work on my hand-fighting but I’m happy with how I wrestled here.”
The Panthers also got a fourth from Josh Torres (170) and sevenths from Blake Huffmon (126) and Allen Swanson (132). Oswego East’s Andrew Okayama (152) finished third and teammate BJ Hill (170) placed eighth.
Gary Larsen is a freelance writer for The Beacon-News.