Batavia knocked off perennial power St. Charles East at Saturday’s Upstate Eight Conference Meet, and there were plenty of Bulldogs who deserved credit.
But no one deserved any higher praise than Nick Benson, who provided the surprise of the two-day, 13-team tournament.
Trailing Bartlett’s Alex Montbriand 11-1 in the third period of their title match at 170 pounds, Benson took Montbriand to his back with a headlock and pinned him.
Benson’s win and bonus points helped Batavia earn a 248-233 edge over St. Charles East.
“A couple of times there I was in a lot of trouble but you can’t ever quit in a match,” Benson said. “I kept thinking of what I could do to come out on top. When I finally got him to his back, I knew I had to pin him here and now.”
Batavia also got individual titles from Mike Doranski (132) and Dylan Uzumecki (220), a second from Joe Posiedni (160), and four pivotal wins on the third-place mat from Justin Major (120), Seth Winkle (138), Curtis Paton (152), and Derek Nutley (182).
Uzumecki was dominant in winning his second straight UEC title, posting two pins and a technical fall in improving to 33-2. A dual meet loss to East during the regular season helped fuel the fire.
“Coming in here our goal was to take first and beat St. Charles East,” Uzumecki said. “The (dual) loss was upsetting but I thought we could beat them.”
East got titles from Joe Ruffino (106), Justin Benjamin (113), Anthony Rubino (126), and DJ McDermott (152), with Rubino (31-6) winning the outstanding wrestler award. The senior won a pair of major decisions before winning 7-3 over St. Charles North’s Kolbe O’Brien (28-2) for the title.
Rubino has handed O’Brien both of his losses this season.
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“I handled just about everybody. Nobody scored actual points on me until that last (match),” Rubino said. “I wrestled Kolbe at the beginning of the year and only beat him 4-2. Everything is better now.”
Third-place West Aurora had three champions in Erik Olson (145), Alex Gonzalez (160), and Devin Moore (285), with Olson posting a second-period pin of Geneva’s Nic Anastasia for the title. Olson won conference at 138 last season.
“Last year I went into the tournament not thinking I was going to win. I was the underdog,” said Olson, who’s 23-10. “This year I trained all year to come back and win again. I’m ready to go for the regional next week.”
Alex Crowe (195) won a title for fifth-place Geneva, and South Elgin’s Zack Crosby (182) was dominant in winning first UEC championship, posting a major decision and a pin before dispatching West Chicago’s Trey Lally via major decision for first.
The win improved Crosby’s season record to 30-4.
“Last year I was second here. I didn’t play football this year so I could focus on wrestling, and I think that helped a lot,” Crosby said. “My overall confidence is better, too. I’m shooting a lot more.”
Streamwood got third-place finishes from Andres Luna (106), Sunny You (132), Jeremy Gumila (145) and Tae Reetz (195). Larkin got a third from Hugo Barraza (126).
Barraza lost Friday to Batavia’s Dylan Doranski, but exacted revenge for third with a 5-3 decision Saturday.
“I just need to clean up some mistakes and I’ll be ready for the regional,” said Barraza, who’s 27-5. “I need to be patient out there and go with the flow. I wanted first here but I took sixth last year so I’ve definitely improved.”
Gary Larsen is a freelance writer for The Beacon-News.